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INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: A FOCUS ON THE PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT CONCEPT BY - PDF
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1 INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: A FOCUS ON THE PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT CONCEPT BY Ertuğrul AKÇAOĞLlf INTRODUCTION On a beautiful autumn day, I was working in my office at the Ankara Law School. I was searching the Internet for new books that the law school was going to order for its library. After visiting several publishers' websites, on the Digi-book Inc.'s vvebsite I saw a new treatise about the U.S. federal tax laws. Digi-book Inc. is a company located in the U.S.A., which selis digitalized versions of books över the Internet. Digi-book has servers in several continents to provide faster (and sometimes customized) service to its customers. Those servers hoşt copies of the company's vvebsite from which the customers ali around the world can access general information about the Digi-book, including its phone and fax numbers, and addresses. in addition to the general information, a database (catalogue) of the digitalized books is stored on those servers. Customers visiting Digibook's vvebsite can brovvse this database before ordering and paying for the books. After the purchase, customers can directly dovvnload the digitalized books to their computers. After reading a revievv about this new treatise, vvritten by a leading authority in tax lavv, I decided to buy it vvithout thinking more than a second. Who would use the 'old' ordering methods, and wait vveeks for delivery instead of dovvnloading it in a few minutes. I clicked few links, gave my credit card number, and here it is: I had a new book quickly; not on my bookcase maybe, but somevvhere in my computer. * Ankara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Vergi Hukuku Anabilim Dalı Araştırma Görevlisi.2 118 AKÇAOGLU Yıl 2002 That day, like every other dav, Digi-book earned income' ali around the world from many customers like me... it is well known that the Internet has enabled entrepreneurs to conduct commerce electronically, which exceeds the borders of the countries. This development raises several tax issues concerning matters such as: (1) whether an enterprise (Digi-book) in a jurisdiction (the U.S.A.) engaged in electronic commerce in another jurisdiction (Turkey) has a sufficient presence in that other jurisdiction to justify its exercising taxing authority; (2) \vhether income generated by electronic commerce transactions is categorized as sales income, royalties, rental income, income from services, ete; (3) whether önce categorized, the income arises in a particular jurisdiction; and (4) how income and deduetions should be allocated among various parts of a multi-jurisdictional enterprise engaged in electronic commerce. 2 Tax authorities of countries; worry about the rapid development of electronic commerce. Existing international tax rules, which were evolved in agricultural and industrial stages of the vvorld, might be inadequate for the electronic age; and the countries could lose tax revenues. On the contrary, entrepreneurs worry that potential tax rules, which might be conflicting and excessively burdensome, could hinder the growth of electronic commerce. Obviously, the question of how the jurisdictional problems raised by electronic commerce should be solved is too complex to study in an article. This article does not aim to serve as an outline for the tax policy questions raised by the development of electronic commerce. Its purpose is to examine the teehnieal applicability of a specific concept of international taxation to electronic commerce. Particularly, in this study the applicability of the permanent establishment concept to electronic commerce will be analyzed. Additionally, within a limited scope, some other subordinate issues will be addressed too. This article is organized as follows: Part II briefly reviews the electronic commerce concept and its teehnieal background. Part III briefly reviews the current international tax regime that governs the jurisdictional conflicts raised by eross-border business activities. Part IV defines and analyses the permanent establishment concept as a vehicle of the current 1 Although the İnternet and electronic commerce raises several tax problems concerning dif'fcrent categorics of taxes, this study is limited to analysis and discussion of taxation of international flows of income. 2 Hovvard E. Abrams & Richard L. Doernberg, How Electronic Commerce Works. 14 Tax Noteslnt'l 1573(1997).3 C. 51 Sa.l INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONİC COMMERCE 119 international tax regime, and examines the applicability of the permanent establishment concept definition in electronic commerce. Finally, Part V reviews the findings of the study. OVERVIEW OF ELECTRONİC COMMERCE The importance of the electronic commerce comes from its rapidly expanding volume. For example, according to the Economist, business-tobusiness electronic commerce accounted for $150 billion in 1999 and expected to reach över $3 trillion by Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that it may reach a value of $330 billion by and $1 trillion by These figures attract the attention of tax authorities of the countries on the taxation issues with in relation to electronic commerce. However, do the tax authorities have at least a rudimentary understanding of electronic commerce, its technical background, and its distinctive features than the traditional business methods? We should start from here. The term 'electronic commerce' simply means conducting business online. in 1996, the Office of Tax Policy of the U.S. Treasury Department issued a report on the policy implications of global electronic commerce 5 that defined the term as "the ability to perform transactions involving the exchange of goods or services between two or more parties using electronic tools and techniques." 6 Treasury Report definition has a broad scope which seems to include traditional forms of electronic commerce such as telemarketing, mail order sales, and television sales. 7 3 The Economist, A Survey of E-commerce, (26 February 2000). 4 Susanne Teltscher, Tariffs, Taxes an Electronic Commerce: Revenue implications for Developing Countries, 1 (2000). 5 Office of Tax Policy, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury, Selected Tax Policy implications of Global Electronic Commerce (1996) <http://www.ustreas.gov/ taxpolicy/internet.html> (last visited on 7/10/2001) [hereinafter Treasury Report]. 