Становления концепции бенефициарного собственника в международных актах: от правового дуализма к унификации

Abstract

In international tax law, the concept of beneficial owner remains controversial. The lack of a single unified official definition creates serious difficulties both for the formation of national tax legislation. So is judicial practice. The concept of beneficial owner first appeared in trust law and, having evolved significantly, manifested itself in international tax law. The legal nature of the concept has been modified through its use within the framework of the DTT. The judicial and tax authorities of most countries give the concept an anti-evasive character and actively use it along with other norms of counteracting tax abuse. It is the judicial interpretation of this term that gives a certain degree of unification of its application both for the purposes of the OECD Model Convention and the UN Model Convention. It seems that the experience of judicial interpretation should be generalized and, on its basis, a universal concept of the beneficial owner with a list of essential elements should be developed. Based on the analysis of historical experience, theoretical studies and judicial practice, the article attempts to study the transformation of the term “beneficial owner”. The author's proposals for the unification of the beneficial owner concept in international acts are formulated in this article.