The Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) Rules and Tax Certainty: A Proposed Architecture to Prevent and Resolve GloBE Disputes

Abstract

In the framework of the implementation of the global minimum tax – the Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) rules – the development of effective dispute prevention and resolution mechanisms continues to be a key concern for both businesses and tax administrations, as also evidenced by recent public consultations promoted by the OECD. In the present study, the authors further develop as a standalone model the reciprocal domestic dispute resolution proposal already outlined in an earlier article of theirs published in the World Tax Journal. The authors also enhance this rule with a dispute prevention component and an adjustment provision taking into account the outcome of the dispute resolution. In particular, following the introduction, section 2. is devoted to a short classification of GloBE disputes and the presentation of the distinction drawn in this study between conflicts of interpretation (section 2.1.) and conflicts of transposition (section 2.2.) Section 3. displays the authors’ proposal to achieve tax certainty for the GloBE rules. They begin by setting out the fundamental principles of the proposal (section 3.1.) and providing a general overview of its architecture (section 3.2.). Turning to the concerns raised by the 2023 Public Consultation Document, the authors explain why their proposal would not lead to any override of domestic law and, therefore, should remain compatible with the principle of legality (section 3.3.). A detailed discussion of the key components of their proposal, most notably – as a complement to the domestic reciprocal dispute resolution mechanism – a new interpretative model rule and a new lex specialis model rule then follows in section 3.4. In section 4., a comparison is finally developed between the proposal by the authors and the option of a multilateral convention.