The ideal value-added tax (VAT) would carry an economic efficiency ratio of 100 as, in theory, VAT should not be susceptible to exemptions and rate variations. However, practical reality tells a different story, and it will come as no surprise to learn that the VAT systems of almost all countries remain far from the benchmark, and that this is particularly the case when VAT is applied to real estate. This book describes and analyses VAT treatment of real estate transactions in six representative countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. As in any jurisdiction, the VAT schemes covered must accommodate complex factual matrices that demand consistent, fair, and equal treatment. Among these VAT determinants the authors, each an expert in the national tax law of one of the six countries, address the following: types of real estate sales; long versus short term leases; commercial versus residential use; newly constructed versus existing property; status of the parties involved as taxable or non-taxable for VAT; taxable and tax-free supplies; special rules for charities, mooring facilities, aircraft, sports facilities, etc.; subdivision of apartments into title units; commercial residential premises; construction work; cross-border supply of construction work and services; and transfer of a ‘going concern’. The discussions also include the practical areas of accounting for VAT, administrative compliance, personal tax liability, and VAT refund and overpayment certification processes, as well as thorough consideration of relevant case law and examination of frequently litigated matters. Each author has designed his or her chapter to ensure that the technical nuances of each system are explained. An introductory chapter outlines economic theory and preferred VAT treatment of real estate transactions, and compares the variety of solutions applied in the six countries covered. Although a number of legal works exist on real estate under VAT in single jurisdictions, this is the first book to combine a multi-jurisdictional approach with attention to relevant economic theory, allowing for a very useful assessment of best practices. For this reason it is sure to be welcomed by practitioners and academics not only as an overview of the problem areas encountered when designing VAT policy, but also as a reference in applying VAT to real estate transactions.

Parties to cross-border disputes arising anywhere in the vast Portuguese-speaking world – a community of more than 230 million in a space that offers a wide array of investment opportunities across four continents – increasingly seek Portugal as their preferred seat of arbitration. A signatory to all relevant international conventions, Portugal has proven to be an ‘arbitration-friendly’ jurisdiction. This volume is the first and so far only book in English that provides a thorough, in-depth analysis of international arbitration law and practice in Portugal. Its contributing authors are among the most highly regarded legal names in the country, including scholars, arbitrators, and practitioners. The authors describe how international arbitration proceedings are conducted in Portugal, what cautions should be taken, and what procedural strategies may be suitable in particular cases. They provide insightful answers to questions such as the following: What matters can be submitted to arbitration under Portuguese law? What are the validity requirements for an arbitration agreement? How do the State courts interact with arbitration proceedings and what is the attitude of such courts toward international arbitration? What are the rules governing evidentiary matters in arbitration? How is an arbitration tribunal constituted? How are arbitrators appointed? How may they be challenged? How can an international arbitral award be recognized and enforced? How does the Portuguese legal system address the issue of damages and what specific damages are admitted? How are the costs of arbitration proceedings estimated and allocated? The book includes analyses of arbitration related to specific fields of the law, notably sports, administrative, tax, intellectual property rights (especially regarding reference and generic medicines), and corporate disputes. Each chapter provides, for the topics it addresses, an examination of the applicable laws, rules, arbitration practice, and views taken by arbitral tribunals and state courts as well as those of the most highly considered scholars. As a detailed examination of the legal framework and of all procedural steps of an arbitration in Portugal, from the drafting of an arbitration agreement to the enforcement of an award, this book constitutes an invaluable resource for parties involved in or considering an international arbitration in this country. The guidance that it seeks to provide in respect of any problem likely to arise in this context can be useful to arbitrators, judges, academics, and interested lawyers.

A breadth of new digital platforms has dramatically expanded the range of possibilities for exchanging anything required by business or personal needs from accommodation to rides. In the virtual marketplaces shaped and ruled by these novel matchmakers, rather than by a single centralized entity, value is created through the granular interaction of many dispersed individuals. By allowing instantaneous and smooth interaction among millions of individuals, platforms have indeed pushed the digital frontier farther and farther, so as to include within it even services once not capable of direct delivery from a remote location such as accommodation and passenger transport. Legal disruption is also underway with foundational dichotomous categories, such as those between suppliers and customers, business and private spheres, employees and self-employed, no longer viable as organizational legal structures. This is the essential background of the first book to relate what is synthetically captured under the umbrella definition of ‘sharing economy’ to key features at the core of European Value Added Tax (EU VAT) and to look at the feasibility of a reformed EU VAT system capable of addressing the main challenges posed by these new models of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Specifically, the study analyses five legal propositions underpinning the current EU VAT system as the following: taxable persons; taxable transactions; composite supplies; place of supply rules; and liability regimes for collection and remittance of VAT. Exploration of these five legal propositions is meant to assess the practical feasibility of shoehorning the main sharing economy business models – notably, those available in the accommodation and passenger transport sectors – into the framework of existing EU VAT provisions. The author further draws on the normative standards of equality, neutrality, simplicity, flexibility and proportionality to test the ‘reflexes’ of the current EU VAT system in the sharing economy domain. Opportunities for reform of the current EU VAT system are in turn evaluated with each chapter including cogent proposals in the form of incremental and targeted amendments to the current EU VAT provisions. As the first comprehensive analysis of the treatment of the sharing economy for VAT purposes, the book provides not only a theoretical framework for future studies in the tax field but also indispensable practical guidance for VAT specialists confronting daily with the many challenges ushered in by the sharing economy. Moreover, the various solutions and recommendations advanced in the book offer valuable insights to international and national policymakers dealing with similar issues under other VAT systems.

This meticulously researched book provides a practical commentary on, and analysis of, the harmonised system of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the European Union and each of its Member States. Written by a team of expert practitioners led by KPE Lasok QC, an authority on European law with extensive practical experience of VAT and Customs cases, this book is destined to become the reference work of choice on VAT for both practitioners and scholars.

Collection of articles reviewing the experience of the implementation of VAT in Africa. Besides analyses, the articles offer guidelines for reforming and improving both technical and administrative aspects of the tax. The several chapters consider design and structure of the VAT, VAT and specific factors, administrative aspects of VAT, Inter-jurisdictional and international aspects of VAT, and VAT and Francophone Africa.

Given the increasing problem of double taxation concerning value added tax (VAT)/goods and services tax (GST) and the resulting constraints to international trade, it is time for the international community to take action. This book analyses the phenomenon of VAT/GST double taxation and possible remedies. VAT/GST treaties would be one of them. But how should one design a VAT/GST treaty? To what extent do existing income tax treaties already apply to VAT/GST? Can income tax treaties simply be extended to VAT/GST or is there a need for a separate, independent VAT/GST treaty? Can the concepts, functioning, and structure of income tax treaties be used for VAT/GST purposes? What are possible alternatives? What should the scope of a VAT/GST treaty be? How can taxing rights be allocated between the parties to a treaty?

The International VAT/GST Guidelines present a set of internationally agreed standards and recommended approaches for the consistent application of VAT to international trade, with a particular focus on trade in services and intangibles.