Course materials & course outline: International Tax Law for MNEs (2019-2020)

1. Course materials

Course book:

 Brian J. Arnold, International Tax Primer, 4th edition (Kluwer Law International,
2019).

Other materials:

 Condensed version of the OECD Model Tax Convention 2017 (‘OECD MTC’) and
Commentaries, available for download and browsing on:
http://www.oecd.org/ctp/treaties/model-tax-convention-on-income-and-on-capital-
condensed-version-20745419.htm

Please note: You are required to bring a copy of the text of the OECD MTC (pp. 23-51
of the Condensed version of the OECD MTC) with you to all classes. The
Commentaries to the OECD MTC are a helpful resource in particular for assignments
& presentations, but are not required materials for this course.

 UN Model Tax Convention 2017 (‘UN MTC’) and Commentaries (available for
download and browsing on: http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/wp-
content/uploads/2018/05/MDT_2017.pdf.

Please note: You are required to bring a copy of the text of the UN MTC (pp. 3-56)
with you to class 4.

 OECD BEPS-documents (available for download on: http://www.oecd.org/ctp/beps-

actions.htm)

 Videos MOOC: “Rethinking International Tax Law (MOOC)”. Leiden University

offers a (free) online course on international tax law on the Coursera-platform. The
Coursera course includes short video lectures, some of which are course materials for
our course - either as class preparation (see below) or as part of the class itself. All the
videos from the Coursera course are available (free of charge) on youtube.com 
Rethinking International Tax Law (MOOC) (60 videos).

Please note: The Coursera course videos may include references to

assignments/literature and/or requests to contribute material to the discussion forum
of the course. Please ignore these references / requests. All assignments for our course
‘International Tax Law for Multinational Enterprises’ will be published on our course
page on Blackboard.

 Mirrlees: J. Mirrlees a.o., Tax by Design, Oxford University Press, available for (free)
download at: http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/5353.

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  T. Bender and D.M. Broekhuijsen, ‘Great Debates: The Relationship between CSR
and Tax Avoidance’, in: Corporate Social Responsibility for Young Business Lawyers
(Eleven International Publishing, 2017). Free download, available on Blackboard.

2. Course overview

 Class 1 – MNEs & Corporate Tax

Subjects:
Introduction to the course, introduction to the debate on corporate tax planning and
corporate taxation (CIT/WHT) of MNEs (basics – national level)

 Class 2 – Introduction to International Tax

Subjects:
Introduction to international tax, incl. source vs. residence (domestic), bases for
jurisdiction, purposes for tax treaties (avoidance of double taxation), allocating taxing
rights, two layers of rules

Study:
- Rethinking International Tax Law (MOOC), module 1 (video 1)
- Mirrlees, chapter 17 - Taxing Corporate Income, pp. 406-408 (up to (and not
including) par. 17.1. - Why Tax Companies?)
- International Tax Primer
* Chapter 1
* Chapter 2 (§2.1, § 2.2 introduction (i.e. ‘For the purposes of taxing residents (…)’
up to ‘(…) based on the residence of the payer’), § 2.2.2 and § 2.2.3)
* Chapter 3 (§3.1 and 3.2 only)
* Chapter 4 (§ 4.1 only)
* Chapter 5 (§ 5.1-5.4 and 5.9)

Bring along:
- Text of the OECD MTC

 Class 3 – Goals of International Tax Rules and Relief from Double Taxation

Subjects:
Goals of International Tax Rules and Relief from Double Taxation, incl. international
tax policy, (causes for) double taxation, sovereignty of states, should double taxation
be avoided?, neutrality concepts, double tax relief (in relation to neutrality concepts),
methods of avoidance (preference), exemption/credit/indirect credit/tax sparing credit

Study:
- International Tax Primer
* Chapter 4 (entire chapter)

Bring along:
- Text of the OECD MTC

Assignment (prep. for this class):

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 Yes, reflect on a statement regarding the goals of international tax rules and relief
from double taxation.

 Class 4 – Basics of Tax Treaties

Subjects:
The basics of tax treaties, incl. types of rules in tax treaties, scope of the convention,
definitions, allocation rules, interaction between allocation rules & relief of double
taxation, special provisions.

Study:
- International Tax Primer
* Chapter 8 (§ 8.1-8.7.2, 8.7.4, 8.8.1, 8.8.3-8.8.4 and 8.8.6 only)
* Chapter § 8.7.3 (read through only  we will discuss in more detail in classes 5-7)
* Chapter 9 (§ 9.4 + 9.5)

Bring along:
- Text of the OECD MTC
- Text of the UN MTC (bring to class for reference purposes, also: consult when
preparing assignment for this class).

Assignment (prep. for this class):

Yes, reflect on two questions regarding the basics of tax treaties, difference between
the OECD and UN MTCs (on Blackboard: under Assignments).

