Commissionaire Structure as an Agency Permanent Establishment (PE): Low Risk for Foreign Principals Constituting a PE in Norway – Dell Products v. Government of Norway, Decision of the Norwegian

Abstract

The already legendary decision of the Norwegian Supreme Court of 2 December 2011 that overruled the decision of the Court of Appeals for south eastern Norway (Borgarting lagmannsrett) of 2 March 2011 is presented. It results in low risk for foreign principals constituting a PE in Norway and thus allocating profits outside of Norway. The decision is commented as an opportunity for international tax planning by an arrangement, where the sales company is tax resident as principal in a low tax country and in a high tax country, such as Norway, there is no tax payable on the basis of the commissionaire agreement.