INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
TAX COMPETITION：A GLOBAL PHENOMENON 8
FACTORS TO IDENTIFY TAX HAVENS AND HARMFUL PREFERENTIAL TAX REGIMES 15
Ⅰ．INTRODUCTION 15
Ⅱ．Tax havens 18
a)Introduction 18
b)Factors to identify tax havens 19
Ⅲ．Harmful preferential tax regimes in OECD member and non-member countries 22
ⅱ)“Ring-Fencing”of Regimes 23
Key factors 23
ⅰ)No or low effective tax rates 23
a)Features of harmful preferential tax regimes 23
ⅲ)Lack of transparency 26
ⅳ)Lack of effective exchange of information 27
Other factors 28
Ⅴ)An artificial definition of the tax base 28
ⅵ)Failure to adhere to international transfer pricing principles 29
ⅶ)Foreign source income exempt from residence country tax 30
ⅷ)Negotiable tax rate or tax base 31
ⅸ)Existence of secrecy provisions 31
ⅹ)Access to a wide network of tax treaties 31
b)Assessing the economic effects of a preferential tax regime in terms of its potential harmfulness 32
ⅹⅰ)Regimes which are promoted as tax minimisation vehicles 32
ⅹⅱ)The regime encourages purely tax-driven operations or arrangements 32
ⅰ)Does the tax regime shift activity from one country to the country providing the preferential tax regime,rather than generate significant new activity? 33
ⅱ)Is the presence and level of activities in the host country commensurate with the amount of investment or income? 33
ⅲ)Is the preferential tax regime the primary motivation for the location of an activity? 34
COUNTERACTING HARMFUL TAX COMPETITION 35
Ⅰ．Introduction 35
Ⅱ．Recommendations concerning domestic legislation and practices 39
Ⅲ．Recommendations concerning tax treaties 46
Ⅳ．Recommendations to intensify international co-operation inresponse to harmful tax competition 53
a)Restriction of deduction for payments to tax haven entities 61
Ⅴ．Topics for further study 61
b)Imposition of withholding taxes on certain payments to residents of countries that engage in harmful tax competition 62
c)Residence rules 62
d)Application of transfer pricing rules and guidelines 63
e)Thin Capitalisation 64
f)Financial innovation 64
g)Non-tax measures 65
NOTES 66
ANNEX Ⅰ Recommendation of The Council on Counteracting Harmful Tax Competition 68
Appendix Recommendations and Guidelines for Dealing with Harmful Tax Practices 71
ANNEX Ⅱ Statements by Luxembourg and Switzerland 77
ANNEX Ⅲ Relevant OECD Reports and Guidelines 83