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

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) Johannesburg, 2014 / Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) is a key concern in international tax. In 2010 the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was tasked with the study of BEPS. In 2013 the OECD released the study report “Addressing base erosion and profit shifting” emphasising BEPS and the risk for the world’s economies and tax bases. The OECD has been focused on BEPS due to several reasons, namely; increase in globalisation, an ever-changing digital economic environment, mismatches of different countries’ tax legislation and the ease with which intellectual property can be transferred. They has released several documents detailing the risk of BEPS as well as an action plan outlining their aim for the transformation of local and international tax. According to the OECD corporate income taxes, as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is a possible indication of base erosion. In South Africa, the corporate income tax rate as a percentage of GDP has decreased from 7.2 % in 20081 to 5% in 20132. Is this a possible indication of base erosion or profit shifting taking place? Protecting South Africa’s tax base is paramount for future growth of the country and the economy. It is therefore important to identify whether BEPS is a real risk and to determine whether South Africa has adequate legislation in place to protect its tax base. Keywords: Base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, international tax, transfer pricing, thin capitalisation, treaty abuse, treaty shopping

No description available.

Este estudo visa analisar a implementação, no Brasil, das Linhas Diretrizes da OCDE para as Empresas Multinacionais, documento que integra a Declaração sobre o Investimento Internacional e as Empresas Multinacionais. De acordo com os termos estabelecidos nessa Declaração, os Estados devem promover essas Linhas Diretrizes, bem como instalar um Ponto de Contato Nacional (PCN) mecanismo criado para consolidar os padrões de conduta e para receber reclamações atinentes à violação de seus termos por empresas multinacionais. A observância aos termos da Declaração é obrigatória para os Estadosmembros da Organização para Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômicos (OCDE) e condição para não membros participarem das atividades do Comitê de Investimentos situação na qual o Brasil se inclui. O ato internacional brasileiro de adesão à Declaração não se submeteu ao crivo parlamentar a que alude o artigo 49, inciso I, da Constituição Federal (CF) e, além disso, as medidas adotadas internamente para implementar as Diretrizes incluindo a instalação de PCN foram ordenadas por uma Portaria , que constitui ato do Ministério da Fazenda. Essas circunstâncias evidenciam como a cooperação e legitimidade fundada no consenso são base importante para que se promovam os direitos através das fronteiras sem desrespeitar a legislação brasileira, consoante este trabalho se propõe demonstrar. / This study analyses the implementation in Brazil of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, which constitute an integral part of the Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. In accordance with the terms of the Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises, the states are to promote the Guidelines and install a National Point of Contact (NCP), the mechanism created to consolidate the Guidelines and receive complaints against the violation of their terms by multinational companies. Compliance with the terms of the Declaration is mandatory for the OECD member countries and the condition for non-members to participate in the activities of the Investment Committee like in the case of Brazil. The Brazilian international subscription act to the Declaration was not submitted to the approval of the parliament as per article 49, I of the Federal Constitution; in addition, the measures adopted internally to implement the Guidelines and install the NCP were ordered by Decreean act within the competence of the Ministry. These circumstances show how cooperation and legitimacy founded on consensus are an important basis for the promotion of rights across borders without infringing Brazilian Law. This is what the present study proposes to discuss.

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.

In this paper, we examine the determinants of outward FDI from four major OECD investors, namely, the US, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, to 129 developing countries classified under five regions over the period 1995-2008. Our goal is to distinguish whether the motivation for FDI differs among these investors in developing countries. Rather than relying on specific theories of FDI determinants, we examine them all simultaneously by employing Bayesian model averaging (BMA). This approach permits us to select the most appropriate model (or combination of models) that governs FDI allocation and to distinguish robust FDI determinants. We find that no single theory governs the decision of OECD FDI in developing countries but a combination of theories. In particular, OECD investors search for destinations with whom they have established intensive trade relations and that offer a qualified labor force. Low wages and attractive tax rates are robust investment criteria too, and a considerable share of FDI is still resource-driven. Overall, investors show fairly similar strategies in the five developing regions.

