International Tax Dispute Resolution in Light of Pillar One: New Challenges and Opportunities

Spyridon E. Malamis, Qiang Cai* (Corresponding Author)

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The OECD has proposed a “Blueprint on Pillar One” for the allocation of taxing rights among countries with regard to cross-border business income. The core element in the proposal is to relocate taxing rights – so-called “new taxing rights” – to market jurisdictions irrespective of the existence of physical presence within those jurisdictions. In order to achieve tax certainty in this process, the Blueprint on Pillar One Report features a prominent reliance on binding and effective mechanisms of dispute prevention and resolution. In this sense, it appears that the Blueprint on Pillar One comes at the right time as the international tax dispute resolution (ITDR) system has just witnessed several major reforms, including Action 14 of OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative as well as Council Directive 2017/1852 on Tax Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in the European Union (the “EU Arbitration Directive (2017/1852)” ) (see sections 2.2. and 2.3., respectively). Nonetheless, the question may still arise as to the efficacy of the current ITDR system in assisting Pillar One, which may pose new challenges to the tax dispute prevention and/or resolution processes. At the same time, the institutional trajectory of the ITDR system may also cast light on the question of how far the suggested dispute prevention and/or resolution mechanisms Blueprint on Pillar One can be introduced into this system.

This article focuses on examining key aspects of international tax dispute prevention and/or resolution in the context of Pillar One, taking into account these reforms to the ITDR system. Section 2. provides a brief outline of the ITDR system, followed by an outline of Pillar One and its dispute prevention and/or resolution features in section 3. Section 4. analyses the key aspects of dispute prevention and/or resolution as envisaged in the Blueprint on Pillar One Report. The implications of these aspects for the ITDR system are considered in section 5. This section also explores different ways to enhance the ITDR system. Section 6. proposes an institutional approach to Pillar One dispute prevention and/or resolution as a holistic solution to promote tax certainty. The article’s conclusions are set out in section 7.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)94-107
Number of pages14
JournalBulletin for International Taxation
Volume75
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 27 Jan 2021

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