International and Foreign Tax Law Research Guide

This guide is a starting point for researching international and foreign tax law.

Comparative Tools for Tax Treaties

Each of the platforms listed below offers a tool that enable users to generate comparison tables that display the full texts (or individual articles) of two tax treaties side-by-side.  Each platform also allows users to display the text of a tax treaty alongside the text of a model tax treaty. In addition, TaxNotes.com has a tool for comparing withholding rates on dividends, interest, and royalties under in-force income tax treaties.

  • Bloomberg Law Tax - Treaty Comparison Tool
    Use the menus to select the primary country and partner country for the first treaty.  Then click on Add a Treaty to choose the next pair of treaty partners.  Or check one of the boxes below to select a model treaty to compare.  Up to five treaties may be compared in one table.  Finally, select one or more topics to compare. 
     
  • IBFD Tax Research Platform  
    Make sure that Search is selected in the light blue menu bar at the top of the page.  Select Treaties & Models from the content menu below the search box.  Use the filters on the left to display at least two treaties on the same subject matter (income, for example) in the main panel in the center of the page.  Check the box next to the title of each treaty you want to compare.  Then click on Compare on the light blue menu bar to generate a side-by-side comparison of the selected treaties.   Unlike the other platforms, IBFD gives you the option of comparing treaties that are no longer in force.
     
  • TaxNotes.com  
    From the Subscription menu in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage, select  Worldwide Tax Treaties.  After the page refreshes, select Side by Side to compare the full texts of two bilateral tax treaties .  Select Rates Table to compare the withholding rates for dividends, interest, and royalties under bilateral tax treaties between one jurisdiction and two or more partner jurisdictions.