2 Sources of the International Law of Taxation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongler Peter
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Main Part ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Tax Treaties ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Mutual Exchange ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
System P ◽  
International Tax ◽  
Different Sources

Chapter 2 is the main part of the book and it is structured along the different sources of the international law of taxation. This includes (i) treaties, (ii) customary international law, (iii) general principles of international law, and (iv) soft law. The chapter contains a comprehensive outline of the functioning of double tax treaties and other treaties focusing on tax matters such as treaties on mutual exchange of taxpayer information. The entire OECD MC is discussed and reference is made to brief case studies in order to allow the reader a better understanding of the international tax regime. A particular focus is in on the functioning the allocation rules in Arts 6–22 OECD model convention, however, this chapter also includes general remarks on the interpretation of tax treaties and soft law used in international tax matters. The chapter closes with a concise overview of the EU tax system.

Taxes and Custom: Tax Treaties as Evidence for Customary International Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 747-769
Author(s):  
Céline Braumann
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Field Research ◽  
International Taxation ◽  
Tax Law ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Tax Treaties ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
State Practice ◽  
International Tax

ABSTRACT Scholars of public international law have not paid attention to international tax law in the past. This article seeks to fill this vacuum and to foster cross-field research by studying customary international law in international tax law. It assesses the value of international tax law’s most prominent feature for the identification of custom: the dense network of almost identical, bilateral double tax treaties. The primacy of source-based taxation for business profits serves as a test case for this purpose. The International Law Commission’s conclusions on the identification of customary international law constitute the theoretical reference point that informs the empirical analysis. Thus, this article simultaneously serves as a treadmill test to appraise whether the International Law Commission’s conclusions actually offer practical guidance. The analysis culminates in the conclusion that tax treaties have only little value for the identification of customary international law. First, tax treaties alone do not entail representative state practice. Second, tax treaties give rise to the pitfalls of the Baxter paradox. Third, the tax treaty network yields no evidence that any state practice originates from opinio juris. Judging by the evidence brought into play so far, states likely display uniform treaty practice in international taxation because they believe it is in their best interest, not due to any legal conviction.

Domestic Anti-Avoidance Legislation in Relation to Tax Treaty Law

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 312
Author(s):  
Shkumbin Asllani
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
International Taxation ◽  
Main Principle ◽  
Legal Practice ◽  
Tax Treaties ◽  
International Tax ◽  
Tax Payers ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Domestic Law

In today’s international taxation most of the developing countries enter into tax treaties which are drafted in line with the OECD MC to eliminate double taxation. Yet, is well-known fact that tax treaties in practice are abused by tax payers, therefore, majority of states have introduce legislation specifically designed to prevent tax avoidance and protect their domestic interests. In legal practice and literature the act of overriding international tax treaties and denying treaty benefits in favour of domestic law provisions threatens main principle of international law and therefore is questionable to what extend the relationship between domestic law and international tax treaty agreements bridges the international norms.

scholarly journals Revisiting the Case of Customary International Tax Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-103
Author(s):  
Dirk Broekhuijsen ◽  
Irma Mosquera Valderrama
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Taxation ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Tax Law ◽  
Profit Shifting ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The Creation ◽  
International Tax

Abstract Customary international tax law has traditionally not received a lot of acclaim in international tax law literature. However, the infrastructure of international tax law is becoming increasingly multilateral. The recent adoption of the Multilateral Instrument and the creation of the Inclusive Framework, two initiatives related to the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, have accelerated the width of cooperation on international tax matters. For that reason, the authors (re)consider the existence of customary international law in the area of international tax law. They conclude that, perhaps contrary to the intuition of tax lawyers, the evidence in favour of customary international tax law is building up. The question whether customary law exists within the area of international taxation is therefore not misplaced.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.2 Asia: Coordinated by Yuko Nishitani and Béligh Elbalti, 36 South Caucasus: South Caucasian Perspectives on the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kupelyants Hayk
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Civil Code ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The Hague

This chapter explores South Caucasian perspectives on the Hague Principles. The rules of private international law in all three South Caucasian countries—Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan—are primarily contained in statutes: the Chapter of Private International Law in Armenia (1998) and separate statutes on Private International Law in Azerbaijan (2000) and Georgia (1998). Article 1253(1) of the Armenian Civil Code and Article 1(2) of the Azerbaijani Act provides that the courts may apply international customs in the area of private international law. In so far as the Hague Principles amount to or eventually crystallize into customary international law, the courts may give effect to the Hague Principles in that manner. Before that happens, there is nothing in the legal systems of either of the three jurisdictions preventing the courts from citing for explanatory and persuasive reasons soft law instruments, such as the Hague Principles. That said, stylistically the judgments of the South Caucasian jurisdictions are often drafted in a very concise and skeletal manner. Soft law instruments and commentary might influence the reasoning of the judges, but they would rarely refer to them in the text of the judgment.

