natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
Nederlandenes bemærkninger til åbningsafgørelsen, s. 25.
Rather, in recital 101 of the Opening Decision, the Commission notes that the hypothetical raw material remuneration was estimated by reference to the EURIBOR to which a spread of 50 basis points was added, the level of which is not explained.
Nederlandenes bemærkninger til åbningsafgørelsen, s. 27.
The Netherlands does not explain that level by presenting simulations with different interest rates and a different spread of minus 50 basis points, which remains unexplained.
Se betragtning 145 og 146.
Regarding the simulation provided by the Netherlands, where SMBV's pre-tax profits divided by full costs, including COGS, are compared to the ratio of pre-tax profit to total costs of competitors [229], the Commission notes that the Netherlands take a range that is based on information dating from after the SMBV APA.
Et selskab, som er stiftet i henhold til lovene i staten Washington, USA (Komplementaren).
If an inter-quartile range of pre-tax profit over total costs is established on the basis of the financial data of peers for the period 2001-2005, as used in the transfer pricing report, this range would be 4,9 % to 13,1 % and the profits of SMBV over that period would be outside that range [230].
Et selskab, som er stiftet i henhold til lovene i staten Washington, USA (Kommanditisten).
For example, in 2008 SMBV's pre-tax profits over total costs were at 1,2 % and decreased to 0,5 % in 2014.
Se betragtning 106.
The Netherlands further refers to an article of the 2012 International Transfer Pricing Journal that would argue that for both fully-fledged and toll or contract manufacturers the total costs, including COGS, are the most suitable profit level indicator.
For perioden 2008-2014 modtog Alki LP i alt [400-500] millioner EUR i licensindtægter fra Starbucks Coffee BV & SMBV.
The article would also present a comparison between margins on total costs of fully-fledged manufacturers and toll or contract manufacturers.
Ud af disse [400-500] mio. EUR blev [300-400] mio. ([80-85] %) modtaget fra Starbucks Coffee BV og [60-70] mio. [15-20] %) EUR fra SMBV.
This analysis would show, on the basis of the sample chosen, that toll and contract manufactures would have higher margins on total costs than fully-fledged manufacturers.
Ifølge Starbucks beror denne betaling fra Starbucks USA til Alki LP på en global omkostningstilpasning, der skal kompensere Alki LP for de lavere licensafgifter fra SMBV som følge af Starbucks' prispolitik for ristet kaffe på verdensplan.
However, notwithstanding the general validity of the outcome of the empirical study presented in the article, the findings of the article contradict rather than support the Netherlands' argument that the profitability of low-risk manufacturers should be adjusted downwards compared to fully fledged manufacturers.
Dette armslængdevederlag beregnes efter de amerikanske transfer pricing-regler og opgøres for alle aktiviteter i Starbucks Coffee BV og SMBV.
This is because the Netherlands accepted a reduction of the margin on costs to factor in the fact that SMBV would not be a fully-fledged manufacturer, whereas the empirical findings of the article seem to indicate that a higher margin would have been appropriate.
Starbucks har ikke kunnet oplyse den nærmere årsag til disse forskelle.
Finally, the transfer pricing report also accepts a considerable reduction in the cost base used to calculate the tax base in 2008 compared to the previous arrangement by excluding the costs of [unaffiliated manufacturing company 1], although the activities of SMBV did not change and the commercial relationship with [unaffiliated manufacturing company 1] also did not change.
Ingen buy-in-betalinger blev foretaget før 2005 til Starbucks Corporation, da [CV 1] gav underskud indtil 2005.
Combined with the misclassification of the actual activities of SMBV, that adjustment does not seem sufficiently reasoned.
Dog ville dette beløb i gennemsnit være […] lavere, hvis indtægten fra Starbucks Corporation ikke blev taget i betragtning ved beregningen af det resterende overskud.
In sum, even if the comparables analysis had not been based on an incorrect classification of SMBV's activities as coffee roasting and Starbucks' tax advisor had not improperly used operating expense instead of sales as profit level indicator in the application of the TNMM, the use of the working capital adjustment and the exclusion of [unaffiliated manufacturing company 1]'s costs from SMBV's tax base mean that the methodology proposed by the transfer pricing report and accepted by the SMBV APA does not result in a reliable approximation of a market-based outcome in line with the arm's-length principle.
Se betragtning 146.
