Lecture Sports Taxation

Sports Taxation

International sports competition: tax treatment of their participants under Article 17 of the OECD Model Tax Convention

The IFA Argentinean branch organizes several events like lectures and panel discussions on current issues in national and international tax law throughout the year. This lecture will take place in Buenos Aires on 12 August at 6:30pm (local time).

Speaker

Karolina Tetlak, PhD and LLM. Expert in sports fiscal law, the taxation of athletes and tax treatment of sports events (http://www.karolinatetlak.com/).

Language

This event will be held in English.

Venue

AAEF (IFA Argentina) Auditorium, Av. Julio A. Roca 751, Entrepiso "B", Ciudad de Buenos Aires

Detailed programme
The current rules of double tax treaties and domestic law relating to the taxation of income of sportsmen do not fulfill their functions in the context of international sports mega-events. Indeed, fiscal measures developed in the current practice of organising major sports tournaments are inconsistent and often incompatible with the general principles of international law and domestic law of the host countries. Most recently, tax arrangements between sport organisations and the countries hosting the championships have resulted in tax discrimination of athletes and the violation of fundamental principles of creating tax norms. In particular, comparative research shows that despite the right to tax foreign sportsmen, host countries of the Olympic Games and football Championships are increasingly ready to exempt the champions from income tax under one-off tax regimes.
In this lecture, Dr. Karolina Tetlak will analyse the tax treatment of income received from participation in international sports competition and the extent to which Article 17 of the OECD Model Tax Convention can be used to regulate the taxation of international sportsmen in the context of sports mega-events. This meeting will also provide an insight into why such alternative measures are adopted and whether Article 17 could be changed to meet the requirements of today’s championships. Finally, it will provide an analysis of the tax breaks offered to non-resident players to supplement or even replace Article 17 of the OECD Model and national law based on it.