US Drops Tariffs on Canadian Aluminum After Canada Considers Reciprocal Measures: The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced on Tuesday that it was dropping a 10% tariff tax on imported Canadian aluminum, after media reports indicated that the Canadian government was considering reciprocal taxes on US goods. The announcement marks the end […]
International News
UN Proposes Withholding Tax on Digital Services
Digital taxation is one of the most contentious areas of international tax policy. On August 6, 2020, the United Nations (UN) Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters released a draft of the proposed new Article 12B for the UN Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries (UN Model). The […]
Commentary: UK Applies 0% VAT on Digital Advertising by Charities, But Questions Remain
HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”), the UK’s equivalent of the CRA, recently updated its policy on charity digital advertising. The refined policy applies zero value-added tax (“VAT”) tax on five types of digital advertising by charities, all of which target an aggregate of IP addresses, rather than singling out individuals. As we know, VAT is paid at the […]
The UN Tax Committee Weighs in on “Digital Services”: A New Article 12B for the UN Model Tax Convention?
The initial proposal of a drafting group of the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters has recently been released. This proposal arises from proceedings of the Committee in late June of this year. It is important to understand the context of UN work of this nature. The members of […]
Week in Review - August 07, 2020
Canada's Budgetary Deficit "Manageable" Without Tax Increases if COVID-19 Response Measures Ended Soon, Says Parliamentary Budget Officer: Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux made comments to media this week that indicate that his office believes that Canada's currently unprecedented budgetary deficit is "manageable" so long as COVID-19 economic response programs are ended soon. […]
Time to Start W(h)ining: The Federal Government Announces (Partial) Agreement with Australia to Repeal Excise Duty Exemption on Canadian Wines
On July 27, the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, Mary Ng, issued a sobering blow to Canadian wineries and their patrons. After a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge against Canada from Australia claiming “discriminatory measures,” Ms. Mary Ng announced that the two countries had come to a (partial) agreement that […]
Commentary: South Korean Government Proposing 20% 'Crypto Tax'
South Korea is proposing to introduce a cryptocurrency tax ('crypto tax') that will impose a 20% tax rate on cryptocurrency income that is 2.5 million won, about $2,000 US, or higher. The proposed crypto tax bears some interesting contrasts with the Canadian tax authority's approach to the increasingly popular cryptocurrency: The proposed crypto […]
A European Perspective on the European General Court’s Apple Judgment
Professor Adolfo Martín Jiménez, who is the Chairman of the European Association of Tax Law Professors and Professor of Tax Law / Public Law in the Facultad de Derecho Universidad de Cádiz Spain has recently published a commentary on the Apple decision with his colleague Jorge Piernas López who is Associate Professor of International […]
The European General Court Cuts Apple to Its Core: Reflections on Jurisdiction to Tax, Fiscal and Tax Sovereignty, and the Limits of Transfer Pricing
The Apple Judgment[1] On July 15, 2020, the European General Court published its long-awaited judgment in the Apple “state aid” case.[2] At issue is whether Ireland “aided” Apple by providing tax rulings limiting Irish tax to an agreed measure of the branch profits attributable only to activities in Ireland of two Apple subsidiaries that […]
Now You “See” It, Now You Don’t: More Reflections on Taxable Presence In a World With Less Observable Presence
The international tax community is consumed with re-evaluating the utility and adequacy of typical markers of international tax jurisdiction, associated among others with the tax treaty notion of “permanent establishment”. In this context, a PE, as it is known, is a description of what is considered to be a sufficient intensity of business presence […]