Definitions

As used in these sections, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Commissioner" means the tax commissioner of the state of North Dakota. 2. "Ownership interest" means voting interest. 3. "Taxpayer" means any corporation that is required to file an income tax return in North Dakota. 4. "Transaction" means an event that causes a change in a corporation's assets, liabilities, or owner's equity. 5. "Unitary business" means a group of corporations carrying on activities the component parts of which transfer value among themselves through the unities of ownership, operation, and use. Whether a group of corporations is engaged in a unitary business depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. However, if unity of ownership exists, any or all of the following facts and circumstances will create a presumption that the unities of operation and use exist and, therefore, that the corporations are engaged in a unitary business: a. All activities of the corporations in the group are in the same general line or type of business. b. The activities of the corporations in the group constitute different steps in a vertically structured enterprise. c. The group of corporations is characterized by centralized management. 6. "United States" means the fifty states and the District of Columbia. 7. "Unity of operation" means that the group of corporations contributes to or receives benefits from functional integration or economies of scale. 8. "Unity of ownership" means that the corporations in the group are under the common control of a single corporation, which is also a member of the worldwide group. Control is presumed to exist when the single corporation owns, directly or indirectly, more than fifty percent of the ownership interest of another corporation. 9. "Unity of use" means that the group of corporations contributes to or receives benefits from centralized management and policy formation. 10. "Worldwide combined report" means a method of determining the amount of income which should be assigned to North Dakota on behalf of each member of the worldwide group. 11. "Worldwide group" means the group of corporations engaged in a unitary business. This group of corporations may be engaged in business activity both within and without the United States or the group may be engaged solely in business activity within the United States.