Taxation Of Bilateral Investments

The OECD’s guidance on combatting tax avoidance strategies associated with Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) methods is complex and accompanied by a wealth of literature. This book is the first to provide a concise and accessible overview of counter BEPS measures in the OECD Model and Commentary, allowing readers to gain a practical understanding of how the measures can impact the taxation of bilateral investments protected by tax treaties.

Over the past twenty years, foreign direct investments have spurred widespread liberalization of the foreign direct investment (FDI) regulatory framework. By opening up to foreign investors and encouraging FDI, which could result in increased capital and market access, many countries have improved the operational conditions for foreign affiliates and strengthened standards of treatment and protection. By assuring investors that their investment will be legally protected with closed bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and double taxation treaties (DTTs), this in turn creates greater interest in FDI.

The tax aspects of bilateral investment treaties, which, in most cases, provide the investor with the unique opportunity to directly initiate an international dispute settlement process? also known as investor-state dispute settlement? are often overlooked. The increasing number of tax-related investment disputes is a clear indicator of an urgent need to identify and examine the issues emerging in this area in an academic context.0 The aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between taxation and bilateral investment treaties. Twenty-one national reports from countries across the globe have been compiled in this volume. The reports, prepared for the conference?The Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties on Taxation?, which took place in Rust (Austria) from 2-4 July 2015, help bring to light tax aspects of bilateral investment treaties that have significant unexplored aspects.

In recent years, the treaties and strategies promoting global investment have changed dramatically. This book is a comprehensive assessment of the performance of these treaties. It presents the most recent literature on BITs and DTTs as well as their impact on foreign investments.

The State’s Power to Tax in the Investment Arbitration of Energy Disputes Outer Limits and the Energy Charter Treaty Cornel Marian States today are expected not only to regulate the efficient and safe production and distribution of energy to end-users but also to incentivize increased production of energy and the transition to clean energy. In recent years, states are increasingly relying on taxation measures to address the economic challenges affecting the energy sector. This book provides the first in-depth exploration of the intersection between the treaty investment protection regime and taxation measures, as these materialize in investor-state energy disputes. With the analysis of all known and pending cases under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), as well as non-ECT cases and bilateral investment treaties which have heavily influenced ECT jurisprudence, the author develops a deeply informed energy tax policy that greatly mitigates the points of tension in the current regime. He closely investigates the following elements of the subject: aligning the ECT Taxation Article with the taxation articles of other investment treaties; tracing current case law to the original arbitration decisions involving tax measures; extrapolating the interplay of taxation provisions with substantive standards of investment protection as reviewed by international arbitral tribunals; evaluating the outer limits of the state’s power to tax under investment treaties and public international law; and addressing how the Yukos arbitration case has changed the framework of taxation issues in investment arbitration. In a clear and concise manner, the author provides the necessary framework to dissect any taxation chapter of an investment treaty and presents tools for the development of long-term tax policy and the adoption of model taxation clauses for sustainable investment protection mechanisms. The book takes a giant step toward meeting the ECT’s mandate to promote long-term cooperation in the energy field with a set of defined objectives focusing on trade, cooperation, energy efficiency, and environmental protection. It will be of immeasurable value to states in developing tax-specific investment incentive schemes as well as to investors in completing a necessary level of due diligence against possible adverse tax measures. Practitioners and academics with a focus on international arbitration will benefit from the book’s systematic approach to the complex taxation provisions of investment protection treaties and more readily recognize the “red flags” attached to national taxation provisions and their impact on investments in the energy sector.

Now available as an ebook for the first time, this 2000 title in the Melland Schill Studies in International Law series is an examination of key issues concerning the treatment of foreign investment and the taxation of investors. It looks at some of the challenges which globalization has thrown up for the international community from a legal perspective and sets developments alongside more traditional approaches. Particular attention is paid to the needs and aspirations of developing countries and the implications for them of free trade orthodoxy. After outlining the established framework of laws concerning investment protection and taxation, the author looks at experiences in the European Union and the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement and at a range of disputes and legal developments to assess whether international legal regimes are responding adequately to meet the needs of states and investors alike. OECD initiatives on taxation and the aborted Multilateral Agreement on Investment negotiations are examined in conjunction with the relevant provisions of the World Trade Organization Agreements.

This paper investigates the costs and benefits of concluding double tax treaties with investment hubs. Based on a sample of 41 African economies from 1985–2015, the results suggest that signing treaties with investment hubs is not associated with additional investments; yet, these treaties tend to come with nonnegligible revenue losses. Building on a theoretical model, the paper investigates the role of treaty shopping in driving nominal investment flows and provides indirect evidence for its importance in the sample

With the ongoing expansion of outbound foreign direct investment (FDI) in the countries representing the BRICS economic bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) – and with all of them at the same time listed among the top seven countries plagued by tax evasion and avoidance in the guise of illicit out ows – the ve governments, both individually and through cooperative initiatives, have devised new international tax strategies that are proving to be of great interest and value to other countries, both developing and developed. The core of these strategies addresses the necessity of stemming the out ow of revenue while strongly supporting FDI, both inbound and outbound while complying with international obligations including those arising from human rights laws. This book is the rst in-depth commentary on this new and evolving area of international tax law. The detailed analysis covers the entire eld of BRICS international tax law, considering topics such as the following: – information exchange procedures and pitfalls; – response to the OECD’s Base Erosion and Pro t-Sharing (BEPS) initiative; – role of bilateral and multilateral double taxation conventions including the Multilateral Instrument and the Bilateral Investment Treaties; – thin capitalization; – transfer pricing; – controlled foreign corporation rules; – shortcomings related to authorities’ limited manpower; – international audit and investigation procedures; – the BRICS approach to residence and mandatory and binding arbitration; and – the BRICS approach to shaping the developing world’s international tax system. Notably, the author personally conducted interviews with senior international representatives of the BRICS tax authorities, as well as with leading BRICS academics and practitioners. Tax cases, together with human rights and investment cases and administrative guidelines in all ve countries are also included in the analysis. The study concludes with recommendations for improving each of the ve countries’ tax law and procedures, especially in the area of dispute resolution. The author’s goal is to extend the existing body of knowledge of the BRICS’ international tax laws in order to assist in developing an understanding of the BRICS approach to dealing with evasion and avoidance: an approach which facilitates both outbound and inbound FDI, simpli es tax authority administration and establishes a basis for resolving international disputes which is compatible with sovereignty. In achieving this objective, the author has produced a major work that is of immeasurable value to tax advisers, government and governance of cials, academics and researchers both in developing international taxation strategies and in helping to resolve disputes with tax authorities.