The master´s thesis deals with taxation of Europen Union residents in the Czech Republic. The main aim of this thesis is to create a methodology for the taxation of European Union residents incomes from employment in the Czech Republic. Attention is also moving to a model case of European Union residents, who receives incomes from employment in the Czech Republic during the tax year 2016.

The Diploma Thesis „Permanent Establishment in the Czech Republic and its Taxation“ deals with the issue of double taxation focusing on the income of the permanent establishment. The first part of the thesis is focused on theoretical knowledge of an international double taxation, concept of agreements for the avoidance of double taxation, definition of the term „Permanent establishment“ and the taxation of permanent establishment. The second part is aimed at analysis Article 5 of Agreements for the avoidance of double taxation. The third part comprehends a model examples of the resident of Slovakia.

South Africa has expressed its desire to be the gateway for investment into Africa. With its residence-based tax system which taxes the worldwide income of its tax residents, South African companies will be open to double taxation where the investee country claims jurisdiction to tax income generated from within its borders. In addition, other provisions in the South African tax legislation increase the possibility of double taxation by including the income of foreign subsidiaries. Two such examples are the definition of a tax resident, which includes foreign subsidiaries that are effectively managed by their holding companies in South Africa, and the anti-avoidance measures, such as the controlled foreign company provisions, which impute the income of a foreign subsidiary to the South African investment company. Many South African companies have chosen to route their investments in African countries through foreign subsidiaries. Besides having a more investor-friendly tax regime, these countries offer more favourable relief from double taxation, both unilaterally and by means of their network of tax treaties. South Africa has identified some of its shortcomings. It has introduced concessionary tax provisions for locally based headquarter companies that invest abroad. It recognises the high cost of doing business in Africa due to the fact that many African countries impose withholding taxes on several types of income even though they may not be from a local source. Therefore, South Africa is granting tax rebates for foreign withholding taxes paid on service fees charged to foreign entities despite the income being derived from a South African source. Both these measures reduce double taxation but, are they sufficient to encourage direct investment from South Africa into other African countries? This study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the South African double taxation relief provisions by using a case study of a South African company that has investments in several African countries. It compares the application of the double taxation relief provisions of South Africa, another African country and a non-African country to the case study. It analyses the outcomes and assesses the effectiveness of South Africa’s current legislation for unilateral tax relief and its tax treaties in minimising double taxation. Finally, it makes some recommendations on possible improvements to the legislation in order to achieve the stated goal of being the financial hub for investment into Africa AFRIKAANS : Suid Afrika het aangedui dat dit die poort vir belegging na Afrika wil wees. Die heffing van belasting op die wêreldwye inkomste van belastingpligtige inwoners stel Suid-Afrikaanse maatskappye egter bloot aan dubbelbelasting indien die land waarin beleggings gemaak word ook aanspraak maak op die reg om inkomste wat in daardie land verdien is, te belas. Sekere bepalings in die Suid-Afrikaanse belastingwetgewing stel belastingbetalers verder bloot aan dubbelbelasting indien die inkomste van buitelandse filiale ook by die inkomste van inwoners ingesluit moet word. Twee sulke voorbeelde sluit die definisie van belastingpligtige inwoner ingevolge waarvan buitelandse filiale wat effektiewelik deur hulle houermaatskappy in Suid-Afrika bestuur word en sekere teenvermydingsmaatstawwe, soos byvoorbeeld die beheerde buitelandse maatskappy bepalings ingevolge waarvan die inkomste van ʼn buitelandse filiaal aan ʼn Suid-Afrikaanse beleggingsmaatskappy toegeskryf word, in. Daar is heelwat Suid-Afrikaanse maatskappye wat verkies om hulle beleggings in Afrika deur middel van filiale wat in ander lande geregistreer is, te hou. Hierdie gekose lande het nie net gunstige belasting instellings bewinde nie maar bied ook meer voordelige verligting van dubbelbelasting, beide eensydig en deur middel van hulle netwerk van belastingooreenkomste, aan. Suid-Afrika het sy tekortkominge geidentifiseer. Voordelige belastingbepalings is geskep vir plaaslike hoofkantoor maatskappye wat beleggings in die buiteland hou. Erkenning is gegee aan die hoë koste om besigheid in Afrika te doen as gevolg van die feit dat menige Afrika-lande belasting op verskeie tipe inkomste weerhou selfs as die oorsprong van die inkomste nie vanuit daardie lande kom nie. Suid-Afrika is gewillig om belastingkortings vir die buitelandse belasting so weerhou toe te staan ten spyte daarvan dat die oorsprong van die inkomste in Suid-Afrika is. Beide die maatstawwe is gemik op tot die vermindering van dubbelbelasting, maar is dit voldoende om direkte beleggings vanaf Suid-Afrika in ander Afrika-lande aan te moedig? Die doelwit van hierdie studie is om te bepaal hoe effektief die Suid-Afrikaanse bepalings wat gemik is om dubbelbelasting te verhoed deur middel van ‘n gevallestudie van ʼn Suid-Afrikaanse maatskappy wat meervoudige beleggings in verskeie Afrika-lande het. Die studie vergelyk die toepassing van die vermindering van dubbelbelastingbepalings van Suid-Afrika, ʼn ander Afrika-land en ʼn nie-Afrika-land. Die resultate word geanaliseer en die effektiwiteit van die huidige wetgewing vir eensydige verligting van dubbelbelasting en die huidige belastingooreenkomste om dubbelbelasting te verminder, word beraam. Ten slotte, die studie beoog ook om aanbevelings wat dalk die wetgewing kan verbeter ten einde die gewensde doelwit om Suid Afrika die finansiële poort vir beleggings in Afrika te bereik, te maak. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Taxation / unrestricted

