The Geometry of Double Taxation Treaties

The subject of this article is the applicability of model double tax conventions and commentaries to them in interpreting the double tax agreements. This topic has long been discussed in academia and practice, driven by the need to expand the toolbox of interpretation. Unfortunately, the legal status of model conventions and commentaries to them is not regulated, nor is the right to refer to them in the process of interpreting tax treaties. The purpose of this article is to analyze the legal nature of model double tax treaties, determine their place in the legal hierarchy of means of interpreting tax agreements, and identify the conditions under which the results of these procedures will be binding. Analytical, historical, deductive, inductive, systemic, and functional research methods were used in writing this article. The main findings of the study are the conditions under which commentaries to model tax treaties can be considered supplementary means of interpreting tax treaties within the meaning of Article 32 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, as well as the conditions under which recourse to models and commentaries thereto is permissible in interpreting tax treaties. Model tax treaties and commentaries thereto are an important tool for interpreting tax treaties; however, they do not constitute a source of law in themselves and are not binding. The article discusses the need to amend double tax treaties accordingly to allow for recourse to model tax treaties and commentaries thereto in interpreting binding treaties.

international agreements, interpretation, model conventions, OECD, UN, additional means of interpretation, Vienna Convention, avoidance of double taxation, unification of terms, legal status