Ein multilaterales „Mini-DBA“ der Vereinten Nationen zur Besteuerung grenzüberschreitender Dienstleistungen

At its fifth session in August 2026, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (INC) unveiled a Zero Draft of the First Protocol on the Taxation of Income from Cross-Border Services. It is supposed to set new nexus rules that are flexible enough to provide appropriate outcomes as business models evolve to cover, in particular, the taxation of income from cross-border services in an increasingly digitalized and globalized economy. The INC believes that the traditional focus on allowing taxation based on where services physically are performed affects the balance of tax treaties. The protocol is intended to serve as a multilateral instrument and shall resolve disputes between multiple states claiming source taxation rights regardless of whether or not tax treaties have been concluded between the states. The protocol, which looks like a “mini tax treaty” limited to the taxation of service-income, is just a zero draft. However, it indicates the direction in which the international allocation of taxing rights develops. In this article, Stefan Bendlinger takes a critical look at the draft protocol recently publ...