Tag: Cayman Islands

Denmark vs Copenhagen Airports Denmark Holdings ApS, February 2023, High Court, Case No SKM2023.404.OLR

A parent company resident in country Y1 was liable to tax on interest and dividends it had received from its Danish subsidiary. There should be no reduction of or exemption from withholding tax under the Parent-Subsidiary Directive or the Interest and Royalties Directive or under the double taxation treaty between Denmark and country Y1, as neither the parent company nor this company’s own Y1-resident parent company could be considered the rightful owner of the dividends and interest within the meaning of the directives and the treaty, and as there was abuse. The High Court thus found that the Y1-domestic companies were flow-through companies for the interest and dividends, which were passed on to underlying companies in the tax havens Y2-ø and Y3-ø. The High Court found that there was no conclusive evidence that the companies in Y2 were also flow-through entities and that the beneficial owner of the interest and dividends was an underlying trust or investors resident in Y4. The double taxation treaty between Denmark and the Y4 country could therefore not provide a basis for a reduction of or exemption from withholding tax on the interest and dividends. Nor did the High Court find that there was evidence that there was a basis for a partial reduction of the withholding tax requirement due to the fact that one of the investors in the company on Y3 island was resident in Y5 country, with which Denmark also had a double taxation treaty. Click here for English translation Click here for other translation ØLD Beneficial Owner CHP Airport ...

Denmark vs NetApp Denmark ApS and TDC A/S, January 2023, Supreme Court, Cases 69/2021, 79/2021 and 70/2021

The issue in the Danish beneficial ownership cases of NetApp Denmark ApS and TDC A/S was whether the companies were obliged to withhold dividend tax on distributions to foreign parent companies. The first case – NetApp Denmark ApS – concerned two dividend distributions of approximately DKK 566 million and DKK 92 million made in 2005 and 2006 to an intermediate parent company in Cyprus – and then on to NETAPP Bermuda. The second case – TDC A/S – concerned the distribution of dividends of approximately DKK 1.05 billion in 2011 to an intermediate parent company in Luxembourg – and then on to owner companies in the Cayman Islands. In both cases, the tax authorities took the view that the intermediate parent companies were so-called “flow-through companies” which were not the real recipients of the dividends, and that the real recipients (beneficial owners) were resident in countries not covered by the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive (Bermuda and Cayman respectively). Therefore, withholding taxes should have been paid by the Danish companies on the distributions. Judgment of the Supreme Court The Supreme Court upheld the tax authorities’ assessment of additional withholding tax of 28 percent on a total amount of DKK 1,616 million plus a very substantial amount of interest on late payment. Only with regard to NetApp’s 2006 dividend payment of DKK 92 million did the court rule in favour of the company. Excerpts: “The Supreme Court agrees that the term “beneficial owner” must be understood in the light of the OECD Model Tax Convention, including the 1977 OECD Commentary on Anti-Abuse. According to these commentaries, the purpose of the term is to ensure that double tax treaties do not encourage tax avoidance or tax evasion through “artifices” and “artful legal constructions” which “enable the benefit to be derived both from the advantages conferred by certain national laws and from the tax concessions afforded by double tax treaties.” The 2003 Revised Commentaries have elaborated and clarified this, stating inter alia that it would not be “consistent with the object and purpose of the Convention for the source State to grant relief or exemption from tax in cases where a person who is resident of a Contracting State, other than as an agent or intermediary, merely acts as a conduit for another person who actually receives the income in question.” “The question is whether it can lead to a different result that NetApp Denmark – if the parent company at the time of the distribution had been NetWork Appliance Inc (NetApp USA) and not NetApp Cyprus – could have distributed the dividend to NetApp USA with the effect that the dividend would have been exempt from tax liability under the Double Taxation Convention between Denmark and the USA. On this issue, the CJEU’s judgment of 26 February 2019 states that it is irrelevant for the purposes of examining the group structure that some of the beneficial owners of the dividends transferred by flow-through companies are resident for tax purposes in a third State with which the source State has concluded a double tax treaty. According to the judgment, the existence of such a convention cannot in itself rule out the existence of an abuse of rights and cannot therefore call into question the existence of abuse of rights if it is duly established by all the facts which show that the traders carried out purely formal or artificial transactions, devoid of any economic or commercial justification, with the principal aim of taking unfair advantage of the exemption from withholding tax provided for in Article 5 of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive (paragraph 108). It also appears that, having said that, even in a situation where the dividend would have been exempt if it had been distributed directly to the company having its seat in a third State, it cannot be excluded that the objective of the group structure is not an abuse of law. In such a case, the group’s choice of such a structure instead of distributing the dividend directly to that company cannot be challenged (paragraph 110).” “In light of the above, the Supreme Court finds that the dividend of approximately DKK 92 million from NetApp Denmark was included in the dividend of USD 550 million that NetApp Bermuda transferred to NetApp USA on 3 April 2006. The Supreme Court further finds that the sole legal owner of that dividend was NetApp USA, where the dividend was also taxed. This is the case notwithstanding the fact that an amount of approximately DKK 92 million. – corresponding to the dividend – was not transferred to NetApp Cyprus until 2010 and from there to NetApp Bermuda. NetApp Bermuda had thus, as mentioned above, taken out the loan which provided the basis for distributing approximately DKK 92 million to NetApp USA in dividends from NetApp Denmark in 2006. Accordingly, the dividend of approximately DKK 92 million is exempt from taxation under Section 2(1)(c) of the Danish Corporate Income Tax Act in conjunction with the Danish-American Double Taxation Convention. NetApp Denmark has therefore not been required to withhold dividend tax under Section 65(1) of the Danish Withholding Tax Act.” Click here for English translation Click here for other translation Denmark vs Netapp and TDC 9 January 2023 case no 69-70-79-2021 ...

