Tag: Deemed interest

If a member of a multinational enterprise (MNE) receives an interest-free loan from an affiliated company, the tax authorities of the lender’s country may readjust the lender’s profits by adding an amount equal to the interest which would have been payable on the loan had it been made at arm’s length.

Mauritius vs Innodis Ltd, February 2023, Supreme Court, Case No 2023 SCJ 73

Mauritius vs Innodis Ltd, February 2023, Supreme Court, Case No 2023 SCJ 73

Innodis granted loans to five wholly-owned subsidiaries between 2002 and 2004. The loans were unsecured, interest-free and had a grace period of one year. The subsidiaries to which the loans were granted were either start-up companies with no assets or companies in financial difficulties. The tax authorities (MRA) had carried out an assessment of the tax liability of Innodis Ltd in respect of the assessment years 2002 – 2003 and 2003 – 2004. In the course of the exercise, a number of items were added to the taxable income, including income from interest-free loans to subsidiaries and overseas passage allowances to eligible employees, which had been earmarked but not paid. The tax authorities were of the opinion that the grant of the interest-free loans was not on arm’s length terms in accordance with section 75 of the Income Tax Act 1995 (ITA) and was clearly preferential treatment of the subsidiaries. An assumed interest rate of 13% was applied to the ... Read more
Kenya vs Dominion Petroleum Dkenya Ltd, November 2021, High Court of Kenya, TAX APPEAL NO. E093 OF 2020

Kenya vs Dominion Petroleum Dkenya Ltd, November 2021, High Court of Kenya, TAX APPEAL NO. E093 OF 2020

Dominion Petroleum Dkenya’s principal activity was exploration of oil and gas. The tax authorities carried out an in-depth audit of Dominion’s operations and tax affairs for the years of income 2011 to 2016, which resulted in the following taxes being raised: Withholding Income Tax (WHT) on imported services – KES 114,993,666.00; WHT on deemed interest – KES 504,643,172.00 and; Reverse Value Added Tax(VAT) on imported services– KES 714,258,472.00 all totaling KES 1,333,895,311.00. An appeal was filed by Dominion with the Tax Appeals Tribunal where, in a judgment dated 24th July 2020, the Tribunal set aside the Commissioner’s Objection decision on Reverse VAT and WHT on Deemed Interest to the extent of the period prior to 1st January 2014. Further, it upheld the Commissioner’s Objection Decision on WHT on local services on condition that the amount of KES 656,892,892.00 paid by Dominion Petroleum to Apache Kenya Limited for seismic data be excluded from the assessment as it was not subject to ... Read more
European Commission decision to open state-aid investigation into Luxembourg deduction of deemed interest on interest free loans - The Huhtamaki

European Commission decision to open state-aid investigation into Luxembourg deduction of deemed interest on interest free loans – The Huhtamaki

The European Commission has published a non-confidential version of the decision to open a state aid investigation into tax rulings granted by the Luxembourg tax authorities to the Huhtamaki Group in relation to the treatment of interest-free loans granted by an Irish group company to a Luxembourg group company, Huhtalux S.a.r.l. The investigation will focus on three rulings obtained by a Luxembourg subsidiary of a group from the Luxembourg tax administration in 2009, 2012 and 2013. The Luxembourg subsidiary which carried out intra-group financing activities was granted interest-free loans from an Irish group subsidiary and used the funds to grant interest bearing loans to other group companies. In the rulings the tax authorities in Luxembourg confirmes that the financing subsidiary can deduct an amount of deemed interest on the interest-free loans corresponding to interest payments that an independent third party would have demanded for the loans in question. As in the “Belgian excess profits” State aid case, the Commission considers that ... Read more