IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/sfb597/163.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

International governance through soft law: The case of the OECD transfer pricing guidelines

Author

Listed:
  • Vega, Alberto

Abstract

Soft law plays an important role in the regulation of international tax matters. This paper focuses on the case of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines and analyses the relationship between this non-binding instrument and the formal sources of law. From the perspective of international law, the OECD Guidelines are mainly connected to double tax treaties, but they may also influence customary norms and the general principles of law. From the point of view of domestic legal systems, references to the OECD Guidelines can be found in the tax legislation of some countries and, especially, in the interpretative circulars of the Tax Administrations. Furthermore, in some states the courts have also taken the OECD Guidelines into account in their judgements, which shows that they are almost treated as hard law. However, this practical relevance of the Guidelines does not seem to be in accordance with the process in which they were made in the OECD, which could be more open to the different stakeholders and more transparent.

Suggested Citation

  • Vega, Alberto, 2012. "International governance through soft law: The case of the OECD transfer pricing guidelines," TranState Working Papers 163, University of Bremen, Collaborative Research Center 597: Transformations of the State.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:sfb597:163
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/59530/1/717832643.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bartelsman, Eric J. & Beetsma, Roel M. W. J., 2003. "Why pay more? Corporate tax avoidance through transfer pricing in OECD countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(9-10), pages 2225-2252, September.
    2. Vivek H. Dehejia & Philipp Genschel, 1999. "Tax Competition in the European Union," Politics & Society, , vol. 27(3), pages 403-430, September.
    3. Reuven Avi-Yonah, "undated". "International Tax as International Law," University of Michigan John M. Olin Center for Law & Economics Working Paper Series umichlwps-1006, University of Michigan John M. Olin Center for Law & Economics.
    4. Genschel, Philipp & Zangl, Bernhard, 2008. "Transformations of the state: from monopolist to manager of political authority," TranState Working Papers 76, University of Bremen, Collaborative Research Center 597: Transformations of the State.
    5. Abbott, Kenneth W. & Keohane, Robert O. & Moravcsik, Andrew & Slaughter, Anne-Marie & Snidal, Duncan, 2000. "The Concept of Legalization," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(3), pages 401-419, July.
    6. Avi-Yonah,Reuven S., 2007. "International Tax as International Law," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521852838, September.
    7. Rixen, Thomas, 2008. "Politicization and institutional (non-) change in international taxation [Politisierung und institutioneller (Nicht-)Wandel des internationalen Steuerregimes]," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2008-306, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    8. Avi-Yonah,Reuven S., 2007. "International Tax as International Law," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521618014, September.
    9. Eden, Lorraine & Dacin, M. Tina & Wan, William P., 2001. "Standards across borders: crossborder diffusion of the arm's length standard in North America," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-23, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Christensen, Rasmus Corlin, 2017. "Professional Competition in Global Tax Reform: Transparency in Global Wealth Chains," SocArXiv gu63m, Center for Open Science.
    2. Ylönen, Matti & Laine, Matias, 2015. "For logistical reasons only? A case study of tax planning and corporate social responsibility reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 5-23.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hearson, Martin, 2018. "Transnational expertise and the expansion of the international tax regime: imposing ‘acceptable’ standards," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88351, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Philipp Genschel & Achim Kemmerling & Eric Seils, 2011. "Accelerating Downhill: How the EU Shapes Corporate Tax Competition in the Single Market," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 585-606, May.
    3. Joana Andrade Vicente, 2021. "Tax us, if you can: a game theoretic approach to profit shifting within the European Union," Working Papers REM 2021/0206, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    4. Michael P. Devereux & John Vella, 2015. "Are We Heading towards a Corporate Tax System Fit for the 21st Century?," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(04), pages 03-07, January.
    5. Miranda Stewart, 2014. "International Tax, the G20 and the Asia Pacific: From Competition to Cooperation?," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(3), pages 484-496, September.
    6. Wunder, Haroldene F., 2009. "Tax risk management and the multinational enterprise," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 14-28.
    7. Richard M. Bird, 2014. "Global Taxes and International Taxation: Mirage and Reality," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1429, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    8. Richard M. Bird, 2016. "Reforming International Taxation: Is the Process the Real Product?," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 217(2), pages 159-180, June.
    9. Charles McLure Jr., 2008. "Harmonizing Corporate Income Taxes in the US and the EU: Legislative, Judicial, Soft Law and Cooperative Approaches," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 9(02), pages 46-52, July.
    10. Omar Sebastián Cabrera Cabrera, 2016. "El Establecimiento Permanente: Especial Énfasis En La Cláusula De Agencia," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Derecho, number 849, April.
    11. Thomas Rixen & Bernhard Zangl, 2013. "The politicization of international economic institutions in US public debates," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 363-387, September.
    12. Lijun Zhao & Angelina Karaivanova & Pengfei Zhang, 2021. "The Complementary Role of the WTO in the Enhancement of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project," World, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-28, May.
    13. Leibrecht, Markus & Rixen, Thomas, 2020. "Double Tax Avoidance and Tax Competition for Mobile Capital," SocArXiv dgw5k, Center for Open Science.
    14. James Nebus, 2019. "Will tax reforms alone solve the tax avoidance and tax haven problems?," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 2(3), pages 258-271, September.
    15. Rixen, Thomas, 2010. "From Double Tax Avoidance to Tax Competition: Explaining the Institutional Trajectory of International Tax Governance," SocArXiv aut7j, Center for Open Science.
    16. Charles E. McLure, Jr., 2008. "Harmonizing Corporate Income Taxes in the European Community: Rationale and Implications," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 22, pages 151-195, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Benkovskis, Konstantins & Wörz, Julia, 2018. "What drives the market share changes? Price versus non-price factors," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 9-29.
    18. Peralta, Susana & Wauthy, Xavier & van Ypersele, Tanguy, 2006. "Should countries control international profit shifting?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 24-37, January.
    19. Fitz Gerald, John & Bergin, Adele & CPB & DIW Berlin & ETLA & IfW & NIESR & OFCE & PROMETEIA & WIFO & CASE, 2005. "Economic Assessment of the Euro Area: Forecasts and Policy Analysis, Autumn Report 2005," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number sustat20.
    20. Stéphane Guimbert, 2002. "Réformes de la fiscalité du capital en Europe," Revue Française d'Économie, Programme National Persée, vol. 16(4), pages 113-169.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    soft law; transfer pricing; international taxation; OECD; international governance; recommendations; guidelines;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:sfb597:163. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zesbrde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.