联合国范本与经合发范本比较.docx

联合国范本与经合发范本比较.docx

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联合国范本与经合发范本比较

DifferenceinTaxationbetweenOECDModelTreatyandUNModelTreaty

二O一二年十二月

1.SimilarityandFundamentalDifferences

1.1Background

1.2Thesimilarityofthemodel

2.DifferencesinTaxationofBusinessIncome

2.1ScopeofPermanentEstablishment（PE）

2.2DeterminingtheIncomeAttributabletoaPE

2.3BusinessIncomefromOperationofShipsorAircrafts

DifferenceinProvisionsonWithholdingRatesonCertainincomes

3.1FundamentalConcepts

3.2TheRightsofTaxation

3.3WithholdingRates

3.3.1Dividends

3.3.2Interests

3.3.3Royalties

3.4AdditionalRegulations

4.DifferenceinTaxationofEmploymentandPersonalServicesIncome

4.1IndependentPersonalServices

4.2Directors’Fees&ArtistesandSportspersons

4.3Pensions（underArticle18）

4.4Students（underArticle20）

Othertypesofincome

6.Exchangeofinformation

7.Trendforecast

Abstract

OurdiscussionofdifferencebetweenOECDModelTreatyandUNModelTreatyisdividedinsevenparts.Thefirstpartbrieflyexplainssimilaritiesandfundamentaldifferencesbetweenthesetwotreaties;thesecondpartexplainsindetailsdifferenceintaxationofbusinessincome,whichisfurtherintroducedinthefollowingthreedimensions,scopeofpermanentestablishment,determiningtheincomeattributabletoaPEandbusinessincomefromoperationofshipsoraircrafts;thethirdpartisaboutdifferencebetweenthetwotreatiesinprovisionsofwithholdingratesoncertaininvestmentincome,mainlyincludingdividends,interestsandroyalties;thefourthpartintroducesdifferenceintaxationofemploymentandpersonalservicesincomeinfollowingfouraspects,thatis,independentpersonalservices,directors’fees,pensionsandstudents;thefifthpartisaboutdifferenceintaxationofothertypesofincome;thesixthpartintroducesdifferenceofprovisionsofinformationexchangebetweenthetwotreaties;thelastpartisabriefdescriptionoftrendofrelationshipbetweenthesetwotreaties.Ingeneral,thesetwotreatiesarecongruousinmostprovisions;thisarticleshedsomelightondifferencebetweenthesetwotreaties,thuscausingattentiontothistopicwhentaxationiscalculatedinreallife.

【KeyWords】OECDModelTreaty,UNModelTreaty,taxation,difference,businessincome,withholdingrates,personalincome,informationexchange

1.SimilarityandFundamentalDifferences

1.1Background

Asinternationalcommunicationbecomesmoreandmorefrequentinthedailylife,internationaltaxproblemsareincreasing.Theexistingtaxlawsareoutofstepswithtimes.Ifwedidn’tmakechanges,wewouldfacemoreproblems.Therefore,it’snecessaryforthecountriestoconcludeagreementsofinternationaltaxinordertocoordinatethetaxrevenues.Onlyinthisway,canthesecountriesfurtherdevelop.

Nowadays,thetaxtreatiesrepresentanimportantaspectoftheinternationaltaxrulesofmostcountries.Over2000bilateralincometaxtreatiesarecurrentlyineffect,andthenumberisgrowing.TheoverwhelmingmajorityofthesetreatiesarebasedinlargepartintheOECDModelTreaty.TheUNModelTreatyissubstantiallysimilartotheOECDModelTreatybutincludessomeprovisionsthatarenotincludesintheOECDModelTreaty.

Wearegoingtodiscussthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthesetwotreatiesinordertounderstandhowthesetwotreatiesinteractandintersect.It’sveryusefulforustorealizethebasicsituationandthedevelopmentprospectoftheinternationaltax.

Now,wewillintroducethesimilaritiesandfundamentaldifferences.

1.2Thesimilarityofthemodel

Theremarkablesimilaritiesofthetwotreatiesaretheobjectivesontaxtreaties.Theobjectiveoftaxtreaties,broadlystated,istofacilitatecross-bordertradeandinvestmentbyeliminatingthetaximpedimentstothesecross-borderflows.Thisbroadobjectiveissupplementedbyseveralmorespecific,operationalobjectives.Themostimportantoperationalobjectiveofbilateralistheeliminationofdoubletaxation.Mostofthesubstantiveprovisionsofthetypicaltaxtreatyaredirectedattheachievementsofthisgoal.Forexample,taxtreatiescontaintie-breakerrulestomakeataxpayerwhoisotherwiseresidenceinbothcountriesaresidentinonlyoneofthecountry.Theyalsolimitoreliminatethesourcecountrytaxoncertaintypesofincomeandrequireresidencecountriestoprovidereliefforsourcecountrytaxes.

Thehistoricalemphasisintheeliminationofthedoubletaxationshouldnotobscurethefactthatmosttaxtreatieshaveanotherequallyimportantoperationalobjective-thepreventioniffiscalevasion.Thisobjectivecounterbalancestheeliminationofdoubletaxation.Justasdoubletaxationimposesaninappropriatebarriertointernationalcommerce,thetoleranceoffiscalevasionoffersaninappropriateincentivetosuchcommerce.

