Private equity funds - amendments to Denmark's anti-avoidance legislation

The takeover of several high-profile Danish companies by private equity funds in recent years has sparked an intensive debate in Denmark on the effects of this trend, and one of the issues discussed has been the tax structure and consequences of these takeovers. In December 2005, the Danish Minister of Taxation presented a bill which proposed, inter alia, to expand significantly several of Denmark's anti-avoidance provisions, including the rules on thin capitalization, the withholding tax on interest and transfer pricing, in order to target the structures used. The bill was the subject of considerable debate, and the Minister of Taxation proposed several amendments. The final bill was passed by the parliament on 6 April 2006. This article discusses the amendments to Denmark's anti-avoidance provisions.