International Tax Dispute Resolution

International Fiscal Association (some 13,000 members worldwide) organised a regional Nordic meeting on mutual agreement procedures and dispute resolutions in the tax area. As rapporteur of ECO/420, I was invited to present our work and opinion on Double Taxation Dispute Resolution Mechanisms.

The meeting was held at Uppsala University, Sweden on 18-19 May 2017. Academics, government representatives and Competent Authorites in the Nordic countries for Mutual Agreement Procedures etc were all represented as well as persons with arbitrator experience. Officials from the OECD and the UN held presentations and participated in the panel discussions. The proposed EU directive raised high interest among the participants and it is important to underline that on that directive only the EESC (and still not the EP) had issued an opinion. This Directive will soon be dealt with at the Council level.  Member States' position regarding this Directive  related situation led to a discussion on how the OECD and UN proposals for dispute settlement mechanisms may be affected. The work process of the EESC was explained.