Giorgio Beretta

University of Amsterdam | UVA · Amsterdam Centre for Tax Law

Harry D. Schultz is credited for the first conceptualization, back in the 1960s, of the so-called flag theory as an investment and wealth protection strategy. Schultz advised affluent investors to protect themselves and their wealth by mapping the world in search of countries in which to plant three different “flags”: (i) a second citizenship/passp...

Labour, in all its dimensions, has been "on the move" in the last few years. Before the pandemic, labour mobility has mostly interested only a fraction of the working population, such as highly skilled and high-net-worth individuals. COVID-19 has, however, expanded the extent of labour mobility and the categories of workers involved. This contribut...

In 2021, the Italian tax authorities issued two ruling replies providing guidance on how to allocate a supply to an establishment for VAT purposes in the context of a global contract under which several supplies are provided to a multilocation entity (MLE). In this article, the authors discuss the official guidance provided by the Italian tax autho...

During 2020, the OECD and the EU Commission have separately unveiled two proposals both laying down new rules for reporting of tax information by sharing and gig economy platforms. Although the template used for tax reporting by sharing and gig economy platforms is nearly the same, some differences can be noted by a close reading and comparison of...

In this article, the authors offer a critical perspective on the main tax and fiscal policy measures introduced by Italy in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. The article shows that the tax and fiscal policy measures enacted thus far by Italy are short-viewed, being narrowly addressed at cushioning the effects of the COVID-...

On 18 February 2020, the European Council adopted a new set of rules that, as of 1 January 2024, will require payment service providers (PSPs) to record certain information on payment transactions and report this information to the tax authorities of EU Member States. In this article, the authors discuss the scope and implications of the new VAT ob...

On 8 May 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) released its decision in the Geelen case, C-568/17 (NL: CJEU, 8 May 2019, Case C-568/17, Geelen, ECLI:EU:C:2019:388). In this case, the CJEU ruled that a complex service that consists of offering interactive sessions of an erotic nature that are filmed and broadcast live on the Intern...

Robots are on the rise, moving out from assembly lines of factories and taking over our jobs, our future and, perhaps ultimately, even our minds and souls … then, why do not we tax them?

Il contributo si propone di offrire qualche riflessione sul regime impositivo delle plusvalenze immobiliari realizzate da persone fisiche al di fuori della sfera imprenditoriale. In particolare, il presente scritto si sofferma sull'imponibilità o meno, ai sensi dell'art. 67, comma 1, lett. b), del T.U.I.R., della plusvalenza ottenuta a fronte di ce...

In the face of population ageing and demographic decline, all countries nowadays compete for an increasingly valuable asset: human capital. Indeed, the drain of human capital from one country to another concerns not only highly-skilled individuals seeking job opportunities abroad, but also pensioners relocating to sunnier and more tax-friendly juri...

This note discusses the request for a preliminary ruling lodged before the Court of Justice of the European Union by the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation (Corte Suprema di Cassazione), concerning the compatibility with the provisions contained in the VAT Directive as well as with the principles underlying the value added tax of the Italian VAT le...

Since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, citizenship has defined the membership of an individual to a polity. Despite being a central pillar of national states and a supranational institution like the European Union, the importance of citizenship has progressively declined due to globalization and increased cross-border mobility. Indeed, ci...

Secondo l’Avvocato Generale Szpunar, l’organizzazione e la fornitura dietro corrispettivo di sessioni webcam erotiche interattive con trasmissione dal vivo tramite Internet non costituiscono servizi a carattere ricreativo ai sensi e per gli effetti di cui agli artt. 53 e 54, par. 1, della Direttiva 2006/112/CE attualmente vigente.

This note discusses the new special tax regime for inbound pensioners, pursuant to which foreign pensioners transferring their tax residence to the southern regions of Italy can opt to pay a lump-sum substitute tax of 7% per year, in lieu of ordinary taxation, on all non-Italian-sourced income.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is in full swing. Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence, the ubiquitous presence of Big Data, and the increased reliance on cloud computing are just some glimpses of how technological innovation is re-shaping today’s society and the economy, thus bridging the gap between the digital and physical spheres....

Cross-border mobility of individuals has serious implications for states, irrespective of whether they are the emigration country or the immigration country and use citizenship or residence as the relevant criterion to exert their fiscal jurisdiction over the worldwide income of an individual taxpayer. This article illustrates in detail the various...

In the face of population ageing and demographic decline, nowadays all countries compete for an increasingly valuable asset: human capital. Indeed, the drain of human capital from one country to another concerns not only highly-skilled individuals seeking job opportunities abroad, but also pensioners relocating to sunnier and more tax-friendly juri...

Since the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans, citizenship has traditionally defined membership of an individual to a political community. Despite being at the foundation of modern national states and a central pillar of a supranational institution like the European Union, the importance of citizenship has progressively declined as a result of g...

This article discusses the meaning and scope of the 'ancillary principle' as laid down in various provisions of the OECD, UN and US Model Tax Conventions and the Commentaries thereon, i.e. the principle according to which if, under a mixed contract, an activity is ancillary to another main one, the former transaction is to receive the tax treatment...

