Private ruling on beneficial ownership in tax treaties issued

On 21 April 2006, the Ministry of Finance issued a private ruling No. 03-08-02 (the "Ruling") on the beneficial ownership test for tax treaty purposes.
According to the Ruling, the term "beneficial owner" shall be interpreted from a teleological perspective, i.e. taking into account the objectives and basic principles of a treaty. In this context, the Ruling identifies the "avoidance of double taxation and tax evasion" as an objective of a treaty, and "the p…