6 Treasury Report, supra note 5, at 8, para Another definition of the concept is "a modern business methodology that addresses the desire of firms, consumers, and management to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and increasing the speed of services", Ravi Kalakota & Andrew B. Whinston, Frontiers of Electronic Commerce 215 (1996). 7 Similarly, The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) defines electronic commerce as "commercial activities conducted through an exchange of information generated, stored, or communicated by electronic, optical, or analogous means...", Richard Hill & lan Walden, The Draft UNCITRAL Model Law for Electronic Commerce: issues and Solutions, 3 Computer Law 18, (1996)A commentator states that "(t)here are currently six different mediums of electronic commerce (e-commerce): telephone, fax, television, electronic payment and money transfer systems (e.g., EFT), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Internet." Arvind Panagariya, E-commerce, WTO and Developing Countries, 1 (2000).4 ı i..ı*wı(ı im..ikhi... ı.,4j«.iil( 120 AKÇAOGLU Yıl 2002 A more narrow definition might be: "the use of compııter networks to facilitate transactions conducted involving the production, distribution, and sale and delivery of goods and services in the marketplace." 8 Hereafter, the term 'electronic commerce' is used in this narrovv meaning. Technical Highlights 9 The Internet (interconnected networks) 10 consists of thousands of interconnected logical networks linking millions of computers around the world." Though often thought of in a physical sense, this term actually refers logical connections betweerı the computers, not physical connections (e.g. phone lines, cables, and radio transmissions). 12 The Internet provides several ways of exchanging information between the connected computers. The World Wide Web is the most frequently used tool for this purpose. The term 'World Wide Web' (WWW or Web) is usually used interchangeably with the term 'Internet'. However, the Web is only a navigation tool for accessing information in a multimedia format featuring text, color, graphics, audio, and video.' 3 Users can access the Web through Web browser software, 14 and can travel from site to site easily by using a pointing device (e.g., a mouse) to click on a word or picture on one site that takes the user to another site.'" 1 To be able to conduct business över the Internet, an enterprise needs access to at least one server. it may prefer to have its ovvn server(s) or may 8 Abrams & Docrnberg, supra note 2, at For a more comprehcnsive introduction to cyberspace, see Joshua Eddings, How The Internet Works (1994); Kalakota & Whinston, supra note 6; Abrams & Doernbcrg, supra note 2. '" David S. Prebut, State and Local Taxation of Electronic Commerce: The Forging of Cyberspace Tax Policy, 24 Rutgers Computer & Tech. LJ. 345, 346 (1998) (noting that the term "Internet" ıs shorthand for "interconnected networks," an international aggregation of computers and communication networks). " Unlike the Internet, intranets are networks that connect computers in more limited environments. For example, elose circuit networks that connect computers within an enterprise, or betvvcen enterprises doing business with each other, are called intranets. intranets may also be connected to the Internet. Hovvever, access to intranets över thc Internet is usually subject to restrictions (e.g. user name, passvvord requirements). 12 Abrams & Docrnberg, supra note 2, at There are also some other tools, which are less knovvn by most of the Internet users. For example, LYNX is a tool to access only text based information över the Internet; FTP is a tool used for direct file transfer from one server to a user's computer. 14 Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Opera, and Neoplanet are some examples of frequcntly used web brovvsing softvvare. 15 Abrams & Doernbcrg, supra note 2, at 1574.5 C. 51 Sa.l INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 121 prefer to lease disk space on servers of an Internet service provider (ISP). 16 A server is computer equipment connected to the Internet that has large data storage and data processing abilities. A server can be located anywhere in the world because the location does not effect its functioning. Ali the data (including digitalized products) of an enterprise necessary for its business must be stored on servers. Enterprises, especially the ones that seli and deliver digitalized products över the Internet, usually prefer to have several servers at different locations to provide faster access to their customers. Usually mirror copies of same information are stored on those servers, but it is possible to store different information on different servers (e.g. product descriptions and customer information on one server and digitalized products on another server). Customers can be directed from one server to another in microseconds. When a customer living at some place in the world starts up a web browser and enters the enterprise's website 17 address into the browser's address bar, the browser communicates with one of the enterprise's servers över the Internet using a special protocol called HTTP (Hyper-text Transfer Protocol), and makes a request to view its web pages. A requested web page (a document usually in text and graphic format) is temporarily stored in the random access memory (RAM) of the customer's computer. it is not stored in any permanent fashion on the hard drive of customer's computer, and is usually deleted from the computer's memory when the customer moves to another web page. A web browser's only function is to send the user's requests to a server över the Internet, and to display the responses send by the server on the user's computer screen. A software agent operating on the server receives the request signals sent by the user waiting on the other end of the Internet, analyses, and then sends a respond to those signals. Distinguishing Features Comparing and contrasting a purchase of goods över the Internet to a purchase through a mail order catalogue can be a good point to start an explanation of distinctive features of electronic commerce. Usually when one orders something över a mail order catalogue, she talks with an operatör, who probably uses a computer to check on the availability of the items ordered. in case of online shopping, operatör is eliminated; the customer 16 The Internet service provider (ISP) is the term used to define companies whose business is to provide the Internet access to their customers in return for a subscription fee. 17 "A company's or individual's collected Web documents are usually referred to as a 'vvebsite'." Treasury Report, supra note 5, at 7 para6 122 AKÇA.OGLU Yıl 2002 connects to the seller's vvebsite, searches out the databases (catalogues) on seller's server(s) for the goods that she is interested in. Online shopping is not very different from purchases through a mail order catalogue using a phone. in both cases, telecommunication lines, and mechanic and electronic equipment are used. The main difference between those two types of commerce is that mail order transactions are concluded betvveen two humans, while electronic commerce transactions are usually concluded betvveen a human and an 'intelligent' software agent that offers sufficient guidance to conclude the transaction. 