Taxation of Artistes and Sportsmen in International Tax Law

S. 389Personal Taxation of Non-resident Artistes and Sportsmen in the light of Non-discrimination Clauses

Petr Neskrabal

S. 391I. Introduction

According to an internationally accepted rule, cross-border activities (performances) of artists and sportsmen are subject to source taxation (in the country, where the activity is exercised) – a principle laid down in Art. 17 of the OECD Model, which serves as an example for many bilateral tax treaties. As previous contributions in the book have shown, the taxing right under Art. 17 OECD Model requires income derived from an activity personally exercised by the artist or sportsman in the “other contracting state”. As mentioned in the OECD Commentary (Art. 17) and the 1987 OECD report, source taxation should be applied on these groups of persons, as there is a high risk that artists and sportsmen do not report their income in their countries of residence and use sophisticated tax avoidance schemes.

Apart from the allocation rules, most double tax treaties contain non-discrimination rules (modeled after Art. 24 OECD Model). Additionally, the EC Treaty contains non-discrimination rules, which are applicable fo...