How Reform-Friendly Are U.S. Tax Treaties?

This article addresses the treaty compatibility aspect of proposals for reforming the U.S. international tax system. Finding that a reform proposal is treaty compatible obviates the need for renegotiating or overriding existing U.S. treaties to implement the proposal if enacted. After establishing that a U.S. move to an exemption system would be treaty compatible despite the literal reading of Article 23 of the U.S. Model income tax treaty as requiring a credit system, the article argues that any system that is or can be expressed as an outright fixed or floating combination of exemption and credit is treaty compatible regardless of how it is actually labeled or expressed. The article also algebraically demonstrates, by employing a uniform method, that most recent proposals for reforming the U.S. international tax system are, or can be expressed as, perfect fixed or floating combinations of exemption and credit and therefore are treaty compatible. The article then explains why it is unlikely that taxpayers or treaty partners would object to the enactment of any such proposals even if they were not treaty compatible

How Reform-Friendly Are U.S. Tax Treaties?

This article addresses the treaty compatibility aspect of proposals for reforming the U.S. international tax system. Finding that a reform proposal is treaty compatible obviates the need for renegotiating or overriding existing U.S. treaties to implement the proposal if enacted. After establishing that a U.S. move to an exemption system would be treaty compatible despite the literal reading of Article 23 of the U.S. Model income tax treaty as requiring a credit system, the article argues that any system that is or can be expressed as an outright fixed or floating combination of exemption and credit is treaty compatible regardless of how it is actually labeled or expressed. The article also algebraically demonstrates, by employing a uniform method, that most recent proposals for reforming the U.S. international tax system are, or can be expressed as, perfect fixed or floating combinations of exemption and credit and therefore are treaty compatible. The article then explains why it is unlikely that taxpayers or treaty partners would object to the enactment of any such proposals even if they were not treaty compatible

Treaty Override: The False Conflict Between Whitney and Cook

This Article explores the conditions under which a U.S. statute over¬rides an earlier self-executing treaty. Focusing on the often blurred distinction between three types of statute-treaty relationships—reconcilable inconsistencies, textual repugnancies, and conflicts—the Article concludes that, contrary to a common view, there is no contra¬diction between the 1888 Supreme Court decision in Whitney v. Rob¬ertson, stating that in the event of a conflict between a statute and a treaty the later-in-time provision always controls, and the Court’s 1933 decision in Cook v. United States, holding that a later-in-time statute does not override an earlier treaty without a clear expression of con¬gressional intent to override. The Article explains that Cook merely finds no conflict to which Whitney’s later-in-time rule might apply: Together, the two decisions harmoniously stand for the proposition that while typically a later-in-time treaty overrides an earlier repug¬nant statute, a later-in-time statute overrides an earlier repugnant treaty only if Congress has clearly expressed its intent to override or if not overriding the treaty would render the statute a nullity. Though the Court did not say as much, Cook’s approach is an application of the canon of construction favoring a specific provision over a general one. Reconceptualized this way, Cook cannot be said to give general pri¬macy to treaties over statutes

Stapled Securities-- The Next Big Thing for Income Trusts? Useful Lessons from the US Experience with Stapled Shares

The Department of Finance has introduced two separate sets of legislation that together attempt to limit demand in the income trust market (though with very different revenue consequences). However, neither the proposed legislation nor the existing Income Tax Act contains an equity recharacterization rule. Consequently, the tax results associated with the standard income trust and royalty trust structures can still be realized with direct holding structures, in which the use of a trust as a pooling mechanism is eliminated and investors hold directly a combination of high-yield junk debt and a specified number of shares of the issuer. Until now, these junk bond structures have been used primarily for cross-border investment into the United States, to avoid the us corporate income tax without any significant loss of non-tax attributes. But the elimination of the foreign property holding restrictions for tax-exempt deferred income plans, such as registered pension plans and registered retirement savings plans, means that there is very little in the way of any tax-law constraint on the acquisition of direct junk bond substitutes by this class of investors in a domestic context. This article highlights the use of stapled securities as a particular direct holding structure that could be used to avoid the application of the department’s latest legislative proposal, which applies dividend tax treatment to targeted income trust structures. The authors suggest that the department will most likely have to modify this draft legislation to specifically address stapled security structures. They illustrate how the us experience with stapled shares, and particularly the congressional legislative response, provides a workable template for the necessary modifications. However, this legislative template would only address the use of stapled securities in intermediated structures. Some form of equity recharacterization rule to address the use of stapled securities in disintermediated structures is also needed to ensure the target effectiveness of the draft legislation

Stapled Securities-- The Next Big Thing for Income Trusts? Useful Lessons from the US Experience with Stapled Shares

The Department of Finance has introduced two separate sets of legislation that together attempt to limit demand in the income trust market (though with very different revenue consequences). However, neither the proposed legislation nor the existing Income Tax Act contains an equity recharacterization rule. Consequently, the tax results associated with the standard income trust and royalty trust structures can still be realized with direct holding structures, in which the use of a trust as a pooling mechanism is eliminated and investors hold directly a combination of high-yield junk debt and a specified number of shares of the issuer. Until now, these junk bond structures have been used primarily for cross-border investment into the United States, to avoid the us corporate income tax without any significant loss of non-tax attributes. But the elimination of the foreign property holding restrictions for tax-exempt deferred income plans, such as registered pension plans and registered retirement savings plans, means that there is very little in the way of any tax-law constraint on the acquisition of direct junk bond substitutes by this class of investors in a domestic context. This article highlights the use of stapled securities as a particular direct holding structure that could be used to avoid the application of the department’s latest legislative proposal, which applies dividend tax treatment to targeted income trust structures. The authors suggest that the department will most likely have to modify this draft legislation to specifically address stapled security structures. They illustrate how the us experience with stapled shares, and particularly the congressional legislative response, provides a workable template for the necessary modifications. However, this legislative template would only address the use of stapled securities in intermediated structures. Some form of equity recharacterization rule to address the use of stapled securities in disintermediated structures is also needed to ensure the target effectiveness of the draft legislation