18 The goods mentioned in the comparison can have either tangible or physical presence or can be purely intangible or digital that never manifest themselves outside of a computer. While mail order sales can cover only tangible products, sales through the Internet cover both tangible and intangible goods. Electronic commerce över the Internet currently includes a wide variety of tangible and intangible offerings. Books, computers, and flovvers are examples of popular tangible merchandise offered över the Internet. After the sales stage, concluded electronically, those products are delivered by ordinary methods like postal services or couriers. This type of commerce can be called 'indirect electronic commerce'. 19 Computer software, digitalized music and digitalized art are examples of intangible products (digitalized products) offered över the Internet. Services like consultancy services, travel services, and banking are also available on the Internet. 20 "The distinguishing feature of this type of commerce is that ali communication-advertising, selecting, purchasing (including payment), and especially delivery of the product occurs (or can occur) on-line, perhaps in real time." 21 This type of commerce can be called 18 in detail. it is possible to find out many differences between mail order sales and electronic commerce. Sec Rcuven S. Avi-Yonah, International Taxation of Electronic Commerce. 52 Tax L. Rev. 507, (1997). 19 Arthur J. Cockficld, Balancing National Interests in the Taxation of Electronic Commerce Business Profits, 74 Tul. L. Rev. 133, 151 (1999). 20 Some examplcs of the services offered över the Internet are electronic publishing. vvebsite design and management, customer cali centers, medical record management, hotel and rental car reservations, credit card authorizations, remote secretarial services, teehnieal onlinc support, research and teehnieal writing, and indexing and abstraeting services. For definitions of scveral types of transactions that might be concluded över the Internet, see Treaty Characterisation Issues Arising from E-Commerce, <http://www.oecd.org/daf/fa/e_com/ec_2_treaty_char_eng.pdf> (last visited on 7/10/2001). 21 Charles E. McLurc. Jr., Taxation of Electronic Commerce: Economic Objectıves, Technological Constraints, and Tax Laws, 52 Tax L. Rev. 269, 304 (1997).7 C. 51 Sa. 1 INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 123 'direct electronic commerce' 22 since the intangible goods and services are delivered directly över the Internet. Although the most familiar examples of electronic commerce are transactıons betvveen businesses and customers, the largest amounts of profits are actually made in business-to-business commerce, vvhere corporations buy and seli among themselves. 23 FRAMEWORK OF INTERNATIONAL TAXATION in this part of the article, we will outline the existing international system that deals vvith the jurisdictional conflicts of taxation. in the follovving part, we vvill focus on the impact of cross-border (multi jurisdictional) electronic commerce on this system. Jurisdictional Approaches Business income is usually taxable somevvhere. Under traditional principles of taxation, when a business is conducted within a country, normally that country has jurisdiction to tax the business' income. For income from international transactions, the ability to tax requires some extra steps of analysis. Countries generally follow two approaches: 'source-based taxation' (also referred as 'territorial taxation principle') 24 and 'residencebased taxation'. 25 Source-based taxation income derived by a person may be taxed by a country because of a connection betvveen the country and the income derived by that person (source jurisdiction). Examples of such connection are a business carried on in that country, real property located in that country, or employees vvorking 22 Cockfıeld, supra note 19, at Clayton W. Chan, Taxation Of Global E-Commerce On The Internet: The Underlying Issues And Proposed Plans, 9 Mirin. J. Global Trade 233, 238 (2000). See also, John Peet, Survey Of E-Commerce: Shopping around the web, The Economist (February 26, 2000) (stating that according to Forrester Research, an Internet consulting firm, business-to-business transactions account for as much as 80% of ali e-commerce). Christopher Anderson, Survey of Electronic Commerce: in search of the perfect market: The Internet, The Economist (May 10, 1997). 24 Charles E. McLure, Jr., U.S. Tax Laws and Capital Flight from Latin America, 20 U. Miami Inter-Am.L.Rev.321, 324(1989). 25 Other criteria such as citizenship, domicile, center of economic interest, may also be used as a basis for tax liability.8 124 AKÇAOGLU Yıl 2002 in that country. The 'source' concept in taxation refers to the (normally geographical) origin, rather than the fund from which the income is derived. Source-based taxation entitles the source country to tax any income that arises within its boundaries, regardless of whether the recipient is a resident of that country or has a permanent establishment there. 26 The basic policy idea behind source-based taxation is that income should be sourced, and therefore taxed in the country with which it has substantial economic connection. 