The Interplay between the OECD Recommendations of Actions 2 and 3 Regarding Hybrid Structures

Abstract

On 5 October, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) submitted a package of measures for the BEPS project (‘Base Erosion and Profit Shifting’) for a comprehensive and coordinated reform of international tax regulations. The final reports relating to all fifteen action points have now been issued. It is clear that coordination among the individual measures is necessary in order to implement efficient preventive tools in the fight against harmful tax activities of internationally operating companies. The OECD is addressing this fact in an open and direct manner. The postulated coordination is necessary in particular to ensure that the fundamental goal of avoiding double taxation is not undermined. Whether such coordination with respect to hybrid structures is happening, especially in the areas of Actions 2 (Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements) and 3 (Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC) Rules), is subject to this article.