Beneficial owner: Dansk praksis om indeholdelse af kildeskat af udbytter og renter fra danske selskaber

Abstract

According to the Danish national legislation on the basis of implements of the parent/subsidiary directiv and the interest/royalty directiv, dividends and interest paid from Danish subsidiaries are subject to limited tax liability. Dividends and interest paid from a Danish subsidiary to a parent company within the EU or residing in a country with which Denmark has entered a tax treaty, can be paid either without the Danish tax authorities withholding tax or with a reduced withholding of tax. In a number of cases, the Danish tax authorties have denied this exemption of withholding tax based on the view that the receiving company cannot be regarded as the beneficiel owner of the dividend or interest paid. The view of the Danish tax authorities is, based on the present facts and the circumstances of the case, that the receiving company is a conduit company that is not ment to be the beneficial owner of the payments. Their view is, that the beneficial owner is a company that does not comply with the rules of tax exemption, as it is not residing in an EU-country or in a country with which Denmark has entered tax treaty. Often the company is residing in a low taxing country. This thesis will analyze this issue from an EU-regulation perspective, including the differences in regulation between dividends and interest.