How The Netherlands Became a Tax Haven for Multinationals

23 Pages Posted: 29 Jan 2019

See all articles by Jan Vleggeert

Jan Vleggeert

Leiden University - Leiden Law School

Henk Vording

Leiden University - Leiden Law School; Peking University - Peking University Law School

Date Written: January 17, 2019

Abstract

The Netherlands tax environment for multinational foreign directive investment (FDI) has been characterized as ‘a tax haven’ or, perhaps more accurately, as a ‘conduit financial centre’. Anyway, with a share of 25% in the worldwide market for tax-driven FDI diversion, the Dutch tax planning industry has become a prominent target of recent OECD and EU anti-avoidance measures. Adaptations in many of the relevant Dutch tax rules are by now under way.

The paper aims at the interactions between (a) the making of the relevant tax environment and (b) the rise of a specialized industry for FDI tax planning over the last century. The basic mechanism will be shown to be simple. A century ago, Dutch rules for taxation of cross-border FDI started to develop from a consistent view: FDI should not be hindered by tax borders. This served the interests of a small open economy hosting many internationally successful enterprises. A specialized tax planning industry only emerged in the second half of the 20th century as a by-product of international tax policies aimed at substantial business interests. But as this industry grew, its role in shaping and re-shaping the relevant rules increased. Only very recently, this role has begun to decline due to both international policy pressure and national public opinion.

Issues to be discussed from this perspective include the development of Dutch tax treaty policy, the Dutch position in international tax coordination processes, and the development of relevant rules in Dutch tax law, starting with the first Dutch income tax law (1893/4) and with a focus on post-1945 developments.

Keywords: Tax Havens; MNE Tax Planning

Suggested Citation

Vleggeert, Jan and Vording, Henk, How The Netherlands Became a Tax Haven for Multinationals (January 17, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3317629 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3317629

Jan Vleggeert (Contact Author)

Leiden University - Leiden Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 9520
2300 RA Leiden, NL-2300RA
Netherlands

Henk Vording

Leiden University - Leiden Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 9520
2300 RA Leiden, NL-2300RA
Netherlands

Peking University - Peking University Law School ( email )

5 Yiheyuan Road
Haidian District
Beijing, Beijing 100871
China

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
1,692
Abstract Views
6,055
Rank
22,727
PlumX Metrics