The Department of Finance (Canada) appointed an Advisory Panel on Canada’s System of International Taxation (the ‘Advisory Panel’) to review and recommend changes to Canada’s international tax regime. This report provides background research to assist the Advisory Panel with its...

Sections HH 1 and HH 8 of the New Zealand Income Tax Act 1976 contain a special regime for the taxation of trusts. Income that is distributed by the trustee is taxed in the hands of the beneficiary, and income that is accumulated is taxed to the trustee. The mere fact of the trustee being...

This chapter for a forthcoming text on investment promotion explains the concept of “luring with tax”. It first lays out in broad strokes how nation states compete with each other for direct and portfolio investment using their tax systems. It then analyzes whether using the tax system as an...

One of the key characteristic features of the recent globalized world is cross-border investments. Due to this fact foreign investors and their investments in host countries need appropriate protection. Alongside with legal issues of protection of investors, another important issue arises too,...

Trade and investment treaties have proliferated throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Their dispute resolution mechanisms are important in entrenching market access commitments, especially when providing for direct claims by firms against states. But the Global Financial Crisis has also heightened...

Increasingly linked by regional and global ties, national economies depend more than ever on international investments and trade. While trade and investment have become international, however, taxation has remained national, preserving and strengthening one of the few remaining barriers to...

This chapter provides a snapshot of how international trade and investment law can protect foreign investments in the resources sector. It first considers the applicability to the resources sector of international trade law, primarily found in the law of the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’)...

Before 2017, there were two major international movements going on at the same time: (1) the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement; and (2) the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. The movements presented a...

The existence of different tax regimes and corporate rates of income tax between countries has given rise to international tax arbitrage and transfer pricing schemes. The objective of these schemes has been to minimize income tax expense and tax liabilities of multinational enterprises (MNEs)....

Discussions at the “Freedom of Investment” Roundtables, hosted by the OECD Investment Committee, have stressed that increased investments by foreign State-controlled investors can bring significant benefits to home and host societies, but have also noted that they can raise concerns. This...