Netherlands vs X B.V., December 2020, Supreme Court (Preliminary ruling by the Advocate General), Case No 20/02096 ECLI:NL:PHR:2020:1198

This case concerns a private equity takeover structure with apparently an intended international mismatch, i.e. a deduction/no inclusion of the remuneration on the provision of funds. The case was (primarily) decided by the Court of Appeal on the basis of non-business loan case law. The facts are as follows: A private equity fund [A] raised LP equity capital from (institutional) investors in its subfund [B] and then channelled it into two (sub)funds configured in the Cayman Islands, Fund [C] and [D] Fund. Participating in those two Funds were LPs in which the limited partners were the external equity investors and the general partners were Jersey-based [A] entities and/or executives. The equity raised in [A] was used for leveraged, debt-financed acquisitions of European targets to be sold at a capital gain after five to seven years, after optimising their EBITDA. One of these European targets was the Dutch [F] group. The equity used in its acquisition was provided not only by the [A] funds (approximately € 401 m), but also (for a total of approximately € 284 m) by (i) the management of the [F] group, (ii) the selling party [E] and (iii) co-investors not affiliated with [A]. 1.4 The equity raised in the [A] funds was converted into hybrid, but under Luxembourg law, debt in the form of preferred equity shares: A-PECs (€ 49 m) and B-PECs (€ 636 m), issued by the Luxembourg mother ( [G] ) of the interested party. G] has contributed € 43 million to the interested party as capital and has also lent or on-lent it approximately € 635 million as a shareholder loan (SHL). The interested party has not provided [G] with any securities and owes [G] over 15% interest per year on the SHL. This interest is not paid, but credited. The SHL and the credited interest are subordinated to, in particular, the claims of a syndicate of banks that lent € 640 million to the target in order to pay off existing debts. That syndicate has demanded securities and has stipulated that the SHL plus credited interest may not be repaid before the banks have been paid in full. The tax authority considers the SHL as (disguised) equity of the interested party because according to him it differs economically hardly or not at all from the risk-bearing equity (participation loan) c.q. because this SHL is unthinkable within the OECD transfer pricing rules and within the conceptual framework of a reasonable thinking entrepreneur. He therefore considers the interest of € 45,256,000 not deductible. In the alternative, etc., he is of the opinion that the loan is not business-like, that Article 10a prevents deduction or that the interested party and its financiers have acted in fraudem legis. In any case he considers the interest not deductible. According to the Court of Appeal, the SHL is a loan in civil law and not a sham, and is not a participation loan in tax law, because its term is not indefinite, meaningless or longer than 50 years. However, the Court of Appeal considers the loan to be non-business because no securities have been stipulated, the high interest is added, it already seems impossible after a short time to repay the loan including the added interest without selling the target, and the resulting non-business risk of default cannot be compensated with an (even) higher interest without making the loan profitable. Since the interested party’s mother/creditress ([G] ) is just as unacceptable as a guarantor as the interested party himself, your guarantor analogy ex HR BNB 2012/37 cannot be applied. Therefore, the Court of Appeal has instead imputed the interest on a ten-year government bond (2.5%) as business interest, leading to an interest of € 7,435,594 in the year of dispute. It is not in dispute that 35,5% of this (€2,639,636) is deductible because 35,5% of the SHL was used for transactions not contaminated (pursuant to Section 10a Vpb Act). The remaining €4,795,958 is attributable to the contaminated financing of the contaminated acquisition of the [F] Group. The Court of Appeal then examined whether the deduction of the remaining € 4,795,958 would be contrary to Article 10a of the Dutch Corporate Income Tax Act or fraus legis. Since both the transaction and the loan are tainted (Article 10a Corporate Income Tax Act), the interested party must, according to paragraph 3 of that provision, either demonstrate business motives for both, or demonstrate a reasonable levy or third-party debt parallelism with the creditor. According to the Court of Appeal, it did not succeed in doing so for the SHL, among other things because it shrouded the financing structure behind [G], in particular that in the Cayman Islands and Jersey, ‘in a fog of mystery,’ which fog of mystery remains at its evidential risk. On the basis of the facts which have been established, including the circumstances that (i) the [A] funds set up in the Cayman Islands administered the capital made available to them as equity, (ii) all LPs participating in those funds there were referred to as ‘[A] ‘ in their names, (iii) all those LPs had the same general partners employed by [A] in Jersey, and (iv) the notification to the European Commission stated that the Luxembourg-based [H] was acquiring full control of the [F] group, the Court formed the view that the PECs to [G] had been provided by the [A] group through the Cayman Islands out of equity initially contributed to [B] LP by the ultimate investors, and that that equity had been double-hybridised through the Cayman Islands, Jersey and Luxembourg for anti-tax reasons. The interested party, on whom the counter-evidence of the arm’s length nature of the acquisition financing structure rested, did not rebut that presumption, nor did it substantiate a third-party debt parallelism or a reasonable levy on the creditor, since (i) the SHL and the B-PECs are not entirely parallel and the interest rate difference, although small, increases exponentially through the compound interest, (ii) the SHL is co-financed by A-PECs, whose interest rate ...

