General Anti-Abusive Rules in the Global and Ukrainian Context

Igor V. Kochkodan, Оksana I. Olekhova

After release of the 2015 OECD BEPS Report, addressing harmful tax practices is on top of the political agenda in the European Union and worldwide. The General Anti-Abusive Rules (the GAARs) were included in the top-5 instruments to tackle tax avoidance recommended by the OECD, together with transfer pricing, thin capitalization rules, controlled foreign companies legislation and specific anti-hybrid arrangements. As a result, the GAARs were incorporated in the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive adopted by the European Council on 12 July 2016 (the ATA Directive). EU Member States are required to implement provisions of the ATAD Directive into their national laws before 31 December 2018.