Non-Discrimination in European and Tax Treaty Law (ePub)

Selected issues of the various non-discrimination concepts

Non-discrimination plays an important, if not crucial, role in many areas of law, such as constitutional law, human rights law, world trade law, EU law and tax treaty law. Both direct and indirect taxation are affected by the various types of non-discrimination provisions. From a practical point of view, the non-discrimination provisions within the EU legal framework and the non-discrimination concept under Article 24 of the OECD Model are important examples in this respect. In both areas of non-discrimination law, there are many open issues which have been debated for a long time and have evolved as evergreens of non-discrimination in the area of taxation; examples are the meaning of the ECJ's case law on the 'finality' of losses or the compatibility of group regimes with Article 24 of the OECD Model. Other problems have emerged only recently, because of current developments at the OECD level, notably the BEPS project. Therefore, non-discrimination suggested itself as a general topic for the master theses of the full-time LL.M. program in 2014/2015.

This book takes up and deals with selected issues in depth. Although the relevant non-discrimination provisions are different in wording and context, often the same issues can be analyzed under both the EU fundamental freedoms and Article 24 of the OECD Model. The results under these non-discrimination provisions may differ. However, similar policy considerations and arguments often influence the final decisions. With this book, the authors and editors contribute to the discussion on selected issues of the various non-discrimination concepts and the challenges they present.