27 income may have substantial connections with more than one country, in which case it may be appropriate to determine the source by apportioning the income betvveen countries. Residence-based taxation Countries may also tax income (\vherever derived) because the person earning the income is a resident of that country (residence jurisdiction). A country's justification for residence-based taxation may be seen to rest on the need to finance its public goods and social infrastructure and the nexus between consumption of such public goods and social infrastructure by persons who are residents having an over-all capacity to pay. 28 Residence-based taxation entitles the country of residence to assert tax on the vvorldvvide income of its residents without regard to the source of income. Residence establishes a relationship between a country and a taxpayer and this relationship provides the jurisdiction to impose tax to that taxpayer. A person is a resident of a country if the person has close economic and personal ties to the country. it is possible for a person to be a resident of more than one country and therefore to be subject to taxes in several countries under residence-based taxation approach. The residency concept applies to both legal entities and natural persons for taxation purposes. in case individuals, domestic laws usually adopt one or more of three tests. First, there is a facts and circumstances test where ali the facts are weighed to determine residence. The problem with this test is its uncertainty, vvhich may be balanced by combining vvith one of the other tests. 29 Second, domestic tax laws can follow rules for residence that are used for other purposes in the civil law of the country concerned (such as 26 For a recent discussion, see Richard J. Vann, International Aspects of income Tax, Tax Law Design and Drafting, (Victor Thuronyi ed., 2000). 27 Impact of the Communications Revolution on the Application of 'Place Of Effcctive Management' as a Tie Breaker Rule, <http://www.oecd.org/ daf/fa/e_com/cc_4_poem_eng.pdf> (last visited on 7/10/2001) [hcreinaftcr Place of Effective Management Rcport]. 28 id. at Vann. supra note 26 at 729.9 C. 51 Sa.l INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 125 entitlement to work or rernain in the country indefinitely under immigration laws, domicile, or citizenship). The problem with this test is that the determination of residency under civil law rules may not be appropriate for tax purposes, but the advantage of this method is certain than the facts and circumstances approach. 30 Third, a number of days that a person spends in the country during either a taxable year or a moving 12-month period may be determinative for residence. The usual period is half a year (183 days or more). 31 Most countries use some variation of this test balanced by the other approaches. 32 The determination of residency for corporations and other legal entities is also a problematic issue. Hence, a number of tests are used: Under a place of incorporation test, a legal entity is resident in a country under whose laws it came to existence. Under place of management (central management and control) test, which is a facts and circumstances test, the head office (where the board of directors meets) is the place of residence of that legal entity. Problems If ali of the countries have followed one approach, for example sourcebased taxation approach, most of the problems that the taxpayers and the tax authorities encounter today would not exist. Hovvever, countries tax on the basis of both source and residence. Double taxation 'Double taxation' has been defined as "the imposition of comparable taxes in two (or more) states on the same taxpayer in respect of the same subject matter and for identical periods." 33 Double taxation can arise from dual residence conflicts between countries using different tests of residence under their domestic laws. Two countries may each consider the same person to be resident for tax purposes. Dual residence creates double 30 id. at E.g.,I.R.C. 7701(b)(3)(A). 32 Vann, supra note 26, at Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Model Convention for Avoidance of Double Taxation with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital, 1-1 (updated as 29 April 2000) [hereinafter OECD Model Treaty], For a very similar definition see UN Model Double Taxation Convention Betvveen Developed and Developing Countries, 1 (1980) [hereinafter UN Model Treaty].10 126 AKÇAOGLU Yıl 2002 taxation if each country taxes the worldwide income of its resıdents. This is also called residence-residence double taxation. 34 Similarly, but less likely, double taxation may arise from overlapping source claims. This is called as source-source double taxation, and it can arise when a same item of income qualifies as domestic source income in more than one country. 35 Most countries tax income on both source and residence bases. 36 A resident is usually taxed on worldwide income, whilst non-residents are only taxed on domestic source income. 37 in cases where a resident of a country derives income from sources in another country, double taxation may arise because of residence-source jurisdictional conflicts. Tax avoidance and evasion While international business operations face the risk of being subject to double (or even multiple) taxation, such activities may also present opportunities for tax avoidance or evasion. in broad terms, they involve a reduction or elimination of tax liability through either legal vvays (avoidance) or through illegal vvays (evasion). Until recent years, much attention in this area has focused on the transfer pricing issues and the use of tax havens. 38 Today electronic commerce stands as a third issue of international tax avoidance and evasion. 39 The concepts of tax avoidance and tax evasion are complicated, and can be a subject of a new study; therefore not analyzed in the rest of this article. Nevertheless, follovving characteristics of electronic commerce 34 Since it is difficult for a country to solve this problem on its own, tax treatics provide a tiebreaker mcchanism to allocate the residence of the individual to onc country for the purposes of the treaty. Incase of legal entities, it is more difficult to provide a tiebreaker rule by treaties because there is no real international consensus on this topic as a mainly because of U.S.A.'s position. Nevertheless, OECD Model Treaty uses effectivc management test as a tiebreaker rule. OECD Model Treaty, art.4(2), (3); Vann, supra note 26, at 733; Placc of Effective Management Report, supra note John K. Sweet. Formulating International Tax Laws in The Age Of Electronic Commerce: The Possible Ascendancy Of Residence-Based Taxation İn An Era Of Eroding Traditional income Tax Princıples, 146 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1949, 1954 (1998). 36 Treasury Report. supra note 5, at 22, para Place of Effectivc Management Report, supra note 27, at "A tax heaven is generally understood to be a country with a nil or low rate on ali or particular categories of income and which usually offers a degree of banking or commercial secreey.", David R. Davies, Principles of İnternational Double Taxation Relief. 9 (1985). 