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Summer course 2020

Overview of subjects and instructors (subject to changes)

First week

Monday 6 July 
Key concepts of international tax law
First, we will explore why and how countries tax cross-border income and the double taxation that will typically result therefrom (juridical and economic double taxation). Next, the various methods to relieve juridical double taxation will be examined: both their operation and their advantages & disadvantages. Finally, a brief overview is presented of the types of relief countries may offer regarding of economic double taxation. 
Instructors: Prof. Kees van Raad & Chiara Bardini

Tuesday 7 July 
Introduction to tax treaties & treaty residence
The interaction between the distributive articles and the double taxation relief provisions will be examined and explained, along with the key concepts of residence and source. ‘Residence’ will be further examined in some detail.
Instructors: Prof. Kees van Raad & dr. Francisco Sepulveda

Wednesday 8 July 
Business profits taxation under tax treaties
The main topics of this comprehensive subject that will be visited include the contents and application of the distributive rules of OECD Model Article 7: the main rule and the exception if business is conducted through a `permanent establishment´ (PE) in the other state. Further, the concept of PE will be examined in some detail (physical PE, project PE, Agency PE; other non-OECD types of PE). 
Instructor: Prof. Kees van Raad

Thursday 9 July 
Dividends, interest & royalties and immovable property income & capital gains under tax treaties
The tax treaty rules on investment income vary with the nature of the investment. Immovable property income is typically subject to ordinary taxation in the source country whereas income from intangible rights (shares, debts, intellectual property rights) is usually subject to flat-rate gross-basis taxation in the source country with the residence country taxing it again with a tax credit provided for the source country tax. The taxation of investment income gives rise to numerous theoretical and practical issues the most important ones of which will be touched upon in this day’s topic.
Instructor: Giampaolo Genta

Friday 10 July 
Income from employment, pensions, etc. under tax treaties
The grown mobility of labor has greatly increased the importance of OECD Model Articles 15 through 20, each of which deals with a particular type of service income. The main rules are laid down in Article 15 which gives rise to a variety of important issues in international tax practice. In addition to an analysis of some of these issues, other points arising under the rules on the remuneration of directors, pensions, and the income of artistes and sportsmen will be discussed.
Instructors: Prof. Kees van Raad & Walter Andreoni

 

Second week

Monday 13 July 
Five fundamental rules on tax treaty application & triangular cases
The interaction between domestic tax law (on which a country’s actual taxation is based) and a tax treaty is quite particular, and in tax practice often gives rise to misunderstanding and mistakes. Today’s topic deals with this issue in a detailed and analytical fashion. The insight gained from this discussion is subsequently employed in analyzing how two or more tax treaties apply in triangular situations. 
Instructor: Prof. Kees van Raad

Tuesday 14 July 
Double Taxation Relief & Non-Discrimination
This session deals with the avoidance of double taxation and the non-discrimination provision. In the morning we will analyze the tax policy concepts behind the exemption and the credit method and compare the different results regarding the application of the two methods. Special emphasis is put on the treatment of cross-border losses and qualification conflicts. In the afternoon the different non-discrimination obligations will be compared with each other. We will discover how the non-discrimination provisions interact with the distributive rules and examine in which case taxpayers are in a similar situation. In the end we will discuss several triangular cases where we will combine non-discrimination issues with problems of double taxation relief.
Instructor: Prof. Alexander Rust

Wednesday 15 July 
Beneficial ownership & tax treaty anti-avoidance provisions
The reduction of taxation of dividends, interest and royalties in the state of source is generally subject to the condition that the recipient of that income is the beneficial owner thereof. Although the term ‘beneficial owner’ was introduced in the OECD Model Convention in 1977, the interpretation of the term continues to give rise to difficulties. The background of the term and its interpretation in various countries will be the main topic of this lecture. In addition, other anti-avoidance provisions prevalent in tax treaties will be discussed in this lecture.
Instructors: Prof. Maarten de Wilde & dr. Alexander Bosman

Thursday 16 July 
Transfer Pricing Issues
Transfer pricing is, today, one of the top priorities of tax practitioners and tax directors worldwide. The lecture aims at providing the audience with the fundamental elements to analyze transfer pricing issues. In addition specific issues will be dealt with and in particular the selection and application of transfer pricing methods. Particular emphasis will be placed on transactional profit methods. Further, transfer pricing issues related to intangible property and the analysis of intercompany financial transactions will be addressed. The lecture will comprise of practical examples and case studies.
Instructor: Giammarco Cottani