El Salvador vs “E-S Cosmetics Corp”, December 2020, Tax Court, Case R1701011.TM

“Cosmetics Corp” is active in wholesale of medicinal products, cosmetics, perfumery and cleaning products. Following an audit the tax authorities issued an assessment regarding the interest rate on loans granted to the related parties domiciled in Cayman Islands and Luxembourg. An appeal was filed by the company. Judgement of the Tax Court The court partially upheld the assessment. Excerpt “In this sense, it is essential to create a law that contains the guidelines that the OECD has established to guarantee the principle of full competition in transactions carried out between national taxpayers with related companies, for the purpose of applying the technical methods and procedures that they provide; The express reference made by Article 62-A of the TC cannot be considered as a dimension of the principle of relative legal reserve, insofar as there is no full development of the methods or procedures contained therein, nor a reference to an infra-legal rule containing them, but rather a reference that does not have a legal status, i.e. they are not legally binding, but only optional and enunciative to be incorporated into the legal system of each country. Hence, at no time is the legality of the powers of the Directorate General to determine the market price being questioned, since, as has been indicated, the law itself grants it this power, what is being questioned in the present case is the failure of the Directorate General to observe the procedures and forms determined by law to proceed to establish the market price, by using the OECD Guidelines, which, it is reiterated, for the fiscal year audited, did not have a legal status, nor were they binding, since they were not contained in a formal law; Therefore, even if the appellant itself used them, this situation constitutes a choice of the company itself, for the purpose of carrying out an analysis of its transfer prices, but in no way implies that this mechanism is endorsed by law, the Directorate General being obliged to lead or guide the taxpayer in the application of the regulations in force and adjust its operations to the provisions thereof, and if it considered that there was indeed an impediment to determine the market price, it should have documented it and proceeded in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned legal provisions, which it did not do. Finally, it should be clarified that article 192-A of the Tax Code, cited by the DGII at folios 737 of the administrative file, as grounds that the interest rates applied by the appellant were not agreed at market price, is not applicable to the case at hand, inasmuch as it regulates a legal presumption of obtaining income (income) from interest – which admits proof to the contrary – in all money loan contracts of any nature and denomination, in those cases in which this has not been agreed, which shall be calculated by applying the average active interest rate in force on credits or loans to companies applied by the Financial System and published by the ————— on the total amount of the loan; on the other hand, in the present case, as has been shown above, the determination made by the DGII has been through the application of the transfer prices regulated in article 62-A of the TC, which is completely different from the said presumption; in addition to the fact that, as evidenced in folios 82 to 93 and 309 to 314 of the administrative file, the Revolving Credit Line contracts presented by the appellant, entered into with the companies ————— and — ———— contain the clause “Interest Rate”, in which it is established that the interest rate of each loan will be the market rate agreed by the parties, which was 3% for the first company and 1% for the second, which was effectively verified by the DGII both in the accounting records of the appellant, in the loan amortisation tables, as well as in the referred Transfer Pricing Study, as mentioned above. Consequently, this Court considers that in the present case there has been a violation of the Principles of Legality and Reservation of Law, by virtue of the fact that in the instant case the Directorate General did not follow the procedure established by the legal system in force, and therefore, in issuing the contested act, it acted outside the legally established procedures, and consequently, the decision under appeal, with respect to this point, is not in accordance with the law; it is unnecessary to rule on the other grievances invoked by the appellant in its appeal brief. The aforementioned is in accordance, as pertinent, with precedents issued by this Tribunal with references R1810029TM, of the eleventh hour of September fourth, two thousand and twenty; R1505018TM, of the thirteenth hour and two minutes of May twenty-seventh, two thousand and nineteen; R1511005TM, dated ten o’clock ten minutes past ten on the thirty-first day of August two thousand and eighteen; R1405013T, dated eleven o’clock five minutes past five on the twentieth day of April of the same year; R1405007TM, dated eleven o’clock five minutes past five on the twenty-seventh day of the same month and year; and, R1704001T, dated eleven o’clock five minutes past five on the twenty-ninth day of May of the aforementioned year.” Click here for English translation Click here for other translation TAIIA-R1701011TM ...

India vs. M/s Redington (India) Limited, December 2020, High Court of Madras, Case No. T.C.A.Nos.590 & 591 of 2019