39 "According to the OECD, the Internet may become a prime conduit for business tax avoidance." Chan, supra note 23, at11 C. 51 Sa.l INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 127 should be mentioned to highlight the tax avoidance and evasion possibilities by the use of the Internet: Electronic commerce has a more anonymous character than the traditional ways of commerce because it is carried out vvithout papers and pens, offices and warehouses, and even vvithout employees. in such an environment, tax authorities may not easily keep track of the identity or location of the parties to a transaction concluded över the Internet. With the present technology, digitalized products cannot be stopped and checked at the customs, while they are transferred from one country to another över the networks. in other vvords, "it is more difficult to apply customs laws of countries to direct electronic commerce. Since digitalized products can easily be reproduced, and are not stored in warehouses, it is more difficult to check the reality of production, inventory and sale records Z' 40 Moreover, enterprises carrying on business in multi-jurisdictions have the ability move their businesses from one country to another in a matter of hours. They can locate their business in a country beyond the reach of other countries tax authorities (for example, in a country which is not a party to tax treaties) because the Internet servers can be located anyvvhere in the world, and the location does not effect their functioning. 41 The Internet enables enterprises to conclude transactions with any person in the world, at that person's premises, without having any presence there. it may be impossible for tax authorities to audit the enterprises, and levy taxes on the income derived from electronic commerce. in other words, the Internet provides a perfect environment for the entrepreneurs who do not want to pay taxes on their business income. Solutions Domestic law solutions There are three basic methods with variations, which are adopted by domestic laws to provide unilateral relief to their residents with respect of foreign taxes on foreign source income. Under the first method, the 'territorial/exemption system', a country imposes taxes only on the income of its residents derived from sources within the country, therefore residence- McLure, supra note 21, at 56. McLure, supra note 21, at 56.12 128 AKÇAOGLU Yıl 2002 source double taxation is avoided. Püre application of exemption system invites tax avoidance through the rnoving of income to low tax jurisdictions. Hence, countries do not follow this method in a püre sense. Most countries applying exemption system prefer to exclude ali or some of foreign-source income from the taxable (net amount of) income, while including it to determine the applicable progressive tax rate. Additionally most countries provide exemption for business income from foreign sources, while imposing taxes on other types of income (passive income), with credit being allovved for foreign taxes (hybrid approach). 43 The second method is the 'foreign tax credit system'. Under this method, while taxpayer is taxed on his worldwide income, a credit is given for foreign taxes paid on foreign source income. 44 The main difference betvveen foreign source credit and exemption systems is when the source country's tax rate is lower than the residence country's tax rate credit system allows the residence country to impose tax equal to the difference. As a part of foreign tax credit system, countries also provide indirect credit for the foreign taxes paid by the foreign subsidiaries of their residents at the time of receiving dividends from the subsidiaries. A third method allows a deduction for foreign income taxes in the calculation of gross income. This method is usually used as a reserve for situations where foreign tax credit may not be of use to the taxpayer. 4: ' International solutions Since the end of First World War, the world's nations have been agreed on how income tax claims from international transactions should be divided. 46 This consensus is based on certain principles of international taxation that were developed över 75 years ago and are enriched today in 42 This method is used in some Latin America countries, and Hong Kong. Vann, supra note 26, at 756 n This approach is similar to (or maybe a result of) the system established by bilateral tax treaties. 44 E.g.,I.R.C E.g.,I.R.C. İ64(a). 46 The origin of the bilateral tax conventions dates to work begun by the League of Nations in the 1920's and 1930's, carried forward through the United Nations in later years and centered since the World War II on the work of the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the OECD. American Law Institute (ALI), Federal income Tax Project: International Aspects of United States income Taxation II, 3 (1992). David M. Hudson & Daniel C. Turner, International And Interstate Approaches To Taxing Business income, 6 Nw. J. Int'l L.&Bus. 562, 570 (1984); Michael B. Carroll, Allocation of Business income: The Draft Convention of League of Nations, 34 Columb. L. Rev. 473 (1934), Michael Graetz & Michael O'Hear. The "Original Intent" of U.S. International Taxation, 46 Duke L.J (1997),13 C.51Sa.l INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 129 över 1,000 substantially similar bilateral income tax treaties. 47 The OECD Model Treaty, 48 the United States Model Treaty 49 and the United Nations Model Treaty 50 are the most influential model tax treaties. The provisions of these tax treaties reflect the compromises of contracting countries to resolve issues such as the elimination of discriminatory tax treatment, the prevention of tax evasion through the promotion of information exchanges between administrative authorities, fair allocation of tax revenues and elimination of international double taxation. These purposes are typically expressed in the preambles of the bilateral tax treaties as "the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion." 51 One may state that capital exporting countries - mainly developed countries - generally prefer residence-based taxation; others - capital importing countries that are mainly undeveloped or developing countries - generally prefer international tax rules that strengthen their ability to tax business activities within their borders. 52 Tax treaties arguably provide a balance between these two views by allocating taxing jurisdiction between source and residence countries. 53 An acti ve/pas şive income taxation distinction 54 is made in the treaties 47 David L. Forst, The Continuing Vitality of Source-Based Taxation in the Electronic Age, 75 Tax Notes Int'l 1455,1458 (1997). 