Błędna wykładnia koncepcji beneficial ownership na gruncie polsko-meksykańskiej umowy o UPO wobec organizacji zbiorowego zarządzania prawami autorskimi

The author presents a partially critical commentary on the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 12 August 2021, in which the Court interpreted the concept of beneficial ownership under the Convention between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the United Mexican States for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income, drawn up in Mexico City on 30 November 1998 (the ‘Poland-Mexico DTT’) with regard to a collective management organization (CMO) with its registered office in Mexico. In the author’s opinion, the Court was right to resolve the case in favour of the taxpayer, allowing the application of the tax benefit provided for in Article 12(2) of the Poland-Mexico DTT in the form of the application of a reduced 10% rate of withholding tax (WHT) in Poland on licence fees (royalties). However, this ruling was based on a partially erroneous interpretation and methodologically incorrect justification, including a partially erroneous understanding of the concept of beneficial ownership. Therefore, the judgment is correct for this case, but may not necessarily be so in other cases involving the concept of beneficial ownership.