Symposium: The Future of the New International Tax Regime

The symposium was held at Fordham University School of Law on October 26, 2018. It has been edited to remove minor cadences of speech that appear awkward in writing and to provide sources and references to other explanatory materials in respect to certain statements made by the speakers

The Future of the New International Tax Regime

TesisObjetivo: Determinar el nivel de conocimiento sobre las infecciones de transmisión sexual - VIH/SIDA y sus medidas preventivas en estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud - UNSCH. Marzo - junio del 2018. Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio de tipo: Aplicada, con diseño: descriptivo, prospectivo, transversal, comparativo. Muestra: 310 estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, que conformaron 93 estudiantes de obstetricia, 40 estudiantes de medicina humana, 90 estudiantes de enfermería y 87 estudiantes de farmacia y bioquímica, matriculados en el semestre académico 2018-I; la técnica fue la encuesta y como instrumento el cuestionario. Los datos obtenidos fueron almacenados y procesados en elpaquete estadístico SPSS 22.0 G, para el análisis de datos se utilizó el método de la escala de Stanones, así determinar el nivel de conocimiento, para la comparación de la hipótesis se utilizó el análisis de varianza (ANOVA) y la prueba de Tukey, para el nivel de confiabilidad se utilizó el chi cuadrado, siendo P 3 asignaturas que incluyen contenidos de las ITS, tienen un nivel de conocimiento medio con un 71.90% y alto con un 21.90%, en relación a los que llevaron ≤3 asignaturas tienen nivel de conocimiento medio con un 63.70% y bajo con un 28.10%; el 71. 40% del sexo masculino y 62.50% el sexo femenino tienen un nivel de conocimiento medio. En la dimensión del nivel de conocimiento sobre las ITS - VIH/SIDA, el 64.50% de estudiantes tienen el nivel de conocimiento medio, siendo el 87.50% en medicina humana, el 65.60% en obstetricia, el 61.10% en enfermería y el 50.60% en farmacia y bioquímica; habiendo diferencia estadísticamente significativa de obstetricia respecto a farmacia y bioquímica; medicina humana respecto a enfermería y farmacia y bioquímica. En la dimensión de medidas preventivas de las ITS - VIH/SIDA, 60.30% tienen un nivel de conocimiento medio, siendo el 76.80% en farmacia y bioquímica, el 65.60% en obstetricia, 53.30% en enfermería y 47.50% medicina humana; no habiendo diferencia estadísticamente significativa. Desconocen el tratamiento de las ITS - VIH/SIDA, los signos y síntomas, el agente causal y patógeno, del mismo modo ocurre de las fases del VIH, las complicaciones de las ITS - VIH/SIDA y las medidas preventivas. Conclusiones: Los estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud tienen un nivel de conocimiento medio de las ITS - VIH/SIDA y sus medidas preventivas, el número de asignaturas influye en el nivel de conocimiento, el sexo no influye en el nivel de conocimiento. Habiendo diferencias estadísticamente significativas

The Burden of Mental Disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 1990-2013

Charara R, Forouzanfar M, Naghavi M, et al. The Burden of Mental Disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 1990-2013. PLOS ONE. 2017;12(1): e0169575.The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is witnessing an increase in chronic disorders, including mental illness. With ongoing unrest, this is expected to rise. This is the first study to quantify the burden of mental disorders in the EMR. We used data from the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD) 2013. DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) allow assessment of both premature mortality (years of life lost-YLLs) and nonfatal outcomes (years lived with disability-YLDs). DALYs are computed by adding YLLs and YLDs for each age-sex-country group. In 2013, mental disorders contributed to 5.6% of the total disease burden in the EMR (1894 DALYS/100,000 population): 2519 DALYS/100,000 (2590/100,000 males, 2426/100,000 females) in high-income countries, 1884 DALYS/100,000 (1618/100,000 males, 2157/100,000 females) in middle-income countries, 1607 DALYS/100,000 (1500/100,000 males, 1717/100,000 females) in low-income countries. Females had a greater proportion of burden due to mental disorders than did males of equivalent ages, except for those under 15 years of age. The highest proportion of DALYs occurred in the 25-49 age group, with a peak in the 35-39 years age group (5344 DALYs/100,000). The burden of mental disorders in EMR increased from 1726 DALYs/100,000 in 1990 to 1912 DALYs/100,000 in 2013 (10.8% increase). Within the mental disorders group in EMR, depressive disorders accounted for most DALYs, followed by anxiety disorders. Among EMR countries, Palestine had the largest burden of mental disorders. Nearly all EMR countries had a higher mental disorder burden compared to the global level. Our findings call for EMR ministries of health to increase provision of mental health services and to address the stigma of mental illness. Moreover, our results showing the accelerating burden of mental health are alarming as the region is seeing an increased level of instability. Indeed, mental health problems, if not properly addressed, will lead to an increased burden of diseases in the region

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020