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (Taxation). Johannesburg, April 2017. / Technological advancements have introduced new methods of operating and transacting between business and targeted markets. Electronic interaction by business with respective target markets has enabled business to transact from any location around the world, instantaneously delivering goods and services to markets globally. Although benefits have been derived by business, the impact of e-commerce on established income tax principles has raised concern to governments around the world, as e-commerce grows as a method of transacting with targeted markets (Hubbard: 2016). Transacting in a digital environment has posed challenges to the taxation of residents and non-residents in South Africa which has resulted in the avoidance of income tax by taxpayers in countries of operation. Losses in tax revenue resulting from business conducted in e-commerce have been experienced (OECD, 2014a:5) by governments, as the application of income tax legislation is challenged by business operations in e-commerce (OECD, 2015:5). Transacting in a digital environment has provided business with the ability to operate in a market in the absence of physical premises established in that market, challenging income tax principles which rely on an association with a physical place or presence of an entity for taxation. This research report analyses the taxation of non-resident business operations in e-commerce in South Africa and the arising challenges due to ecommerce. An examination of the income tax legislation is performed to understand how tax is avoided by non-residents when operating in e-commerce. The possible solutions to address challenges posed to income tax by e-commerce will be examined as part of the research report. Keywords: BEPS; double tax agreements; e-commerce; income tax; non-residents; resident; source; permanent establishment. / GR2018

Thesis (M.Com. (Taxation))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accountancy, 2014. / With the international platform for cross border investment and economic development growing year on year at a steady pace, it has become apparent that bilateral income tax treaties do not always operate effectively in multilateral tax situations. Global transactions involving more than two states are certainly not uncommon and it could be said that the most fundamental issue in international taxation is double taxation resulting from the taxing rights of different tax jurisdictions that ‘overlap’ with regard to, generally speaking, one taxpayer or one declared income stream. Multilateral tax situations, commonly known as triangular cases, occur where tax incidence on a particular stream of income is triggered in three countries. These situations typically arise where a person who is a tax resident in two respective countries for tax purposes (a dual resident), or a person who is a tax resident in one country and has a permanent establishment in another, is earning revenue of which the source is in a third country. Taxing rights and jurisdictions of the three countries involved could potentially be in conflict with each other and therefore such situations may bring about lawful international triangular taxation or double taxation which will inevitably discourage enterprises from continuing investment and development internationally. Broad multilateral treaties in the income tax arena are not common1, and most treaties are still of a bilateral nature, i.e. generally addressing tax scenarios where only two specific countries are involved. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (’the OECD’)Model Tax Convention states this: There are no reasons to believe that the conclusion of a multilateral tax convention involving all Member countries could now be considered practicable. The Committee therefore considers that bilateral conventions are still a more appropriate way to ensure the elimination of double taxation at the international level.2

