Royalties and taxation. An analysis of the framework and the international action against base erosion.

Abstract

Nowadays, intangible assets are a very important tool for companies that use them to increase their competitiveness. But such assets can also be exploited by third companies, that have to pay for the right to use these intangibles. This compensation is called royalty. This work is about royalties and their taxation at the national, international, and European level. The first part of this work aims at describing the royalties as they are understood in the Italian jurisdiction, the main contracts from which they arise and how they are usually agreed upon between parties. Then it is described how royalties are taxed, first at the Italian level, then at the international level through the description of the OECD and UNO model conventions, and finally at the European level with the description of the “interest and royalties” directive. The last part of this work is dedicated to the description of the mechanisms of base erosion multinational companies apply thanks to the exploitation of intra-group royalties, and how the International Community reacted to put an end to this.