Africa and the taxation of permanent establishments: Is the definition of "permanent establishment" as used in the double tax agreements of selected 'fishing rich' African countries sufficient to protect the taxing rights on those diminishing natural resources?

This thesis tests the sufficiency of the definition of permanent establishments (PE), as contained in the Double Tax Agreements (DTAs) of selected "fishing rich" African countries, in protecting their taxing rights over profits made by non-residents from fishing in the waters of their states. The concept and meaning of "fixed place of residence" and "any other place of extraction” of natural resources is analysed in the context of establishing a PE in the Source State, taking various rules of interpretation, commentaries, judicial and academic views into account. It is concluded that although there are strong arguments in support of the view that a fishing vessel can be considered a fixed place of business, a prudent approach should be adopted. A fishing vessel is not a PE, unless specifically included in the specific DTA of Contracting States.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Commercial Law

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Strandvik, Ulrik Bernhard

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• West, Craig

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11806

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11806