Tag: Intellectual property

The European Commission vs. Ireland, December 2021, European Court of Justice Case, AG Opinion, No C-898/19 P (ECLI:EU:C:2021:1029)

At issue in this case is whether the arm’s length principle as described in the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines can be applied by the EU in determining if state aid had been granted. In 2012, the Luxembourg tax authorities issued a tax ruling in favour of Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe (‘FFT’), an undertaking in the Fiat group that provided treasury and financing services to the group companies established in Europe. The tax ruling at issue endorsed a method for determining FFT’s remuneration for these services, which enabled FFT to determine its taxable profit on a yearly basis for corporate income tax in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In 2015, the Commission concluded that the tax ruling constituted State aid under Article 107 TFEU and that it was operating aid that was incompatible with the internal market. The Commission found that the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was required to recover the unlawful and incompatible aid from FFT. FFT brought an action before the General Court for annulment of the Commission’s decision. In it’s Judgement of September 2019 Union , the General Court dismissed the actions brought by FFT and confirmed the validity of the Commission’s decision. This decision was then appealed to the European Court of Justice by FFT. At the same time, Ireland filed an appeal in regards of application of the arm’s length principle in state aid cases. According to Ireland, applying the arm’s length principle in these cases was in breach of the principle of legal certainty. AG Opinion from the European Court of Justice The Advocate General proposes that the Court dismiss the appeal brought by Ireland in its entirety. The Advocate General considers in particular that the General Court correctly held that the Commission was not required to take account of the intra-group and cross-border dimension of the effects of the tax ruling at issue when determining whether that ruling conferred an economic advantage, and that the three errors made, according to the Commission, in the calculation of the remuneration of the treasury and financing services provided by FFT prevented an arm’s length outcome from being obtained and could therefore form the basis for a finding of economic advantage. Excerpt “178. The principle of legal certainty, which is a general principle of EU law and thus applies to the acts of the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the European Union, requires, according to settled case-law, that rules of law must be clear and precise and that they must be foreseeable. (81) More specifically, that principle requires an assessment of whether an EU legal act enables those concerned to know precisely and unequivocally the extent of their rights and obligations and to take steps accordingly. (82) This requirement must be observed all the more strictly in the case of an act liable to have financial consequences. (83) 179. It is apparent from the case-law of the Court of Justice that the principle of legal certainty is intrinsically linked to the development of legal standards by the European Union, and by national authorities when they implement EU law, and that it permits judicial review of flaws liable to result in unpredictable application of the legal act in question. (84) 180. The principle of legal certainty is narrower in scope with regard to an administrative decision, as is apparent from the case-law on State aid. In that area, the Court of Justice has found the principle of legal certainty to have been infringed only where the conduct in question had been engaged in by the Commission before or during the procedure leading to the adoption of a decision to recover State aid. (85) 181. In the present case, the principle of legal certainty is relied on in opposition to the use, for the purposes of determining whether the requirement for an advantage was fulfilled, of the arm’s length principle, on the ground that the scope of that principle was not defined. In other words, what is challenged is the substantive validity of an assessment made by the Commission in relation to the characterisation of a State measure as State aid. However, the substantive validity of such an assessment cannot be challenged on the basis of conformity with the principle of legal certainty. To hold otherwise would be to prohibit the Commission from conceiving new approaches in the application of rules of law, leaving it frozen in its current position. In particular, such an interpretation would mean that the Commission is prevented from using any novel benchmark to guide its assessment of whether there is an advantage for the purposes of Article 107(1) TFEU. 182. Having regard to the case-law referred to above and to the fact that FFT’s criticism relates, ultimately, to the finding of advantage made for the purposes of characterising the tax ruling at issue as State aid, I must conclude that the principle of legal certainty cannot be legitimately relied on in the present case. Thus, no error of law can be attributed to the General Court on the basis that it did not disapprove the characterisation of the scope of the arm’s length principle which emerges from the decision at issue. I therefore consider that the first part of the third ground of appeal must be rejected. 183. In any event, the General Court was right to hold, in response to the arguments advanced respectively by FFT and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and set out in paragraphs 155 and 176 of the judgment under appeal, that the Commission had sufficiently defined the scope and content of the arm’s length principle applied in the decision at issue, and that that definition was thus not open to criticism on the basis that the discretion left to the Commission in applying that principle was overly broad. I am thinking particularly of the General Court’s observations that the arm’s length principle is ‘a tool for checking that intra-group transactions are remunerated as though they had been negotiated between independent undertakings’ and that the examination in the light ...