48 OECD Model Treaty is the most influential model tax convention. OECD picked up the development of model international tax treaties from the League of Nations after the World War II, and in 1963 published its first model double taxation convention. The current version dates through 1992 with updates in 1994, 1995, and Vann, supra note 26, at ; Hudson & Turner, supra note 46, at United States Model income Tax Convention [hereinafter U.S. Model Treaty].The United States employs its own model treaty but it is similar in most respects to the OECD Model Treaty. 50 The model conventions of the OECD and the United States are oriented tovvard negotiations betvveen two countries with roughly equal flows of capital and income. Hovvever, income and capital flows between developed and lesser developed countries are generally unequal, if not unidirectional. in recognition of this, United Nations also developed a model treaty (1980), which is based on 1977 OECD Model Treaty, but designed to take into account special interests of capital-importing countries and developing countries. Willem Wijnen & Marco Magenta, The UN Model in Practice, 51 Bull. Int'l Fiscal Doc. 574 (1997). 51 The OECD and UN Model Treaties leave the contents of the preamble to be dealt with in accordance with the constitutional procedure of negotiating states. The U.S. Model Treaty uses this common formulation. Vann, supra note 26, at 725 n Cockfıeld, supra note 19, at 136 n Model Treaties, arts. 7, 10, 11 (providing that interest and dividends may be taxed by the residence country while business profits are taxed in the source country). 54 "... Source rules have traditionally used differing concepts for active and passive income. in broad terms, active income is usually sourced by a place-of-taxpayer-activity test, while14 130 AKÇAOGLU Yıl 2002 by defining what constitutes an active business operation in a given country (a 'permanent establishment') and giving the source country the primary right to tax the profits from that operation. 55 The residence country is required to provide relief to its taxpayers for taxes paid in the source country on the income derived by the active business operations, either by exemption method or foreign tax credit method. 56 If no permanent establishment exists within the source country, business profits derived from that country are subject to tax solely in the residence country. 57 Tax treaties based on OECD or U.S. Models strictly limit 58 the taxes imposed by the source country on passive income (such as income from dividends, interest, and royalties), leaving the primary right to tax that income to the residence country. 59 Treaties based on UN Model partially depart from this approach. UN Model Treaty's limitation on a source country's taxation right on passive income is more relaxed. W) Nevertheless, the language of the UN Model Treaty also seems to leave primary the right to tax that income to the residence country as the OECD and the U.S. Model do. 6 ' THE IMPACT OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ON THE JURİSDİCTİONAL ISSUES OF INTERNATIONAL TAXATION AND THE PERMANENT ESTABLİSHMENT CONCEPT As stated above, and examined in detail belovv, countries resolved their jurisdictional conflicts by creating a concept called 'permanent establishment'. If a non-resident enterprise carries on business in a country by establishing a permanent establishment there, that country is given the right to impose taxes on the income derived through that permanent establishment. passive income (where taxpayer often engages in no significant activity in deriving the income) is sourced by the place of activity of the person paying the income...." Vann. supra note26,at Model Treaties, arts. 4,5,7; Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, The Structure Of International Taxation: A Proposal For Simplification, 74 Tex. L. Rev. 1301,1307(1996). 56 Model Treaties, art Model Treaties, art. 7(2). 58 For example, the 1992 OECD Model Treaty recommends tax rates of 5% to 15% on dividends, 10% on interest, and 0% on royalties; the 1981 United States Model Treaty recommends tax rates of 5% to 15% on dividends, and 0% on interest and royalties. See OECD Model Treaty, arts ; U.S. Model Treaty, arts OECD and U.S. Model Treaties, arts ; see also Avi-Yonah, supra note 55, at For example, UN Model Treaty does not recommend tax rates for source country taxation on dividends, interest, and royalties 61 UN Model Treaty, arts15 C.51 Sa.l INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 131 With respect to electronic commerce, appropriateness of this concept is a majör question. Is it appropriate to continue using permanent establishment concept to provide a balance for the conflicting jurisdiction claims of residence and source countries on the electronic commerce profits of the enterprises? If the first question is answered in a positive manner, a second question is how will the determination of permanent establishment be in a source country in relation to electronic commerce. in this part, we will focus on this second question. With regard to international taxation of electronic commerce, the OECD takes an important role as the leading international organization in the area of taxation, with long standing expertise in developing rules and policies for international taxation. OECD organized two tax conferences to shape a framevvork for taxation of electronic commerce: "The Challenges to Tax Authorities and Taxpayers," in Turku, Finland (1997) and "A Borderless World: Realizing the Potential of Global Electronic Commerce", in Ottawa, Canada (1998). At the Ottawa Conference, member countries of the OECD agreed that existing international tax regime, which guide governments in relation to conventional commerce, should also guide them in relation to electronic commerce, based on the belief that at this state of development in the technological and commercial environment, existing taxation rules can implement their functions. 62 With this respect, importance of the following fundamental principles of taxation is underlined: 63 1) neutrality, 64 2) efficiency, 65 3) certainty and simplicity, 66 4) effectiveness and fairness, 67 and 5) flexibility. 68 Later on the OECD stated that it would clarify the Commentary to its Model Tax Convention to take into account certain issues related to electronic commerce, such as how the current definition of permanent 62 Ministers of Member countries also agreed that any new forms of taxation, such as bit tax, would be discriminatory to electronic commerce and should not be adopted. Electronic Commerce: Taxation Framework Conditions, <http://www.oecd.org/daf/fa/e_com/framewke.pdf> (last visited on 7/10/2001) [hereinafter Taxation Framework]. 63 id. 64 Under the 'neutrality' principle, goods and services should be taxed the same regardless of the mechanism through which they are sold; in other words, electronic commerce should be treated same as the traditional forms of commerce for the tax purposes. 