2. Sources of international law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court

This chapter provides an overview of the legal sources in international law. Sources of law determine the rules of legal society and, like national legal societies, the international legal society has its own set of rules. The discussion begins in Section 2.2 with article 38 of the International Court of Justice Statute. Section 2.3 discusses treaties, Section 2.4 covers customary international law, and Section 2.5 turns to general principles of international law. Attention then turns to the two additional sources listed in article 38. Section 2.6 discusses judicial decisions and Section 2.7 examines academic contributions. Section 2.8 discusses the role played by unilateral statements. The chapter then turns to the issue of a hierarchy of sources in Section 2.9 and concludes in Section 2.10 with a discussion of non-binding instruments and so-called ‘soft law’.

scholarly journals BEPS principal purpose test and customary international law

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 745-766
Author(s):  
Irma Johanna Mosquera Valderrama
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Public Law ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Tax Law ◽  
Profit Shifting ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Arm’S Length Principle ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Subjective Element ◽  
International Tax

AbstractThe overall aim of this article is to analyse the principal purpose test as an emerging rule of customary international tax law. By means of the principal purpose test, the tax administration can deny the tax treaty benefit if one of the principal purposes of the action undertaken by the taxpayer was to obtain a benefit. This principal purpose test has been developed by the OECD with the political support of the G20 as one of the actions to tackle Base Erosion and Profit Shifting by multinationals (BEPS Project). At the time of writing, 137 jurisdictions including non-OECD, non-G-20 countries have committed to the implementation of the principal purpose test in their current and future tax treaties. Based on the analysis of the objective element (state practice) and subjective element (accepted as law), there are indications that this principal purpose test can emerge as a principle of customary international law. In the past, international tax law scholars addressed the customary international law regarding the OECD/UN tax treaty Models, the OECD Harmful Tax Practices, and the arm’s length principle. However, current international tax developments, including the BEPS Project, call for an analysis of the main elements of customary international law in respect of the principal purpose test, a general anti-avoidance rule that by its own nature, is often general, vague, and imprecise. Therefore, the findings of this article can be useful for generating new areas of research by international public law, international law, and international tax law experts.

3. Locating law in the international system

2021 ◽  
pp. 48-68
Author(s):  
Nicole Scicluna
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International System ◽  
The Body ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
System P ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
Domestic Level ◽  
Law Making

This chapter examines the sources of international law. International legal rules are not as easily located as their domestic law counterparts. Whereas at the domestic level, only a relatively small number of bodies are endowed with law-making powers, at the international level, all states have law-making capacity. Moreover, state acts are not the only source of international legal rules. The result is a mosaic of law-making processes, forums, and regimes. The chapter focuses on the two most significant sources of international law: treaties and customary international law. It then turns to the relationship between international law-making and the principle of state sovereignty. Finally, the chapter considers the body of non-binding norms, which increasingly permeates and regulates all facets of international life. This so-called soft law takes many forms; it is often highly influential in its own right and may harden into binding law over time.

2. Sources of international law

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-38
Author(s):  
Anders Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court

This chapter provides an overview of the legal sources in international law. Sources of law determine the rules of legal society and, like national legal societies, the international legal society has its own set of rules. The discussion begins in Section 2.2 with article 38 of the International Court of Justice Statute. Section 2.3 discusses treaties, Section 2.4 covers customary international law, and Section 2.5 turns to general principles of international law. Attention then turns to the two additional sources listed in article 38. Section 2.6 discusses judicial decisions and Section 2.7 examines academic contributions. Section 2.8 discusses the role played by unilateral statements. The chapter then turns to the issue of a hierarchy of sources in Section 2.9 and concludes in Section 2.10 with a discussion of non-binding instruments and so-called ‘soft law’.

A Normative Framework for Promoting Compliance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irit Mevorach
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Law ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Optimal Solutions ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Normative Framework

This chapter completes the proposed normative framework for cross-border insolvency. It considers the problem of compliance with a cross-border insolvency system by countries and implementing institutions. The previous chapters have shown how the choice and use of certain international legal sources, such as customary international law (CIL), can strengthen the system, close gaps, and address biases that may otherwise impede the choices of optimal solutions. Yet, notwithstanding the pervasiveness and behavioural force of CIL, the observance of the norms is not guaranteed. Written instruments, even if precise and comprehensive, and designed effectively, do not assure compliance either. Even where so-called soft law is in fact hard in important ways, countries might still underperform. This chapter suggests how compliance can be induced, and discusses which measures can be more, or less effective in that regard, including in view of decision-making constraints.

Specialty: Arresting an elusive ‘right’ in European extradition law

2020 ◽  
pp. 203228442097699
Author(s):  
Alex Tinsley
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Eu Legislation ◽  
European Situation ◽  
Universal Rule ◽  
The Eu

Specialty (a near-universal rule of extradition law whereby a person extradited cannot be prosecuted or punished for matters other than those for which they were extradited) is viewed traditionally as a tool to protect the sovereignty of the extraditing state, rather than as an individual right. A review of international material shows a dispute as to the existence of a rule or principle of specialty in customary international law and emphasises themes such as enforceability and standing of individuals to plead violations. Against that backdrop, the European situation is characterised by the presence of broad specialty rules which are not always implemented in legislation by requesting states, leading to refusal of extradition in some cases. Arguably, combinations of the EU law duty of conforming interpretation and European human rights law principles may offer tools to overcome such situations, approaching protection of specialty ‘rights’ whatever the original doctrinal rationale. If they do not, and international cooperation is further undermined by ineffective specialty protection, EU legislation or the development of soft law standards may be a useful way forward.

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