A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (specialising in Taxation) 13 April 2017 / ‘The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), is designed to prevent multinational businesses achieving nontaxation on profits or artificially shifting profits across borders to exploit lower corporate income tax rates’ (KPMG, 2014, p 5).
‘The OECD’s BEPS Action Plan, launched in July of 2013 and endorsed by the G20, included 15 key areas for identifying and curbing aggressive tax planning and practices and modernizing the international tax system’ (KPMG, 2013).
It can be argued that the aim of the ‘OECD Action Plan on BEPS’ is to make provision for G20 countries, OECD countries and all other interested stakeholders to come together on an equal footing to inter alia develop new international tax rules. One of the key focus areas of the ‘OECD Action Plan on BEPS’, is ‘Preventing the Artificial Avoidance of Permanent Establishment Status - Action 7'.
‘The aim of Action 7 is to develop changes to the definition of a permanent establishment (PE) to prevent abuses of that threshold, including through the use of commissionaire arrangements and the specific activity exemptions to avoid PE status where core activities are involved’ (KPMG, 2015, p 14).
The technical arguments to be argued for the purposes of this research report will inter alia involve commenting on commissionaire arrangements and how such arrangements have been problematic for international tax rules in their current form.
In addressing the problems inherent in the definition of a PE, ‘Preventing the Artificial Avoidance of Permanent Establishment Status - Action 7' specifically proposes changes to Articles 5(5) and 5(6) of the ‘OECD Model Tax Convention’ which seek to revamp the dependent agent rule.
The specific activity exceptions in Article 5(4) have also been further clarified in the OECD commentary on the ‘OECD Model Tax Convention’ through the inclusion of an explanation of the activities that will be considered as being preparatory or auxiliary in nature, as well as supporting examples which help illustrate the meaning of the said terms.
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In addition, the PE rule for construction projects set out in Article 5(3) will now include a principal purposes test, as well the addition of an example illustrating the application of the principal purposes test in the OECD commentary on the ‘OECD Model Tax Convention’ dealing with Article 5(3).
‘On 5 October 2015, the OECD issued a final package of reports in connection with its Action Plan to address BEPS, as well as a plan for follow-up work and a timetable for implementation.
Many countries have already adopted or are poised to adopt changes to their international tax systems based on the OECD recommendations. While implementation and timing will vary across borders, this final OECD release marks a crucial shift from the recommendation and consultation phase of BEPS to legislation and implementation’ (KPMG, 2015, p 2).
Key Words:
‘Action 7’, Article 5, ‘BEPS Action Plan’, Commissionaire Arrangements, Dependent Agent, Multinational Enterprises, ‘OECD Model Tax Convention’, PE. / GR2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/24372 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Matoushaya, Takudzwa Leon |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (v, 62 leaves), application/pdf |
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