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (specialising in Taxation). / There has been significant advances in the international arena with regards to global economic growth and trade, as well as enormous competition by countries to attract inward foreign direct investment from multinational enterprises (MNEs) to ensure the sustainability of their own economies. Fundamentally the contentious issue is the possibility of double taxation (DT), due to the dual residency of the MNE. The MNE operates in various markets which results in cross-border transactions, whether physical or electronic, and this ultimately means that different tax jurisdictions will become applicable and enforceable by each relevant country. These dual resident MNEs could be seen as a tax resident in both countries and thus be liable for tax obligations in both of these countries. This would therefore lead to the same income incurring DT or double non-taxation (DNT), which would have a devastating impact on that MNE. This lead to the establishment of double taxation treaties, agreements and conventions (DTA’s), between various countries which are aimed at addressing this imbalance. As technology advances at an alarming rate, so too does the possibility of abuse of tax treaties. Two important criteria are ‘the place of effective management’ (POEM) and the ‘permanent establishment’ (PE), which are critical to the determination of the correct tax jurisdiction where the dual resident MNE will incur various tax liabilities. These concepts, POEM and PE, can be confusing but are imperative, in order to prevent DT, and which could prejudice the relevant fiscus, as well as an attempt to avoid any conflict between the taxing regimes. An interesting facet of the POEM and PE conundrum is the interpretation by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (’the OECD’) Model Tax Convention (MTC) compared to the interpretations by the South African Revenue Service (SARS). Another area of contention for MNEs is the current enormous global focus on the concept of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), which is under great scrutiny, and is of great concern for the majority of revenue authorities. These authorities are intensifying their focus on improving and enforcing anti-avoidance provisions to prevent taxation leakage in their respective tax jurisdictions. This shift in priorities opposes one of a MNE’s main business objectives which is to maximize profits, by either diverting, extracting and/or distributing profits out of a high tax paying jurisdiction into a lower tax paying jurisdiction. This will consequently create an additional business risk which emphasises the need for international tax expertise. The international tax expert is a valuable business team member, as their knowledge and expertise is imperative for the mitigation of possible tax risks, correct interpretation and application of the relevant tax legislation on the business flows of the MNEs as a result of operational expansion or any cross-border transactions or activities. Key Words: Taxation, Tax Treaties, Agreements, BEPS, Conventions; Cross-border, Double Taxation; Dual Residency; International tax, Multinational enterprises; Permanent Establishment, Place of Effective Management; OECD Model Tax Convention; Tax Intelligence, Tax Jurisdictions

JUDr. Petr Kotáb International Aspects of Taxation in the Czech Republic SUMMARY Economic life of the current period is marked by high level of globalization of the economy and ever growing volume of cross-border flows of labor, goods, services and capital. In this situation, issues of international taxation affect not only sporadic cross-border transactions of selected types of subjects but virtually daily tax relations of large numbers of tax subjects, legal entities and individuals. Principles and regularities of international taxation are spreading in an ever growing extent into the intrastate level and are influencing the production of tax laws and everyday application practice of tax administrators. International aspects of taxation project into intrastate tax relations when there is a certain foreign element present in the tax relation. Such foreign element can show on the level of the subject of a tax relation (e.g. a non-resident taxpayer, permanent establishment, etc.), or the object (e.g. foreign-sourced income), or as the case may be, the tax relation content (e.g. tax liability imposed by a foreign state and the necessity to reflect it in the inland for the purposes of prevention of double taxation, e.g. by a credit method). A foreign element in the tax relation usually indicates the danger of...

