A Compelling Distinguished Lecture by Prof. Steven Shay
On the 6 February 2025, Prof. Steven Shay, as the Visiting Global Scholar, delivered his Distinguished Lecture titled “The U.S. Attack on Pillar 2 and the UTPR: Does the UTPR Violate Article 24(5) Ownership Discrimination”.
During his lecture, Prof. Shay first outlined the scope of and provided insights to the US Trump Administration’s Executive Order concerning the Global Tax Deal.
Following this, he provided a brief overview of of the GloBE rules, before addressing the UPTR specifically in the context of tax treaties. However, he indicated that the content of this lecture would only be applicable should the UPTR be considered an income tax (which his earlier collaborative research has indicated that it is not).
The specific focus of his lecture was whether the UPTR would fall foul of the non-discrimination rules, specifically Article 24(5), concerning capital owners. Prof. Shay proceeded to demonstrate the anticipated impact if, in applying the non-discrimination rule, “all other facts remain unchanged” and the difficulty that arises in the application.
Drawing the lecture to a close, Prof. Shay indicated that the better argument would be to conclude that the UPTR is consistent with tax treaties. He further concluded that the GloBE rules and their implementation would be difficult to stop at this stage – pointing to the diminishing returns from the threat of tariffs.
The session ended with a robust and engaging debate, reflecting the deep appreciation of the audience for Prof. Shay’s expertise and insights.
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