On 18 November 2025, the OECD published its long awaited update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and Capital (“Update” and "OECD Model" respectively). The Update introduces changes to the OECD Model and to the 2017 OECD Commentary on the Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital ("2017 OECD Commentary"), which were approved by the OECD Council, and which will be incorporated into the forthcoming revised, condensed and full editions of the OECD Model, to be published in 2026.
Most significantly, and as discussed in more detail in this alert, the Update contains new guidance on remote working and the respective permanent establishment (PE) considerations. The Update also includes changes to the PE provision concerning natural resources, and other improvements to enhance consistency in treaty interpretation and to strengthen tax certainty. Concurrent with the Update, the OECD also released a Public Consultation Document: Global Mobility (“Public Consultation”), seeking stakeholder input on topics not covered by the Update. The Public Consultation requests input on tax issues applicable to individuals, such as residency, employment income, and preferential regimes, as well as on corporate tax issues, such as residence as a result of the presence of senior executives or board meetings, dependent agent PE, services PE, profit attribution, and transfer pricing. Interested parties are invited to send their comments to the OECD Secretariat no later than 22 December 2025.