The resolution of tax disputes and international tax arbitration

Abstract

Globalisation and the digital economy have revolutionised the world's markets and international transactions, some of which manage to escape national jurisdictions and bilateral treaties between States. With the lack of multilateral agreements, certain taxpayers, multinationals in particular, have managed to slip through the net of individual countries' tax regulations and been able to reduce their tax payments. To resolve tax disputes between taxpayers and States, with the chief goals of avoiding double taxation and not being subject to any tax jurisdiction, a number of multilateral measures have been instituted, including -amongst other mechanisms- binding international tax arbitration proceedings. The OECD and the EU are fostering the implementation of such measures, whose goal is to prevent tax avoidance and achieve a fair spread of tax burdens on an international level.