The Special Tax Regimes Clause in the 2016 U.S. Model Income Tax Convention

Abstract

This contribution focuses on one of the new provisions of the 2016 U.S. Model, i.e. the special tax regimes clause provided for in Article 3 (1) (l), which impinges on several Articles of the Model. The main purpose of this provision is to deny certain treaty benefits at the source when the person claiming the benefits enjoys a preferential tax regime in the resident state. The referred contribution analyses the legal framework of the provision taking into account the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project and the US tax treaty policy. In this regard, the special tax regimes clause deviates from the approach taken by most states in respect of to how to avoid the application of tax treaty benefits to preferential tax regimes. Until now, tax treaties have usually listed the regimes which were excluded whilst disregarding the possibility of establishing a general wording concerning the meaning of preferential tax regimes.