Question

Based on Contract Law: 10 Marks Superstrong Petroleum Products SAOC Wholesalers of petroleum & petroleum products, including racing fuels, oils & lubricants & specialty chemicals were the regular suppliers oils and lubricants to SafePackaging LLC, a manufacturer of duplex cartons operating from the Rusayl Industrial Estate. The two companies had been dealing with each other since 1996 on an informal basis with no written contract. In January 2018, the parties agreed that it would be wise to have a formal contract written. Accordingly, Superstrong Petroleum Products SAOC drew up a draft contract and sent it to the SafePackaging LLC. SafePackaging LLC made some minor amendments and filled in some blanks and sent it back to Superstrong Petroleum Products SAOC. Superstrong then simply filed the document and never communicated their acceptance to the contract. Throughout this period the claimants continued to supply the coal. Subsequently a dispute arose in December 2019. Safepackaging refused to settle an invoice amounting to OMR 65,000 claiming that the Superstrong had charged more than the contracted price. They also claimed that there was no contract between the parties.

You are required to advise Superstrong on the validity of the written agreement between the two parties.

I: Based on the Taxation Law of Oman: 10 marks “Traditionally, double tax treaties (DTTs) served as an important policy tool to promote international economic activity by preventing international double 6 taxations. However, despite the growing number of contributions, the empirical evidence on the effects of double tax treaties on bilateral FDI remains inconclusive.” With reference to the above statement critically evaluate the significance of double tax treaties (double taxation avoidance agreements) to developing countries.

Answer 1

Answer to the first question:

Let us first examine the case fact:

There is a previous history of dealings. Superstrong had been supplying the products and till the dispute arisen safe packaging was accepting the deliveries without any rejection on the ground that they never ordered any products, therefore this constitutes the existence of a valid contract between parties.

Now we come to the second point where the Offers has not communicated anything on acceptance of the amended contract send by the offeree, and they started to make the supplies to the offeree, the offeree was accepting the shipment, This again constitutes a valid contract as in this case due to the previous dealing the silence on the offeror or offeree will be considered as acceptance of the contract.

Answer to the second question:

The significance of the double tax treaty is to safeguard the interest of the parties involved in international trade and protect them from the burden of double taxation. In fact, these treaties help in bringing in taxation parity and minimizes the difference in the taxes. with respect to developing countries, it ensures the taxpayer's right and their security. this also helps in the prevention of evasion of taxes.