Legal and policy perspectives on treaty shopping with special emphasis on equity and neutrality: pending issues and possible solutions

• Main Author: Stathis, Dionisios D.
• Published: University of Manchester 2003
• Subjects: 382
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.488076

International tax planning lies in the borderline between legal and policy focus. Whilst its legal dimension is rather straightforward, policy elements may stem from various economic, political or even moral sources and, therefore, require some common ground for evaluation. In this respect, the fundamental principles of equity (or fairness) and neutrality (or efficiency) may assist in filtering all relevant ideas into a consistent and integral conceptual environment. It is exactly in this conceptual environment that the improper and/or abusive use of tax treaties, commonly referred to as "treaty shopping", is examined. The current study represents a modest contribution to the debate on treaty shopping, which is deemed to be one of the sharpest edges of modern international tax planning. The study. principally, attempts to supplement the reader with a consistent legal and policy framework of the most highly acclaimed anti-treaty shopping approaches both in a treaty and a domestic context. Moreover, this study extends to peripheral aspects of tax treaty abuse, such as its possible linkages with international trade imperatives or its compatibility with regional trading blocs' objectives and policies. In the latter case, tax coordination policies in the European Union serve as an example. The basic purpose of the thesis is to arrive at effective and pragmatic solutions to well-defined treaty abuse problems, as they might stem from general research. Any proposed solution must conform, to the extent possible, to equity and neutrality concerns.