Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

The Cross-border Taxation of Dividends in the Case of Individual Portfolio Investors: Issues and Possible Solutions

The Cross-border Taxation of Dividends in the Case of Individual Portfolio Investors: Issues and... So far, the field of cross-border taxation of dividends paid to individual investors in the European Union (EU) Member States has not been subject to harmonization. The differences in the Member States' tax systems give rise to obstacles to the internal market. As a consequence, individual investors may be discouraged from investing in shares of foreign corporations. Hence, the benefits of international risk diversification are not fully exploited. The discussion of possible solutions to these issues has recently received a new impetus as the European Commission held a consultation on the issues of cross-border dividend taxation in Spring 2011. In this article, we discuss the alternative solutions pointed out by the European Commission and present our genuine proposal. We show that dividends paid to individual investors should not be taxed at source by drawing on a set of normative criteria comprising conformity with European Law, efficiency, simplicity, and equity considerations. We furthermore argue that the abolition of withholding taxes should be accompanied by introducing automatic exchange of information. The analysis of alternative reform options is preceded by a brief, yet comprehensive summary of the taxation of dividends in the EU Member States highlighting the shortcomings of the current dividend taxation. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png EC Tax Review Kluwer Law International

The Cross-border Taxation of Dividends in the Case of Individual Portfolio Investors: Issues and Possible Solutions

Spengel; Evers
EC Tax Review , Volume 21 (1) – Jan 1, 2012
Download PDF
16 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/kluwer-law-international/the-cross-border-taxation-of-dividends-in-the-case-of-individual-6U69EPe0O7
Publisher
Kluwer Law International
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer Law International
ISSN
0928-2750
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

So far, the field of cross-border taxation of dividends paid to individual investors in the European Union (EU) Member States has not been subject to harmonization. The differences in the Member States' tax systems give rise to obstacles to the internal market. As a consequence, individual investors may be discouraged from investing in shares of foreign corporations. Hence, the benefits of international risk diversification are not fully exploited. The discussion of possible solutions to these issues has recently received a new impetus as the European Commission held a consultation on the issues of cross-border dividend taxation in Spring 2011. In this article, we discuss the alternative solutions pointed out by the European Commission and present our genuine proposal. We show that dividends paid to individual investors should not be taxed at source by drawing on a set of normative criteria comprising conformity with European Law, efficiency, simplicity, and equity considerations. We furthermore argue that the abolition of withholding taxes should be accompanied by introducing automatic exchange of information. The analysis of alternative reform options is preceded by a brief, yet comprehensive summary of the taxation of dividends in the EU Member States highlighting the shortcomings of the current dividend taxation.

Journal

EC Tax Review – Kluwer Law International

Published: Jan 1, 2012

There are no references for this article.