The International Taxation System

International taxation is a vital issue for a growing number of business and individuals across the world. The need to understand how the international system of taxation works is therefore a subject of importance to many people. The International Taxation System provides this understanding by bringing together experts from the most important fields in the subject who have each authored chapters especially for this book. They each provide brief, structured and easy to understand explanations of the key concepts edited together into one volume to provide a unique, very readable, guide to the field. While this text is aimed at masters or advanced undergraduate level students, it will also be of interest to those requiring a professional understanding of the topic. Each chapter introduces a different aspect of the international taxation system, explains the important issues to be understood in each case and provides suggestions for discussion and further reading.

This book provides an introduction to the application of the United States international taxation system to taxpayers investing or transacting business in the US and other countries. It sets forth the principles adopted by the US in taxing US or foreign individuals and corporations as they invest, work, or carry on a trade or business in the US or abroad.

Explains the concepts that underlie international tax law and double tax treaties and provides an insight into how international tax policy, law and practice operate to ultimately impose tax on international business and investment.

Tax practitioners, multinational companies and national tax authorities have relied on this indispensable resource since its first edition nearly two decades ago. The Primer provides the reader with an introductory analysis of the major issues that a country must confront in designing its international tax rules and coordinating those rules with the tax systems of its trading partners, with numerous examples drawn from the practices of both developed and developing countries. This fourth edition follows the format and sequence of earlier editions but adds details on ongoing developments surrounding the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project, updates to the OECD and UN Model Conventions, the 2017 US tax reform, the EU anti-tax avoidance directive, and continuing issues concerning the digital economy. The book strikes a balance between the specific and the general by illustrating the fundamental principles and structure of international tax with frequent reference to actual practice in a variety of countries. Coverage includes the following: • role of the tax adviser in planning international transactions; • taxation of residents on foreign income and of nonresidents on domestic income; • mechanisms used to mitigate the risks to taxpayers of international double taxation; • transfer pricing rules to prevent the avoidance of tax by multinational corporations; • anti-avoidance measures dealing with tax havens, treaty shopping, and other offensive tax planning activities; • overview and analysis of the provisions of bilateral tax treaties and the OECD and UN Model Treaties on which they are generally based; and • challenges posed by taxation of income derived from the digital economy. An extensive glossary of international tax terms is included. With examples of typical international tax planning techniques and descriptions of the work of the major international organizations that play an important role with respect to international tax, the Primer remains the preeminent first recourse for professionals in the field. Although of greatest value to students, tax practitioners and government officials confronting international tax for the first time, this book is sure to continue in use by tax professionals at every level of experience and on a worldwide basis.

This Second Edition provides an updated and succinct, yet highly informative overview of the key issues surrounding taxation and international law from Reuven Avi-Yonah, a leading authority on international tax. This small but powerful book surveys the nuances of the varying taxation systems, offering expert insight into the scope, reach and nature of international tax regimes, as well as providing an excellent platform for understanding how the principles of jurisdiction apply to tax and the connected tools that are used by countries in imposing taxes. It includes new material on BEPS, the EU Anti Tax Avoidance Package, and the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

This book covers a broad range of the most challenging topics in US international taxation laws before breaking into separate discussions of the issues related to both inbound and outbound taxes. Real examples and selected seminal cases are analysed at the end of each chapter to simplify even the most abstract tax provisions. Practitioners, academics, and advanced students specializing in specific areas of international finance will welcome this comprehensive overview of the US tax system's international laws.

The book describes the difficulties of the current international corporate income tax system. It starts by describing its origins and how changes, such as the development of multinational enterprises and digitalization have created fundamental problems, not foreseen at its inception. These include tax competition—as governments try to attract tax bases through low tax rates or incentives, and profit shifting, as companies avoid tax by reporting profits in jurisdictions with lower tax rates. The book then discusses solutions, including both evolutionary changes to the current system and fundamental reform options. It covers both reform efforts already under way, for example under the Inclusive Framework at the OECD, and potential radical reform ideas developed by academics.