Time for a U.S.–Brazil Tax Treaty

Abstract

The U.S. is the most relevant trade partner with whom Brazil does not have a tax treaty. Previous attempts to conclude it were not successful, with the main alleged reason being Brazil’s insistence on tax sparing. With the change in time and developments in treaty policy and in the domestic tax regimes of the countries, tax sparing should no longer be an obstacle. After discussing the potential benefits of a treaty for both countries and their respective taxpayers, this Article addresses the technical issues that may arise during negotiations resulting from differences of tax treaty practice and demonstrate that none of them seem significant enough to be a “deal breaker,” with the most relevant currently being sourcing rules on technical services. Should the governments of both countries, which in recent months have given signs of political synchrony unseen in the past decades, decide to pursue the conclusion of a tax treaty, the technical conditions are more than ever present.