The European Commission vs. Nike and the Netherlands, July 2021, European Court of Justice Case No T-648/19

In 2016 the European Commission announced that it had opened an in-depth investigation to examine whether tax rulings (unilateral APA’s) granted by the Netherlands had given Nike an unfair advantage over its competitors, in breach of EU State aid rules. The formal investigation concerned the tax treatment in the Netherlands of two Nike group companies, Nike European Operations Netherlands BV and Converse Netherlands BV. These two operating companies develops, markets and records the sales of Nike and Converse products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (the EMEA region). Nike European Operations Netherlands BV and Converse Netherlands BV obtained licenses to use intellectual property rights relating to Nike and Converse products in the EMEA region. The two companies obtained the licenses, in return for a tax-deductible royalty payment, from two Nike group entities, which are currently Dutch entities that are “transparent” for tax purposes (i.e., not taxable in the Netherlands). From 2006 to 2015, the Dutch tax authorities issued five tax rulings, two of which are still in force, endorsing a method to calculate the royalty to be paid by Nike European Operations Netherlands and Converse Netherlands for the use of the intellectual property. As a result of these tax rulings, Nike European Operations Netherlands BV and Converse Netherlands BV are only taxed in the Netherlands on a limited operating margin based on sales. The Commission was concerned that the royalty payments endorsed by the rulings may not reflect economic reality. According to the Commission the payments appeared to be higher than what independent companies negotiating on market terms would have agreed. On 26 September 2019 Nike brought the decision to open the investigation to the European General Court claiming the investigation was in breach of fundamental  EU rights, principles of good administration and equal treatment by (1) erring in law in the preliminary assessment of the aid character of the contested measures. (2) not providing sufficient reasons for finding that the contested measures fulfil all elements of State aid, especially why they should be regarded as selective. (3) prematurely opening a formal investigation and providing insufficient reasoning for the existence of State aid where there were no difficulties to continue the preliminary investigation. Judgement of the Court On 14 July 2021 The General Court dismissed the claims brought by Nike. The Court agreed that the intercompany royalties payments as determined in the tax rulings (unilateral APA’s) issued by the Netherlands left the distribution affiliates with less profits than would have occurred at arm’s length. EC vs Nike and NL june 2021 ECJ T 648-19 ...

