Taxation of Digital Services Under Trade Agreements

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 1015-1039
Author(s):  
Chris Noonan ◽  
Victoria Plekhanova
Keyword(s):  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Tax Planning ◽  
Fair Share ◽  
Double Taxation ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Digital Services ◽  
Data Flows ◽  
Trade Regimes ◽  
International Obligations ◽  
Tax Bases

ABSTRACT The digitalization of the economy combined with sophisticated tax planning has enabled some multinationals to avoid paying almost any income tax in most market jurisdictions from which they earn substantial profits. Faced with financial and political pressures to act, market states have sought to expand their tax bases so that these multinationals, especially those providing internet advertising and digital intermediation services, pay their ‘fair’ share of tax. The failure to reach an agreed outcome among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Group of Twenty members has led to an increasing number of states to take unilateral measures. In doing so, states need to navigate their obligations under double taxation agreements and trade agreements. An examination of typical double taxation agreements, the General Agreement on Trade in Services, and recent preferential trade agreements shows that states have limited options to expand their tax bases in compliance with their international obligations. Here, the imposition of an appropriately designed digital services tax has political and legal advantages. The growing volume of cross-border digital services and data flows suggests that greater engagement between the international tax and trade regimes is likely in the future, including in the negotiations of disciplines on electronic commerce.

Why Trade Agreements are not Setting Information Free: The Lost History and Reinvigorated Debate over Cross-Border Data Flows, Human Rights, and National Security

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (04) ◽  
pp. 671-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSAN AARONSON
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Free Flow ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Digital Rights ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Data Flows ◽  
Free Flow Of Information ◽  
Flow Of Information

AbstractHerein, we examine how the United States and the European Union use trade agreements to advance the free flow of information and to promote digital rights online. In the 1980s and 1990s, after US policymakers tried to include language governing the free flow of information in trade agreements, other nations feared a threat to their sovereignty and their ability to restrict cross-border data flows in the interest of privacy or national security.In the twenty-first century, again many states have not responded positively to US and EU efforts to facilitate the free flow of information. They worry that the US dominates both the Internet economy and Internet governance in ways that benefit its interests. After the Snowden allegations, many states adopted strategies that restricted rather than enhanced the free flow of information. Without deliberate intent, efforts to set information free through trade liberalization may be making the Internet less free.Finally, the two trade giants are not fully in agreement on Internet freedom, but neither has linked policies to promote the free flow of information with policies to advance digital rights. Moreover, they do not agree as to when restrictions on information are necessary and when they are protectionist.

Regulating Cross-Border Data Flows in a Data-Driven World: How WTO Law Can Contribute

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-416
Author(s):  
Andrew D Mitchell ◽  
Neha Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Data Flows ◽  
The World

Abstract While the free cross-border movement of data is essential to many aspects of international trade, several countries have imposed restrictions on these data flows. The pre-internet rules of the World Trade Organization (`WTO') discipline some of these restrictions, but they are insufficient. Unfortunately, so are the electronic commerce chapters in modern preferential trade agreements. This article argues that reformed WTO rules, which take account of the policy challenges of the data-driven economy, are required. These reforms would facilitate internet openness while ensuring consumer and business trust, promoting digital inclusion of developing countries, and incorporating clear exceptions for legitimate domestic policies.

scholarly journals The UK and Digital Trade: Which way forward?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Jones ◽  
Beatriz Kira ◽  
Anna Sands ◽  
Danilo B. Garrido Alves
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Data Flows ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Uk