Submitted by Mariana Dornelles Vargas (marianadv) on 2015-03-31T19:04:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 indicadores_antecedentes.pdf: 1667232 bytes, checksum: e9ef01f6125796d79eae31ad1c8a72ca (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-31T19:04:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 indicadores_antecedentes.pdf: 1667232 bytes, checksum: e9ef01f6125796d79eae31ad1c8a72ca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-09-16 / Nenhuma / Este estudo tem por objetivo construir um sistema de indicadores antecedentes compostos com freqüência mensal para a atividade econômica do estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Utilizou-se o conceito do ciclo de crescimento, baseado metodologia proposta pela OECD. A variável proxy para o nível de atividade utilizada foi a produção industrial do estado. Para a extração dos componentes cíclicos foram utilizados tanto o filtro de Hodrick-Prescott (HP) quanto filtro de Christiano-Fitzgerald (CF). Partindo de um universo de 456 séries, dez foram selecionadas para comporem os indicadores através de testes de correlação cruzada, causalidade de Granger e do algoritmo de Bry-Boschan (1971). Foram construídos indicadores de curto-prazo, indicadores de longo-prazo e um modelo misto. Os indicadores de longo-prazo se mostraram demasiadamente instáveis, tal característica indesejável foi transmitida para os indicadores mistos. Já os indicares de curto-prazo apresentaram desempenho satisfatório. / This study aims to build a monthly system of composite leading indicators for the economic activity in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. We used the concept of the growth cycle, based on the methodology proposed by the OECD. The proxy variable for the level of activity used was the industrial production of the state. For extracting cyclical components were used both the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter and Christiano-Fitzgerald (CF). Starting from a universe of 456 series, by testing cross-correlation, Granger causality and the using the Bry Boschan(1971) algorithm, ten series were selected to compose the indicators. We constructed short and long-term indicators and a mixed model. The long-term indicators showed to be too unstable, this undesirable trait was transmitted to the mixed indicators. The short-term indicators showed satisfactory performance.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-05-30T11:28:25Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Cleidi Dinara Gregori_.pdf: 258372 bytes, checksum: ac116cbb21e9a72bfb0efe349692caf0 (MD5) Cleidi Dinara Gregori_.pdf: 258372 bytes, checksum: ac116cbb21e9a72bfb0efe349692caf0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-30T11:28:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Cleidi Dinara Gregori_.pdf: 258372 bytes, checksum: ac116cbb21e9a72bfb0efe349692caf0 (MD5) Cleidi Dinara Gregori_.pdf: 258372 bytes, checksum: ac116cbb21e9a72bfb0efe349692caf0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-22 / Nenhuma / A partir dos anos 1990, o Brasil ampliou os fluxos de comércio e seus parceiros comerciais, especialmente no que diz respeito às relações Sul-Sul. O país tem fortalecido sua relação comercial com esses países mais do que a tradicional relação Norte-Sul. O objetivo do estudo foi analisar o perfil do comércio, por grau de intensidade tecnológica, entre o Brasil e a América do Sul, o Brasil e a África e o Brasil e o Sul da Ásia, no período 2000-2015. A classificação por intensidade tecnológica adotada nesta pesquisa foi a proposta pela Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico (OCDE). Concluiu-se que as exportações nacionais, na relação comercial Sul-Sul, caracterizaram-se por produtos de média-alta e de baixa intensidades tecnológicas e não por produtos primários, ao contrário do que foi observado nas exportações do Brasil para o mundo nos anos 2000. Assim, o comércio Sul-Sul é uma oportunidade para os países em desenvolvimento ampliarem as suas exportações e obterem benefícios pelas transferências tecnológicas. / Since the 1990s, Brazil has expanded trade flows and its trading partners, especially in relation to South-South relations. The country has strengthened its trade relationship with these countries more than the traditional North-South relationship. The objective of the study was to analyze the profile of trade, by degree of technological intensity, between Brazil and South America, Brazil and Africa and Brazil and South Asia, in the period 2000-2015. The classification by technological intensity adopted in this research was proposed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It was concluded that the national exports, in the South-South trade relationship, were characterized by medium-high products and low technological intensities and not by primary products, contrary to what was observed in exports from Brazil to the world in the years 2000. South-South trade is thus an opportunity for developing countries to expand their exports and benefit from technology transfers.

No description available.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka om och varför Sverige bör ingå skatteavtal med afrikanska utvecklingsländer. Sverige är medlem i OECD och har en lång tradition av skatteavtal framför allt gentemot andra industrialiserade länder. Afrikanska utvecklingsländer däremot har inte ett lika utvecklat skattesystem eller konkurrenskraftigt skatteavtalsnät och har andra förutsättningar än Sverige på den globala marknaden. Frågan om varför skatteavtal behövs mellan Sverige och afrikanska u-länder ska belysas genom dessa två vitt skilda perspektiv och utgångspunkter. Jag ifrågasätter även vilka incitament afrikanska stater har för att ingå skatteavtal med Sverige. För ytterligare vetenskaplig förankring har jag valt att granska tre av Sveriges skatteavtal med afrikanska länder. Hur förhåller sig de utvalda skatteavtalen i förhållande till FN:s modellavtal och vilka konsekvenser innebär detta för avtalen mellan Sverige och de utvalda afrikanska länderna? Förhoppningen är att uppsatsen ska bidra till att ge handlingsdirektiv för hur Sverige borde agera i frågan om skatteavtal gentemot afrikanska utvecklingsländer.