Taxation-Transnational Commons^™

A Hitchhiker’S Guide To The Oecd’S International Vat/Gst Guidelines, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

The OECD’s International VAT/GST Guidelines, which were released in their consolidated form at the OECD’s Global Forum on VAT in Paris in late 2015, are the culmination of nearly two decades of efforts to provide internationally accepted standards for consumption taxation of cross-border trade, particularly trade in services and intangibles. This article provides a roadmap to the Guidelines, especially for readers who may be unfamiliar with consumption tax principles, in general, or VATs in particular. Part II of the article provides the background to the Guidelines, describing the basic features of a VAT, the problems with which the Guidelines are …

Taxing Remote Sales In The Digital Age: A Global Perspective, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

This Article addresses three fundamental questions raised by the taxation of remote sales in the digital age from a global perspective, but focuses on the implications, if any, of the answers to these questions in the global context for the U.S. subnational retail sales tax. First, should remote sales be taxed under a consumption tax? Second, if the answer to the first question is “yes,” where should such sales be taxed? Third, how can remote sales be taxed effectively under a consumption tax in the digital age?4

Hillenmeyer, "Convenience Of The Employer," And The Taxation Of Nonresidents' Incomes, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

In Hillenmeyer v. Cleveland Board of Review, Ohio’s Supreme Court unanimously declared that Cleveland’s municipal income tax violated the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution by taxing a nonresident athlete under the “games-played” method rather than the “duty-days” method. According to the Ohio court, the games-played approach overtaxed Mr. Hillenmeyer by allocating to Cleveland Mr. Hillenmeyer’s compensation from the Chicago Bears using the percentage of the Bears’ games played in Cleveland. By this approach, Cleveland taxed Mr. Hillenmeyer extraterritorially, reaching income he earned from services he performed for the Bears outside of Cleveland’s borders. Due Process, the Ohio …

Designing A 21st Century Corporate Tax – An Advance U.S. Minimum Tax On Foreign Income And Other Measures To Protect The Base, Stephen E. Shay, J. Clifton Fleming Jr., Robert J. Peroni

Faculty Scholarship

The 21st Century has seen unprecedented levels of corporate tax aggressiveness and avoidance. This article continues our exploration of second best international tax reforms that would protect the U.S. corporate tax base and have some likelihood of adoption. In this case, we consider how a U.S. minimum tax on foreign income earned by a controlled foreign corporation should be designed to protect the United States against erosion of its corporate income tax base and to combat tax competition by low-tax intermediary countries. In the authors’ view, a minimum tax should be an interim levy that preserves the residual U.S. tax …

Of More Than Usual Interest: The Taxing Problem Of Debt Principal, Charlene D. Luke

Seattle University Law Review

Leverage is an essential but often troubling component of the U.S. market. The financial crisis highlighted the risks and complexity of a leverage web that includes flesh-and-blood people from all walks of life and paper people from all corners of the business and investment world. In the tax area, the potentially problematic incentive effects of interest deductibility have long engaged a wide array of tax commentators and policymakers. While interest deductibility rightly receives widespread scrutiny, a more comprehensive approach to leverage is needed. This Article focuses on the surprisingly complicated tax treatment of cash (and cash equivalent) borrowings. This Article …

International Tax Considerations: Inbound & Outbound, Seth Green, Monica Zubler

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

International Tax Considerations: Inbound & Outbound (Slides), Seth Green

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Tax Incentives To Exportation: Alternatives To Disc, Timothy A. Peterson

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Reforming The Regulation Of Political Advocacy By Charities: From Charity Under Siege To Charity Under Rescue?, Adam Parachin

Chicago-Kent Law Review

A newly elected liberal federal government in Canada has pledged to reform the legal distinction between charity and politics. This paper provides context to this reform initiative, linking it to a controversial political activities audit program funded by the former conservative federal government. It identifies three distorting ideas about charity—that charity can be understood as a tax expenditure, economic or neutral concept—that should be eschewed in the reform process. It also identifies three characteristics of charity—the capacity of charities for thought leadership, the pervasiveness of messaging in charitable programming and the distinctiveness of charity and government—that should guide reformers.

European Non-Profit Oversight: The Case For Regulating From The Outside In, Oonagh B. Breen

Chicago-Kent Law Review

When it comes to the regulation of non-profits, the European Commission experiences many of the same pressures and constraints faced by national charity regulators. It suffers, however, from an added disadvantage in that, arguably, it lacks jurisdictional competence to regulate non-profits qua non-profits. This article explores the consequences of the Commission’s unsuccessful attempt to secure the passage of its proposal for a European Foundation Statute (“EFS”). Notwithstanding the European Council’s inability to muster the necessary Member State unanimity required to pass the proposal and its subsequent demise, the Commission is still dogged by the problems it identified as giving rise …

Australia – Two Political Narratives And One Charity Regulator Caught In The Middle, Myles Mcgregor-Lowndes

Chicago-Kent Law Review

After two decades of debate about the regulation of the nonprofit sector, Australia established a national charity regulator in December 2012. The creation of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (“ACNC”) had as one of its objectives to reduce red tape, and to increase clarity by enacting a statutory definition of charity. Less than two years later, a new government proposed to abolish the ACNC, also in the name of reducing red tape. There appears to be a paradox—or at least diametrically opposed views about red tape reduction and how it can be achieved. With the government nearly two-thirds through …

The Charity Commission For England And Wales: A Fine Example Or Another Fine Mess?, Debra Morris

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The ability of the Charity Commission for England and Wales to regulate the charitable sector effectively has been repeatedly called into question in recent years. At the same time, public sector funding cuts have led to its budget being almost halved in real terms since 2007/08. Numerous official reviews and inquiries into its effectiveness have highlighted its weaknesses and raised concerns about it failing to take sufficient action to prevent abuses of charitable status. In response to the Commission’s claims that it lacks sufficient legal powers to deal with such abuse, new legislation has been passed which will fill some …

The Contemporary Tax Journal Volume 5, No. 1 – Spring/Summer 2015

The Contemporary Tax Journal

No abstract provided.