The internet and digital technologies are upending global trade. Industries and supply chains are being transformed, and the movement of data across borders is now central to the operation of the global economy. Provisions in trade agreements address many aspects of the digital economy – from cross-border data flows, to the protection of citizens’ personal data, and the regulation of the internet and new technologies like artificial intelligence and algorithmic decision-making. The UK government has identified digital trade as a priority in its Global Britain strategy and one of the main sources of economic growth to recover from the pandemic. It wants the UK to play a leading role in setting the international standards and regulations that govern the global digital economy. The regulation of digital trade is a fast-evolving and contentious issue, and the US, European Union (EU), and China have adopted different approaches. Now that the UK has left the EU, it will need to navigate across multiple and often conflicting digital realms. The UK needs to decide which policy objectives it will prioritise, how to regulate the digital economy domestically, and how best to achieve its priorities when negotiating international trade agreements. There is an urgent need to develop a robust, evidence-based approach to the UK’s digital trade strategy that takes into account the perspectives of businesses, workers, and citizens, as well as the approaches of other countries in the global economy. This working paper aims to inform UK policy debates by assessing the state of play in digital trade globally. The authors present a detailed analysis of five policy areas that are central to discussions on digital trade for the UK: cross-border data flows and privacy; internet access and content regulation; intellectual property and innovation; e-commerce (including trade facilitation and consumer protection); and taxation (customs duties on e-commerce and digital services taxes). In each of these areas the authors compare and contrast the approaches taken by the US, EU and China, discuss the public policy implications, and examine the choices facing the UK.

CETA, TTIP, TiSA, and Data Protection

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Berka
Keyword(s):  
Data Protection ◽  
Data Privacy ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Safe Harbor ◽  
Digital Services ◽  
Data Flows ◽  
The Us ◽  
Protection Legislation ◽  
European Side ◽  
The Eu

Trade agreements cannot avoid dealing with digital services and data sharing. In the cases of TTIP, CETA, and TiSA, different concepts of data protection collide and it is the fear of the European side that the EU’s acquis on data privacy could get compromised through the liberalization of data flows. This chapter analyses the possible impact of these agreements on data protection. It refers to the European Parliament’s call to include a horizontal self-standing clause in TTIP to exclude the current and future EU data protection legislation from being traded in TTIP, a claim which is based on Article XIV of the GATS. In dealing with these issues, it will be considered further that the EU and the US are discussing data transfers and data protection in other fora as well, namely on the tracks of the new Safe Harbor Agreement and the Data Protection Umbrella Agreement.

scholarly journals EXPORT OF SERVICES: IS DATA LOCALIZATION A BARRIER?

2020 ◽  
pp. 22-32
Author(s):  
A. A. Koval ◽  
A. D. Levashenko
Keyword(s):  
Personal Data ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Digital Services ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Data Flows ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The export of services is not related to the physical movement of goods across the border but is directly dependent on the cross-border movement of data. Cross-border data flows play a vital role in the cross-border provision of digital services. The international community pays particular attention to issues regarding the application of data localization policies. Indeed, this requirement significantly affects global trade in services. The data localization policy provides, according to the WTO, limiting the ability of companies to transfer data about internal users to foreign countries. Developing countries (Russia, China, etc.) involve the application of the localization requirement, i.e., first records in the country, personal data of citizens, while the EU and the US consider the total need of data localization as a barrier to international trade. The article assesses the impact of data regulation requirements on the export and import of digital services.

Digital Trade Provisions in Preferential Trade Agreements: Introducing a New Dataset

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mira Burri ◽  
Rodrigo Polanco
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Commerce ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
Electronic Transactions ◽  
Data Flows ◽  
Rule Making

ABSTRACT The article introduces a new dataset that seeks to comprehensively trace developments in the area of digital trade governance. The TAPED (Trade Agreements Provisions on Electronic-Commerce and Data) dataset includes a detailed mapping and coding of all preferential trade agreements that cover chapters, provisions, annexes, and side documents that directly or indirectly regulate digital trade. This article presents the methodology behind TAPED and provides an overview of the evolution of digital trade provisions in preferential trade agreements, highlighting also some emerging trends. It then takes a look at the substance of selected rules found particularly in electronic commerce chapters and maps the diversity of approaches in tackling issues meant to facilitate online trade, such as the customs duty moratorium on electronic transactions or paperless trading, and discusses the very recent rule-making with regard to cross-border data flows. This is of course merely a glimpse of the wealth of information that TAPED provides, and the goal of this article is simply to uncover the great variety and the complexity of the norms found in the preferential trade agreements on digital trade governance, which reveals the value of the dataset.

