Zoomcopter Ltd., a
company established in Taiwan, has developed a new widget which is
used as a spare part in the assembly of helicopters. By using this
widget when producing the helicopters, the operational costs of the
helicopters can be substantially reduced.
Zoomcopter holds the worldwide patents on this invention and it wonders
how the exploitation of the patents can be arranged in a tax-effective
manner.
Suggested solution:
The patent should be transferred to a company in a low tax country
from which the patents are licensed to one or more licensing companies
in countries with a dense tax treaty network and which does not levy
a withholding tax on royalties paid abroad.
The set-up of a licensing company in Mauritius could meet these objectives.
Mauritius has an expanding network of double taxation treaties, thus
substantially reducing the withholding taxes on royalties paid to
the Mauritius company.
Although the Mauritius company is subject to tax in Mauritius at a
rate of 15%, the spread between royalties received and royalties paid
to the offshore patent-holder can be minimised (Mauritius has not
adopted any transfer pricing regulations which could have an impact
on the amount of the spread).
Royalties paid by the Mauritius company are not subject to a withholding
tax in Mauritius.
Note:
If there is no double tax treaty between Mauritius and the country
from which the royalties are paid, the set-up of a sub-licensing company
in a third country might be considered, e.g. Luxembourg. Luxembourg
has a good tax treaty with Mauritius.