The Aftermath of BEPS

This book examines the effect of the BEPS Project on international tax – both for taxpayers structuring their affairs and for states structuring their tax systems.

Why This Book?

This book is the product of one of the annual symposia held by IBFD to celebrate the advanced LLM programme, “International Tax Law: Principles, Policy and Practice”, offered jointly by the University of Amsterdam and IBFD. Each symposium aims to provide inspiration for debate and food-for-thought to all those who are interested in topics of fundamental importance to international tax law, both students and those with more experience. The symposium held in October 2018 was no exception and the chapters in this book reflect the critical questions posed during the symposium about the changes in the international tax order wrought by the OECD BEPS Project.

The book is divided into four parts. It begins by looking at the tax treaty entitlement of fiscally transparent entities, as well as the interactions of transparency, attribution and CFC regimes with tax treaties. The book goes on to consider the new law on permanent establishments, particularly in today’s digital economy, both the treaty changes introduced in the context of the BEPS Project generally and the effect of the modifications to article 5 on taxing the dependent agent permanent establishment in the state of source. A discussion follows on the extent to which the OECD Multilateral Instrument has achieved multilateralism in the international tax order. The book closes by considering whether the outcomes of the BEPS Project have pushed the balance of the international tax order too far in the direction of distrust and control, both for taxpayers structuring their affairs and for states structuring their tax systems.