Denmark’s tax treaties - Time for change

The idea behind double taxation treaties is on the one hand to ensure that a pair of counties don't tax the same income twice, and on the other to provide cross-border tools against illegal tax evasion and facilitate cooperation between tax authorities.

This brief looks at the double taxation treaties (DTTS) Denmark has signed with a number of developing countries and specifically at the Denmark - Ghana DTT.  The tendency appears to be that developing countries are giving up/having to give up more and more of their taxing rights in DTTs with Denmark. This is paradoxical as Denmark only this summer (2014) published its Policy Coherence for Development plan, which states that Denmark will support efforts to "...strengthening tax administrations that can help mobilise more domestic resources in developing countries ..."