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August 1, 2023
2023-1346

Peruvian Tax Authority interprets Non-Discrimination Clause of Multinational Agreement to avoid Double Taxation as not applicable to transfer of Peruvian shares in international reorganizations

  • The Peruvian Tax Authority analyzed whether, in a demerger situation between two Colombian entities in which the assets transferred include Peruvian shares, the Non-Discrimination Clause of Decision 578 would apply to invoke the tax-free regime for Peruvian domestic reorganizations.
  • The Tax Authority interpreted that, because the domestic rules for demergers require not only that the spun-off entity be a Peruvian resident but also that the receiving entity be a Peruvian resident, the Non-Discrimination clause does not apply and, thus, the transfer of Peruvian shares via demerger will trigger a capital gains tax.

In Ruling 89-2023, published on 11 July 2023, the Peruvian Tax Authority determined that the Non-Discrimination clause of Decision 578 of the Andean Community does not apply to the transfer of Peruvian shares in international reorganizations.

Background

According to the Peruvian Income Tax Law, a tax-free corporate reorganization will be deemed to exist if the entities involved are Peruvian residents, including the new entity resulting from the reorganization. Likewise, domestic reorganizations are not subject to income tax but fall under a tax-free regime.

Under Decision 578 of the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) capital gains tax generated from a disposal of shares will only be levied in the country where the shares were issued.

In addition, Decision 578 includes a Non-Discrimination Clause under which no member country may treat residents in other member countries less favorably than that it treats its own residents in its territory.

Ruling 89-2023

The ruling analyzes a set of facts in which two Colombian entities enter into a demerger by which one Colombian entity spins off an equity block consisting of shares issued by a Peruvian company and transfers it to another Colombian entity.

The Peruvian Tax Authority concluded that because the Non-Discrimination Clause is based exclusively on residency criteria, it does not apply when the less-favorable treatment is based on factors other than residency. With regard specifically to demergers, domestic rules on local demergers require that, for tax-free treatment to apply, both the demerged entity and the entity receiving the assets must be Peruvian residents.

The Non-Discrimination Clause must be viewed in terms of the demerged entity, which is the party that will be generating the taxable income (capital gain resulting from the transfer of Peruvian shares). In Ruling 89-2023, the Tax Authority concluded that the transaction is taxable in Peru, without considering the residence of the seller (the entity being demerged) and instead basing its conclusion on the parties' noncompliance with other conditions required for tax-free treatment under the Peruvian legislation.

The condition not met in the case under analysis is that the acquirer is a non-Peruvian entity. In other words, the Peruvian Tax Authority seems to have concluded that the imposition of capital gains tax in the case at issue does not stem from the seller's nonresidency in Peru, but from the acquirer's nonresidency in Peru.

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For additional information with respect to this Alert, please contact the following:

Ernst & Young Asesores Empresariales S.C.R.L, Lima

Ernst & Young LLP (United States), Latin American Business Center, New York

Ernst & Young LLP (United Kingdom), Latin American Business Center, London

Ernst & Young Tax Co., Latin American Business Center, Japan & Asia Pacific

Published by NTD’s Tax Technical Knowledge Services group; Carolyn Wright, legal editor

 

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