Tax Treaty Case Law around the Globe 2020

S. 151Chapter 14 Italy: Applicability of Article 10 of the Italy-Japan Income Tax Treaty to Italian-Source Dividends Paid to a Japanese Pension Fund through Certain US Limited Partnerships

Guglielmo Maisto and Paolo Arginelli

14.1. Introduction

The cases at hand concern the possible application of article 10 of the Italy-Japan Income Tax Treaty (1969) to dividends paid by an Italian-resident company to certain US special purpose vehicles acting on behalf of a Japanese pension fund. In particular, the Italian Supreme Court had to deal with the issue of whether those dividends could be regarded as “received” by the Japanese pension fund for the purpose of the application of article 10 of the treaty, which is drafted along the lines of the OECD Model Tax Convention (OECD Model) (1963) and, therefore, does not include any reference to the “beneficial owner” of the dividends.

All cases discussed herein concern similar factual patterns and the same taxpayer, although different tax years, and the relevant decisions are consistent with each other in respect of the results and arguments developed. For the sake of clarity, exclusive reference is made to decision No. 24287, although the analysis may be...