By accepting that methodology, which leads to a lowering of SMBV's tax liability under the general Dutch corporate income tax system as compared to non-integrated companies whose taxable profit under that system is determined by the market, the SMBV APA confers a selective advantage on SMBV for the purposes of Article 107(1) of the Treaty.
Inklusive et ekstraordinært overskud efter skat [1-10 mio.]
Subsidiary line of reasoning: Selective advantage due to a derogation from the Decree
CHF og et tab af [800-900 tusinde] CHF i henholdsvis 2006 og 2007.
The Netherlands and Starbucks argued that the Decree constitutes the appropriate reference system against which the existence of a selective advantage resulting from SMBV APA must be determined.
Bruttoavance er bruttofortjeneste (dvs. salg minus COGS) divideret med salget, jf. betragtning 84.
As noted at recitals 245 to 251, the Commission does not agree with the arguments of the Netherlands and Starbucks concerning the applicable reference system.
FOB står for Free on Board.
However, in a subsidiary line of reasoning, the Commission concludes that the SMBV APA also grants SMBV a selective advantage in the context of the more limited reference system composed of group companies applying transfer pricing to which Article 8b(1) CIT and the Decree apply.
Se punkt 2.141 i OECD's retningslinjer fra 2010: »Where comparable uncontrolled transactions of sufficient reliability are lacking to support the division of the combined profits, consideration should be given to internal data, which may provide a reliable means of establishing or testing the arm's length nature of the division of profits.
Article 8b(1) CIT and the Decree are considered to establish the ‘arm's-length principle’ under Dutch tax law, according to which transactions between intra-group companies should be remunerated as if they were agreed to by independent companies negotiating under comparable circumstances at arm's length.
The types of such internal data that are relevant will depend on the facts and circumstances of the case and should satisfy the conditions outlined in this Section and in particular at points 2.116-2.117 and 2.132.
The preamble to the Decree, in particular, explains that the arm's-length principle as set out in the OECD TP Guidelines has been transposed into domestic law and that those guidelines apply directly to the Netherlands [231].
They will frequently be extracted from the taxpayers' cost accounting or financial accounting«.
Considering that the Commission has already demonstrated in Section 9.2.3.1 that the SMBV APA endorses certain methodological choices made by Starbucks' tax advisor for transfer pricing purposes that cannot be considered to result in a reliable approximation of a market-based outcome resulting in a reduction of SMBV's tax liability in the Netherlands, the Commission can similarly conclude that that APA also gives rise to a selective advantage under the more limited reference framework of Article 8b(1) CIT and the Decree.
Beløbet under »Fradrag« opfattes som driftsomkostninger, da det primært bestod af lønomkostninger og omkostninger til afskrivninger og reparationer.
Justification
I henhold til denne aftale har Starbucks Coffee BV ret til at give tredjeparter licens til at udvikle, eje og drive Starbucks butikker under varemærkerne og bruge teknologien og knowhow.
Neither the Netherlands nor Starbucks have advanced any possible justification for the selective treatment of SMBV as a result of the SMBV APA.
I henhold til leveringsaftalen, […].
The Commission recalls, in this respect, that the burden of establishing such a justification lies with the Member State.
Starbucks specificerede, at leveringsaftalerne er indgået af Starbucks […], og at disse er standardaftaler, hvor de grundlæggende vilkår og betingelser bestemmes af Starbucks […], jf. bemærkningerne fra Starbucks, betragtning 6.14.
In any event, the Commission has not been able to identify any possible ground for justifying the preferential treatment from which SMBV benefits as a result of the SMBV APA that could be said to derive directly from the intrinsic, basic or guiding principles of the reference system or that is the result of inherent mechanisms necessary for the functioning and effectiveness of the system [232], whether that reference system is the general Dutch corporate income tax system, as established by the Commission, or the Decree, as advocated by the Netherlands and Starbucks.
Ibid […].
Conclusion on the existence of a selective advantage
Se betragtning 140 for finansielle oplysninger om virksomheden.
The Commission concludes that the SMBV APA, by endorsing a method for arriving at a profit allocation to SMBV within the Starbucks group that cannot be considered to result in a reliable approximation of a market-based outcome in line with the arm's-length principle and that results in a lowering of SMBV's tax liability under the general Dutch corporate income tax system as compared to non-integrated companies whose taxable profit under that system is determined by the market, confers a selective advantage on SMBV for the purposes of Article 107(1) of the Treaty.
