The Implementation of the “Authorized OECD Approach” under German Law and its Relation to Already Existing Double Tax Conventions – Can the “Authorized OECD Approach” be Applied Retrospectively?

The attribution of profits to PEs has become increasingly complex during the last years and it is expected to become even more complex in the future. This increased complexity can, inter alia, be attributed to the introduction of the “Authorized OECD Approach” in 2010. The AOA is a method for attributing profits to PEs in two steps and was meant to facilitate the international profit attribution to PEs. The intention of the OECD was to achieve a higher level of legal certainty and to harmonize the differing rules on profit attribution to PEs in the OECD countries. Another reason for the implementation of the AOA brought forward by the OECD was the avoidance of double taxation and double non-taxation arising from divergent rules on profit allocations to PEs. However, the AOA was highly disputed and it is noticeable that it is not accepted as an appropriate approach to attribute profits to PEs in the United Nations Model Double Taxation Convention (DTC). Even the OECD accepted the introduction of this approach by majority vote only. This implies that there is no international consensus on the application of the AOA. While it is expected to result in problems in international co-operations, it is also expected to lead to complications in national law since it is built up on fictions that are difficult to determine for tax law practitioners.

Tax Seminar II on Recent Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights on Taxation and Special Issues on the Taxation of Expatriates

A tax seminar for students following the LL.M course in Cross-border Taxation of Human Capital was held at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University on 12 March 2014. The objective of this seminar was to provide the students with additional information and insights on several issues with regard to the taxation of individuals. Dr Marjon Weerepas, associate professor of law at Maastricht University, welcomed the speakers as well as the participating students and gave a brief introduction to the subject of the seminar. The seminar featured two presentations given by Ms Larisa Gerzova, senior research associate in the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), and Ms Laura Ambagtsheer-Pakarinen, also in the IBFD.

Polyamides based on a partially bio-based spirodiamine

In this study novel, fully and partially bio-based polyamides containing spiroacetal moieties in the backbone derived from bio-glycerol and bio-ethanol were prepared and characterized. The renewable diamine employed to obtain a series of polyamides was synthesized by means of thiolene click chemistry and therefore contains flexible thioether as well as rigid spiroacetal moieties. Two different chemical pathways for the polymerization were investigated and evaluated. The polymerization of polyamide salts proved to be the most promising method and therefore salt polymerization was applied in the synthesis of polyamides with aliphatic and aromatic di-carboxylic acids. Subsequently, the structure of the polymers was confirmed by Maldi-ToF analysis and additionally thermal and mechanical properties were investigated revealing T-g's between 24 and 80 degrees C and ductile materials with moduli between 1.0 and 1.5 GPa. Both semicrystalline and amorphous polyamides were thermally stable and therefore suitable for thermal processing. In the end, degradation studies were performed on the acetal containing polyamides which showed that the polymers were stable at pH 3 and higher

Report on the Global Tax Policy Conference Amsterdam, 6 March 2014

The first Global Tax Policy Conference of the Maastricht Centre for Taxation was held at The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on 6 March 2014. The purpose of the day was to share the knowledge and views on global tax policy through interactive discussions about key issues and emerging challenges in the dynamic area of tax policy.

Vanillin derived a carbonate dialdehyde and a carbonate diol : novel platform monomers for sustainable polymers synthesis

Vanillin has been regarded as one of the important biomass-based platform chemicals for aromatic polymers synthesis. Herein, novel symmetric bis(4-formyl-2-methoxyphenyl)carbonate (BFMC) and bis(4-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methoxyphenyl)carbonate (BHMC) polymeric monomers have been synthesized in high yields using vanillin as a raw chemical, which have been submitted for polymer synthesis via well-established polymeric strategies. A new class of poly(carbonate ester)s oligomers with amide moieties in their side chain can be prepared by using the BFMC as one of monomers via the Passerini three compound reaction (3CR). A new class of poly(carbonate ester)s oligomers and poly(carbonate urethane)s can be prepared via reactions between BHMC with dicarboxylic acid chlorides and diisocyanates, respectively. Their structure have been confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FTIR, and the gel permeation chromatograph (GPC) analysis shows that the Mn of poly(carbonate ester)s oligomers ranges from 3100 to 7900 with PDI between 1.31 and 1.65, and the Mn of poly(carbonate urethane)s ranges from 16 400 to 24 400 with PDI ranging from 1.36 to 2.17. The DSC analysis shows that the poly(carbonate ester)s oligomers have relative low Tg ranging from 37.4 to 74.1 °C, and the poly(carbonate urethane)s have Tg ranging from 97.3 to 138.3 °C, mainly correlating to the structure of dicarboxylic acid chlorides and diisocyanates used