The Treasury's Twenty Year Battle With Treaty Shopping: Article 16 Of The 1977 United States Model Treaty, Robert R. Oliva

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

All Or Nothing? The Obama Budget Proposals And Beps, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

Articles

There is a wide bipartisan consensus that the U.S. international tax regime is broken. We have the highest corporate tax in the OECD, which at 35 percent imposes a real burden on corporations earning mostly U.S.-source income. At the same time, U.S.-based multinationals pay very low effective tax rates on foreign-source income earned through their subsidiaries, leading to a strong incentive to shift profits out of the United States. Finally, the United States is among the few countries to fully tax dividends paid by foreign subsidiaries to their domestic parents, leading to the “trapped income” phenomenon in which $2 trillion …

Tax Reform Act Of 1984 - International Related-Party Factoring - A Major Tax Loophole For Multinational Corporations Is Closed, Phil Conner

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Tax Reform Act Of 1984 - Netherlands Antilles - Effect Of The Repeal Of The Withholding Tax On Portfolio Interest Payments To Foreign Investors, Lee C. Dilworth

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

New Tax Withholding Rules For Foreign-Owned United States Real Estate, John D. Maiers

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Defining A Country's "Fair Share" Of Taxes, Adam H. Rosenzweig

Florida State University Law Review

The international tax regime is facing a defining moment. As stories of multinational companies expatriating and shifting income around the world with seeming impunity continue to emerge, the question of how to divide the international tax base among the countries of the world increasingly draws attention from policy-makers and academics. To date, however, the debate has tended to devolve into one over the two traditional tools used to divide worldwide tax base—transfer pricing and formulary apportionment. This Article demonstrates that such focus is misplaced on the instruments of dividing the worldwide tax base rather than on first principles. Instead, this …

Net Operating Losses And Mistakes In Closed Tax Years, James R. Gadwood

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Taxpayers’ Lack Of Standing In International Tax Dispute Resolutions: An Analysis Based On The Hybrid Norms Of International Taxation, Limor Riza

Pace Law Review

This paper examines whether a taxpayer should have “standing” in international dispute resolutions. To answer this question the primary task is to identify the nature of international taxation. In other words, this paper discusses how to classify the field of international taxation. Is it part of public international law, private international law (i.e., conflict of laws), national (domestic) law, or is it a hybrid field that requires specific attention? Making this distinction is vital for resolving disputes when a taxpayer is taxed twice for cross-border transactions in cases where the double tax convention is unclear and both contracting states claim …

The North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta): Good For Jobs, For The Environment, And For America, Thomas J. Schoenbaum

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Modernizing The Revenue Rule: The Enforcement Of Foreign Tax Judgments, Barbara A. Silver

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Gatt/Wto Rules For Border Tax Adjustment And The Proposed European Directive Introducing A Tax On Carbon Dioxide Emissions And Energy, Christian Pitschas

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Organizations, Reorganizations, Amalgamations, Divisions And Dissolutions: Cross-Border Assets, Double Taxation And Potential Relief Under The U.S.-Canada Tax Treaty, Catherine A. Brown, Christine Manolakas

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Changing Tides: Tax Haven Reform And The Changing Views Of Transnational Capital Flow Regulation And The Role Of States In A Globalized World, Jeffrey Kraft

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The transnational free flow of capital represents one of the core factors driving the globalization of the world since the beginning of the Bretton-Woods era. Under the "traditional" Neoliberal theory of globalization, this free flow of capital remains sacrosanct, an unstoppable force with which state actors cannot and should not interfere. However, the recent financial crisis has caused some to question this absolute faith in the benefits of unregulated transnational capital flows and to assert that the state still has a role to play in influencing the creation of international norms on capital. Tax haven regulation represents one area that …

The Contemporary Tax Journal’S Interview Of Pam Olson, Stuti Seth

The Contemporary Tax Journal

No abstract provided.

What Makes A Dutch Company Dutch? The Evolution Of Us Limitation-On-Benefits Provisions, Patricia A. Brown

Articles

No abstract provided.

The U.S. As Tax Haven? Aiding Developing Countries By Revoking The Revenue Rule, Samuel D. Brunson

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Over the years, many OECD countries, including the United States, have identified tax havens as a significant problem, and have acted to limit the ability of their taxpayers to use tax havens to reduce their taxes. The United States has implemented tax regimes, including subpart F and the passive foreign investment company rules, and disclosure regimes, such as the recently-enacted FATCA rules, to prevent U.S. taxpayers from taking advantage of tax haven jurisdictions.

But the intersection of a number of U.S. tax rules, it turns out, makes the United States an attractive place for foreigners to invest—and hide …

Revisiting The Tax Treatment Of Citizens Abroad: Reconciling Principle And Practice, Michael S. Kirsch

Journal Articles

In an increasingly mobile world, the taxation of citizens living abroad has taken on increased importance. Recent international administrative developments — most notably, the weakening of foreign bank secrecy and expansion of global information sharing norms — have further raised the profile of this issue. While U.S. law traditionally has taxed U.S. citizens living abroad in the same general manner as citizens living in the United States, a number of scholars have proposed abandoning the use of citizenship as a jurisdictional basis to tax. In its place, they would apply residence-based principles — i.e., exercising full taxing rights over U.S. …