Permanent Establishment – Article 14 – Corporate Tax Law

Article 14 – Permanent Establishment

1. A Non-Resident Person has a Permanent Establishment in the State in any of the following instances:
   1. Where it has a fixed or permanent place in the State through which the Business of the Non-Resident Person, or any part thereof, is conducted.
   2. Where a Person has and habitually exercises an authority to conduct a Business or Business Activity in the State on behalf of the Non-Resident Person.
   3. Where it has any other form of nexus in the State as specified in a decision issued by the Cabinet at the suggestion of the Minister.
2. For the purposes of paragraph (a) of Clause 1 of this Article, a fixed or permanent place in the State includes:
   1. A place of management where management and commercial decisions that are necessary for the conduct of the Business are, in substance, made.
   2. A branch.
   3. An office.
   4. A factory.
   5. A workshop.
   6. Land, buildings, and other real property.
   7. An installation or structure for the exploration of renewable or non-renewable natural resources.
   8. A mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of extraction of natural resources, including vessels and structures used for the extraction of such resources.
   9. A building site, a construction project, or place of assembly or installation, or supervisory activities in connection therewith, but only if such site, project or activities, whether separately or together with other sites, projects or activities, last more than (6) six months, including connected activities that are conducted at the site or project by one or more Related Parties of the Non-Resident Person.
3. Notwithstanding Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, a fixed or permanent place in the State shall not be considered a Permanent Establishment of a Non-Resident Person if it is used solely for any of the following purposes:
   1. Storing, displaying or delivering of goods or merchandise belonging to that Person.
   2. Keeping a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to that Person for the sole purpose of processing by another Person.
   3. Purchasing goods or merchandise or collecting information for the Non-Resident Person.
   4. Conducting any other activity of a preparatory or auxiliary nature for the Non-Resident Person.
   5. Conducting any combination of activities mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) of Clause 3 of this Article, provided that the overall activity is of a preparatory or auxiliary nature.
4. Clause 3 of this Article shall not apply to a fixed or permanent place in the State that is used or maintained by a Non-Resident Person if the same Non-Resident Person or its Related Party carries on a Business or Business Activity at the same place or at another place in the State where all of the following conditions are met:
   1. Where the same place or the other place constitutes a Permanent Establishment of the Non-Resident Person or its Related Party.
   2. The overall activity resulting from the combination of the activities carried out by the Non-Resident Person and its Related Party at the same place or at the two places is not of a preparatory or auxiliary nature and together would form a cohesive Business operation, had the activities not been fragmented.
5. For the purposes of paragraph (b) of Clause 1 of this Article, a Person shall be considered as having and habitually exercising an authority to conduct a Business or Business Activity in the State on behalf of a Non-Resident Person if any of the following conditions are met:
   1. The Person habitually concludes contracts on behalf of the Non-Resident Person.
   2. The Person habitually negotiates contracts that are concluded by the Non-Resident Person without the need for material modification by the Non-Resident Person.
6. The provisions of Paragraph (b) of Clause 1 of this Article shall not apply where the Person conducts a Business or Business Activity in the State as an independent agent and acts for the Non-Resident Person in the ordinary course of that Business or Business Activity, unless the Person acts exclusively or almost exclusively on behalf of the Non-Resident Person, or where that Person cannot be considered legally or economically independent from the Non-Resident Person.
7. For the purposes of Clause 3 of this Article, the Minister may prescribe the conditions under which the mere presence of a natural person in the State does not create a Permanent Establishment for a Non-Resident Person in any of the following instances:
   1. Where such presence is a consequence of a temporary and exceptional situation.
   2. Where the natural person is employed by the Non-Resident Person, and all of the following conditions are met:
      1. The activities being conducted in the State by the natural person are not part of the core income-generating activities of the Non-Resident Person or its Related Parties.
      2. The Non-Resident Person does not derive State Sourced Income.