The reduction of trade barriers and the increased ease of moving goods and services around the globe via the Internet and modern transportation means that cross-border trading, once the preserve of a small group of multinational companies, is now part of mainstream business activity. Such cross-border activity exposes business and the people they employ to taxes and tax systems in the jurisdictions where customers are based, which brings not only opportunity but also potential issues and conflict between tax systems.
Tax considerations play a significant role in shaping the business and financing structures used by cross-border traders. As taxpayers consider how to optimise their tax position, they do so against a backdrop of a rapidly changing tax landscape, as jurisdictions compete to encourage inward investment on the one hand and on the other introduce increasingly complex rules designed to discourage any diversion of profit from their tax net.
The role of the international tax adviser is to help business reach the desired destination and avoid the hazards. The aim of this book is to provide business and its advisers with topical and current insights of leading experts on the tax issues and opportunities in their respective jurisdictions, or in one case, offered by the European Union. Whilst specific tax advice is always essential, the starting point in any journey is to have a broad understanding of the nature of the potential issues and advantages that lie ahead and, with 43 jurisdictional chapters in total, this book provides a guide to these.