Airbnb under examination by the Internal Revenue Service for 2013 and 2016

Airbnb is under examination by the Internal Revenue Service for its income taxes in 2013 and 2016, according to the company’s December 2020 SEC filing. According to the filing a draft notice of adjustment from the IRS proposes that the company owes an additional $1.35 billion in taxes plus interest and penalties for the years in question. The assessment is related to valuation of its intellectual property that was transferred to a subsidiary in FY 2013. Airbnb then had had two subsidiaries outside the United States – Airbnb International Holdings Ltd and Airbnb International Unlimited Co – both resident for tax purposes in tax haven Jersey. The company plans to fight a potential adjustment. “We disagree with the proposed adjustment and intend to vigorously contest it,” “If the IRS prevails in the assessment of additional tax due based on its position and such tax and related interest and penalties, if any, exceeds our current reserves, such outcome could have a material adverse impact on our financial position and results of operations, and any assessment of additional tax could require a significant cash payment and have a material adverse impact on our cash flow,”  Finally, it appears that the company is now in the process of moving its intellectual property back to the United States. Excerpts From Airbnb’s SEC filings “We are currently under examination for income taxes by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRSâ€) for the years 2013 and 2016. We are continuing to respond to inquiries related to these examinations. While we have not yet received a Revenue Agent’s Report generally issued at the conclusion of an IRS examination, in September 2020, we received a Draft Notice of Proposed Adjustment from the IRS for the 2013 tax year relating to the valuation of our international intellectual property which was sold to a subsidiary in 2013. The notice proposes an increase to our U.S. taxable income that could result in additional income tax expense and cash tax liability of $1.35 billion, plus penalties and interest, which exceeds our current reserve recorded in our consolidated financial statements by more than $1.0 billion. A formal Notice of Proposed Adjustment is expected from the IRS by the end of 2020. Following formal receipt of the Revenue Agent’s adjustment which is anticipated late in the fourth quarter of 2020, we intend to vigorously contest the IRS’s proposed adjustment, including through all administrative and, if necessary, judicial remedies which may include: entering into administrative settlement discussions with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals (“IRS Appealsâ€) in 2021, and if necessary petitioning the U.S. Tax Court (“Tax Courtâ€) for redetermination if an acceptable outcome cannot be reached with IRS Appeals, and finally, and if necessary, appealing the Tax Court’s decision to the appropriate appellate court. If the IRS prevails in the assessment of additional tax due based on its position and such tax and related interest and penalties, if any, exceeds our current reserves, such outcome could have a material adverse impact on our financial position and results of operations, and any assessment of additional tax could require a significant cash payment and have a material adverse impact on our cash flow.“ “We may have exposure to greater than anticipated income tax liabilities. In September 2020, we received a Draft Notice of Proposed Adjustment from the IRS for the 2013 tax year proposing an increase to our U.S. taxable income that could result in additional income tax expense and cash tax liability of $1.35 billion, plus penalties and interest, which exceeds our current reserve recorded in our consolidated financial statements by more than $1.0 billion.“ “The Company is in various stages of examination in connection with its ongoing tax audits globally, and it is difficult to determine when these examinations will be settled. The Company believes that an adequate provision has been recorded for any adjustments that may result from tax audits. However, the outcome of tax audits cannot be predicted with certainty. If any issues addressed in the Company’s tax audits are resolved in a manner not consistent with management’s expectations, the Company may be required to record an adjustment to the provision for income taxes in the period such resolution occurs. It is reasonably possible that over the next 12-month period the Company may experience an increase or decrease in its unrecognized tax benefits as a result of tax examinations or lapses of the statute of limitations. However, an estimate of the range of the reasonably possible change in the next twelve months cannot be made.“ “On July 27, 2015, the United States Tax Court (the “Tax Courtâ€) issued an opinion in Altera Corp. v. Commissioner (the “Tax Court Opinionâ€), which concluded that related parties in a cost sharing arrangement are not required to share expenses related to stock-based compensation. The Tax Court Opinion was appealed by the Commissioner to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (the “Ninth Circuitâ€). On June 7, 2019, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion (the “Ninth Circuit Opinionâ€) that reversed the Tax Court Opinion. On July 22, 2019, Altera Corp. filed a petition for a rehearing before the full Ninth Circuit. On November 12, 2019, the Ninth Circuit denied Altera Corp.’s petition for rehearing its case. The Company accordingly recognized tax expense of $26.6 million related to changes in uncertain tax positions during the year ended December 31, 2019. The Company will continue to monitor future developments in this case to determine if there will be further impacts to its consolidated financial statements.” “The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in Altera Corp. v. Commissioner in June of 2019 regarding the treatment of stock-based compensation expense in a cost sharing arrangement, which had a material effect on our tax obligations and effective tax rate for the quarter in which the decision was issued.” “The Company is in the process of providing documentation to the Internal Revenue Service in connection with an examination of the Company’s 2013 income taxes with the primary issue under examination being the valuation of the ...

The European Commission opens in-depth investigation into tax treatment of Nike and Converse in the Netherlands

