This book covers all major topics in international tax law, ranging from
permanent establishments and capital gains to the taxation of royalties
and technical services, transfer pricing, and General Anti-Avoidance
Legislation. It also highlights the Indian "story" of status vs.
contract by examining four areas of controversy: permanent
establishments, FTS (Fees for Technical Services) & Royalty, capital
gains, and transfer pricing. The book approaches the subject of
international taxation from two opposing yet related perspectives. One
is the tax planning perspective, which involves contracts entered into
by individuals and companies; the other is that of state regulation
through increasingly complex legislation.
The area of permanent establishments demonstrates the dominance of
contracts over status, at least with respect to Indian tax law. However,
some recent judicial decisions in this area demonstrate the
susceptibility of contracts to status-related arguments. The areas of
FTS & Royalty as well as those of capital gains and transfer pricing
demonstrate the Indian government's attempts to establish, through
legislation, the dominance of status over contracts.
Whereas traditional textbooks on international tax law focus on the
legal technicalities of tax legislation, this book provides tax scholars
and lawyers with an understanding of tax planning and tax legislation
side by side in each chapter, specifying the respective kind of actual
or anticipated tax planning activity that in turn prompted a legislative
response. As such, it offers readers a contextual and practical
introduction to the complexities of international tax law, as well as an
in-depth analysis of the latest debates and controversies in this area.
