scholarly journals Revisiting the Case of Customary International Tax Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-103
Author(s):  
Dirk Broekhuijsen ◽  
Irma Mosquera Valderrama

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.

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 745-766
Author(s):  
Irma Johanna Mosquera Valderrama

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 747-769
Author(s):  
Céline Braumann

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 438
Author(s):  
Carlos María López Espadafor

Abstract: International Tax Law has grown significantly and this has caused a considerable in­crease in the importance of the legislative production affecting it, through both national and internatio­nal rules. Within those rules of international origin, conventions intended to avoid international double taxation stand out, essentially those following the OECD model. Along with this and also within Eu­ropean Union law, there has been a significant structuring of the rules involving international taxation. That said, we can never lose sight -upon the basis of the dogmatic structuring of international taxation- of the General International Law rules affecting it. These may occasionally be overshadowed by the rules of the countless international conventions on the matter, but the former rules cannot cease to be taken as the basis. Therefore, the globalized structuring of international taxation cannot ignore the gene­ral principles upon which it will be based, either as direct sources in matters of international tax law, or as a sub-discipline within tax law proper. Indeed, the national structuring of international tax law cannot be carried out just by taking into consideration the legislative results of globalization, but also by never losing sight of the principles that lead to general international law tax matters. Even though globaliza­tion as a process begins to play a greater role in tax law issues, the country’s national examination of international tax law cannot divert from the general basis of this tax law sub-discipline.Keywords: International taxation, Financial and Tax Law, International Tax Law, General International Law, sources of Law.Resumen: La fiscalidad internacional ha experimentado un gran crecimiento, aumentando con­siderablemente el volumen de producción normativa que le afecta, ya se trate de normas de origen internacional o de normas de origen interno. Dentro de las fuentes de origen internacional que le afec­tan, destacan especialmente los convenios para evitar la doble imposición internacional, esencialmente siguiendo el Modelo de la OCDE. Junto a ello, también dentro de la disciplina jurídica de la Unión Eu­ropea se ha producido un importante desarrollo de las normas que afectan a la fiscalidad internacional. Ahora bien, en la base de la construcción dogmática de la fiscalidad internacional no se deben perder de vista las normas de Derecho Internacional General que le afectan, ensombrecidas a veces por las normas de los numerosísimos convenios internacionales en la materia, pero que éstos no pueden dejar de tomar como base. Así pues, el desarrollo globalizado de la fiscalidad internacional no puede desconocer los principios generales que le deben servir de base, ya sea como fuentes directas en materia de fiscalidad internacional, ya sea como bases esenciales sobre las que conformar la fiscalidad internacional, como subdisciplina dentro de la disciplina tributaria. Incluso el desarrollo a nivel interno de la fiscalidad inter­nacional no se puede hacer sólo tomando en consideración los resultados normativos del fenómeno de la globalización, sino que debe hacerse también sin perder nunca de vista los principios que derivan en materia tributaria del Derecho Internacional General. Aunque el fenómeno globalizador cobre un espe­cial protagonismo en materia tributaria, la contemplación interna de la fiscalidad internacional no puede alejarse de las bases generales de esta subdisciplina tributaria.Palabras clave: Fiscalidad internacional, Derecho Financiero y Tributario, Derecho Internacional Tri­butario, Derecho Internacional General, fuentes del derecho.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 312
Author(s):  
Shkumbin Asllani

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.