Redington India Limited (RIL) established a wholly-owned subsidiary Redington Gulf (RG) in the Jebel Ali Free Zone of the UAE in 2004. The subsidiary was responsible for the Redington group’s business in the Middle East and Africa. Four years later in July 2008, RIL set up a wholly-owned subsidiary company in Mauritius, RM. In turn, this company set up its wholly-owned subsidiary in the Cayman Islands (RC) – a step-down subsidiary of RIL. On 13 November 2008, RIL transferred its entire shareholding in RG to RC without consideration, and within a week after the transfer, a 27% shareholding in RC was sold by RG to a private equity fund Investcorp, headquartered in Cayman Islands for a price of Rs.325.78 Crores. RIL claimed that the transfer of its shares in RG to RC was a gift and therefore, exempt from capital gains taxation in India. It was also claimed that transfer pricing provisions were not applicable as income was exempt from tax. The Indian tax authorities disagreed and found that the transfer of shares was a taxable transaction, as the three defining requirements of a gift were not met – that the transfer should be (i) voluntary, (ii) without consideration and that (iii) the property so transferred should be accepted by the donee. The tax authorities also relied on the documents for the transfer of shares, the CFO statement, and the law dealing with the transfer of property. The arm’s length price was determined by the tax authorities using the comparable uncontrolled price method – referring to the pricing of the shares transferred to Investcorp. In the tax assessment, the authorities had also denied deductions for trademark fees paid by RIL to a Singapore subsidiary for the use of the “Redington” name. The tax authorities had also imputed a fee for RIL providing guarantees in favour of its subsidiaries. RIL disagreed with the assessment and brought the case before the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) who ruled in favour of the tax authorities. The case was then brought before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) who ruled in favour of RIL. ITAT’s ruling was then brought before the High Court by the tax authorities. The decision of the High Court The High Court ruled that transfer of shares in RG by RIL to its step-down subsidiary (RC) as part of corporate restructuring could not be qualified as a gift. Extraneous considerations had compelled RIL to make the transfer of shares, thereby rendering the transfer involuntary. The entire transaction was structured to accommodate a third party-investor, who had put certain conditions even prior to effecting the transfer. According to the court, the transfer of shares was a circular transaction put in place to avoid payment of taxes. “Thus, if the chain of events is considered, it is evidently clear that the incorporation of the company in Mauritius and Cayman Islands just before the transfer of shares is undoubtedly a means to avoid taxation in India and the said two companies have been used as conduits to avoid income tax†observed the Court. The High Court also disallowed deductions for trademark fees paid by RIL to a Singapore subsidiary. The court stated it was illogical for a subsidiary company to claim Trademark fee from its parent company (RIL), especially when there was no documentation to show that the subsidiary was the owner of the trademark. It was also noted that RIL had been using the trademark in question since 1993 – long before the subsidiary in Singapore was established in 2005. Regarding the guarantees, the Court concluded these were financial services provided by RIL to it’s subsidiaries for which a remuneration (fee/commission) was required. India vs Ms Redington (India) Limited 10 Dec 2020 Madras High Court FY 09 10 ...

Israel vs Broadcom, December 2019, Lod District Court, Case No 26342-01-16

Broadcom Semiconductors Ltd is an Israeli company established in 2001 under the name Dune Semiconductors Ltd. The Company is engaged in development, production, and sale of components to routers, switches etc. The shares in Dune Semiconductors were acquired by the Broadcom Corporation (a US group) in 2009 and following the acquisition intellectual property was transferred to the new Parent for a sum of USD 17 million. The company also entered into tree agreements to provide marketing and support services to a related Broadcom affiliate under a cost+10%, to provide development services to a related Broadcom affiliate for cost+8%, and a license agreement to use Broadcom Israel’s intellectual property for royalties of approximately 14% of the affiliate’s turnover. The tax authorities argued that functions, assets, and risks had been transferred leaving only an empty shell in Israel and a tax assessment was issued based on the purchase price for the shares resulting in additional taxes of USD 29 millions. According to the company such a transfer of functions, assets, and risks would only be applicable if Broadcom Israel had been emptied of its activities which  was not the case. Following the restructuring Broadcom Israel continued as a licensor and as a service provider. The financial situation of the company also improved. The position of the company was further supported by the fact that several years following the restructuring, Broadcom Israel sold its intellectual property and was taxed for the capital gain. The District Court held in favor of the company. A business restructuring from a fully fledged principal  to a service provider on a cost-plus basis does not necessarily result in a transfer of value. Judgement of the Court In the judgement the court argues that this case is different from the prior Gteko-case where the Israeli company became an empty shell and financial results were dramatically reduced following the acquisition and restructuring of the company. Unlike the Gteko-case, Broadcom had increased its activities in Israel following the acquisition. The court also emphasized that the tax authorities did not take into consideration options realistically available to the company at the time of the restructuring. For a business restructuring to constitute a sale of functions, assets, and risks property for tax purposes, it must be demonstrated not only that the change occurred, but also that the change did not meet the arm’s length principle. The court confirmed that the OECD’s Transfer Pricing Guidelines are applicable as a reference for tax purposes in Israel. Click here for an English translation Broadcom Israel 263420116inew ...