O tema da presente tese é o contexto referido no art. 3 da CM-OCDE para a interpretação e aplicação de termos não definidos nos textos de convenções fiscais. O Brasil e os seus acordos de bitributação são adotados como referenciais, embora também seja investigada a jurisprudência de uma série de outros países quanto à interpretação e aplicação de suas convenções fiscais. A Introdução apresenta o tema, o problema, a hipótese, o objetivo e as principais questões analisadas na tese, seguidas de considerações propedêuticas necessárias ao desenvolvimento de todo o trabalho. O Capítulo I se ocupa: (i) do sentido de contexto referido no art. 3 da CM-OCDE; (ii) do seu relacionamento com a cláusula de reenvio ao Direito doméstico prevista no mesmo dispositivo e; (iii) dos critérios formais, funcionais e materiais de reconhecimento de evidências sob o escopo do contexto. O Capítulo II analisa o chamado contexto intrínseco e identifica: (i) quais evidências seriam abrangidas pelo contexto intrínseco, a exemplo do texto do acordo de bitributação, seu preâmbulo e anexos, documentos elaborados em conexão com o tratado, protocolos e acordos posteriores celebrados pelos Estados contratantes, bem como; (ii) quais técnicas seriam úteis à exploração de tais evidências, como métodos sintáticos, semânticos de interpretação do texto do acordo como um todo, testes comparativos da função e do sentido dos termos no acordo de dupla tributação como um todo, a identificação dos objetivos e propósitos do acordo a partir de detalhes de cada uma de suas partes. O Capítulo III analisa o chamado contexto extrínseco primário, especialmente com vistas aos procedimentos amigáveis, às práticas seguidas pelos Estados (autoridades fiscais, judiciárias e legislativas) para a aplicação de acordos de dupla tributação e aos parallel treaties. O Capítulo IV aborda o chamado contexto extrínseco secundário, que compreende as decisões de Cortes nacionais de terceiros Estados, a doutrina dos publicistas mais qualificados das diferentes Nações, a Convenção Modelo da OCDE e os seus respectivos Comentários, os trabalhos preparatórios, os atos unilaterais quanto à intenção dos Estados contratantes e as circunstâncias relacionadas à conclusão da convenção fiscal. / This thesis deals with the context referred to in the art. 3 (2) of the OECD Model Tax Convention to interpretation and application of terms not defined in tax treaties. It adopts the Brazilian system and its tax treaties as reference, although it also analyzes the cases law from a number of other countries regarding the interpretation and application of its tax treaties. The Introduction presents the theme, the problem, the hypothesis, the goal and the key issues addressed by the thesis, followed by propaedeutic considerations needed to develop the whole study. The Chapter I deals with: (i) the meaning of context referred to in the art. 3 (2) of the OECD Model Tax Convention; (ii) the precedence between the context and the domestic law (general renvoi clause) and; (iii) the formal, functional and material criteria for recognition of evidences under the scope of the context. The Chapter II examines the so-called intrinsic context, in order to: (i) identify some evidences under its scope, such as the tax treaty text, its preamble and annexes, materials prepared in connection with the convention, protocols and subsequent agreements concluded by the Contracting States, as well as; (ii) which methods would be useful to handle such materials, such as syntactic and semantic methods, comparative tests of the function and meaning terms at the whole treaty, as well the identification of the objectives and purposes of the agreement from the details of each of its parts. The Chapter III analyses the so-called primary extrinsic context, which includes mutual agreement procedures, practices followed by the fiscal, judicial and legislative authorities for the application of tax treaties and the parallel treaties. The Chapter IV deals with the so-called secondary extrinsic context, which comprises decisions of national courts of third States, the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, the OECD Model Tax Convention and their Commentaries, preparatory works, unilateral materials about the intention of the parts and circumstances occurred at the time of the conclusion of the tax treaty.

