International Taxation

International taxation is the study or determination of tax on a person or business subject to the tax laws of different countries or the international aspects of an individual country’s tax laws as the case may be. Governments usually limit the scope of their income taxation in some manner territorially or provide for offsets to taxation relating to extraterritorial income.

Introduction To Int’l Taxation

Systems of taxation vary among governments, making generalization difficult. Specifics are intended as examples, and relate to particular governments and not broadly recognized multinational rules. Taxes may be levied on varying measures of income, including but not limited to net income under local accounting concepts (in many countries this is referred to as ‘profit’), gross receipts, gross margins (sales less costs of sale), or specific categories of receipts less specific categories of reductions. Unless otherwise specified, the term “income” should be read broadly.

Residency & Citizenship

Taxing regimes are generally classified as either residency based or territorial based. Most jurisdictions tax income on a residency basis. They need to define “resident” and characterize the income of nonresidents. Such definitions vary by country and type of taxpayer, but usually involve the location of the person’s main home and number of days the person is physically present in the country.

Definition of Income

Some jurisdictions tax net income as determined under financial accounting concepts of that jurisdiction, with few, if any, modifications. Other jurisdictions determine taxable income without regard to income reported in financial statements. Some jurisdictions compute taxable income by reference to financial statement income with specific categories of adjustments, which can be significant.