Kluwer INTERNATIONAL TAX LAW

IFA Morning Panel Session: Interpretation of Treaties Concluded in More Than One Language

If you are attending the 74th Congress of the International Fiscal Association in Berlin 4-8 September, make sure to sign up for the panel session ‘Interpretation of treaties concluded in more than one language’. The panel is comprised of leading experts from the field.

• United Kingdom: Upper Tribunal - Royal Bank of Canada v HMRC [2022] UKUT 45 (TCC) will be discussed as it raised issues around the interpretation of a tax treaty concluded in English and French, both languages being equally authentic. The case concerns the use of the French version of the Canada-UK treaty with regards to the meaning of immoveable property in Article 6(2) of the Model treaties in the context of complex but common arrangements for the exploitation of oil and gas resources and the financing of those activities. 
• Austria: Supreme Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof (VwGH)) Ra 2019/15/0095, will be discussed as it concerns the application of Arts. 15 and 16 of the DTT Austria-Russia and the role of multiple authentic languages, German, Russian and English in this case in interpretation of those provisions and which language prevails. This case deals with employment income versus directors' fees. The role of the OECD Model Convention and of the OECD Commentary will also be discussed.
• EU Law: CJEU judgment on 6 March 2018 Achmea BV case (C-284/16) will be discussed as it implies that any treaty excluding the judicial review of arbitration resolutions by the CJEU would be inapplicable.

• The Status of bi-or multilingual treaties when given effect in domestic law;  
• The proper approach to interpretation of bi-or multilingual treaties;  
• Establishing the meaning of foreign language versions of bi-or multilingual treaties. 

Eric Kemmeren

Professor of international taxation and international tax law at the Fiscal Institute Tilburg of Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

Editor of the EUCOTAX Series on European Taxation co-author of the Commentary Klaus Vogel on Double Taxation Conventions (a Wolters Kluwer title) and chair of the editorial board of EC Tax Review, published by Kluwer Law International.

Jonathan Schwarz

Barrister, Temple Tax Chambers; Visiting Professor, King’s College London.

Author of Schwarz on Tax Treaties (a Wolters Kluwer title).

Alexander Rust

Professor of Tax Law at the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law of WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business).

Co-Editor of the Commentary Klaus Vogel on Double Taxation Conventions (a Wolters Kluwer title).

Marta Villar Ezcurra

Professor in Financial and Tax Law at the Universidad San Pablo CEU in Madrid.

Permanent member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation.

Blog author of Kluwer International Tax Blog.