The book analyses the taxation of investment funds and their investors from the standpoint of domestic tax laws, tax treaties and EC law. It also provides a comprehensive understanding of the tax issues arising in the cross-border transactions of investment funds and private fund investors in the European Union. The viewpoints of the source state of income, residence state of the investment fund as well as the residence state of the investor are all considered. The book takes a comparative approach by covering five EU Member States (the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Finland). On the basis of the examination at the Member State level, the present tax rules and practices are tested against the fundamental freedoms of the EC Treaty. The conclusion is that there are still various tax measures that are likely to be in conflict with EC law. The book also discusses possibilities of adopting targeted measures of positive integration at the level of the European Union with a view to enhancing the objective of the single investment fund market.

The effect of the significant changes in tax law at domestic, European, and international levels on investment funds, an important part of global financial services, creates a complex environment for practitioners and a source of debate for academics and policymakers. This is the first book to provide a comprehensive legal and practical analysis of the changes to the complex multilevel tax and regulatory framework concerning different types of investment funds. The contributions, updated as of late 2017, were originally presented at a conference held at the University of Luxembourg in November 2016 under the auspices of the ATOZ Chair for European and International Taxation. The book covers the central questions arising in national law and tax policy, explores the regulatory and tax framework of the European Union (EU), and discusses the multifaceted interactions of both national and EU law with bilateral tax treaties. Through fourteen chapters following a brief introduction, leading academic experts and practising specialists provide decisive insight into: – the regulatory regime for European investment funds; – the tax law and reforms in both Luxembourg and Germany; – the role of the European Commission’s State-aid practices; – examples of case law concerning the application of non-discrimination rules to various investment vehicles; – the impact of tax-specific EU legislation, such as the Parent-Subsidiary Directive, the Tax Merger Directive, and the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive; – the availability of tax treaty protection for different collective and non-collective investment funds; – the impact of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) developments on the taxation of cross-border investments; – the value-added tax (VAT) treatment of investment funds and their managers; and – the consequences of the global drive towards automatic exchange of information relating to existing cross-border investment structures. With its particular focus on Luxembourg – the leading centre for investment funds in Europe (and second only to the United States globally) and, thus, an instructive model for domestic-level investment fund regulation and taxation – this volume reveals the common issues that arise in virtually every other jurisdiction with a sizeable fund industry. As the first in-depth treatment of the globally significant nexus between investment funds and taxation, the book will prove valuable to policymakers, practitioners, and academics in both financial services and tax law.

An increasing number of States have entered the market looking to invest resources in foreign assets. This emergence of States acting as investors, managing the wealth of a nation and competing in the marketplace with private investors, has attracted growing and wide attention. This book is the first in-depth analysis of the international tax aspects of sovereign wealth investors, and serves as a comprehensive guide to designing tax policy, from a source State perspective, toward inbound sovereign wealth investment. Drawing on a wide range of relevant sources, including international instruments, domestic tax legislation, administrative practice, (international) case law and the writings of highly qualified publicists, the author fully addresses the following aspects of the subject: – the definition, functions, legal form, governance, home State tax status, etc. of sovereign wealth investors; – tax policy considerations and objectives (i.e., neutrality, equity and international attractiveness) from a source State perspective vis-à-vis foreign sovereign wealth investors; and – the potential impact of the sovereign immunity principle, bilateral tax treaties and European (Union) law on source States’ ability to achieve these tax policy objectives in relation to foreign sovereign wealth investors. The conceptual framework developed by the author will greatly assist source States in introducing new tax policy or in evaluating or reconsidering their existing tax policy vis-à-vis foreign sovereign wealth investors. In addition, practitioners, academics and (home States of) sovereign wealth investors will welcome this first authoritative analysis of an important but insufficiently understood subject in international tax.

It is well known that investments in real estate provide relatively stable yields compared with stock market volatility, so it is not surprising that, with globalisation, investors have pursued such opportunities across borders, especially where foreign countries offer beneficial tax regimes. Nor it is surprising that states should fear erosion of their tax base in the presence of such investments. This groundbreaking book – the first in-depth comparative analysis of taxation of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in different European Union (EU) Member States – investigates the impact of EU law on direct taxation in the case of REITs, and whether EU policies in this area have led national legislators to adjust their REIT regimes. Presenting detailed case studies of three EU Member States – France (a well-established REIT regime), Bulgaria (a new accession state) and Spain (a recent REIT regime) – this book explores the idea of a harmonised EU REIT, and whether harmonisation among national REIT regimes may be possible. Among the issues and topics arising in the course of the presentation are the following: – ‘goodness of fit’ and adaptational soft pressure; – relevant case law from the European Court of Justice, including both tax and company law; – ‘REIT shopping’; – noncompliance of REIT regimes with EU law; and – criteria for the ‘misfit’ analysis of REIT regimes and potential infringements of EU law. The analysis ultimately documents conditions and circumstances for the creation of a harmonised ‘Euro-REIT’ by assessing the level of change on the area of direct taxation within the Member States which would be needed for such a creation to become reality, identifying common themes across different legal systems that could assist the harmonisation of laws. Throughout, a holistic view is taken, linking tax and company law with considerations of sovereignty, policy and culture. In its structured framework comparing REIT regimes, this incomparable study takes a giant step towards overcoming resistance to a common REIT taxation regime in the EU. As the first comparative study of REIT regimes to identify an emerging common understanding informed by European jurisprudence and Europeanisation policy and theory, it is sure to be welcomed by practitioners, academics and policymakers in European law and international taxation as well as European studies.