Israel vs Broadcom, Aug 2019, Israeli Supreme Court, Case No 2454/19

In 2012 Broadcom Corporation acquired all the shares of Broadlight Inc, another US corporation which owned a subsidiary in Israel, for around $200 million. Three months later, the subsidiary in Israel sold its IP to a group company for $59.5m and then an agreement was entered according to which the subsidiary going forward would supply R&D, marketing and support services to the other group companies for a cost plus fee. Based on these facts the Israeli tax authorities issued an assessment equivalent to $168.5m. The tax authorities found that the full value of the company in Israel had been transferred. The tax assessment was brought to court where Broadcom claimed that the tax authorities had re-characterised the transaction and that the onus of proof was on the tax authorities to justify the value of $168.5m. The District Court held that all the values in the Israeli subsidiary had been transferred and ruled in favor of the tax authorities. This ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court. Click here for translation Israel vs BC 2454-19 ...

Austria vs LU Ltd, March 2019, VwGH, Case No Ro 2018713/0004

A Luxembourg-based limited company (LU) held a 30% stake in an Austrian stock company operating an airport. LU employed no personnel and did not develop any activities. The parent company of LUP was likewise resident in Luxembourg. LUP had business premises in Luxembourg and employed three people. All of the shares in LUP were held by a company in the British Cayman Islands in trust for a non- resident Cayman Islands-based fund. In 2015, the Austrian Company distributed a dividend to LU. LU was not yet involved in the Austrian corporation “for an uninterrupted period of at least one year†thus withholding tax was withheld and deducted. A request for refunding of the withholding tax was denied by the tax office because the dividend was distributed to recipients in a third country and the tax authorities regarded the structure as abusive. LU then appealed the decision to the Federal Fiscal Court. The Court held that the appeal was unfounded, because the tax office rightly assumed that the structure was abusive within the meaning of Austrian tax rules. LU then filed an appeal to the Austrian Administrative High Court (VwGH). The High Court overruled the Federal Fiscal Court and found that LUP had actually developed activities. An economic reason for the set-up of a company structure- for example, the professional management of long-term investments in the EU by a management holding with several employees (the LUP as the Luxembourg parent company of the appellant) – exists even if the desired economic goal would have been achieved otherwise (i.e. with a holding company located outside the EU). According to the Court, an economic reason for a set-up exists if the economic objective, as put forward in this case, was better and safer to achieve. Thus, the structure was not abusive. Click here for English translation Click here for other translation Austrich vs Corp 27 March 2019 RO-2018-13-0004 ...

New Zealand vs Cullen Group Limited, March 2019, New Zealand High Court, Case No [2019] NZHC 404

In moving to the United Kingdom, a New Zealand citizen, Mr. Eric Watson, restructured a significant shareholding into debt owed by a New Zealand company, Cullen Group Ltd, to two Cayman Island conduit companies, all of which he still controlled to a high degree. This allowed Cullen Group Ltd to pay an Approved Issuer Levy (AIL) totalling $8 million, rather than Non-Resident Withholding Tax of $59.5 million. The steps in the arrangement were as follows: (a) Mr Watson sold his shares in Cullen Investments Ltd to Cullen Group, at a (rounded) value of $193 million, being $291 million less his previous $98 million shareholder advances. The sale was conditional on Cullen Investments Ltd selling its shares in Medical Holdings Ltd to Mr Watson and on Cullen Investments Ltd selling its shares in Vonelle Holdings Ltd to Maintenance Ltd which was owned by Mr Watson. (b) Cullen Group’s purchase of the Cullen Investments Ltd shares from Mr Watson was funded by a vendor loan from Mr Watson of $193 million (Loan A). Mr Watson also lent Cullen Group $98 million (Loan B) which Cullen Group on-lent to Cullen Investments Ltd so that Cullen Investments Ltd could repay Mr Watson’s shareholder advance of that amount. (c) Mr Watson assigned his rights under Loans A and B to the two conduit companies, Modena and Mayfair, respectively. Mr Watson made back-to-back loans of $193 million (Modena Loan) and $98 million (Mayfair Loan) to each of them to fund their payment to him of consideration for those respective assignments in return for security over all property owned by Modena and Mayfair respectively. The result was therefore that Cullen Investments Ltd was owned by Cullen Group which owed money to Modena/Mayfair which owed money to Mr Watson. Effectively, instead of Mr Watson owning the shares in Cullen Investments Ltd, he held loans for the same value to Cullen Investments Ltd’s owner, Cullen Group, through Modena and Mayfair. He had exchanged equity for debt. The tax authorities held that Cullen Group had avoided $59.5 million of NRWT (withholding tax) while it paid $8 million in Approved Issuer Levy. An assessment in the amount of the difference, $51.5 million, was issued. There are three requirements for there to be tax avoidance in New Zealand: There is an arrangement which uses, and falls within, specific tax provisions. Viewed in light of the arrangement as a whole, the taxpayer has used the specific provisions in a way which cannot have been within the contemplation and purpose of Parliament when it enacted the provisions. The arrangement has a purpose or effect, that is more than merely incidental, of directly or indirectly altering the incidence of income tax. The High Court found there was a tax avoidance arrangement because it was not within Parliament’s contemplation and purpose in enacting the Approved Issuer Levy regime. Cullen Group Ltd was found liable for the $51.5 million difference plus interest and penalties. 1Cuo ...

