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Fast driftställe enligt BEPS och skillnaden mot den svenska definitionen

Brodd, Johan LU (2017) LAGF03 20171
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
För att ett företag ska kunna bli beskattat för vinsten i ett land, krävs att företaget i fråga kan anses ha ett fast driftställe i landet. Den svenska definitionen av begreppet bygger på det modellavtal som OECD har producerat. Den svenska definitionen innehåller inga specifika undantag från fast driftställe utan har istället ett övergripande krav att verksamheten ska vara förberedande eller biträdande till kärnverksamheten. I modellavtalet från OECD finns däremot specifika undantag, och flera av dessa ska bedömas om de är just förberedande eller biträdande även om inte alla omfattas.

En person som ingår avtal för företagets räkning kan också utgöra ett fast driftställe i ett land, och då som en beroende representant för företaget. Det... (More)
För att ett företag ska kunna bli beskattat för vinsten i ett land, krävs att företaget i fråga kan anses ha ett fast driftställe i landet. Den svenska definitionen av begreppet bygger på det modellavtal som OECD har producerat. Den svenska definitionen innehåller inga specifika undantag från fast driftställe utan har istället ett övergripande krav att verksamheten ska vara förberedande eller biträdande till kärnverksamheten. I modellavtalet från OECD finns däremot specifika undantag, och flera av dessa ska bedömas om de är just förberedande eller biträdande även om inte alla omfattas.

En person som ingår avtal för företagets räkning kan också utgöra ett fast driftställe i ett land, och då som en beroende representant för företaget. Det svenska begreppet har dock ett fullmaktskrav för så kallade beroende representanter, vilket inte återfinns i modellavtalet. Istället gör man en bedömning om representanten i fråga har en reell möjlighet att ingå avtal för företaget, utan att det finns något krav på fullmakt.

Enligt den svenska definitionen ska man också se bygg-, anläggnings- och
installationsverksamhet som fasta driftställen, men praxis har konstaterat att det finns ett krav på en närvaro på 6 månader för ett fast driftställe att uppstå. I modellavtalet är det istället en gräns på 12 månader som gäller.
Dessa olika regler har av företag utnyttjats för att kunna slippa bli
företagsbeskattade i landet de bedriver verksamhet i, vilket är anledningen till att OECD nu har introducerat BEPS-projektet. BEPS-projektet ska täppa till de kryphål som finns och därigenom hindra företag att utföra skatteplanering. Projektet griper tag i de regler som angetts ovan, och bidrar med lösningar till dessa problem. För byggföretag som försöker dela upp kontrakt införs bland annat en PPT-regel, och uppdelningar av kontrakt ska utsättas för en syftesprövning.

För de specifika undantagen i modellavtalet föreslås en lösning vilken mer påminner om den svenska definitionen. Man ska bedöma samtliga av de
undantag som anges utifrån om verksamheten kan anses vara förberedande
eller biträdande till företagets kärnverksamhet.

Beroende representanter kommer numera ses som huvudregeln, och att man
undkommer denna status kommer vara ett undantag med en tröskel som är
svår att komma över om man jämför med dagens bestämmelse.

Vissa principiella problem kan uppstå vid en uppdatering av de svenska
reglerna, men med tiden kommer dessa problem lösas genom en omfattande
praxis på området. Eftersom kommentarerna till OECD:s modellavtal idag
är en metod att tolka de svenska begreppen, lär också de uppdaterade
kommentarerna kunna utnyttjas till detta när man väl ändrar den svenska
definitionen. Detta bidrar också till att förutsebarheten och de principiella problem som kan uppstå i början inte blir lika stora som man kan anta vid en första anblick. (Less)
Abstract
For a company to be taxed for their profit in a state, the company has to be attributed to a permanent establishment in the state in question. The Swedish definition of a permanent establishment is inspired by the
definition found in the model tax treaty of OECD. The definition found in
the Swedish tax law does not contain any specific activities which are
subject to exception from the term permanent establishment. Instead one
should judge if the activity is of preparatory or auxiliary character. The model tax treaty, however, includes direct exceptions to permanent
establishment and only a few are subject to the judgment of preparatory or auxiliary character.

