Tax Analysts provides news, analysis, and commentary on income tax treaties, which are agreements between countries that set out the rules by which residents (both individuals and corporations) of one country are taxed on income derived from sources within the other treaty partner jurisdiction. Most tax treaties are bilateral. The purpose of tax treaties is to reduce double taxation, eliminate tax evasion, and make cross-border trade more efficient.

Tax treaties typically contain articles that: define which taxes are covered and who is a resident and eligible for treaty benefits; reduce the amounts of tax to be withheld from interest, dividends, and royalties paid by a resident of one country to a resident of the other country; limit the tax that one country can impose on the business income of a resident of the other country to that income from a permanent establishment in the first country; define the circumstances in which the income of individuals resident in one country will be taxed in the other country; and provide procedural frameworks for enforcement and dispute resolution.

The OECD model tax treaty is generally used as a starting point for treaty negotiations by OECD member countries and other countries with more advanced economies. Developing countries typically prefer to use the model treaty developed by the U.N. because it allocates more taxing rights to source countries (which tend to be developing countries). Some countries, such as the U.S., have developed their own model treaty that’s more tailored to that country’s tax policy and serves as a starting point for negotiations.

In addition to providing comprehensive news and tax treaty analysis on treaty developments, Tax Analysts has a premier research tool and tax treaties database, Worldwide Tax Treaties (WTT), that includes a database of more than 10,000 treaties, amending protocols, and similar documents. WTT also includes rate tables to directly compare dividends, interest, and royalties withholding tax rates for one or more in-force income tax treaties for every available jurisdiction; detailed treaty summaries with links to original documents and related news and analysis; the ability to view, in their original language, documents and in-force, pending, terminated, and unperfected treaties separately; and a searchable archive of news, planning, and analysis articles by international tax experts dating back to 1992.