2021.7.25 by Stefan Huang(NTUB A. Professor) and Liang-Shen Simon Wang(MLNGT Master Student)
In April 2021, Taiwan MOF proposed the amendments to of the “Regulations Governing Application of Agreements for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with Respect to Taxes on Income “. These amendments are intended to implement the OECD- recognized anti-treaty abuse rules. The amendments and will substantially dominate the practices of the Taiwan treaty application after soon after they come into effect.
The first thing worthwhile to mention is the stipulation of “Principal Purpose Test Rule” (PPT). According to this PPT rule, the tax authority will not grant a treaty benefit to the taxpayers if the received tax benefits are found to be the principal purpose. No matter the benefits are derived directly or indirectly from the tax arrangement or transactions.
Second, the new amendment clarifies the scope of “Place of Effective Management“. In case of a legal person’s double residency, its place of effective management will be deemed as the only resident place for the purpose of treaty application. The place of effective management is determined by the following factors: 1. place of managing and decision making activities, 2. the place of storing accounting books and board and general meetings minutes, 3. place of running the major operating activities.
Third, the scope of royalties for treaty purposes is limited to the considerable payments for the use of industrial, commercial and scientific secrets. In addition, the licensor does not need to further customize and guarantee the utilities of the royalty. The cross-border sale and the purchase of software are also excluded from the scope of royalty. .
The amendment will be coming into force upon MOF’s formal announcement expected before the end of 2021 and will be retroactive starting on January 1 2019. The major impacts of these new rules would be mainly on the multinational enterprises which either operate with fragmented E-commerce business models or indirectly operate through a subsidiary without substance but located in a treaty convenient jurisdiction.
台灣反濫用協定的規則將整合入租稅協定申請適用辦法
在2021年4月台灣財政部提案修正「適用所得稅協定查核準則」，本次修正擬實施OECD承認的反協定濫用規則，在修正草案生效後，未來將會主導台灣租稅協定相關實務。
修正重點首先是「主要目的測試」(PPT)規則的明文化，依照PPT規則，若稽徵機關參照所有相關事實與情況，合理認定納稅義務人所從事的安排或交易，其主要目的之一在直接或間接獲得租稅協定利益的話，稽徵機關得拒絕給予其享有租稅利益。
其次，修正草案也解釋「實質管理處所」的範圍，當法人在兩個國家有雙重稅務居民的身分時，實質管理處所將作為適用租稅協定的唯一住所。實質管理處所係依照以下因素判斷：1. 管理與決策活動的處所； 2. 財務帳簿與董事會、股東會紀錄存放的處所； 3. 主要營運活動的實行處所。
第三，修正草案也釐清權利金在租稅協定適用上的範圍，限定在使用工業、商業與科學機密所支付的對價，且該提供方並不需要進一步客製化與保證其使用效益，又跨境銷售電腦軟體不在權利金的適用範圍。
本次修正草案的生效日將依財政部正式公告，應可期待在今年底之前，並溯及既往自2019年初實施。受新修正規定影響最鉅者，將會是利用分散式電商經營模式的跨國企業，或是利用登記於稅務權宜國家的無實體營運的子公司。
(本文由台北商業大學黃士洲副教授及貿易實務法律暨談判碩士學位學程王良申碩士生一同寫作)
