日本线下仓库构成常设机构案法律评析

A Legal Analysis of the Case of Offline Warehouses as Permanent Institutions in Japan

在数字经济背景下,现有的常设机构定义可能无法正确反映跨国企业与非居民国之间的"经济关联",因此,也无法使税收与经济活动发生地或价值创造地相匹配。日本法院在最近的一项判决中认定,美国纳税人通过线上店在日本进行销售活动时使用的日本公寓和仓库,可以构成其在日本的常设机构。常设机构的界定问题对于协调各国对跨国企业的征税权具有重要意义,这一判决对如何适用OECD范本第五条第四款规定的常设机构的特定活动豁免规则具有重要的借鉴意义,也可以为理解BEPS行动计划一和行动计划七的相关内容提供参考。

In the context of a digital economy, the existing definition of a permanent institution may not correctly reflect the ＂economic connection＂ between the transnational corporations and the countries by which the corpora- tions are not owned. Thus, tax collection cannot be in accordance with the place of economic activity or the place of value creation. In a recent judgment, the Japanese court found that the apartments and warehouses that Ameri- can taxpayers used to store their goods in Japan when selling goods online could be their permanent institutions in Japan. The definition of a permanent institution plays an important role in adjusting the right of tax collection for transnational corporations in each country. This judgment can be used as reference to the application of the ex- emption rules of the specific activities of permanent institutions defined in paragraph 4 of provision 5 of OECD and the understanding of the relevant contents of Action Plan I and Action Plan VII of BEPS.