Tax Treaties and Developing Countries

Abstract

In today's discussion concerning tax treaties and tax treaty policy the implications in particular for LDCs are seldom addressed. There is a lack of analysis of which arguments might apply to this group of very poor countries but not for other developing countries. Based on a study of the tax treaty network of East African LDCs, the author contributes to this discussion by analysing two issues: What importance do tax treaties have for LDCs and what role does the UN Model play in the negotiation of tax treaties of LDCs. After considering a tax treaty's functions (the elimination of double taxation, the allocation of taxing rights, the prevention of tax avoidance and fiscal evasion, and the promotion of foreign direct investment), the author comes to the conclusion that an LDC can indeed benefit from entering into tax treaties. However, since a tax treaty can also have negative effects for LDCs, it is crucial for such countries to carefully evaluate all factors before entering into tax treaties. If an LDC decides to negotiate tax treaties, the UN Model is a good choice because it does indeed take into account certain particularities of capital importing countries. The treaty network of East African LDCs also shows that the UN Model already had a rather important impact on the treaty negotiations of these countries. Nonetheless, there are certain particularities in these tax treaties which might need to be considered for inclusion into the UN Model or in its Commentary in order to make this model convention even more relevant for East African LDCs.