Punkt 4.9 i OECD's retningslinjer fra 1995 (og ligeledes punkt 4.9 i OECD's retningslinjer fra 2010) henviser dog til situationer, hvor »på grund af kompleksiteten ved de faktiske forhold, der skal evalueres, kan selv en skatteyder med bedste intentioner lave en fejl«.
By a subsidiary line of reasoning, the Commission concludes that the SMBV APA, by endorsing under the Decree, based on Article 8b(1) CIT, a method for arriving at a profit allocation to SMBV that cannot be considered to result in a reliable approximation of a market-based outcome in line with the arm's-length principle and that results in a lowering of SMBV's tax liability as compared to other group companies taxable in the Netherlands, confers a selective advantage on SMBV for the purposes of Article 107(1) of the Treaty.
De henviser i den forbindelse til en ikke-bindende kommissionsmeddelelse om arbejdet i det fælles EU-forum for interne afregningspriser (jvf. Kom(2007) 71), hvori det hedder, at »skattemyndighederne skal gøre sit deres for at holde evalueringen mindst muligt byrdefuld ved kun at kræve relevante oplysninger«.
Beneficiary of the contested measure
Kommissionens beslutning 2009/809/EF af 8. juli 2009 om groepsrentebox-ordningen som Nederlandene har til hensigt at gennemføre (C 4/07 (ex N 465/06)) (EFT L 288 af 4.11.2009, s. 26).
The Commission considers the SMBV APA to grant a selective advantage to SMBV within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the Treaty, since it leads to a lowering of that entity's taxable profit in the Netherlands as compared to non-integrated companies whose taxable profits are determined by transactions concluded on market terms.
Starbucks henviser igen beslutning 2009/809/EF.
However, the Commission notes that SMBV forms part of a multi-national corporate group, i.e. the Starbucks group, the remuneration of SMBV's role within that group being the subject-matter of the SMBV APA.
Ifølge rapporten er en avance på COGS kun berettiget i tilfælde, hvor tjenesteyderen er ansvarlig for områder som produktudvikling/F&U, strategisk planlægning af leveringskæde, strategisk indkøb og indtægtsskabende aktiviteter (dvs. markedsføring, prissætning og frembringelse af efterspørgsel), og desuden bærer og administrerer de tilknyttede risici.
Separate legal entities may be considered to form one economic unit for the purpose of the application of State aid rules.
Ifølge Starbucks udfører SMBV ikke disse funktioner.
That economic unit is then considered to be the relevant undertaking benefitting from the aid measure.
Rapporten fastslår endvidere, at funktioner som daglig planlægning, ikkestrategiske indkøb, omregning, ordrebehandling, lager/logistik og fakturering uden kommerciel risiko i forhold til de berørte produkter kun retfærdiggør en avance på tjenesteyderens egne driftsomkostninger.
As the Court of Justice has previously held, ‘[i]n competition law, the term “undertaking” must be understood as designating an economic unit […] even if in law that economic unit consists of several persons, natural or legal’ [233].
For virksomhed Y's vedkommende beregnes avancetillægget også kun af driftsomkostningerne.
To determine whether several entities form an economic unit, the Court of Justice looks at the existence of a controlling share or functional, economic or organic links [234].
Ifølge Nederlandene gælder, at selv om de fleste tredjeparter udfører andre specifikke aktiviteter ud over ristning, bærer erhvervsrisiko eller selv har udviklet IP, ligger de gebyrer, som disse tredjeparter betaler til Starbucks (enten i form af en højere købspris for kaffebønner eller i form af royalty på omsætningen) på nogenlunde samme niveau som i SMBV.
In the present case, SMBV is fully controlled by Alki LP, which in turn is controlled by companies of the Starbucks group [235].
Men ifølge Nederlandene kunne man have forventet lavere gebyrer og priser have på grund af nogle af tredjeparternes mere komplekse profil.
Moreover, it is the Starbucks group which took the decision to establish SMBV in the Netherlands and thus the Starbucks group which benefits from the SMBV APA as that APA, as indicated in recital 45, establishes the profit that should be allocated to SMBV within that corporate group for the functions it provides to the companies of that group.
Sag C-399/08 P, Kommissionen mod Deutsche Post, ECLI:EU:C:2010:481, præmis 38, og den deri nævnte retspraksis.
The SMBV APA is, after all, a ruling that accepts a transfer pricing methodology for transactions within the Starbucks group, so that any favourable tax treatment afforded to SMBV by the Dutch tax administration, benefits the Starbucks group as a whole by providing additional resources not only to SMBV, but to the entire the group.
