Principles and Practice of Double Taxation Agreements: A Question and Answer Approach

Robert Deutsch, Director, KPMG (and Professor of Taxation, Atax, UNSW), Róisín Arkwright, Director, KPMG and Daniela Chiew, Partner, KPMG

Valuable for both practitioners and students, this is your essential guide to understanding how double taxation agreements are drafted, what the key concepts are and how they fit into the framework of international tax.

Using the UK/Australia agreement as a model, Principles and Practice of Double Taxation Agreements shows you how drafting can be refined to better reflect the conceptual underpinnings of the agreements.  And with its straightforward "question and answer" format, you'll obtain a clearer understanding of Double Taxation Agreements and quickly get to the heart of the key concepts. 

The clear and concise guidance allows even experienced practitioners to gain a new and refreshing approach. The book also provides you with detailed analysis of key issues and cases as well as actual Double Taxation Agreements - featuring a number signed by the US, UK, Australia, China, France and Germany.

With its user-friendly question and answer approach, this comprehensive book answers important questions such as:

· What are double tax agreements?
· How are DTAs designed and structured? 
· Can DTAs override the application of international
  attribution measures such as the CFC and FIF rules?
· What is treaty shopping?
· How can treaty shopping be prevented?
· How effectively has the concept of beneficial ownership been used to  
  prevent the practice of treaty shopping?

Sample agreements reviewed include:

· UK/US · Australia/US · China/Germany · China/France
 
Sample cases reviewed include:

· US case: Cudd Pressure Control Inc v The Queen (1998) FCJ No 1493, 
  US  Federal Court of Appeal
· Canadian case: Sumner v The Queen (2000) CTC 2359, Tax Court of 
  Canada
· French case:Re Schneider Electric (2002) No 232276, French Supreme 
  Tax Court
· Australian Case: FCT v Lamesa Holdings BV (1997), Full Federal Court 
  of Australia
 

Contents Include:

Part I - General

· What kinds of tax treaties are there?
· What are Double Tax Agreements (DTAs)?
· How are DTA's designed and structured?
· What are the key functions of DTAs? 
· What is international double taxation?
· What is the history and relevance of the OECD Model DTA?
· What are most favoured nation clauses and what happens if they are 
  triggered?
· What rules apply to the interpretation of DTAs?
· How do DTAs deal with undefined terms?
· Can DTA's be used by taxing authorities to avoid an outcome of double 
  taxation?
· Can a DTA create a tax liability in circumstances where no such liability 
  exists under documents non-DTA law?
· Can DTA's override the application of international attribution measures
  such as the CFC and FIF rules?
· How, if at all, are DTAs incorporated into domestic tax law?
· How do DTAs work?
· What types of Allocation Articles are to be found in DTAs?
· How is priority between the Allocation Articles determined?
· Is there a practical approach to the application of DTAs that creates a
  coherent conceptual framework?
· The Broad Principles applied under the Allocation Articles
· Division of taxing rights

Part II - The three qualifying questions

· What are the start dates and termination arrangements in relation to the
  DTA?
· What are the taxes covered by the DTA?
· Is the taxpayer covered by the DTA?

Part III  - The Allocation Rules

· Active Income Articles
· Passive Income Articles
· Nature of the Taxpayer Articles
· Other Income Article

Part IV - Exclusions and Limitations

Part V - Avoiding Double Taxation

Part VI - Procedures

· Mutual Agreement Procedure
· Binding Arbitration Procedure
· Exchange of information
· What is the purpose and effect of non-discrimination clauses in DTAs?
· What is tax sparing and how does it work?
· What types of restrictions are there on the availability of DTA benefits?
· What is treaty shopping and how can treaty shopping be prevented?

Part VII - The DTAs analysed

Part VIII - The reconstructed alternative Australia/UK DTA

Part IX - The leading DTA cases

About the Authors

Robert Deutsch is one of Australia's leading tax lawyers with extensive experience as a tax practitioner, both with professional bodies and tax authorities and some 14 years in academe. His research fields include international taxation, superannuation, GST and CGT.  He is currently a Director with KPMG in an advisory capacity and was appointed inaugural KPMG Professor of Taxation at Atax in May 2007.

Róisín Arkwright has 16 years experience in UK and Australian taxation with approximately ten years spent in a tax technical training environment. She is a qualified Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) from the UK, but has spent the last eight years in the ongoing tax reform environment in Australia. 
Róisín is currently the National Director of KPMG's Tax Business School® in Australia responsible for the development and delivery of tax technical training programs to KPMG staff across Australia.

Daniela Chiew is a Partner in the Corporate Taxation Services group at KPMG. Daniela has 17 years experience providing corporate and international tax advice to a range of Australian based and multinational organisations.

Full Contents

Read the full contents from the book here

Full sample chapter

Read the full chapter covering the introduction, history and principles of DTAs here