US vs SIH Partners LLLP, May 2019, US Third Circuit of Appeal, Case No 18-1862

In this case the Third Circuit of Appeal upheld the tax courts prior decision i a $377 million dispute involving the affiliate of a US based commodities trader. The Court found that SIH Partners LLLP, an affiliate of Pennsylvania-based commodities trader Susquehanna International Group LLP, owed taxes on approximately $377 million in additional income. The extra earnings stemmed from a $1.5 billion loan from Bank of America brokerage Merrill Lynch, which was guaranteed by SIH’s subsidiaries in Ireland and the Cayman Islands. The Tax Court’s ruling was based on regulations under Section 956 of the Internal Revenue Code, which states that U.S. shareholders must include their controlled foreign corporations’ applicable earnings, up to the amount of such a loan, in their own income when the foreign units invest in U.S. property. US vs SIH Partners LLLP181862p ...

India vs. Vodafone India Services Pvt Ltd, Jan 2018, ITA No.565 Ahd 2017

The 2018 Vodafone case from India – whether termination of option rights under an agreement can be treated as a “deemed international transaction” under section 92B(2) of the Income Tax Act. Vodafone India Services had a call option to buy shares in SMMS Investment Pvt Ltd — which held 5.11% equity capital of the Vodafone India through a web of holdings for 2.78 crore if the fair market value of these shares was less than 1,500 crore. If the fair market value was higher, it had to pay a little more. Under the same agreement, if Vodafone India Services terminated its right to acquire the share, the company would have to pay Rs 21.25 crore. Instead of exercising the call option and acquiring the valuable shares at a very low price, Vodafone India Service terminated the option and paid 21.25 crore. The tax administration held that the Vodafone India Service should have received a substantial consideration for not exercising the option. Vodafone India Services held that termination of an option was not a transaction. It also argued that it was not an international transaction, but a deal between domestic companies. The tribunal held in favor of the tax administration. The deal was deemed an international transaction. The consideration value was to be based on the price of the shares that was later sold in the market. Se also India vs. Vodafone 2012 India vs Vodafone India Services Pvt Ltd, Jan 2018, ITA No.565 Ahd 2017 - ...

Oxfam’s list of Tax Havens, December 2016

Oxfam’s list of Tax Havens, in order of significance are: (1) Bermuda (2) the Cayman Islands (3) the Netherlands (4) Switzerland (5) Singapore (6) Ireland (7) Luxembourg (8) Curaçao (9) Hong Kong (10) Cyprus (11) Bahamas (12) Jersey (13) Barbados, (14) Mauritius and (15) the British Virgin Islands. Most notably is The Netherlands placement as no. 3 on the list. Oxfam researchers compiled the list by assessing the extent to which countries employ the most damaging tax policies, such as zero corporate tax rates, the provision of unfair and unproductive tax incentives, and a lack of cooperation with international processes against tax avoidance (including measures to increase financial transparency). Many of the countries on the list have been implicated in tax scandals. For example Ireland hit the headlines over a tax deal with Apple that enabled the global tech giant to pay a 0.005 percent corporate tax rate in the country. And the British Virgin Islands is home to more than half of the 200,000 offshore companies set up by Mossack Fonseca – the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal. The United Kingdom does not feature on the list, but four territories that the United Kingdom is ultimately responsible for do appear: the Cayman Islands, Jersey, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands ...

