Squaring the Circle : The Role of the OECD Commentaries For the Interpretation of Tax Treaties Between the OECD and non-OECD States

Abstract: The thesis attempts to assess the role of the OECD Commentaries in tax treaty interpretation process concluded between Non-OECD and OECD states. In order to reach the goal of the thesis the thesis discusses the legal status of the OECD Commentaries under public international law, in particular the interrelation of the Commentaries with the Articles of 31 and 32 of the Vienna Convention. The thesis also focuses on the case law analysis of the non-OECD states to find out how the courts consider the Commentaries and to what extent they are bound with it. The thesis also triggers the problem of ambulatory and static interpretation of the Commentaries as well as the problem of using “foreign law” in different legal traditions. The thesis concludes that the role and legal status of the Commentaries is to be determined on case by case basis, depends on various circumstances and differs state by state. Therefore in the current development of international tax law there is no possibility to find a universal approach about the role of the Commentaries in tax treaty interpretation process.