Selected US Tax Developments: Adams Challenge (UK) Limited: When Does a Treaty Provision Conflict with the Code?

Abstract

In the United States, statutes and treaties are on an equal footing. Thus, in the event of a conflict between a statute and a treaty, the treaty does not automatically take precedence over the statute. Moreover, the US courts go to great lengths to avoid finding the existence of any conflict. This article discusses a recent case in which the Tax Court held, among other things, that a punitive deduction-disallowance rule applicable solely to non-US persons did not conflict with the non-discrimination article of the income tax treaty in effect between the United States and Canada.