The United States is unique in taxing non-resident citizens under the same rules as residents. For Australian citizens and residents who are also US taxpayers, the impact of this is much greater than the generally minimal amount of US tax due each year. The US grants citizenship broadly and...

The article aims to appreciate the U.S. tax reforms, especially in topics related to international taxation, emphasizing the analysis of their potential incompatibility with the World Trade Organization (WTO) law. It will be discussed in the U.S. international tax environment before the U.S. tax...

This paper — prepared for a symposium held at Brooklyn Law School on October 23, 2015 on Reconsidering the Tax Treaty — addresses the treaty compatibility aspect of proposals for reforming the U.S. international tax system. Finding that a reform proposal is treaty compatible obviates the...

This article discusses the task of identifying controlled transactions under review by the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. In particular, it aims to alert courts as to the necessary role of contractual interpretation law in determining the true nature of such controlled transactions

Professor William Byrnes examines whether it is prudent for taxpayers to trust the governments of the 117 countries that scored a fifty or below on Transparency International's corruption index. The complete information system invoked by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) encourages,...

In this first of a series of four articles, the authors consider real estate investment trust (REIT) regimes in general, and, then, focus on US REITs. In subsequent articles the authors deal with UK and German REITs, before concluding with a comparison of the three regimes. The United States was...

In both Australia and the U.S., the tax anti-avoidance law has evolved to include two common doctrinal components. One component requires evidence of taxpayers' tax avoidance purpose. The other component protects transactions clearly contemplated by the tax statute against charges of tax...

U.S. Treasury officials and members of Congress from both parties have expressed concern that the European Commission's current state aid investigations are disproportionately targeting U.S.-based multinational enterprises. At the same time, a Treasury official recently suggested in...

The United States tax classification of a “foundation” created under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction is a complicated matter. “Foundations” are not creatures of common law, but are derived from civil law. The United States follows common law and this body of jurisprudence is more...

This is the last in a series of four articles, in which the authors compare specific aspects of the real estate investment trust (REIT) regimes in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. Previous articles dealt separately with the REIT regimes in each of these countries. The United...