Allokering av dotterbolagsandelar till fast driftställe i ljuset av HFD 2025 ref. 51 – är nyckelpersoner nyckeln?
(2025) JURM02 20252Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- Foreign companies are subject to tax in Sweden on income attributable to a permanent establishment, as follows from Chapter 6, Section 11, first paragraph, point 1 of the Income Tax Act (inkomstskattelagen) and from the double taxation treaties concluded by Sweden with other states. However, Swedish tax law lacks detailed provisions on how income is to be attributed to a permanent establishment. Under the OECD Model Tax Convention, which constitutes the basis of Sweden’s double taxation treaties, income is to be allocated to a permanent establishment on the basis of what the establishment might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise. In 2008, the OECD published a Report on the Attribution of Profits to Permanent... (More)
- Foreign companies are subject to tax in Sweden on income attributable to a permanent establishment, as follows from Chapter 6, Section 11, first paragraph, point 1 of the Income Tax Act (inkomstskattelagen) and from the double taxation treaties concluded by Sweden with other states. However, Swedish tax law lacks detailed provisions on how income is to be attributed to a permanent establishment. Under the OECD Model Tax Convention, which constitutes the basis of Sweden’s double taxation treaties, income is to be allocated to a permanent establishment on the basis of what the establishment might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise. In 2008, the OECD published a Report on the Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments, which further develops this principle by emphasising the importance of the significant people functions performed by the personnel located at the permanent establishment.
However, the applicability of this report to subsidiary shares has been debated, as the issue is not expressly addressed in the report and Sweden has traditionally dealt with the matter under a different principle. Under this domestic principle, it has been sufficient that the subsidiary shares are conditioned by the business acitivites performed by the permanent establishment for the shares to be allocated thereto. The purpose of this thesis is therefore, using a legal dogmatic method, to discuss how subsidiary shares should be allocated to a permanent establishment in light of the OECD’s Report on the Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments. This analysis is based on the Supreme Administrative Court’s judgment in HFD 2025 ref. 51. The paper also examines the scope of the dynamic approach to OECD materials expressed in that judgment.
The thesis finds that subsidiary shares should be allocated to a permanent establishment in accordance with the principles set out in the OECD report, which constitutes a departure from the previous domestic principle. At the same time, the thesis notes that the report gives rise to several interpretative issues, and therefore calls for more detailed guidance on how it should be applied to subsidiary shares. The thesis also concludes that, through HFD 2025 ref. 51, the Supreme Administrative Court appears to have departed from the previous requirement of substantive consistency between domestic law and OECD materials, and that such a purely dynamic approach risks conflicting with the interpretative principles of the Vienna Convention and the objectives of the principle of legality. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Utländska företag är skattskyldiga i Sverige för inkomst från ett fast driftställe, vilket framgår av 6 kap. 11 § första stycket 1 p. IL och av de dubbelbeskattningsavtal som Sverige har slutit med andra stater. Närmare bestämmelser om hur inkomster ska hänföras till ett fast driftställe saknas emellertid i svensk rätt. Enligt OECD:s modellavtal, som ligger till grund för Sveriges dubbelbeskattningsavtal, ska inkomst allokeras till ett fast driftställe utifrån vad driftstället skulle kunna antas ha förvärvat om det vore ett fristående och separat företag. År 2008 publicerade OECD en vinstallokeringsrapport som vidareutvecklar denna princip genom att betona betydelsen av de funktioner som utförs av nyckelpersoner belägna i driftstället.
... (More) - Utländska företag är skattskyldiga i Sverige för inkomst från ett fast driftställe, vilket framgår av 6 kap. 11 § första stycket 1 p. IL och av de dubbelbeskattningsavtal som Sverige har slutit med andra stater. Närmare bestämmelser om hur inkomster ska hänföras till ett fast driftställe saknas emellertid i svensk rätt. Enligt OECD:s modellavtal, som ligger till grund för Sveriges dubbelbeskattningsavtal, ska inkomst allokeras till ett fast driftställe utifrån vad driftstället skulle kunna antas ha förvärvat om det vore ett fristående och separat företag. År 2008 publicerade OECD en vinstallokeringsrapport som vidareutvecklar denna princip genom att betona betydelsen av de funktioner som utförs av nyckelpersoner belägna i driftstället.