2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lefkowitz

As traditionally conceived, the creation of a new rule of customary international law requires that states believe the law to already require the conduct specified in the rule. Distinguishing the process whereby a customary rule comes to exist from the process whereby that customary rule becomes law dissolves this chronological paradox. Creation of a customary rule requires only that states come to believe that there exists a normative standard to which they ought to adhere, not that this standard is law. What makes the customary rule law is adherence by officials in the international legal system to a rule of recognition that treats custom as a source of valid law. Confusion over this distinction arises because in the international legal system the same agents whose beliefs give rise to a customary rule are the legal officials whose adherence to the rule of recognition leads them to deem that rule legally valid. The proposed solution to the chronological paradox employs H.L.A. Hart’s analysis of the concepts of law and a legal system, and in particular, the idea of a rule of recognition. Yet Hart famously denies the existence of a rule of recognition for international law. Hart’s denial rests on a failure to distinguish between the ontological and authoritative resolution functions of a rule of recognition, however. Once such a distinction is drawn, it can be argued that customary international law rests on a rule of recognition that serves the ontological function of making customary norms legal, though not the authoritative resolution function of settling disputes over the alleged legality of particular norms.


2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-149
Author(s):  
Fernando R. Tesón

AbstractScholars have debated the meaning of the foreign-relations clauses in the U.S. Constitution. This essay attempts to outline the foreign-relations clauses that an ideal constitution should have. A liberal constitution must enable the government to implement a morally defensible foreign policy. The first priority is the defense of liberty. The constitution must allow the government to effectively defend persons, territory, and liberal institutions themselves. The liberal government should also contribute to the advancement of global freedom, subject to a number of conditions, especially cost. The essay recommends improved methods to incorporate treaties and customary international law into the constitutional structure. Treaties should be approved by the whole legislature and should generally be self-executing. Customary law should be genuine, not fake, and consistent with liberal principles. Finally, based on economic theory and evidence, the essay recommends that liberal constitutions prohibit the government from erecting trade barriers. It concludes by tentatively proposing concrete constitutional language to implement these recommendations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-193
Author(s):  
Marcin Jamroży ◽  
Magdalena Janiszewska

Abstract The paper aims to identify the significant tax barriers to foreign direct investment (FDI) in Poland, in particular in the form of a permanent establishment (PE), in the context of new developments in international tax law. Due to the recommendations of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, launched by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to prevent international tax avoidance, the understanding of PE has changed, which could lead to changes in business models. The purpose of the research is also to identify the significant tax barriers to economic activity in Poland, in particular in the form of PE, against the international tax law context. The study conducted by the authors relies on the most current tax rulings and judgments of administrative courts issued between 2017 and 2020. It is concluded that not so much the effective tax burdens but the regulatory ambiguity surrounding the tax obligations may contribute to the reduction of Poland's attractiveness as a location for FDI.


Author(s):  
Duško Glodić

This article explores the role and importance accorded to customary international law in contemporary international law. First of all, the author has explored a number of issues related to this topic. Particluarly, the manner in which norms of customary international law are being established through the relevant State practice and the formation of opinio juris, as well as how the changes in contemporary international relations generated some chages in custromary international law were examined from both theretical and practical point of view. Than, the article elaborated, in a more concrete manner, different ways of impact of changes in international relations and subjects of international law to the formation of customary international rules. It has also paid attention to the evolution in international law and its reflection to the creation of international legal norms, including customary rules. The article concluded that, despite an ever increasing number of treaties, customary rules are still present in international law and are important for regulation of international relations, thus ensuring that dynamics and developments within the international community are followed by the development of legal framework.


2012 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Dahlman

This article claims that the requirement of opinio juris in the formation of customary international law means that a general practice must be generally accepted among states to become customary law. The article argues that opinio juris serves an important function. It prevents generally unwanted general practice from becoming customary law.


Author(s):  
Aryeh Neier

This chapter focuses on the two sources of international law: custom and treaties. Customary international law is the term used to describe rules that are so widely accepted and so deeply held that they help to define what it means to belong to a civilized society. The question of whether customary international law is binding on the United States came before the U.S. Supreme Court as long ago as 1900 in a case called Paquete Habana. Whereas treaty law often covers the same ground as customary international law. Torture is forbidden by customary international law, for example, and prohibitions against torture are also set forth in several multilateral treaties. The effect is to reinforce recognition that a particular norm set forth in a treaty has the status of customary law.


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