Beneficial Ownership

In international tax law, the term ‘beneficial ownership’ refers to which parties involved in a cross-border transaction are entitled to tax treaty benefits. However, determining beneficial ownership is a complex and often disputed issue, subject to different meanings in different countries. Archival research on its early use in tax treaties and in the developing OECD Model reveals that its meaning has changed dramatically over the decades, leading to new interpretations significantly affecting current tax practice and scholarship. This book, dedicated to establishing how beneficial ownership should ideally be interpreted, compares the use and interpretation of benefi-cial ownership, both current and historical, in a wide range of national jurisdictions as well as the EU, ultimately shedding a clearer light than has heretofore been available on the meaning of the term. In her very thorough analysis of the application of beneficial ownership, the author touches on such aspects as the following: – historical development of the beneficial ownership requirement as used in tax treaties and in the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital; – rules of double taxation conventions; – application of the OECD’s Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit-Shifting (BEPS); – the problem of so-called ‘white income’; – use of the substance-over-form principle; – attribution-of-income rules; and – the role of agents, nominees, and conduit companies. Specific analysis of the use and interpretation of beneficial ownership in a domestic law and treaty context in numerous jurisdictions – with particular emphasis on the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and Germany – is a major feature of the presentation. As a thorough guide to determining whether a person claiming tax treaty benefits is the true owner – and which parties are excluded from treaty benefits and to what extent – this book will be of immeasurable value to lawyers, tax authorities, policymakers, and other professionals working with taxable international transactions of any kind.

Natural resources have the transformational potential to support economic and political stability as well as contribute to national prosperity and economic development. However, in countries dependent upon natural resource sectors, poor management of these sectors often contributes to corruption, illicit financial flows (IFFs) and thus, poverty. Adequate transparency and accountability in regulatory management of these sectors is a challenge for resource rich countries. Poor licensing decisions in natural resource management can open a pandora’s box of corruption risks. This manual provides methods and options based on good practices to improve transparency, accountability, and integrity in the regulatory licensing process and integrity due diligence. The manual borrows models from the Basel Core Principle ‘fit and proper’ concept, and provides options for conducting effective (a) beneficial ownership; (b) criminal/legal; and (c) conflicts of interest checks, with a goal of integrating these into the regulatory licensing process. The manual also identifies common legal framework defects that can facilitate corruption risks, and offers options based on principles of regulatory integrity to reduce these risks. The good practices identified can help countries allocate limited financial resources in conducting thorough background checks in a cost-effective manner, as well as meet EITI’s requirements for public disclosure of beneficial owners and politically exposed persons. These strategies for reducing opportunities for corruption in extractive sectors can help reduce IFFs that can sap resources from the economy and inhibit a country’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

In 2016, the G20 called on the FATF and the Global Forum to propose ways to improve the implementation of the international standards on transparency, including on the availability of beneficial ownership information, and its international exchange. The Global Forum developed a framework of proposed actions to answer that call, including a plan to facilitate effective implementation through examples of good implementation and technical assistance. This toolkit is in furtherance of the Global Forum’s commitment to support countries’ effective implementation. It is intended to help jurisdictions to develop an understanding of the beneficial ownership concepts contained in the international standards of transparency and exchange of information, and for use in conjunction with technical assistance seminars. It will support policy and implementation discussions in conjunction with capacity building workshops and technical assistance activities carried out by the Global Forum Secretariat as well as other supporting international organizations.

The concept of beneficial ownership is frequently called one of the most decisive questions in international tax law. Despite this fact, neither scholars nor courts have found a generally accepted definition. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest developments concerning the concept of beneficial ownership. Highly renowned tax experts both from academia and practice analyse the most important decisions recently made by courts around the world. Moreover, the recently published OECD Discussion Draft on the meaning of beneficial ownership is being taken into account and the meaning of the term "beneficial owner" used in European tax law in comparison to its meaning in tax treaty law is being assessed. The authors not only draw a better picture of the status quo but also enhance the discussion of the future meaning of the term "beneficial owner".

This report examines the use of these entities in nearly all cases of corruption. It builds upon case law, interviews with investigators, corporate registries and financial institutions and a 'mystery shopping' exercise to provide evidence of this criminal practice.

Implied Trusts and Beneficial Ownership in Modern UK Tax Law looks at that gap which lies between books on tax and those on trust law, and tries to bridge the two. How and why is beneficial ownership important in UK tax? This book is ideal for academics and practitioners alike. Those practitioners specialising in trusts should find this book an interesting and useful aid to supplement their knowledge of implied trusts and the relationship between the more-usual express trusts. Whether you are new to the tax profession, or a seasoned professional, there will be something here for everyone.

This authoritative book provides a structural, global view of evolving judicial and doctrinal trends in the understanding of beneficial ownership in international taxation. Błażej Kuźniacki presents a route towards an international autonomous meaning of beneficial ownership, while also offering a comprehensive explanation of the divergent understandings and tax policy arguments underpinning its continuing ambiguity.

The hunt for beneficial owners is on. Like an elephant, the beneficial owner hides in the jungle of complex legal structures, waiting to be discovered by eager prosecutors. But what lies behind this metaphor? What is a Beneficial Owner? Is beneficial ownership a right? What does this right encompass? What is the value of this right compared to other rights? And if beneficial ownership is not a right, is it still a legally relevant relation? How do courts, namely the U.S. Supreme Court deal with the concept? When do Anglo-American judges and European scholars resort to the concept? This book approaches these questions from two perspectives: legal fundamentals and the field of U.S. federal Indian law. Both legal theories and case law are scrutinized with the aim to find a better understanding of the basic conception and characteristics of beneficial ownership. Federal Indian law has been chosen for the study of the concrete implications of the beneficial ownership concept in what Roscoe Pound referred to as “the law in action.” To some, this choice of legal field might seem somewhat unusual. What answers could federal Indian law possibly offer with regard to pressing questions from the financial industry? As always, there is a short and a long answer. The short answer is that the analysis of an equally sophisticated field of law can open new perspectives on a given field of law. For example, not only potential criminals and tax evaders but also members of an older civilization are beneficial owners. The long answer can be found in this very book.