China has concluded tax treaties with 87 countries, in addition to the double taxation arrangement between Mainland China and Hong Kong and that between Mainland China and Macau. Tax treaties have become a dispensable and most important part of China's international tax regime. In the meantime, after the entry into the World Trade Organization, and the coming into effect of Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between Mainland China and Hong Kong and that between Mainland China and Macau, as well as the start-up of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, China's international trade and investment have experienced rapid development.The cross-border flow of capital, technology and personnel has become more frequent. As a result, the income and taxpayer becomes more and more internationalized. Tax treaties are playing an increasingly vital role in dismantling international double taxation barriers, ensuring the successful implementation of China's Going out Strategy and promoting the smooth development of international economic activities. The precondition for tax treaties to work effectively is that they are interpreted and applied in an appropriate manner. This dissertation takes interpretation issues of tax treaties as its subject, conducts an in-depth research of the legal issues arising from the interpretation of tax treaties by tax authority and domestic courts of one of the contracting states and puts forward relevant suggestions. Besides the prelude and conclusion sections, this dissertation contains five chapters. In the prelude section, the dissertation introduces the significance and policy implications of its research subject, materials selected, research methodologies and the structure of this dissertation.Chapter one is a general remark on tax treaties and their interpretation. First of all, this part gives an introduction of the concept and categories of tax treaties, followed by a review of the birth and evolution of tax treaties. Then the author discusses the legal nature and rules of tax treaties. Tax treaties have a dual character. They are both part of international law and part of domestic tax laws of the contracting states which can be invoked by the taxpayers. Tax treaties consist mostly of rules on allocation of tax rights among states. On this basis, the author points out that tax treaties, like other rules, need to be interpreted. As a matter of fact, tax treaties are mainly interpreted by tax authority and domestic courts of the contracting states. This is a process governed...
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