Rapportens tillämplighet på dotterbolagsandelar har emellertid varit omdiskuterad då frågan inte uttryckligen behandlas i rapporten och Sverige traditionellt har hanterat frågan inom ramen för betingandeprincipen. Syftet med uppsatsen är således att genom en rättsdogmatisk metod diskutera hur dotterbolagsandelar ska allokeras till ett fast driftställe i ljuset av OECD:s vinstallokeringsrapport, vilket görs med utgångspunkt i Högsta förvaltningsrättens dom HFD 2025 ref. 51. Framställningen utreder även räckvidden av det dynamiska förhållningssätt till OECD-material som kommer till uttryck i avgörandet.
Uppsatsen finner att dotterbolagsandelar ska allokeras till ett fast driftställe utifrån de principer som framgår av OECD:s vinstallokeringsrapport, vilket utgör ett avsteg från betingandeprincipen. Samtidigt konstaterar uppsatsen att vinstallokeringsrapporten ger upphov till flera tolkningsfrågor, varför närmare vägledning kring hur rapporten ska tillämpas på dotterbolagsandelar efterlyses. Uppsatsen landar också i att Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen genom HFD 2025 ref. 51 verkar ha frångått det tidigare kravet om principöverensstämmelse mellan intern rätt och OECD-material, och att ett sådant renodlat dynamiskt förhållningssätt riskerar komma i konflikt med Wienkonventionens tolkningsprinciper och legalitetsprincipens målsättningar. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9217470
- author
- Knezovic Potter, Aileen LU
- supervisor
-
- Mariya Senyk LU
- organization
- alternative title
- Allocation of Subsidiary Shares to a Permanent Establishment in Light of HFD 2025 ref. 51 – Are Significant People Functions the Key?
- course
- JURM02 20252
- year
- 2025
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- skatterätt, internationell skatterätt, fast driftställe, vinstallokering
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9217470
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-29 14:09:53
- date last changed
- 2026-01-29 14:09:53
@misc{9217470,
abstract = {{Foreign companies are subject to tax in Sweden on income attributable to a permanent establishment, as follows from Chapter 6, Section 11, first paragraph, point 1 of the Income Tax Act (inkomstskattelagen) and from the double taxation treaties concluded by Sweden with other states. However, Swedish tax law lacks detailed provisions on how income is to be attributed to a permanent establishment. Under the OECD Model Tax Convention, which constitutes the basis of Sweden’s double taxation treaties, income is to be allocated to a permanent establishment on the basis of what the establishment might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise. In 2008, the OECD published a Report on the Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments, which further develops this principle by emphasising the importance of the significant people functions performed by the personnel located at the permanent establishment.
However, the applicability of this report to subsidiary shares has been debated, as the issue is not expressly addressed in the report and Sweden has traditionally dealt with the matter under a different principle. Under this domestic principle, it has been sufficient that the subsidiary shares are conditioned by the business acitivites performed by the permanent establishment for the shares to be allocated thereto. The purpose of this thesis is therefore, using a legal dogmatic method, to discuss how subsidiary shares should be allocated to a permanent establishment in light of the OECD’s Report on the Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments. This analysis is based on the Supreme Administrative Court’s judgment in HFD 2025 ref. 51. The paper also examines the scope of the dynamic approach to OECD materials expressed in that judgment.
The thesis finds that subsidiary shares should be allocated to a permanent establishment in accordance with the principles set out in the OECD report, which constitutes a departure from the previous domestic principle. At the same time, the thesis notes that the report gives rise to several interpretative issues, and therefore calls for more detailed guidance on how it should be applied to subsidiary shares. The thesis also concludes that, through HFD 2025 ref. 51, the Supreme Administrative Court appears to have departed from the previous requirement of substantive consistency between domestic law and OECD materials, and that such a purely dynamic approach risks conflicting with the interpretative principles of the Vienna Convention and the objectives of the principle of legality.}},
author = {{Knezovic Potter, Aileen}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Allokering av dotterbolagsandelar till fast driftställe i ljuset av HFD 2025 ref. 51 – är nyckelpersoner nyckeln?}},
year = {{2025}},
}