65 Under the 'efficiency' principle, compliance costs for taxpayers, governments, and other parties of a taxable event should be kept as low as possible. 66 Under the 'certainty' and 'simplicity' principles, taxpayers should know, and be able to easily interpret tax compliance obligations. 67 Under the 'effectiveness' and 'fairness' principles, taxes should be levied at the appropriate point of sale, and the potential for evasion and avoidance should be minimized. 68 Under the 'flexibility' principle, tax systems should be able to keep pace with technical and commercial development.16 132 AKÇAOGLU Yıl 2002 establishment applies where electronic commerce transactions are conducted through a website on a server located in a given country. 69 it is important to mention that OECD is an organization of mostly developed countries. 70 Keeping in mind that developed countries generally prefer residence-based taxation, at the first sight one can argue that the logic behind the OECD members' decision (preference) is based on their anticipation that under the existing principles of international taxation, when a resident of those countries carries on business in other countries över the Internet, it might be very difficult, if not impossible, to determine permanent establishments which allocate the right to tax to the source country; so that they could impose taxes on the world wide income of that resident vvithout providing double taxation relief. Hovvever, on the contrary, the OECD members have extended their efforts to establish rules for taxation of electronic commerce to participation of the global community as widely as possible. The OECD's work in electronic commerce is carried out in a cooperative and complementary fashion with work of other international and regional organizations, 71 non- OECD-member countries, 72 labor and consumer organizations, social interests, and the private sector. 73 Permanent Establishment Concept As noted above, international consensus, which is arguably established by the bilateral treaties, allows source country to tax the business profits of m Electronic Commerce: A Discussion Paper on Taxation Issues (last visited on 7/10/2001) <http://www.occd.org/daf/fa/e_com/discusse.pdf> 70 OECD members include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Rcpublic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States. 71 For example, the following international and regional organizations were invited to participate the Ottawa Ministerial Conference (1998) and the Paris Forum on Electronic Commerce (1999): Bank for International Settlements, IEC, ISO, International Telecommunicatıons Union, UN-ECE, UNCITRAL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, Univcrsal Postal Union, The World Bank, World Intellectual Property Organisation, World Customs Organisation, World Trade Organisation, Council of Europe, European Free Trade Association, European Commission, and the Hague Conference on Private International Law. See OECD Forum on Electronic Commerce: Background, Objectives and Organisation, OECD Working Papers, vol. VII, no. 71, 12 (1999) [Here in after Working Paper]. 72 For example, the following non-oecd-member countries were invited to Ottawa Ministerial Conference (1998) and the Paris Forum on Electronic Commerce (1999): Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong-China, Israel, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, the Slovak Republic and South Africa. id. 73 Taxation framework, supra note 62. See also Working Paper, supra note 71.17 C. 51 Sa.l INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 133 an enterprise to the extent that those profits are attributable to a permanent establishment within its borders. 74 in other words, under a typical treaty, the source country gives up its right to tax business profits earned within its borders, unless those profits are attributable to a permanent establishment located in that country. 75 Article 5(1) of the OECD Model Treaty 76 defines 'permanent establishment' as a "fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on." in article 5(5) of the Model Treaty, the definition of permanent establishment is extended to cover the activities of a dependent agent, if the dependent agent is acting in the source country on behalf of an enterprise and has, and habitually exercises an authority to conclude contracts. At the first look, we can realize that both of the definitions of permanent establishment concept above rely on physical appearances of presence. However, the main characteristic of electronic commerce is that it greatly expands the ability of companies to seli goods or provide services to consumers resident in countries where the company has little or no presence. 77 One might immediately argue that a concept developed to address tax issues in a predominantly physical economy is worthless in the age of electronic commerce. After members of the OECD announced their preference as to tax electronic commerce under the current international tax regime, presuming that this is an accurate determination, in this technical analysis of the permanent establishment definition with respect to electronic commerce we may to disregard that opinion. 78 After completing technical analysis, we can address it again, and discuss whether permanent establishment concept is suitable to provide a balance between the taxation claims of source and residence countries on electronic commerce proceeds. 74 OECD Model Treaty, art. 7(1). 75 Sweet, supra note 35, at As noted before, the definition of "permanent establishment' slightly differs in each model treaty. in the rest of this article I follow the OECD Model Treaty and the accompanying commentary. 77 Andrew H. Friedman, Fairlea A. Sheehy, Solving the Legal issues Affecting B2B Transactions: Tax Planning For Your B2b E-Commerce Venture, 650 PLIlPat 373, 415 (2001). 78 On this issue, the U.S. Treasury states its vievv as, "in most cases, this will require that existing principles be adapted and reinterpreted in the context of developments in technology. in extreme cases, it may be necessary to develop new concepts." Treasury Report, supra note 5, at 4.18 134 AKÇAOGLU Yıl 2002 Permanent establishment by fîxed place of business Definition Article 5(1) of the Model Treaty defines 'permanent establishment' 79 as a "fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on." 80 Examples of permanent establishment are "a place of management, a branch, an office, a factory, a workshop, a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry, or any other place of extraction of natural resources." 