3.1.1 Double or multiple taxation

Double or multiple taxation is the first important problem of cross-border death and gift taxation. As national death and gift tax laws vary significantly from state to state, these differences often give rise to double or multiple taxation, which is not always effectively addressed by unilateral double tax relief provisions. After all, one may claim that the OECD IHTMTC efficiently addresses double taxation. This, however, may not always be true in certain situations, as I will discuss in chapter 5 of this study. In the next sections, I present some elements of death and gift tax laws that often result in double or multiple taxation of cross-border inheritances and donations.