Friday 17 July
Advanced issues on business profits taxation under tax treaties 
Under tax treaties, business profits are exclusively taxable in State where the taxpayer carrying on the business is resident. However, where the business is carried on in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment, such a State is entitled to tax the profits attributable to the permanent establishment and the State of residence is required to relieve the resulting (juridical) double taxation. This approach of dividing taxing rights between the two treaty States implies two steps: (i) ascertaining the existence of a permanent establishment and (ii) determining the profits attributable to it. The latter step presents significant theoretical and practical issues, due to the somewhat puzzling wording of the treaty provisions on business profits. The purpose of this present lecture is to analyze these issues and to discuss the actions taken by the OECD in 2010 to tackle them. 
Instructor: Hans Pijl

 

Third week

Monday 20 July 
Introduction to the arm’s length principle and transfer pricing methods
The arm’s length principle is the international standard set by the OECD to determine the transfer prices in intragroup situations. In the last decade, the new organizational models adopted by MNEs and the different kind of transactions arising led the OECD to launch new projects in order to fine-tune the 1995 Guidelines with the current economic scenario. This day firstly focuses on the milestones of the arm’s length principle, its recent developments, and why it is still, as confirmed by the recent OECD report on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, a hot topic for MNEs. Moreover, the application and the main characteristics of the traditional transaction methods and transactional profit methods is addressed by under both a theoretical and practical perspective.
Instructors:  Francesco Giuliano Parlatore & Matteo Viani

Tuesday 21 July 
Digital economy & evaluation techniques
The OECD BEPS Project identified the taxation of the digitalisation of the economy as one of the main areas of attention. In this respect, the 2015 BEPS Action 1 Report was merely the first milestone and from that moment onwards several works in this field has been followed by the OECD and the EU Commission. The purpose of this lecture is to deep understand the main features raised by international works on taxation of the digital economy under both a theoretical and practical perspective, together with a critical analysis of the last OECD Public Consultation Document “Addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digitalisation of the Economy” released on February-March 2019. Moreover, this lecture also covers (i) the application and the main characteristics of the Profit Split method and (ii) the application of evaluation techniques to transfer pricing issues. Finally, a lecture on the application of evaluation techniques to business restructurings will be taken.
Instructors:  
Francesco Saverio Scandone, Luigi Scordo & Giandomenico Petronella

Wednesday 22 July 
Cost Contribution Agreements and Economic analysis
The morning session will cover the major topic of the Cost Contribution Agreements (CCA). The afternoon session is focused on the use of financial statements for transfer pricing purposes and on the practice of searching for comparables. These topics are explained through examples and practical activities, such as the computation of profit level indicators.
Instructors: 
Flor Snel, Loek Helderman & Emmanuel Llinares

Thursday 23 July
Structuring a transfer pricing policy in different business sectors and selected cases on TP and Intangibles
This lecture is focused on the analysis of how MNEs operating in certain sectors (FMCG, Luxury, Industrial) structure their transfer pricing policies with a critical analysis on the main issues under both a theoretical and practical perspective. Moreover, this lecture also covers the analysis of the transfer pricing issues related to intangible property. Lecturers will enrich the explanations of these topics through an extensive set of examples drawn from their professional experience.
Instructor:  Marco Adda

Friday 24 July
Transfer pricing aspects of business restructurings and Transfer pricing disputes
Business restructurings are one of the transfer pricing hottest topics in today’s constantly developing economic environment. This lecture is focused on transfer pricing issues that have to be considered when an MNE redeploys cross-borders functions, assets and/or risks, that is (i) whether tax authorities can disregard the restructuring as presented by the taxpayer, (ii) whether at arm’s length a remuneration for the restructuring itself would be due and (iii) the remuneration of post-restructuring controlled transactions and its relationship with the remuneration for the restructuring itself. The explanation of the theoretical framework will be followed by a review of most common types of business restructurings (e.g. implementation of a central purchase function, conversion of a full-fledged distributor into a “risk-less” distributor). Moreover, the lecture deals also with (i) the importance of a proper documentation supporting the transfer pricing policy (ii) procedures through which potential disputes can be solved either in advance through advance rulings (APA) or in case of challenges of the tax authorities (MAP and Arbitration Convention).
Instructors:  
Gabor Baranyai & Balthasar Denger