ATOZ & Legitech Tax workshop series - Structuring Alternative Investments in the post-BEPS era

ATOZ, in partnership with Legitech, will be hosting a series of four workshops, presented by our Tax Partner and Head of Transfer Pricing, Oliver R. Hoor and our Tax Partner, Romain Tiffon in which participants will have the opportunity to discuss matters around alternative investments in Luxembourg.

More information and registration for the full programme here.

(Past event) 20 April 2023 - Module 1: Structuring of Alternative Investments

Over the last decades, Luxembourg has developed and cemented its position as the location of choice for asset managers implementing Alternative Investments such as private equity, private debt, real estate and infrastructure.

Although these investment activities where never in the focus of the OECD when developing new tax rules as a result of the organisation’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) Project, the changes that have been/will be implemented in the domestic tax laws of Luxembourg and foreign jurisdictions as well as the changes to bilateral tax treaties and the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines will have an impact on the taxation of alternative investments.

This is the first of four workshops on “Alternative Investments in Luxembourg”, hosted by Oliver R. Hoor, which focuses on the impact of different BEPS measures, the European Anti-Tax Avoidance Directives (ATAD/ATAD 2) and related Luxembourg tax law changes on contemporary investment structures.

Agenda 

1. Introduction
2. Typical investment structures
3. The OECD BEPS Project and ATAD/ATAD 2
4. Impact of ATAD/ATAD 2 on investments
   • Interest limitation rules
   • Hybrid mismatch rules
   • Reverse hybrid mismatch rule
5. Case studies
6. Conclusion

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(Past event) 27 April 2023 - Module 2: Substance Requirements

Substance is a key element in international taxation and is relevant for the application of both domestic tax law and tax treaties. The notion of substance involves a number of elements such as (i) infrastructure (equipment, facilities and employees, etc.), (ii) corporate governance (directorship, involvement of Luxembourg directors, the place where decisions are taken, etc.), (iii) functional and risk profile, (iv) legal documentation and contractual aspects, (iv) transfer pricing documentation, (iv) the actual conduct of business activities and (v) business purpose.

Substance is crucial for managing the Luxembourg tax residency of companies and to avoid a situation in which a corporate structure is (partially) disregarded under foreign anti-abuse provisions. The notion of substance also concerns the beneficial ownership concept that is employed under tax treaties and, in some cases, under domestic tax law with the objective to avoid tax treaty or EU directive shopping. Appropriate substance is further relevant in order to avoid the application of the PPT or the beneficial ownership concept in tax treaties.

Substance is also in the focus of a new EU Directive (ATAD 3, the so-called Unshell Directive) that may result in reporting obligations and severe tax consequences once applicable.

This workshop, presented by Oliver R. Hoor, will provide a comprehensive overview of the importance of substance in international taxation.

Agenda 

1. Introduction
2. The notion of substance
3. Substance requirements in international taxation
   • Substance requirements from a Luxembourg (tax) perspective
     • Managing tax residency
     • Luxembourg finance companies
     • Requirements from a regulatory perspective
     • The proposed regime on shell entities (ATAD 3)
   • Substance requirements from a foreign tax perspective
     • Anti-abuse legislation
     • Considerations regarding appropriate substance
     • Substance requirements in an EU context
   • Substance requirements from a tax treaty perspective
     • Principal Purposes Test (PPT)
     • Beneficial ownership
     • Avoiding unintentional permanent establishments
   • Substance requirements from a transfer pricing perspective
     • The arm’s length principle
     • Supply chain management
     • Transfer pricing documentation
   • Managing reputational risks
4. Managing substance in practice
5. Excursus: The Draft ATAD 3
   • Scope of ATAD 3
   • Potential reporting obligations
   • Tax treatment of shell entities
6. Conclusion

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(Past event) 4 May 2023 - Module 3: Transfer Pricing and Related Documentation Requirements

Luxembourg companies may enter into diverse commercial and financial transactions with associated enterprises. The prices charged in regard to these controlled transactions are called transfer prices. For Luxembourg tax purposes, these prices have to adhere to the “arm’s length principle”.

The arm’s length principle is the international transfer pricing standard that OECD member countries have agreed should be used for tax purposes by MNE groups and tax administrations. The arm`s length principle requires that the remuneration for any transaction between related parties conform to that what would have been agreed if the transaction were to have taken place between unrelated parties under comparable circumstances.

The arm’s length principle is firmly ingrained in Luxembourg tax law and has been explicitly stated in article 56 of the Luxembourg Income Tax Law (LITL). In addition, several concepts and provisions under Luxembourg tax law require the arm’s length standard to be respected by Luxembourg companies (the concepts of hidden dividend distributions and hidden capital contribution, etc.).

Over the last years, transfer pricing has become the hot topic in Luxembourg taxation in an environment that relies increasingly less on tax rulings. In the past, tax rulings were viewed as a way to provide certainty and to avoid risks when implementing investments or intra-group transactions. However, for a number of reasons this is no longer the case and transfer pricing documentation is more and more filling the gap as a tax risk management tool.

This workshop, introduced by Oliver R. Hoor, will provide an overview of transfer pricing in the context of Alternative Investments and the importance of related documentation.

Agenda 

1. Introduction to transfer pricing
   • The arm’s length principle
   • The OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines
   • Luxembourg transfer pricing rules
   • Transfer pricing adjustments
2. Typical controlled transactions in Luxembourg
   • Interest rates
   • Financing activity
   • Intra-group services
   • Fund management services
3. Financing activities
   • Scope of the Transfer Pricing Circular
   • Substance requirements
   • Determining an arm’s length remuneration
   • Transfer pricing analysis
   • Structure alignments in relation to existing investments
   • Treatment in the corporate tax returns
   • Advance pricing agreements (APAs)
4. Reporting obligations in the corporate tax returns
5. Recent case law
6. Transfer pricing documentation
   • Review of transfer pricing and a taxpayer’s co-operation duties
   • The OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines
   • Best Practice recommendations

More information about this session here.

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(Past event) 11 May 2023 - Module 4: The Mandatory Disclosure Regime (DAC6)

Under the mandatory disclosure regime (“MDR”), tax intermediaries such as tax advisers, accountants and lawyers that design, promote or provide assistance in regard to certain cross-border arrangements have to report these to the tax authorities. Since the implementation of the MDR, the analysis of potential reporting obligations has become an integral part of each and every tax analysis.

The MDR operates through a system of hallmarks that may trigger reporting obligations and the main benefit test (“MBT”) that functions as a threshold requirement for many of these hallmarks. As such, the MBT should filter out irrelevant reporting and enhance the usefulness of the information collected because the focus will be on arrangements that have a higher probability of truly presenting a risk of tax avoidance.

However, how are reportable cross-border arrangements determined? How should some of the more ambiguous hallmarks be interpreted? And, what is a reasonable approach towards the interpretation of the main benefit test ("MBT")? All these questions will be answered during this webinar organised in co-operation with Legitech.

This final workshop will be presented by our Tax Partner and Head of Transfer Pricing, Oliver R. Hoor, and our Tax Partner, Romain Tiffon. 

Agenda 

1. Introduction
2. Key features of the disclosure regime
3. Arrangements, intermediaries and other interpretation issues
4. The hallmarks of reportable arrangements
5. The main benefit test (MBT) – Developing a reasonable approach
6. Managing DAC6 obligations in practice
7. Case studies
8. The Real Estate Fund
9. The Private Equity Fund
10. DAC6Connect – The IT solution for DAC6 reporting obligations

More information about this session here.