Taxation of Capital Gains in the European Union, Norway, and Switzerland: An Empirical Survey with Recommendations for EU Harmonization and International Tax Planning

Abstract: The present survey analyzes for the first time the taxation of capital gains in the European Union, Norway, and Switzerland and makes recommendations for European Union (EU) harmonization and international tax planning. The main issue is the question whether the national and international rules on the taxation of capital gains from cross-border sales of shares are an appropriate basis for taxation of multinational groups of affiliated corporations or whether these rules should better be harmonized. In a first step, the nature of capital gains taxation is discussed and the principles of capital gains taxation of cross-border sales of shares are examined both according to Community Law and to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Model Convention (OECD MC). Thereupon and in a second step, these rules are examined and measured by these criteria in domestic, outbound, and inbound cases in terms of Article 13 (5) OECD MC. Finally, recommendations for harmonization for capital gains taxation in the EU and for international tax planning are made on the basis of the analysis of the empirical survey.