Book Description

Everywhere, new tax rules are under development to engage with the ever-increasing complexity and sophistication of aggressive tax planning and to reverse the tax base erosion it leads to. The most prominent initiative in this context is the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project of the OECD. Although double non-taxation is among the main issues the BEPS project intends to address, this book shows that this phenomenon has not yet been fully understood. Focusing on the fundamental freedoms and the State aid rules of the EU, this book thoroughly explains the nature of double non-taxation from an EU law perspective, its relation to double taxation, and the impact of EU law on these phenomena. Among the issues dealt with in the course of the analysis are the following: - locating the gaps and inconsistencies among domestic tax systems exploited by taxpayers; - hybrid mismatch arrangements as a prime example of double non-taxation; - political efforts undertaken within the EU in order to address double taxation and double non-taxation; - double non-taxation in the European VAT system; - the convergence of the fundamental freedoms and the State aid rules; - the ECJ's dilemma with regard to juridical double taxation; - the deviating approach with regard to economic double taxation; - the potential impact of the ECJ's case law on the EU law compatibility of double non-taxation. The tax jurisprudence of the ECJ is referred to and comprehensively analysed throughout this whole book. A final chapter provides an outlook on possible developments in the future. By providing the first in-depth analysis of EU law's impact on double non-taxation - and the double taxation relief standards with which it is intimately related - this book takes a giant step towards greater legal certainty in this challenging area of tax law. It will quickly take its place as a major practical analysis which benefits tax authorities, scholars, and tax practitioners across Europe and even beyond.