The sharing economy, underpinned by digital platforms like Airbnb and Uber, which pair individuals’ needs and wants, from accommodation to rides, is on the ascent. These new business models, where capital and labour are provided by several dispersed individuals rather than by a single centralized entity, defy the operational structure of comparable...

Ladies and gentlemen, if you tax them, they will leave"[1] In this article, the author discusses the different policies a jurisdiction can implement to address the cross-border mobility of individuals, illustrates the main defensive strategies adopted by the emigration country and relates them to the introduction of preferential tax regimes for inw...

Se gli artt. 2, comma 4, e 80 del Regolamento (CE) n. 1083/2006, sancendo il principio dell’integrità dei pagamenti ai beneficiari, debbano essere interpretati nel senso che ostano ad una norma come quella di cui all’art. 50, comma 1, lett. c) del TUIR, la quale, assimilando ai redditi di lavoro dipendente “le somme da chiunque corrisposte a titolo...

This note discusses a recent decision of the Italian Supreme Court wherein it was held that, in determining whether an individual is resident in a state under a tax treaty's tie-breaker rule, a stay at an unregistered domestic partner's dwelling is sufficient to establish that the taxpayer "has a permanent home available to him" in a country.

Con la circolare n. 24/E del 12 ottobre 2017 l’Agenzia delle entrate ha illustrato la disciplina delle locazioni brevi introdotta dall’art. 4 del D.L. n. 50/2017, convertito con modificazioni dalla Legge n. 96/2017. In particolare, la circolare ha inteso specificare il perimetro applicativo del nuovo regime fiscale, precisando i requisiti che devon...

The levying of withholding taxes on non-residents by the source state is a long-standing topic in EU tax law. The recent case Brisal and KBC Finance, concerning a withholding tax levied on an outbound interest payment, constitutes just the last addition to the line of judgments on this issue rendered over years by the Court of Justice of the Europe...

This article examines the Italian tax regimes offering favourable treatment to certain resident individuals. The recent introduction of these preferential regimes in a historical stronghold of worldwide taxation is a departure from the concept of unlimited tax liability, which results from other European states restricting their jurisdiction to tax...

The levying of withholding taxes on non-residents by the source state is a long-standing topic in EU tax law. The recent case Brisal and KBC Finance, concerning a withholding tax levied on an outbound interest payment, constitutes just the last addition to the line of judgments on this issue rendered over years by the Court of Justice of the Europe...

Il regime fiscale delle locazioni brevi introdotto dall’art. 4 del D.L. n. 50/2017 è stato confermato, nelle sue linee fondamentali, anche in sede di conversione. In particolare, è stato mantenuto l’obbligo, in capo agli intermediari immobiliari e ai gestori dei portali telematici, di applicare l’imposta sostitutiva della cedolare secca, con aliquo...

In this note, the author considers a decision of the Italian Supreme Court on "beneficial ownership" and "place of effective manage­ ment" for tax treaty purposes, wherein it was held that the meaning of these terms is to be determined in light of the nature and object of a financial holding company and that, therefore, a lack of substantial econom...

This article explores some of the tax implications that may arise in the context of the sharing economy. In particular, the author analyses the main challenges, from an individual taxation perspective, resulting from this new model of production and consumption. In this respect, different typologies of transactions and their tax characterization ar...

This article investigates the phenomenon of the “sharing economy” from a tax policy perspective. In particular, the author analyses the tax challenges resulting from this new model of production and consumption and discusses possible tax policies to address development of the sharing economy.

Nel corso dell’audizione informale tenutasi il 26 luglio 2016 presso le Commissioni riunite IX e X della Camera dei Deputati, il Direttore dell’Agenzia delle entrate ha fornito alcuni primi spunti di riflessione con riguardo al trattamento tributario riservato alle attività della “sharing economy” dalla proposta di legge A.C. 3564, la quale qualifi...

The author, in this note, discusses the EU Commission' s recent Communication on "A European agenda for the collaborative economy", in which the current tax challenges stemming from peer-to-peer transactions, as well as strategies proposed by Member States, are surveyed.

In this article, the author examines both the former and new rules for the computation of income attributable to Italian permanent establishments and analyses the qualification of business income of non-resident enterprises under Italian tax law. Further, the recently enacted branch exemption regime, pursuant to which resident enterprises may opt f...

The author considers a landmark decision rendered by the United Sections of the Italian Supreme Court which grants a taxpayer access to domestic legal remedies where the taxpayer’s request for opening a mutual agreement procedure under the Arbitration Convention is denied by the competent tax authority.

This note discusses a recent decision of the Italian Supreme Court, wherein the judges held that, in determining the tax residence of individuals, the criterion of centre of vital interests does not attribute per se priority to personal relations over business ties. This decision is of paramount importance since it directly reverses settled Italian...

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has gained a prominent role among the sources of International tax law, especially in the last fifteen years. Such an influence is undoubtedly due to the concrete steps taken by the Court of Strasbourg in applying the ECHR provisions, which often produce notable consequences in the tax law systems of t...