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LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Underprisöverlåtelser och EU-rätten

Palade, Jonatan LU (2016) LAGF03 20162
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Normalt sker överlåtelser mellan näringsverksamheter till marknadspris. Hos företag inom en intressegemenskap kan det av olika anledningar vara av intresse att en överlåtelse sker till ett pris under marknadsvärdet. Vanligtvis sker en uttagsbeskattning på ett sådant förfarande. För att möjliggöra omstruktureringar finns det regler om underprisöverlåtelser i 23 kapitlet inkomstskattelagen som möjliggör överlåtelser till underpris utan att en uttagsbeskattning sker.

Sverige är medlem i EU och som medlemsstat följer vissa förpliktelser. Staten har sagt upp en del av sin suveränitet och EU-rätten har företräde framför nationell rätt. Frågan som behandlas i uppsatsen är ifall reglerna om underprisöverlåtelser är förenliga med EU-rätten.

... (More)
Normalt sker överlåtelser mellan näringsverksamheter till marknadspris. Hos företag inom en intressegemenskap kan det av olika anledningar vara av intresse att en överlåtelse sker till ett pris under marknadsvärdet. Vanligtvis sker en uttagsbeskattning på ett sådant förfarande. För att möjliggöra omstruktureringar finns det regler om underprisöverlåtelser i 23 kapitlet inkomstskattelagen som möjliggör överlåtelser till underpris utan att en uttagsbeskattning sker.

Sverige är medlem i EU och som medlemsstat följer vissa förpliktelser. Staten har sagt upp en del av sin suveränitet och EU-rätten har företräde framför nationell rätt. Frågan som behandlas i uppsatsen är ifall reglerna om underprisöverlåtelser är förenliga med EU-rätten.

En del av EU-rättens primärrätt utgörs av fördraget om Europeiska unionens funktionssätt. I fördraget finns regler som ska underlätta den inre marknaden, bl.a. reglerna om de fyra friheterna. Etableringsfriheten i art. 49 är en del av de fyra friheterna och artikeln ställer ett krav på en fri etablering inom unionen. Medlemsstater får inte ha en lagstiftning som negativt särbehandlar en gränsöverskridande etablering jämfört med en rent inhemsk etablering.

I reglerna om underprisöverlåtelser ställs det i 16 § upp ett villkor på att förvärvaren omedelbart efter förvärvet ska vara skattskyldig i inkomstslaget näringsverksamhet i vilken tillgången ingår. En förvärvare som är skattskyldig i en annan medlemsstat än Sverige omfattas därför inte av reglerna. Detta utgör en inskränkning av etableringsfriheten och reglerna är därför fördragsstridiga.

Fördragsstridande regler kan rättfärdigas. EU-domstolen har utvecklat en rule of reason-doktrin och har i sin praxis godkänt hindrande regler på olika grunder. En av dessa rättfärdigandegrunder är att säkerställa fördelningen av beskattningsrätten. Även om regler om underprisöverlåtelser inte prövats mot den grunden tyder mycket på att den skulle kunna tillämpas här. Trots att reglerna utgör ett hinder ska de alltså inte ses som fördragsstridiga. Reglerna om underprisöverlåtelserna bedöms därför vara i linje med nu gällande EU-rätt. (Less)
Abstract
Transfers between businesses are usually made at market price. Between businesses within a community of interest there could be an incentive to make a transfer at a price below market price. Normally this procedure is taxed by adjusting the revenue up to market price. To enable restructurings there are regulations about transfers at below cost price (underprisöverlåtelser) in the 23rd chapter of the Swedish Income Tax Act (inkomstskattelagen). If the regulations are applicable there is no taxation.

Sweden is a member of the EU and as a Member state there are certain obligations. Sweden has waived a part of its sovereignty and the EU-law takes precedence over national law. The issue addressed in this paper covers whether or not the... (More)
Transfers between businesses are usually made at market price. Between businesses within a community of interest there could be an incentive to make a transfer at a price below market price. Normally this procedure is taxed by adjusting the revenue up to market price. To enable restructurings there are regulations about transfers at below cost price (underprisöverlåtelser) in the 23rd chapter of the Swedish Income Tax Act (inkomstskattelagen). If the regulations are applicable there is no taxation.

Sweden is a member of the EU and as a Member state there are certain obligations. Sweden has waived a part of its sovereignty and the EU-law takes precedence over national law. The issue addressed in this paper covers whether or not the regulations in the 23rd chapter is in conflict with EU-law.

A part of EU-law’s primary law is the “Treaty on the functioning of the European union”. In this treaty there are regulations, for instance the five fundamental freedoms, whose purpose is to promote the internal market. Freedom of Establishment in art. 49 is one of these fundamental freedoms and this article requests a free establishment within the European Union and consequently, the legislation of the Member States must be non-discriminating in cross-border situations.

Within the Swedish regulations about transfers at below cost price there is a provision in 16 § that states that the purchaser should immediately after the acquisition be subject to taxation on income from business activities where the asset is included. A purchaser that is subject to taxation in another Member State than Sweden is therefore not eligible to the regulations. This is a restriction of the freedom of establishment and the rules are contrary to the treaty.

Discriminatory national rules can be justified. The European Court of Justice has developed a rule of reason-doctrine and has through case law justified restrictive rules by different grounds of public interest. One of these grounds is the balanced allocation of taxing rights. There are several indications that this ground could justify the rules in the 23rd chapter. My conclusion is that even though the Swedish requirement for immediate tax obligation is a restriction of the freedom of establishment, it can still be justified and hence is in line with current EU-law. (Less)
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author
Palade, Jonatan LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20162
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Skatterätt, EU-rätt
language
Swedish
id
8897187
date added to LUP
2017-02-13 08:21:39
date last changed
2017-02-13 08:21:39
@misc{8897187,
  abstract     = {{Transfers between businesses are usually made at market price. Between businesses within a community of interest there could be an incentive to make a transfer at a price below market price. Normally this procedure is taxed by adjusting the revenue up to market price. To enable restructurings there are regulations about transfers at below cost price (underprisöverlåtelser) in the 23rd chapter of the Swedish Income Tax Act (inkomstskattelagen). If the regulations are applicable there is no taxation.

Sweden is a member of the EU and as a Member state there are certain obligations. Sweden has waived a part of its sovereignty and the EU-law takes precedence over national law. The issue addressed in this paper covers whether or not the regulations in the 23rd chapter is in conflict with EU-law.

A part of EU-law’s primary law is the “Treaty on the functioning of the European union”. In this treaty there are regulations, for instance the five fundamental freedoms, whose purpose is to promote the internal market. Freedom of Establishment in art. 49 is one of these fundamental freedoms and this article requests a free establishment within the European Union and consequently, the legislation of the Member States must be non-discriminating in cross-border situations. 

Within the Swedish regulations about transfers at below cost price there is a provision in 16 § that states that the purchaser should immediately after the acquisition be subject to taxation on income from business activities where the asset is included. A purchaser that is subject to taxation in another Member State than Sweden is therefore not eligible to the regulations. This is a restriction of the freedom of establishment and the rules are contrary to the treaty.

Discriminatory national rules can be justified. The European Court of Justice has developed a rule of reason-doctrine and has through case law justified restrictive rules by different grounds of public interest. One of these grounds is the balanced allocation of taxing rights. There are several indications that this ground could justify the rules in the 23rd chapter. My conclusion is that even though the Swedish requirement for immediate tax obligation is a restriction of the freedom of establishment, it can still be justified and hence is in line with current EU-law.}},
  author       = {{Palade, Jonatan}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Underprisöverlåtelser och EU-rätten}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}