Inadditiontothetwoprincipaloperationalobjectivesoftaxtreaties,thereareseveralancillaryobjectives.Oneancillaryobjectiveistheeliminationofdiscriminationagainstforeignnationalsandnonresidents.AsecondancillaryobjectiveistheexchangeofinformationbetweentheContractingStates.Theexchangeifinformationcanbeanimportanttoolincombatingfiscalevasion.Andalso,bothofthetreatiescanprovidecertaintyfortaxpayers.

Beyondthat,thestructureoftheOECEandUNisthesame.Theyallincludetitleandpreface.Chapter1-2ofbothtreatiesissomeconceptualproblemssuchasthedefinitionsofsomespecificwords.Chapter3-6isaboutconcreteproblemsuchasincometax,propertytax,doubletaxationreliefandsomespecialregulations.Chapter7includessomefinalrulesandthecomplimentaryclose.

Alloftheabovearethesimilaritiesofthetwomodels.Inthefollowingpart,wewilltalkaboutsomefundamentaldifferencesbetweenthetwomodels.

1.3Fundamentaldifferencesbetweenthetwomodels

ThechiefdifferencebetweenthetwomodelsisthattheUNmodelimposesfewerrestrictionsonthetaxjurisdictionsofthesourcecountries,whiletheOECDmodeldoesnot.

TheOECDModelTreatyfavorscapitalexportingcountriesovercapitalimportingcountries.Ofteniteliminatesormitigatesdoubletaxationbyrequiringthesourcecountriestogiveupsomeorallofitstaxoncertaincategoriesofincomeearnedbyresidencesoftheothertreatycountry.ThereforetheOECDModelTreatyisunfavorableforacountrythatidanetimporterofcapital.However,theimportersofcapitalarealwaysdevelopingcountries.TheOECDModelputmuchemphasisonthebenefitsofcapitalexportingcountriessuchastheUnitedStatesandtheUnitedKingdom.Thereasonisthatthosecountriesaredevelopedcountries.Onthecontrary,theUNModelconsidersissuesintheperspectiveofdevelopedcountries’interestsandneeds,whichcanbeappliedtothetaxaffairsbetweenthedevelopedanddevelopingcountriesaswellastheinternationalinvestmentactivities.Fromtheaboveanalysis,wecaneasilyconcludethattheOCEDmodelmainlyfocusontheresidencejurisdiction,whichputemphasisonthebenefitsofdevelopedcountries.WhenitcomestotheUNmodel,itfocusesonthesourcejurisdictionandthebenefitsofdevelopingcountries.

InordertocorrecttheflawsoftheOECDModelTreaty,theUNModelTreatycameintobeing.Forexample,theUNModelTreatydoesnotcontainspecificlimitationsonthewithholdingtaxrateondividends,interest,androyaltiesimposedbythesourcecounty;instead,thewithholdingratelevelsarelefttobilateralnegotiationsbetweentheContractingStates.

2.Differencesintaxationofbusinessincome

Taxationofbusinessincomeininternationaltreatiesincludesthreeparts.Theyareordinarybusinessincome,businessIncomefromoperationofshipsoraircrafts,businessincomefromassociatedenterprise.

2.1ScopeofPermanentEstablishment（PE）

Permanentestablishmentisafundamentalandcrucialconceptininternationaltreatiesanditisthebasisfortaxationofbusinessincome.UnderArticle5oftheOECDandUNModelTreaties,aPEgenerallyis“afixedplaceofbusinessthroughwhichthebusinessofanenterpriseiswhollyorpartlycarriedon.”thislanguageisusedinanessentiallyidenticalforminalmostalltaxtreaties.Sourcecountriescanonlytaxbusinessincomeifitisderivedfrompermanentestablishment;otherwise,sourcecountrycannottaxanyincomenomatterhowmuchprofitisgenerated.Forthismatter,thescopeofpermanentestablishmenthasalwaysbeenthekeyissueininternationaltreaties.Itcanbecomparedtoabridgeconnectingsourcecountriesandresidentcountries.Partorallofincomenottaxedbysourcecountriesmaybetransferredtoresidentcountries.Ifbothsidesdoesn’ttaxthisincome,thenthetaxpayeractuallyenjoysataxationexemption.Thisleadstoagaintoresidentcountriesatthecostofalossofsourcecountries.

（1）Minimumperiod（page195）

AsisstatedinArticle5,（3）OECD,abuildingsite,drillingoperation,orothertemporaryprojectlocationconstitutesaPEiftheprojectcontinuesforatleastoneyear,whiletheUNModelTreatyusesaminimumperiodof6months.Andsometreatiesbetweendevelopingcountryanddevelopedcountryrequiresanevenshorterperiod,forexample,theminimumperiodinIndia-UnitedStatestreatyis4months.Thisdiscrepancyshouldnotbeoverlookedbecausealotofbuildingactivitiescanbefinishedwithin6months,thusavoidingbeingtaxedaccordingtoUNModel.Thiswouldcauseagreatlossoftaxationtosourcecountries（usuallydevelopingcountries）onthebasisofOECDModel.

（2）ActivitiesCoveredbytheFormerProvision（page197）

Article5,（3）UNdefinesanassemblylineandsupervisoryactivitiesconductedinconnectionwithabuilding