- 20 Marks
STP – Aug 2016 – L2 – Q3 – Tax Residency
Determine if Berchem Plc is a tax resident in Ghana.
Question
Berchem Plc UK (Berchem) is a foreign company that provides engineering services to Gritty Electricals Company Ltd (GEC) here in Ghana. Koranten Systems (Koranten) serves as a country representative for Berchem in Ghana and assists Berchem to execute their service contracts. Koranten Systems provides labour and local material support to Berchem when needed on the contract, whereas Berchem provides the prefinancing, expertise and specialized equipment for the execution of work. As compensation, Koranten is paid commission in cash and equipment.
Berchem won its first contract with GECin January 2014. To date, no VAT was ever charged on invoices billed to GEC by Berchem. GEC also failed to withhold taxes on payments made to Berchem. Both GEC and Berchem had the general belief that these taxes were not stated as part of the signed contracts and therefore were not applicable in respect of the contracts. Berchem again saw the VAT charge as rendering pricing of the projects uncompetitive.
Consultants to GEC have recently advised GEC to start withholding taxes from payments made to Berchem as required by the Income Tax Act, since Berchem has been providing service in Ghana for “at least 2 years”.
Required:
On behalf of Berchem Plc, The Chief Executive of Koranten requests you to provide tax advisory service on the new development. Koranten requests for a documented Tax expert advice to submit to Berchem in respect of
a) Whether Berchem Plc is tax resident in Ghana,
b) The relevance, the basis and application of VAT, withholding, and corporate taxes on the business dealings between Berchem and GEC.
Find Related Questions by Tags, levels, etc.
- Tags: Corporate Tax, Non-resident, Permanent Establishment, VAT, Withholding Tax
- Level: Level 2
- Topic: Strategic Indirect Tax Management
- Series: AUG 2016