Cross-Border Data Flows and Increased Enforcement

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 58-61
Author(s):  
Peter McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Cross Border ◽  
Data Flows

scholarly journals ICAN- International Common Assessment Number: The need of the hour

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
G.V. Satya Sekhar
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Tax Planning ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Double Taxation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Corporate World ◽  
Transfer Prices ◽  
And Control ◽  
Uniform Assessment

When   there is a system of international financial reporting system (IFRS) is much in discussion, why the policy makers are not thinking for ICAN( International Common Assessment Number) in place of PAN (Permanent Assessment Number)as in the  in case of assessees in India.    In this situation, any individual’s income earned any where in the world can become  under a common tax planning tool.The government of India has agreements with most other nations that determine how multinational companies are taxed. In other words, the tax treaties attempt to avoid the double-taxation that would occur if two nations taxed the same income. Since transfer prices represent revenue to the upstream division and an expense to the downstream division, the transfer price affects the calculation of divisional profits that represent taxable income in the nations where the divisions are based. Further, double taxation avoidance agreements also helpful for monitoring and control of fraudulent affairs in the corporate world. In this context, this paper is intended to examine the significance of uniform assessment system in the entire world and need for common assessment number. 

Mergers and acquisitions in Morocco: reality and perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Ibrahimi ◽  
Jalal Eddine Liassini
Keyword(s):  
Mergers And Acquisitions ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
The Political ◽  
African Region ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Variable ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
The Cross

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to address certain gaps and contribute to enriching the literature on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Africa; describe the phenomenon taking into account the particularity of the country; address recommendations to public policies and investors and make this article a ground-breaking article on research into the phenomenon of the M&A market in North Africa.Design/methodology/approachWith description and an exploratory intention, the authors develop phenomenon driven research. As appropriate phenomenon driven research, the authors focus on characteristics of Moroccan M&A market. The authors use scientific investigation to provide descriptions and explanations of the phenomena in order to add a new perspective to the M&A literature in North African region. The authors work on the particularity of companies in Morocco, typology of M&A, geographic areas, socio-economic indicators, trade agreements, politics and culture.FindingsUnderstand that the phenomenon of domestic M&A is a phenomenon of big cities and knows the participation of small and medium enterprises. The political variable, the trade agreements and the socio-economic weight of the countries influence the cross-border M&A in to out. Sharing a border and common culture has no impact on cross-border M&A but the history of colonization has an impact.Research limitations/implicationsThe scientific contribution is first an extension of the neoclassical theory on the initiation of M&A operations. Throughout these 29 years of history, the existence of external shocks such as regulations has influenced the activity of M&A operations. Privatization, partial opening of sectors to foreign investment tax incentives have contributed to the realization of M&A operations.Practical implicationsThis paper also has an economic and practical contribution, as it informs about the absence of M&A operation in the agriculture and agri-food sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. This region recognizes a food shortage that will increase by 70–100% between 2010 and 2050 with a strong population growth. The authors also note that regulations, royal directives, influence the activity and geographic choices of M&A. The political variable remains decisive for the cross-border M&A activity between Morocco and Algeria, but encourages acquisitions in countries in West and Central Africa.Originality/valueM&A research in Africa is poor and suffers from several shortcomings; these barriers push researchers to produce fewer papers on this phenomenon. Through data collection, description and explanation, the authors tried to produce a paper focusing on the M&A phenomenon in a country in North Africa. To the authors’ knowledge, no article has dealt with this phenomenon in this country which is known for its strong M&A activity.

Moral und Grenzverhalten im Steuerrecht – Zur Rechtsverwirklichung im Steuerrecht und zur neuen Anzeigepflicht für Steuergestaltungen

2020 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-210
Author(s):  
Philipp Lamprecht
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Tax Planning ◽  
Tax Law ◽  
Tax Morale ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Legal Limits ◽  
Tax Benefits ◽  
Substantive Law

The enforcement of tax law in practice depends to a large extent on the tax morale of taxpayers. Behaviour which goes to (or even exceeds) the legal limits in order to achieve tax benefits, such as aggressive tax planning, endangers tax morale. However, anti-abuse provisions in substantive law have not proved to be very effective against such behaviour. It is therefore of interest to the legal system as a whole that German tax law, with its obligation to report potentially aggressive cross-border tax planning arrangements, has introduced a means that promises to counteract such behaviour much more effectively than previous approaches.

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