 Class 5 – Taxation of active business income

Subjects:
Distributive Rules on Tax Treaties for Business Income, including subsidiary vs. PE,
differences between subsidiary & PE, distributive rules in tax treaties for business
income, business profits, transfer pricing.

Study:
- International Tax Primer
* Chapter 5 (§ 5.7-5.8.1.3 only)
* Chapter 6 (§ 6.1-6.4.2 only)
* Chapter 8 (§ 8.7.3-8.7.3.2 & 8.8.5 only)

Bring along:
- Text of the OECD MTC

Assignment (prep. for this class):

Yes, analyse a case on the taxation of active business income (on Blackboard: under
Assignments).

 Class 6 – Taxation of passive business income & treaty shopping

Subjects:
Taxation of passive business income, incl. distributive rules in tax treaties for

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 investment income & treaty shopping.

Study:
- International Tax Primer
* Chapter 5 (§ 5.7, 5.8.2, 5.8.4 and 5.8.5 only)
* Chapter 8 (§ 8.7.3.4, 8.7.3.5 and 8.8.2-8.8.2.5 only)

Bring along:
- Text of the OECD MTC

Assignment (prep. for this class):

Yes, answer two questions regarding treaty shopping (on Blackboard: under
Assignments).

 Class 7 – Corporate Tax Planning

Subjects:
Corporate tax planning

Study:
- International Tax Primer
* Chapter 3 (§3.4.1 only)
* Chapter 6 (§6.5, 6.6 and 6.10)
* Chapter 7 (§7.1-7.3.3 only)
* Chapter 8 (re-read: § 8.8.2-8.8.2.5 only)
* Chapter 9 (§9.3-9.4.3 and 9.6 only)

Bring along:
- Text of the OECD MTC

Assignment (prep. for this class):

Yes, analyse 2 key pressure areas of BEPS, include examples (on Blackboard: under
Assignments).

 Class 8 – Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (OECD & EU)

Subjects:
Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project, EU Anti -Tax Avoidance Package and state
aid.

Study/browse:
- International Tax Primer
* Chapter 9 (§9.1-9.2 only)
- Explanatory Statement 2015 – OECD BEPS (final reports)-
http://www.oecd.org/ctp/beps-explanatory-statement-2015.pdf
- Reuven S. Avi-Yonah and Haiyan Xu, ‘Evaluating BEPS’, Erasmus Law Review, 1,
(2017):3-11. Available at:
http://www.erasmuslawreview.nl/tijdschrift/ELR/2017/1/ELR_2017_10_01_002

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 - The webpage on EU Anti Tax Avoidance Package and read the ‘Chapeau
Communication’: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/company-tax/anti-
tax-avoidance-package_en
- The Commission webpage on State Aid, in particular under ‘tax rulings’:
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/overview/index_en.html

Bring along:
- Text of the OECD MTC

Assignment (prep. for this class):

Yes, write essay on addressing BEPS (on Blackboard: under Assignments).

 Class 9 – Tax Avoidance: the Role of Taxpayers

Subjects:
Tax avoidance: the role of the taxpayer and their advisors, including ethical aspects of
tax planning

Study/watch:
- T. Bender and D.M. Broekhuijsen, ‘Great Debates: The Relationship between CSR
and Tax Avoidance’, in: Corporate Social Responsibility for Young Business Lawyers
(Eleven International Publishing, 2017). Available at:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2873611.
- Heather M. Field, Aggressive Tax Planning & the Ethical Tax Lawyer, 32 Va. Tax
Rev. 261 (2017). Available at:
https://repository.uchastings.edu/faculty_scholarship/1561
- MOOC  module 6: Tax planning & ethical dimensions, Videos: Intro, and
interviews with: Pascal Saint-Amans, Marlies de Ruiter, Paul Morton, Antonio Russo,
Tanja Bender, Giuseppe van der Helm, Bob Stack and Kees van Raad

Bring along:
- Text of the OECD MTC

Assignments (prep. for this class):

Yes, answer 3 questions re: CSR (details on Blackboard: under Assignments).

 Class 10 – Tax avoidance: the Role of Countries in the Corporate Tax Planning
Debate

Subjects:
The role of countries in the tax planning debate, incl. developing countries, tax havens,
other countries and ‘race to the bottom’.

Study:
- Collier, Richard, ‘Tax Competition, Tax Co-Operation and BEPS’, Journal of Tax
Administration, [S.l.], v. 3, n. 1, june 2017. ISSN 2059-190X. Available at:
http://jota.website/index.php/JoTA/article/view/123
- Irene Burgers and Irma Mosquera, ‘Corporate Taxation and BEPS: A Fair Slice for
Developing Countries?’, Erasmus Law Review, 1, (2017):29-47. Available at:
http://www.erasmuslawreview.nl/tijdschrift/ELR/2017/1/ELR_2017_10_01_004

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Bring along:
- Text of the OECD MTC

Assignment (prep. for this class):

Yes, (details on Blackboard: under Assignments).