Denna uppsats syftar till att utreda huruvida ändamålet med fåmansföretagsreglerna kan kringgås genom företagskonstruktioner med svenska stiftelser. I utredningen läggs fokus på fåmansföretagsreglerna samt de regler som behandlar kontrollmöjligheten av en stiftelse. Även de skattemässiga konsekvenser som medförs i en fåmansföretagskonstruktion med en svensk stiftelse behandlas. Syftet med fåmansföretagsreglerna är att motverka att en delägares inkomst som härstam-mar från arbetsinsats i företaget omvandlas till kapitalinkomst. Om en utomstående, direkt eller indirekt, i betydande omfattning äger andel i ett företag eller direkt eller indirekt har rätt till utdelning, tillämpas utomståenderegeln som är en undantagsregel från fåmansföre-tagsreglerna. Tidigare lagstiftning har inneburit att utomståenderegeln har kunnat tillämpats vid ett indirekt ägande. Dagens gällande fåmansföretagsregler omfattar dock även indirekt ägda fåmansföretag. Indirekt ägande genom svenska stiftelser är däremot inte reglerat i lag. Författaren kommer fram till att ett indirekt ägande i ett fåmansföretag genom en stiftelse normalt inte kan anses föreligga, trots att vissa möjligheter finns att kontrollera en stiftelse. Istället blir utomståenderegeln tillämplig då en betydande del i företaget ägs av en stiftelse. För en verksam fåmansföretagare som säljer andelarna i företaget till en stiftelse beskattas dock utbetalningarna från stiftelsen i inkomstslaget tjänst. Detta innebär att kapital som härrörs från arbetsinsats i fåmansföretaget, genom företagskonstruktionen med stiftelsen, inte kan omvandlas till kapitalinkomst. På grund av utomståenderegeln kan dock en delä-gare uppnå skattemässiga fördelar genom att bilda en stiftelse och överlåta tillräckliga ande-lar i fåmansföretaget, trots att stiftelsen då har rätt till utdelning motsvarande sin andel. / The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to analyze if the regulations regarding closely held companies serve their purpose in company structures with Swedish trusts. The regulations regarding closely held companies as well as a founder’s possibility to control a trust are cen-tral in this thesis. In addition the thesis deals with the tax consequences which follow a company structure with Swedish trusts. The purpose of the regulations regarding closely held companies is to prevent income de-riving from work efforts to be converted into capital income. The outsider rule is an ex-emption rule in the regulations regarding closely held companies and is applicable if an out-sider, direct or indirectly, owns a significant share in a company or direct or indirectly has the right to dividends. Shareholders in such companies can be taxed solely for capital in-come. According to previous regulations the outsider rule was applicable when a company was owned indirectly. This is no longer the case, however there are no current regulations covering the situation when a company is indirectly controlled through a Swedish trust. The author comes to the conclusion that although a founder has some possibilities to con-trol a trust, a closely held company can normally not be indirectly owned through a trust. Instead, the outsider rule is applicable when a trust owns a significant share of a company. An active shareholder in a closely held company who sells his shares to a trust will be taxed for salary income for the payments received from the trust. Income that derives from work efforts will therefore not be converted into capital income. However, a shareholder can gain tax advantages due to the outsider rule, by founding a Swedish trust and selling a sig-nificant amount of the shares, even though the trust in that situation has the right to an amount of dividends corresponding to its shares.

The subject matter of the thesis is new as the phenomenon of the Box Corporation has not been the subject of a specialized investigation from the fiscal perspective before. A foreign subsidiary indirectly owned in a third country jurisdiction is in the thesis classified as a Box Corporation. The subject of the thesis is primarily to analyze and establish the following connections: the intended corporate objectives and ends and the modus operandi and the means that often require the Box Corporation as a necessary vehicle to attain those ends. The close connections between corporate law and tax law as intended legal results interdependent on one another. The application of the Box Corporation as an important vehicle for international tax planning by Swedish corporate groups on ever increasing competitive international markets and the special tax problems connected to the Box Corporation as it presents serious challenges to the pursuits for a consistent, neutral and undistorted Swedish corporate tax system. The thesis also investigates legislative and regulatory public reactions to the Box Corporation in the ways of CFC tax provisions, of denying tax treaty privileges by Limitation of Benefits clauses and of increasing domestic requirements on reportable transactions and international exchange of information and co-operation.