Taxation of Artistes and Sportsmen in International Tax Law

S. 91Treatment of Income from Inaction of Artistes and Sportsmen according to the OECD Model

Jozef Danis

S. 93I. Introduction

Artistes and sportsmen have the potential to earn a large variety of types of income. One of these types is an income from non-performance of activities or, simply put, income from inaction.

The taxation of income from inaction, not only in connection with artistes and sportsmen but in general, is neither specifically addressed in the OECD Model nor in the Commentary. Different opinions exist with respect to what should be the correct tax treatment for this kind of income.

The author intends to contribute to the debate on this issue. This article focuses first on the characterization of income from inaction. The next part deals with the source of the income from inaction. The article then discusses the categorization of the income from inaction under the proper allocation rule of the OECD Model. Finally, amendments to the Commentary are suggested.

II. Characterization of income from inaction

2.1 Categories of inaction

The inaction of artistes and sportsmen may take various forms. For the purpose of furt...