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The portuguese and the english tax transparency regimens
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Resumo(s)
A necessidade sentida pelos indivíduos de se unirem no desenvolvimento de
atividades comerciais, aliada ao intenso e histórico controlo por parte dos governos
dos últimos 5 séculos, levou à proliferação de “partnerships”. Com o passar do
tempo estas serão progressivamente substituídas, na Europa Continental, por
empresas de responsabilidade limitada. No entanto, no Reino Unido, não só se irão
maioritariamente manter, como irão sofrer transformações em virtude da necessidade
de adaptação à evolução social. As sociedades comerciais encontram-se no núcleo
duro da problemática que cerca a transparência fiscal. De facto, a transparência fiscal
tem o seu desenvolvimento primário pela desconsideração das sociedades comerciais
enquanto entidades autónomas dos seus membros. O modo radicalmente diferente
como as sociedades comerciais se desenvolveram no Reino Unido e na Europa
Continental explica a presente diferença nos regimes de transparência fiscal entre o
Reino Unido e Portugal. O regime da transparência fiscal é o regime por via do qual
uma sociedade com ou sem personalidade jurídica é desconsiderada para efeitos de
tributação sendo, ao invés, os seus lucros imputados diretamente aos sócios e
tributados na sua esfera pessoal. Os tipos de entidades às quais este regime se aplica
diferem grandemente do regime Português para o regime Inglês, bem como as
motivações e objetivos que levaram o legislador à construção dos respetivos regimes.
Em Portugal, a verificação de um conjunto de requisitos leva à aplicação automática
do regime de transparência fiscal, potencialmente a qualquer sociedade, só tendo em
atenção as características dos sócios ou membros. Pelo contrário, no Reino Unido, a
transparência fiscal só é aplicável às “partnerships” de um modo totalmente
objectivo. Esta potencial diferença faz das “partnerships” inglesas estruturas de
investimento perfeitas e consequentemente, permite a atração de investimento pela
não tributação no país de incorporação/registo dos rendimentos não obtidos naquele
território. Em sentido contrário, o regime português não só falha completamente em
atingir os objetivos que se propõe, como se revela extremamente pouco atrativo e
mesmo injusto quer para residente, quer para não residentes, assim atuando como obstáculo ao investimento.
The need people had to develop businesses together, allied to the intense historical control and limitations on incorporation from governments over the last 5 centuries, have led to the proliferation of “partnerships”. In time these will eventually be mostly replaced, in Continental Europe, by limited liability companies. However, in the United Kingdom, not only will they majorly keep as they will suffer mutations in result from the need to adapt to evolving times. Corporate bodies lie at the very soul of the tax transparency problematic. In fact, tax transparency firstly develops due to the disregard of the “company” as a separate entity from its members. The radically different way in which corporate entities developed in the United Kingdom and in Continental Europe explains the present gap in tax transparency regimens between the United Kingdom and Portugal. The tax transparency regimen is a system through which a corporate body with or without legal personality is disregarded for tax purposes being, instead, the profits allocated to the partners or members and taxed in their own personal sphere. The types of entities to which this regimen applies greatly differ between the Portuguese and the English regimen, as well as the purposes behind the regimens and the motivations that lead the legal drafter to the design of such systems. In Portugal the verification of a pre-set number of requisites leads to the automatic application of the tax transparency regimen, potentially to every company, only attaining to the qualities of the members or partners. On the contrary, in the United Kingdom, tax transparency is only applicable to partnerships in an absolutely objective way. This potential difference makes the United Kingdom partnerships perfect investment structures and, consequently, attracts investment through the avoidance of taxation in the country of registration/incorporation, regarding income that is not connected to that territory. Conversely the Portuguese regimen not only completely fails to achieve all the objectives that it was conceived to, as it presents extremely unattractive and even an unfair for both residents and non-residents, hence negatively preventing investment.
The need people had to develop businesses together, allied to the intense historical control and limitations on incorporation from governments over the last 5 centuries, have led to the proliferation of “partnerships”. In time these will eventually be mostly replaced, in Continental Europe, by limited liability companies. However, in the United Kingdom, not only will they majorly keep as they will suffer mutations in result from the need to adapt to evolving times. Corporate bodies lie at the very soul of the tax transparency problematic. In fact, tax transparency firstly develops due to the disregard of the “company” as a separate entity from its members. The radically different way in which corporate entities developed in the United Kingdom and in Continental Europe explains the present gap in tax transparency regimens between the United Kingdom and Portugal. The tax transparency regimen is a system through which a corporate body with or without legal personality is disregarded for tax purposes being, instead, the profits allocated to the partners or members and taxed in their own personal sphere. The types of entities to which this regimen applies greatly differ between the Portuguese and the English regimen, as well as the purposes behind the regimens and the motivations that lead the legal drafter to the design of such systems. In Portugal the verification of a pre-set number of requisites leads to the automatic application of the tax transparency regimen, potentially to every company, only attaining to the qualities of the members or partners. On the contrary, in the United Kingdom, tax transparency is only applicable to partnerships in an absolutely objective way. This potential difference makes the United Kingdom partnerships perfect investment structures and, consequently, attracts investment through the avoidance of taxation in the country of registration/incorporation, regarding income that is not connected to that territory. Conversely the Portuguese regimen not only completely fails to achieve all the objectives that it was conceived to, as it presents extremely unattractive and even an unfair for both residents and non-residents, hence negatively preventing investment.