The issues around the entitlement of the income of collective investment vehicles (CIVs) or their investors to treaty benefits are the subject of a discussion draft that the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA) has just released. The draft contains proposed changes to the Commentary on the OECD Model Tax Convention . The draft was compiled by the CFA's Working Party 1 (WP1) on Tax Conventions and Related Questions, which considered the ICG's recommendations. The draft analyses technical questions such as whether a CIV should be considered a "person", a "resident of a Contracting State" and the "beneficial owner" of the income it receives under treaties that, like the OECD Model Tax Convention.
The working party also considered the position of CIVs from some countries, which do not qualify for treaty benefits according to how they exist at the moment, and how they should be treated under existing and future treaties.
Anybody interesting in commenting on the discussion draft has until January 31 2010 to do so to Jeffrey Owens, the director of the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, at jeffrey.owens@oecd.org.