Sag C-399/08 P, Kommissionen mod Deutsche Post, ECLI:EU:C:2010:481, præmis 39, og den deri nævnte retspraksis.
In other words, as discussed in recital 257, where transfer pricing is required to set prices for products and services within various legal entities of one and the same group, the effects of setting a transfer price affects by its very nature more than one group company (a price increase in one company reduces the profit of the other).
Se forenede sager C-106/09 P og C-107/09 P, Kommissionen mod regeringen i Gibraltar og Det Forenede Kongerige, ECLI:EU:C:2011:732, præmis 72, og den deri nævnte retspraksis.
Accordingly, notwithstanding the fact that the group is organised in different legal personalities, in the context of a transfer pricing arrangement those companies must be considered as a single group benefitting from the contested aid measure [236].
Sag 73079, Phillip Morris, ECLI:EU:C:1980:209, præmis 11.
Finally, in the present case the determination of SMBV' tax base in the Netherland influences the royalty payments to Alki LP as the royalty corresponds to any profit recorded by SMBV above [9-12] % of operating expense as agreed by the SMBV APA [237].
Forenede sager T-298/97, T-312/97 osv., Alzetta, ECLI:EU:T:2000:151, præmis 80.
The reduction of SMBV's tax liability in the Netherlands therefore not only benefits SMBV, but also Alki LP and therefore the Starbucks group.
C-172/03, Heiser, ECLI:EU:C:2005:130, præmis 40.
Conclusion on the existence of aid
Forenede sager C-78/08 til C-80/08, Paint Graphos, ECLI:EU:C:2009:417.
In light of the foregoing, the Commission concludes that the SMBV APA concluded by the Dutch tax administration grants SMBV and the Starbucks group a selective advantage which is imputable to the Netherlands, financed through State resources and which distorts or threatens to distort competition and is liable to affect intra-EU trade.
Forenede sager C-78/08 til C-80/08, Paint Graphos, ECLI:EU:C:2009:417, præmis 65.
The SMBV APA therefore constitutes State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the Treaty.
Se også C-78/08 til C-80/08, Paint Graphos, ECLI:EU:C:2009:417, præmis 50.
Since the SMBV APA gives rise to a reduction of charges that should normally be borne by SMBV in the course of its business operations, that APA should be considered as granting operating aid to SMBV and the Starbucks group.
Artikel 2 i CIT 1969.
Evidence relied upon by the Commission for a finding of aid
Standard CIT-satsen er 25 %.
One of the arguments advanced by the Netherlands during the administrative procedure is that some of the information relied upon by the Commission in its Opening Decision, as well as data relied upon during the formal investigation procedure was not available to the Dutch tax administration on the date on which it entered into the SMBV.
Der er to skattepligtige indkomstniveauer.
Thus, the Netherlands accuses the Commission of enjoying ‘the benefit of hindsight’ when examining the SMBV.
En lavere sats på 20 % for den første indkomstgruppe for skattepligtig indkomst op til 200000 EUR.
For instance, while the assessment of SMBV's classification as a toll manufacturer refers to the functions performed by SMBV at the time of the APA, it also relates to other activities, such as market research or the amortisation of intangible assets, which only occurred later and therefore could not have been taken into account by the Dutch tax administration when it entered into the SMBV APA in 2008.
Ifølge artikel 3 i CIT 1969 og kapitel III i CIT 1969 beskattes ikke-hjemmehørende virksomheder af: 1) virksomhedsindkomst, der hidrører fra et fast driftssted eller en fast repræsentant i Nederlandene, 2) indkomst og kapitalgevinster hidrørende fra fast ejendom beliggende i Nederlandene, 3) indkomst og kapitalgevinster fra rettigheder relateret til efterforskning eller udvinding af naturressourcer beliggende i Nederlandene eller Nederlandenes del af kontinentalsoklen, 4) alle vederlag hidrørende fra en bestyrelsespost i en hjemmehørende enhed, 5) indkomst fra rettigheder til et foretagendes overskud (obligationer og aktier undtaget), hvis administration befinder sig i Nederlandene, og 6) indkomst og kapitalgevinster fra fordringer relateret til en betydelig aktiepost.
Equally, the fact that the costs for green coffee beans increased significantly after 2010, which implies that the royalty payments were financed through other activities than the roasting activity in contravention of the arm's-length principle, only became evident after the APA was concluded.
