Arbitration under the OECD Model Convention: Follow-up under Double Tax Conventions: An Evaluation

Abstract

On 18 July 2008, the OECD Council adopted amendments to the OECD Model Convention, by which inter alia the mutual agreement procedure of Article 25 was supplemented with an arbitration clause. This clause provides for a mandatory arbitration procedure if contracting states fail to reach a mutual agreement within a two-year period if the taxpayer request so. Subsequent to this arbitration clause, the OECD also developed procedural rules that states can use during the arbitration procedure. This article evaluates whether, almost six years after its adoption, the OECD arbitration clause has been included in double tax conventions concerning the prevention of double taxation. This article also evaluates to what extent the procedural rules provided for by the OECD are adopted.