Beskattning av Internationella Portföljer : Juridisk Analys Taxing International Portfolios : Legal Analysis

by Palm, Stefan

The thesis is concentrating on the development of tax neutrality in the area of direct taxation of portfolio income within the EC Law. The question is of great importance as the juridical powers of the EU are unclear and as the international tax law is a complexed area, it does affect portfolios. The problem is often described in terms of double taxation and it is of special interest for this paper to see how a portfolio is affected by cross-border investments with relation to the European Union. The term portfolio income is on the international area widely used and not all countries are using a special taxation of portfolio income. The EU has no positive integration to build a tax legislative platform and thereby to decide how portfolio income should be taxed. Instead has the ECJ an exclusive possibility to destroy tax treatments which are unfair due to the fundamental free movement of capital in the ECT. Problems in regard to the lack of positive integration for the EU makes it harder to unify the union into one tax system. Countries are afraid of loosing their important source of financing the state and the two generally used methods of CIN and CEN are used in different countries, even outside the union. To use them synchronised seems today to be a utopy. iii To relieve the double taxation, are often bilateral methods used, and sometimes unilateral methods. Both of them are using the Credit method, Exemption method and Deduction method. The ECJ has in its case law favoured the Credit method, which seems to be the same method used by the Directives, such as the Savings Tax Directive about information exchange and in accordance with the doctrine. The problems in the area are difficult as an uncertainty appears for the investments which could interfere the global trade and a tax planning, if not even tax abuse could appear making a movement which would have severe consequences for one of the biggest economical engines in the world; the stockmarket. The G20 meeting has with its ‘Declaration summit on financial markets and the world economy’ from the 15th November 2008 decided among other things, to continue the work within organisations such as the OECD decided to, among other things, strengthen the exchange of information on taxes on a middle-long time schedule and to give severe consequences if this will be nonchalanced. This decision shows how the importance of taxes on a practical view of the importance of developing a good tax system to get into an economical global wealth. iv