TAX TREATIES ANTI-AVOIDANCE

03 August 2011

Draft legislation to tackle tax avoidance using double taxation treaties has been published by HMRC.

The Government announced at the Budget on 23 March 2011 that it intended to introduce legislation in Finance Bill 2012 to counter avoidance schemes that exploited the provisions of double taxation agreements (DTAs). The draft legislation included in this note forms the basis of consultation on this proposal.

HMRC welcomes views on the approach that the draft legislation takes to tackling tax avoidance using DTAs, as outlined in Chapter 2. They would also be grateful to hear views on whether the formulation of the tests achieves its objective, and whether there are any perceived unintended consequences, including arrangements caught by the draft legislation that are considered to be ones to which it should not apply and the persons that might be unintentionally affected. A tax information and impact note on this measure will be published in the autumn taking into account comments received.

Comments on this note should be made by 22 September 2011 to Tom Matthews (telephone: +44 (0)20 7147 2661, email [email protected]). This feedback will be used to inform the final version of the draft legislation that will be published in the autumn when interested parties will have a further opportunity to comment.