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to examine whether tax rulings granted by the Netherlands to Nike may have given the company an unfair advantage over its competitors, in breach of EU State aid rules. Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner in charge of competition policy, said: “Member States should not allow companies to set up complex structures that unduly reduce their taxable profits and give them an unfair advantage over competitors. The Commission will investigate carefully the tax treatment of Nike in the Netherlands, to assess whether it is in line with EU State aid rules. At the same time, I welcome the actions taken by the Netherlands to reform their corporate taxation rules and to help ensure that companies will operate on a level playing field in the EU.” Nike is a US based company involved worldwide in the design, marketing and manufacturing of footwear, clothing, equipment and accessories, in particular in the sports area. The formal investigation concerns the tax treatment in the Netherlands of two Nike group companies based in the Netherlands, Nike European Operations Netherlands BV and Converse Netherlands BV. These two operating companies develop, market and record the sales of Nike and Converse products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (the EMEA region). Nike European Operations Netherlands BV and Converse Netherlands BV obtained licenses to use intellectual property rights relating to, respectively, Nike and Converse products in the EMEA region. The two companies obtained the licenses, in return for a tax-deductible royalty payment, from two Nike group entities, which are currently Dutch entities that are “transparent” for tax purposes (i.e., not taxable in the Netherlands).The Nike group’s corporate structure itself is outside the remit of EU State aid rules. From 2006 to 2015, the Dutch tax authorities issued five tax rulings, two of which are still in force, endorsing a method to calculate the royalty to be paid by Nike European Operations Netherlands and Converse Netherlands for the use of the intellectual property. As a result of the rulings, Nike European Operations Netherlands BV and Converse Netherlands BV are only taxed in the Netherlands on a limited operating margin based on sales. At this stage, the Commission is concerned that the royalty payments endorsed by the rulings may not reflect economic reality. They appear to be higher than what independent companies negotiating on market terms would have agreed between themselves in accordance with the arm’s length principle. In particular, a preliminary analysis of the companies’ activities found that: Nike European Operations Netherlands BV and Converse Netherlands BV have more than 1,000 employees and are involved in the development, management and exploitation of the intellectual property. For example, Nike European Operations Netherlands BV actively advertises and promotes Nike products in the EMEA region, and bears its own costs for the associated marketing and sales activities. In contrast, the recipients of the royalty are Nike group entities that have no employees and do not carry out any economic activity. The Commission investigation will focus on whether the Netherlands’ tax rulings endorsing these royalty payments may have unduly reduced the taxable base in the Netherlands of Nike European Operations Netherlands BV and Converse Netherlands BV since 2006. As a result, the Netherlands may have granted a selective advantage to the Nike group by allowing it to pay less tax than other stand-alone or group companies whose transactions are priced in accordance with market terms. If confirmed, this would amount to illegal State aid. Nike BV Netherlands ...

Israel vs Hewlett-Packard, July 2017, Settled in International Arbitration

Hewlett-Packard pays NIS 1.6 billion ($450 million) in tax on its 2006 acquisition of the intellectual property of Israel company Mercury Interactive, in addition to the NIS 1 billion already paid to the Israel Tax Authority. The acquisition at issue took place in two stages. First the shares in Mercury Interactive were acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $4.5 billion in 2006. Then in 2009 Mercury Interactive’s intellectual property was transferred to Hewlett-Packard for a substantially lower price of $963 million. The Tax Authority held that the sales of the intellectual property should be taxed at the full value of $4.5 billion The case was settled in international arbitration, which ended with an additional tax payment of NIS 1.6 billion by Hewlett-Packard ...

Canada vs. Skechers USA Canada Inc. March 2015, Federal Court of Appeal

In this case the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal in which the tribunal upheld seven decisions – one for each of the years 2005 through 2011 – of the Canada Border Services Agency under subsection 60(4) of Canada’s Customs Act. Skechers Canada, a subsidiary of Skechers USA, purchases footwear to sell in Canada from its parent at a price equal to the price paid by Skechers US to its manufacturers, the cost of shipping the foodware to the US and warehousing, and an arm’s length profit. Skechers Canada also makes payments to Skechers US pursuant to a cost sharing agreement to compensate the parent for activities associated with the development and maintenance of the Skechers brand and to the creation and sale of footwear. The Court ruled that CSA payments relating to research, design, and development (R&D) were “in respect of†the goods sold for export into Canada and thus part of the “price paid or payable†for the goods for customs purposes. As a result, Skechers Canada must add the amounts of these payments made to Skechers USA to the customs value of imported footwear supplied by its parent. In its conclusion, the Court found that the conclusion reached by CITT “falls within the range of possible, acceptable outcomes, defensible in respect of the facts and the law.†Canada-Sketcher ...

US vs. DHL. April 2002, U.S. Court of Appeals

When DHL sold the “DHL†trademark to DHL International, the IRS disagreed with DHL’s evaluation of the arms-length price of the intellectual property and used its authority under Section 482 to reallocate income and impose penalties. DHL appealed the IRS ruling and the tax court upheld the IRS allocation to DHL. In this decision the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the tax court’s application of Section 482 to the sale of the trademark and the $100 million valuation for the intangible asset, but reversed the tax court’s rejection of a $50 million value of the foreign trademark rights, as asserted by DHL. US-vs.-DHL.TCM_.WPD-2 And US-vs.-DHL.TCM_.WPD ...