ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the GAAR was really needed in terms of whether the legislation has added a new dimension to the pre-existing Ramsay approach. The Ramsay approach applies to arrangements with a series of transactions. Furniss echoed the preordained requirement in Burmah Oil, but there was an emphasis that the arrangement should be inflexible for Ramsay to apply. Importance was also given to the taxpayer’s intentions, the notion of artificiality and the effect of the arrangement. The Ramsay approach and the GAAR have many features in common. Similarly, the GAAR guidance states that a tax arrangement, as provided for under the GAAR, can encompass the entire series of transactions. In the DB Group Services case, Deutsche Bank AG employed a similar scheme to the one in the UBS case. Deutsche Bank also wanted its employees to benefit from bonuses in the form of shares in an offshore company they created.