Japan vs Cayman Islands Corp, 2008, Tokyo District Court 2011 ( Gyou ) nr 370

In this case a tax assessment based on Japanese CFC rules (anti-tax haven rules) had been applied to a Japanese Group’s subsidiary on Cayman Islands. According to Japanese CFC rules, income arising from a foreign subsidiary located in a state or territory with significantly lower tax rates is deemed to arise as the income of the parent company when the principal business of the subsidiary is holding shares or IP rights. However, the CFC rules do not apply when the subsidiary has substance and it makes economic sense to conduct business in the subsidiary in the low tax jurisdiction. The Court upheld the tax assessment. Click here for English translation084760_hanrei Cayman ...
Cayman Islands, CFC

Switzerland vs. Finanz AG, Oct. 2012, Federal Supreme Court, Case No 2C_708/2011

A company of a Swiss based group maintained a permanent establishment in the Cayman Islands for financing the domestic group companies. Whereas the group companies were able to deduct the interest payments from the taxable profit to their full extent, the interest income, for Swiss tax purposes, was allocated to the permanent establishment in the Cayman Islands, and therefore led to non-taxation of this interest income. By interpreting the legal term “foreign permanent establishment” the Federal Supreme Court concluded that the finance company in the Cayman Islands had only four employees and that such a lean structures was in contrast to the figures in the annual accounts. Therefore, it denied the allocation of interest income to the Cayman Islands for Swiss tax purposes. Click here for English translation Federal Tax Administration against X. Finanz AG ...

Canada vs MIL (INVESTMENTS) S.A., June 2007, Federal Court of Canada, Case No 2007 FCA 236

The issue is whether MIL (INVESTMENTS) S.A. was exempt from Canadian income tax in respect of the capital gain of $425,853,942 arising in FY 1997 on the sale of shares of Diamond Field Resources Inc. by virtue of the Canadian Income Tax Act and the Convention Between Canada and The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital (“Treaty”). The Canadian Tax Authorities found that MIL was not exempt under local anti avoidance provisions and issued an assessment where the capital gain had been added to the taxable income. Disagreeing with the assessment, MIL (INVESTMENTS) S.A. filed an appeal with the Tax Court. The tax court allowed the appeal of MIL (INVESTMENTS) S.A. and set aside the assessment issued by the tax authorities. An appeal was then filed with the Federal Court by the tax authorities. Judgement of Federal Court The Federal Court dismissed the appeal of the tax authorities and ruled in favor of MIL (INVESTMENTS) S.A. Excerpts “In order to succeed in this appeal, the appellant Her Majesty the Queen must persuade us that one transaction in the series of transactions in issue is an avoidance transaction, and that the tax benefit achieved by the respondent MIL (Investments) S.A. is an abuse or misuse of the object and purpose of article 13(4) of the Convention between Canada and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital (the Tax Treaty). … “It is clear that the Act intends to exempt non-residents from taxation on the gains from the disposition of treat exempt property. It is also clear that under the terms of the Tax Treaty, the respondent’s stake in DFR was treaty exempt property. The appellant urged us to look behind this textual compliance with the relevant provisions to find an object or purpose whose abuse would justify our departure from the plain words of the disposition. We are unable to find such an object or purpose. If the object of the exempting provision was to be limited to portfolio investments, or to non-controlling interests in immoveable property (as defined in the Tax Treaty), as the appellant argues, it would have been easy enough to say so. Beyond that, and more importantly, the appellant was unable to explain how the fact that the respondent or Mr. Boulle had or retained influence of control over DFR, if indeed they did, was in itself a reason to subject the gain from the sale of the shares to Canadian taxation rather than taxation in Luxembourg. To the extent that the appellant argues that the Tax Treaty should not be interpreted so as to permit double non-taxation, the issue raised by GAAR is the incidence of Canadian taxation, not the foregoing of revenues by the Luxembourg fiscal authorities. As a result, the appeal will be dismissed with costs.” An interesting article on the case has been published in 2008 by the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. Click here for other translation Canada v. MIL (Investments) S.A. - Federal Court of Appeal ...