81 The definition excludes some activities, including "the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise" and "the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise, or of collecting information, for the enterprise." 82 Analysis The permanent establishment concept can be analyzed under three main categories: the 'objective conditions' of permanent establishment, the 'subjective conditions' of permanent establishment, and the 'functional conditions' of the permanent establishment. 83 Some of these tests are significantly important with respect to electronic commerce. 79 The permanent establishment concept was derived from the concept of an entcrprise's principal establishment used in some European double tax treaties in the ycars before and after the World War I. This evolved into the permanent establishment concept. which was used in Leaguc of Nations Draft Convention for the Prevention of Double Taxation Michael B. Carroll, International Tax Law Benefits for American Investors and Enterprises Abroad. Int'l Tax Law 692, (1968). 80 The definition of "permanent establishment' slightly defers in each model treaty, and each double taxation treaty may have differences in permanent establishment definition. 81 Model Treaties, art. 5(2). 82 Model Treaties, art. 5(4). These are preparatory or auxiliary activities that limit the scope of permanent establishment definition. UN Model Treaty, different from the OECD and U.S. Model Treaties, does accept the 'delivery' as a preparatory or auxiliary aetivity. This difference, as we will see later, may have a significant effect on the determination of permanent establishment for the electronic commerce. 83 For a more detailcd analysis of permanent establishment concept see Klaus Vogel (Chair), The OECD Model Convention 1997 and Beyond (1997).19 C. 51 Sa.l INTERNATIONAL TAXATION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 135 Objective condıtions The starting point for permanent establishment is the requirement of a 'fixed place of business' in the country where the business activity is conducted. This condition is composed of two objective elements: First, there must be a 'place of business'. Second, the place of business must be 'fixed' in terms of the location of the place of business. Place of business test The stress in the place of business test is on the 'place' term. The Model Treaty and its commentary do not provide a definition for it. A dictionary defines the word 'place' as physical surroundings, a physical environment, a building or locality used for a special purpose, or a particular part of a surface. 84 Under literal reading of the Article 5(1) of the treaty, it is clear that a place of business can consist of only tangible (physical) objects that are commercially suitable to serve as the basis for a business activity. A place of management, branch, office, factory, workshop, and a mine, oil gas well, quarry or other place of extraction of natural resources are examples of a permanent establishment if the other conditions for a permanent establishment are met. 85 Hovvever, securities, bank accounts, and intangibles cannot be places of business. Tax treaties generally contain a list of places of business that prima facie constitute a permanent establishment. The U.S. Tax Court 86 held that a Canadian company, which had only a mailing address in the United States but nothing else (no office, facilities, installations ete.) did not have a permanent establishment in the United States. The term 'permanent establishment' normally interpreted suggests something more substantial than a license, a letterhead, and isolated activities. it implies the existence of an office staffed and capable of carrying on the dayto-day business of the corporation and its use for such purpose, or it suggests the existence of a plant or facilities equipped to carry on the ordinary routine of such business activity f See Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary <http://www.britannica.com/ dictionary?book=dictionary&va=place> (last visited on 7/10/2001). 85 OECD Model Treaty, art. 5(2). 86 Consolidated Premium Iron Ores Ltd. v. CIR.,28 TC. 127(1957). 87 id., at 152.20 136 AKÇAOGLU Yıl 2002 Electronic commerce usually does not require offices, factories or other physical locations in the country of the customers residence. None of the business place examples provided in the Model Treaty is necessary for, and most of the time, present in the electronic commerce practice. This new way of commerce is conducted through servers and the websites stored on those servers. A server is a tangible object, a piece of machinery (computer). Can it be a place of business? The language of the Model Treaty on place of business does not provide sufficient guidance since it only refers to facilities such as premises. However, the commentary accompanying it provides that a permanent establishment can be, in certain cases, machinery or equipment. 88 The only examples of machinery and equipment, which can be permanent establishments, are vending and gaming machines. Nevertheless, these two examples are sufficient to argue that servers may also be permanent establishments. 89 Recently the OECD announced a document that clarifies and amends the existing commentary on Article 5 of the Model Treaty in respect to the application of the permanent establishment definition to electronic commerce. 90 That document clarifies that servers are suitable to be counted as a place of business.... the server on which the website is stored and through vvhich it is accessible is a piece of equipment having a physical location and such location may thus constitute a "fixed place of business" of the enterprise that operates that server... 9 ' The language of the OECD Commentary usually requires an additional existence of persons that perform business activities in the country where the equipment is located....the carrying on of the business of [an] enterprise through [a]fixed place of business... means usually that persons who, in one way or another, are 88 OECD Model Treaty Commentary, C(5)-2, para Peter A. Glicklich, et al., Internet Sales Pose International Tax Challenges. 84 J. Tax'n 325, (1996); Benjamin & Nathanson, supra note 25, at 31; Sweet, supra note 36, at Clarification on the Application of the Permanent Establishment Definition in E- Commerce: Changes to the Commentary on the Model Tax Convention on Article 5, <http://www.oecd.org/daf/fa/e_com/ec_l_pe_eng.pdf> (Last visited on 7/10/2001) [hereinafter 'Clarification Document']. 91 Clarification Document, supra note 90, at 5, para. 42.2 View more
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