A person who enters contracts in the name of the company is also a way... (More)
For a company to be taxed for their profit in a state, the company has to be attributed to a permanent establishment in the state in question. The Swedish definition of a permanent establishment is inspired by the
definition found in the model tax treaty of OECD. The definition found in
the Swedish tax law does not contain any specific activities which are
subject to exception from the term permanent establishment. Instead one
should judge if the activity is of preparatory or auxiliary character. The model tax treaty, however, includes direct exceptions to permanent
establishment and only a few are subject to the judgment of preparatory or auxiliary character.

A person who enters contracts in the name of the company is also a way for a company to be subjected to having a permanent establishment. In the
Swedish definition, we can find a requirement for the representative to have a commission from the company to be able to form a permanent
establishment. This requirement cannot be found in the model tax treaty.
Instead the subject to judgement is the possibility for the representative to enter contracts under the company name.

Companies that conduct building and the like in a state, are subjected to a 6 month limitation to be able to be excepted from having a permanent
establishment according to the Swedish law. In the model tax treaty, the
limitation is instead set to 12 months.

These rules have been used by companies, for them to be able to avoid
being attributed a permanent establishment, why OECD and the G20 has
introduced the BEPS-project. The BEPS-projects meaning is to remove the
possibilities that companies have by using these rules for immoral tax
planning. For companies that conduct building in a state, a PPT-rule is to be introduced to provide a way to test the purpose behind the dividing of contracts between related companies.

The specific exceptions which can be found in the model tax treaty will be subjected to a test to see if these are preparatory or auxiliary – a solution more similar to what exists in the Swedish rule.
A person that concludes contracts on behalf of the company will now be a
dependent agent as the main rule, and for them to be subjected, the
independence from the company in question will have to be clearer that
what it is today.

Some principal problems may arise in the beginning after implementing
these changes in the Swedish law, but most of them will be solved in time
by practice by the courts. Since the commentary to the model tax treaty
today provides an additional source of how to interpret the Swedish
definition, it is reasonable to assume that the updated commentary will do the same. This will also help minimize the problems in the beginning of implementing these rules, and the predictability will not be as compromised as otherwise. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Brodd, Johan LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20171
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
BEPS, Fast, driftställe, OECD
language
Swedish
id
8908211
date added to LUP
2017-06-29 16:01:25
date last changed
2017-06-29 16:01:25
@misc{8908211,
  abstract     = {{For a company to be taxed for their profit in a state, the company has to be attributed to a permanent establishment in the state in question. The Swedish definition of a permanent establishment is inspired by the
definition found in the model tax treaty of OECD. The definition found in
the Swedish tax law does not contain any specific activities which are
subject to exception from the term permanent establishment. Instead one
should judge if the activity is of preparatory or auxiliary character. The model tax treaty, however, includes direct exceptions to permanent
establishment and only a few are subject to the judgment of preparatory or auxiliary character.

A person who enters contracts in the name of the company is also a way for a company to be subjected to having a permanent establishment. In the
Swedish definition, we can find a requirement for the representative to have a commission from the company to be able to form a permanent
establishment. This requirement cannot be found in the model tax treaty.
Instead the subject to judgement is the possibility for the representative to enter contracts under the company name.

Companies that conduct building and the like in a state, are subjected to a 6 month limitation to be able to be excepted from having a permanent
establishment according to the Swedish law. In the model tax treaty, the
limitation is instead set to 12 months.

These rules have been used by companies, for them to be able to avoid
being attributed a permanent establishment, why OECD and the G20 has
introduced the BEPS-project. The BEPS-projects meaning is to remove the
possibilities that companies have by using these rules for immoral tax
planning. For companies that conduct building in a state, a PPT-rule is to be introduced to provide a way to test the purpose behind the dividing of contracts between related companies.

The specific exceptions which can be found in the model tax treaty will be subjected to a test to see if these are preparatory or auxiliary – a solution more similar to what exists in the Swedish rule.
A person that concludes contracts on behalf of the company will now be a
dependent agent as the main rule, and for them to be subjected, the
independence from the company in question will have to be clearer that
what it is today.

Some principal problems may arise in the beginning after implementing
these changes in the Swedish law, but most of them will be solved in time
by practice by the courts. Since the commentary to the model tax treaty
today provides an additional source of how to interpret the Swedish
definition, it is reasonable to assume that the updated commentary will do the same. This will also help minimize the problems in the beginning of implementing these rules, and the predictability will not be as compromised as otherwise.}},
  author       = {{Brodd, Johan}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Fast driftställe enligt BEPS och skillnaden mot den svenska definitionen}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}