Dell Products Ltd. was a company resident in Ireland which sold computers and computer equipment to commissionaires in foreign jurisdictions. One of those commissionaires was Dell AS, resident in Norway. The Akershus County Tax Office as well as the Court of Appeal considered Dell AS to constitute an agency permanent establishment for Dell Products Ltd. in accordance with Art. 5 para 5 of the Norwegian-Irish tax treaty. It was found that Dell AS as a commissionaire had the right to enter into contracts which in reality were binding the principal Dell Pruducts Ltd, and that this satisfied the condition of Art. 5 para 5 of the Norwegian-Irish tax treaty. The Supreme Court of Norway, however, ruled that considerations related to purpose could not take precedence over the legal sources existing, and that the result should be that Dell Products Ltd. does not have a permanent establishment in Norway. Stefan Bendlinger analyses the Norwegian Supreme Court’s decision in detail with a view to Austrian administrative practice and possible consequences in determining whether a commissionaire could constitute a principal’s permanent establishment.