O fenômeno jurídico denominado dupla tributação internacional ocorre quando dois ou mais Estados soberanos submetem uma mesma pessoa (física ou jurídica), num mesmo período de tempo, ao pagamento de tributos comparáveis, em razão de um mesmo fato gerador. Embora não seja proibida expressamente por qualquer princípio geral de Direito Internacional, a dupla tributação é altamente indesejável em virtude de seus efeitos danosos à economia e, indiretamente, à sociedade em geral. Em vista disso, desde o século XIX os Estados nacionais vêm tentando implementar soluções para o problema, dentre as quais se incluem as chamadas convenções de bitributação, cujo objetivo consiste exatamente em evitar ou, ao menos, minimizar este pernicioso fenômeno. As normas contidas nestas convenções atuam atribuindo a competência tributária ora a um, ora a outro Estado, dependendo do tipo de rendimento, e, desta forma, limitam a soberania fiscal dos Estados contratantes. Considerando a enorme diversidade de ordenamentos jurídicos, bem como a grande facilidade com que são estruturadas novas operações comerciais e, até mesmo, a diversidade de idiomas, conclui-se que a eficácia das normas destas convenções é essencialmente dependente das formas e métodos de interpretação e aplicação de suas cláusulas. As entidades dedicadas ao estudo do tema, notadamente a Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico - OCDE, a Organização das Nações Unidas - ONU e também a International Fiscal Association - IFA constantemente elaboram estudos que contém recomendações de critérios a serem seguidos pelos países para a interpretação e aplicação das convenções. Contudo, em face das incompatibilidade entre os ordenamentos, em virtude dos frequentes reenvios ao direito interno dos países, e, muitas vezes, em decorrência dos próprios conflitos de interesses econômicos entre os países, nem sempre os critérios de interpretação tradicionais, ou seja, aqueles já propostos pela OCDE, ONU e mesmo pela IFA, são capazes de resolver os conflitos interpretativos e/ou de qualificação de forma a possibilitar o maior grau de eficácia de tais acordos. Assim, surge a necessidade de uma solução alternativa para o problema. Propomos, desta forma, a aplicação da teoria da argumentação jurídica com o objetivo de facilitar o raciocínio e manter a discussão sobre a interpretação das cláusulas, termos e expressões o máximo possível na esfera internacional, evitando o reenvio ao direito interno e preenchendo as lacunas deixadas pelos critérios tradicionais, possibilitando, assim, maior eficácia das normas convencionais. / International double taxation occurs when to or more sovereign states impose comparable taxes to the same person or legal entity within the same period of time. Although it is not expressly forbidden by any International Law rule or principle, international double taxation is highly undesirable as a result of it harmful effects to the countries economy and society in general. In view of this, since the 19th century countries have been trying to provide solutions for the problem, and among these possible solutions the double taxation conventions stand out as a way to avoid or at least minimize this harmful phenomenon. The rules provided in these conventions work by allocating the taxing power either to one or to the other contracting state, depending on the type of income, and, therefore, double taxation conventions do represent a limitation to the tax sovereignty of the contracting states. Considering the enormous diversity of legal systems, as well as the profusion of structures that may be used for commercial transactions, and even due to the variety of languages, it is possible to conclude that the efficiency level of double taxation conventions considerably depends on the way and on the methods pursuant to which their clauses are interpreted and applied. The international entities dedicated to analyze and suggest solutions for these issues, especially the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - OECD, the United Nations - UN and also the International Fiscal Association - IFA are constantly searching for solutions and also recommending some criteria to the interpretation and application of these conventions. These criteria compose the traditional, also called classical, method of interpretation. Nevertheless, due to the incompatibilities between legal systems, as well as in virtue of the frequent recourse to national law, and sometimes due to the conflicts of economical interests between the countries, the traditional criteria already proposed by the OECD, UN and IFA for the interpretation and application of double tax conventions become quite inefficient, and, as a result of this, double taxation remains a problem. Therefore, there is an urging need for an alternative solution. Thence, we propose the application of the Theory of Legal Argumentation in order to facilitate the process of interpretation and legal reasoning regarding clauses, terms and expressions, avoiding, thus, the recourse to national law and also filling the gaps existing in the traditional criteria, for the purpose of allowing larger efficiency of conventional rules.

Corporate income taxation has a profound impact on economic behavior in the United States. This dissertation focuses on two aspects: the impact of dividend taxation on investment and the impact of corporate income tax exemption on nonprofit organizations activity. The first essay compares dividend payout ratios of C and S corporations to test the validity of the traditional and the new views on dividend taxation. Average corporate income tax rate is used as an instrumental variable. The results support the traditional view. The second essay focuses on whether the exemption of nonprofit organizations from the corporate income tax affects the competition between for-profit and nonprofit hospitals. Time series and panel data analysis show that tax subsidies to nonprofit organizations have a positive impact on nonprofit hospitals’ market share.