Artikel 2, stk. 4, i CIT 1969.
The Commission notes, in this regard, that a considerable number of arguments supporting the Commission's conclusion that the SMBV APA does not comply with the arm's-length principle rely on information and data available to the Dutch tax administration at the time that APA was concluded.
Oprindelig nederlandsk tekst: »De in een kalenderjaar genoten winst wordt bepaald volgens goed koopmansgebruik, met inachtneming van een bestendige gedragslijn die onafhankelijk is van de vermoedelijke uitkomst.
This relates, in particular, to several of the roasting and manufacturing agreements between Starbucks and third parties listed in recitals 148 to 150, information on the complexity of the functions performed by SMBV and Alki LP, information questioning the classification of SMBV as a low-risk toll manufacturer and the appropriateness of using operating expenses as profit level indicator instead of sales and the increase by 50 basis points of the raw material mark-up [238].
De bestendige gedragslijn kan alleen worden gewijzigd indien goed koopmansgebruik dit rechtvaardigt.«
As regards information on the costs for green coffee beans, the Commission observes that the transfer pricing report lists the green coffee bean sourcing agreement between SMBV and SCTC among the most important transactions and inter-company flows, but fails to examine or analyse whether the price charged for the green coffee beans by SCTC to SMBV is at arm's length, since the tax advisor instead relied on the TNMM to calculate a remuneration based on the roasting function of SMBV.
Kapitel II og III i CIT 1969.
Had the transfer pricing report properly analysed that agreement, an arm's-length remuneration for the green coffee beans would have had to have been estimated for the purposes of the SMBV APA request [239].
Generelt anses alle virksomheder, der har en indkomst, for at være i samme juridiske og faktiske situation i forhold til den direkte selskabsbeskatning.
Had the SMBV APA consequently covered the green coffee beans transaction, an arm's-length remuneration agreed to in 2008 would have left no room for the unjustified increases in the price of green coffee beans from 2011 and onwards.
Beslutning2009/809/EF.
In any event, as explained in recital 348 et seq., Starbucks did not provide any valid justification for the increase in the price of green coffee beans after 2010, so the argument is irrelevant.
SMBV's bemærkninger til åbningsafgørelsen, punkt 2.20.
Moreover, information on the mark-up applied to that transaction was available to the Dutch tax administration at the time that the SMBV APA was requested and, had that administration requested that information, it would have resulted in an arm's-length mark-up of [around 3 %] of COGS for SCTC [240], which is in any event lower than the [around 6 %] mark-up and the corresponding gross margin of [around 9 %] on GOCS which the Commission considers at arm's length in recital 358.
C-138/09, Todaro Nunziatina & C., ECLI:EU:C:2010:291, præmis 21.
If that mark-up had subsequently been accepted in an APA, SCTC would have been prevented from increasing that mark-up to an average of [around 18 %] during the period 2011 onwards, absent a request to modify the APA.
Ordningen forudsatte, at den positive forskel mellem renter på koncernlån og renter i forbindelse med koncerninterne finansielle transaktioner ikke blev beskattet med den normale virksomhedsskattesats på 25,5 % på daværende tidspunkt, men beskattet med 5 % i en såkaldt »groepsrentebox«.
In this regard, the Commission recalls that the SMBV APA declares itself to be valid for 10 years provided the critical assumptions presented by SMBV are correct and, in case they are not correct, the APA should be regarded as terminated.
Groepsrentebox-beslutningen, betragtning 85.
Compatibility of the aid
Groepsrentebo- beslutningen, betragtning 101.
State aid shall be deemed compatible with the internal market if it falls within any of the categories listed in Article 107(2) of the Treaty [241] and it may be deemed compatible with the international market if it found by the Commission to fall within any of the categories listed in Article 107(3) of the Treaty.
Groepsrentebox-beslutningen, betragtning 107.
However, it is the Member State granting the aid which bears the burden of proving that State aid granted by it is compatible with the internal market pursuant to Articles 107(2) or 107(3) of the Treaty.
Se betragtning 148 til 150.
The Netherlands has not invoked any of the grounds for a finding of compatibility in either of those provisions for the State aid it has granted by concluding the SMBV APA.
Jf. svaret fra Melitta i betragtning 207 til 209.
Moreover, as explained in recital 423, the SMBV APA should be considered as granting operating aid to SMBV and the Starbucks group.