Category: Legislation

China: Discussion Draft Of Implementation Regulations For Special Tax Adjustment Issued — Interpretation Of Transfer Pricing Investigation And Adjustment

On 17 September, 2015, China State Administration of Taxation (“SAT”) released the Discussion Draft of Implementation Measures for Special Taxation Adjustments (“Discussion Draft”), as a complete revamp to the existing trial version of the Implementation Measures, i.e., Circular 2. Circular 2 has been serving as a backbone transfer pricing (“TP”)… – Continue reading

British Virgin Islands: BVI Financial Account Reporting — Preparing For The CRS

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is the standard for automatic exchange of financial account information produced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which provides for systematic and periodic automatic exchange of information between signatory jurisdictions. At its heart is a requirement for financial institutions, including British Virgin… – Continue reading

The Changing Face of Luxembourg Finance

“Luxembourg is famous for two things: its steel industry and its rose cultivation industry”. This quote from an Italian guidebook of the 1930s was uttered by Luxembourg’s Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna at the annual conference of the Luxembourg Directors’ Association on 17 June 2015[1]. The economic outlook of the tiny… – Continue reading

Tax Policy Emerges As New Source of Friction As Europe Seeks Additional Revenue From US Multinationals

The 28 nations of the European Union lose up to $1 trillion per year in revenue thanks to multinational corporations that use a spider’s web of completely legal constructs to lower their taxes. Now, Europe’s law enforcers and lawmakers want to wipe away these intricate tax-avoidance systems. If they have… – Continue reading

Transfer Pricing Documentation in a Post-BEPS World

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change”-Charles Darwin The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its final recommendations on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project on October 5, 2015. The BEPS project consist of… – Continue reading

New transfer pricing rule getting needed adjustment

Looking back at tax developments over the past year, we’ve seen some promising incentives granted by the government and other developments that have caused taxpayer anxiety. One contentious issue involved transfer pricing, which we discussed in a previous column (“Transfer Pricing Loopholes Likely to be Closed Soon”, June 2). The… – Continue reading

EU committee to vote on plans to curb tax avoidance

EU committee to vote on plans to curb tax avoidance EU countries should be compelled to inform other member states in advance of plans to introduce tax initiatives that could affect their own or another country’s effective tax rate, according to a report to be considered by the European Parliament’s… – Continue reading

‘Dark clouds on horizon’ for Malta’s financial services industry

KPMG, PN leader warn that proposals recently approved by European Parliament could threaten Malta’s booming financial services industry New European initiatives could threaten Malta’s sovereignty over its own fiscal affairs, KPMG partner Juanita Bencini warned. “There are dark clouds on the horizon and a closer European union may not necessarily… – Continue reading

Australia Launches Consultation On Anti-Hybrid Rules

The Australian Board of Taxation has released for public comment a discussion paper on the implementation of the anti-hybrid rules developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As part of the 2015 Budget, on May 12, 2015, Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey wrote to Michael Andrew, Chair of… – Continue reading

EAC STATES ADOPT NEW MEASURES TO CURB TAX LOSS

Multinationals operating in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will be among the first in Africa to feel the impact of new measures to be adopted in January to curb tax losses caused by manipulation of contracts between related companies. The three countries together with Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Botswana and… – Continue reading

Well-timed call to modernise direct tax law

The law, at present, is replete with a complex web of cross-references, often causing confusion The clamour for simplifying tax legislations gets louder as a new government, in its interaction with businesses and the civil society, holds out a promise of a non-adversarial tax regime. The reform of indirect taxes… – Continue reading

East Africa: New Rules Will Ensure Profits Are Tied to Economic Activities

What is the whole point of the 15 actions in the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) code? How will they curb tax dodging and make taxation of multinationals more transparent? Historically, the interaction of different tax policies lead to instances where taxes paid are not commensurate to economic value… – Continue reading

East Africa: New Reporting Code for Mncs Could Save Africa $35b

East African countries expect to collect more revenue under a new code drawn, by the world’s richest economies to stop foreign multinationals from dodging taxes in host countries. The new code — Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) — adopted by G20 at its meeting in Turkey two weeks ago,… – Continue reading

Apple, Amazon and Microsoft’s mega-million con: How titans of the new economy screw us all on taxes

Tech titans powering the economy shelter money through insane tax-avoidance havens. It’s wrong — and adding up Offshore tax havens enable not only individuals to dodge taxes—they also enable multinational corporations to do so. Often this tax avoidance is done within the letter of the law: multinational groups exploit the… – Continue reading

Crickhowell: Inside the Welsh town that took itself offshore in tax protest

Residents want to share their tax avoidance plan with other towns to force the treasury into closing tax loopholes A small town in Wales is attempting to register its independent businesses as offshore companies to demonstrate how flawed they believe the British and international tax systems are. By mimicking the… – Continue reading

MEPs back corporate tax reforms

The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a suite of corporate tax reforms that will ensure multinational companies pay taxes where profits are made and increase transparency. A total of 508 MEPs voted in favour of the adoption of recommendations put forward by the Special Committee on Tax Rulings last month…. – Continue reading

Government Tightens the Screws on Tax Evasion and Non-compliance

Individuals should focus on legitimising their assets while they can and start to look at how they can restructure their investments. Measures to tackle tax evasion continue to be a key focus for the government, with £800 million HMRC funding to be reinvested in additional work to tackle tax ‘evasion… – Continue reading

Europe’s money-laundering machine: still spinning

When the first flames of the Arab Spring began to burn, a Tunisia suffering from decades of mismanagement, inequality and abuse broke free from under the long reign of Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali. As the government fell and the turmoil in the country spread across the region, the sheer scale… – Continue reading

Worldwide: Final BEPS Reports Issued By OECD

The OECD published 13 final reports along with an explanatory statement under its base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project on the 5th October 2015. This was endorsed three days later on the 8th October 2015 by the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting in Peru’. The BEPS project outlines 15 action… – Continue reading

Overview of transfer pricing in Hong Kong and China

Introduction Transfer pricing is a term used to define the price charged between associated enterprises for the transfer of goods, services and intangible property. Increasing cross-border activities have made transfer pricing a real issue as enterprises seek to use transfer pricing as a tool for tax avoidance. Consequently, HK has… – Continue reading

Does corporate tax planning have a future?

FOCUS: Significant changes to the international tax system planned for the next five years, coupled with a major shift in attitudes towards tax avoidance, has all but killed off the traditional tax scheme. So what does the future hold for businesses seeking to engage in tax planning? To celebrate Out-Law’s… – Continue reading

GLOBAL TAXPAYERS CAN EXPECT TO PAY MORE TAX IN THE YEARS AHEAD

Global taxpayers can expect to pay more tax in the years ahead. Many governments worldwide continue to update their tax legislation and expand their tax systems to repay debt and pay for increased social welfare, even as the memory of the last global financial crisis lingers. These are the conclusions… – Continue reading

FATCA me if you can: Hong Kong should learn from Israel

Israeli politicians occasionally risk the ire of their American allies. Some have successfully challenged legislation in court to slow the implementation of FATCA-related legislation. Watch and learn, Hong Kong. As the United States continues to bring country after country to their knees to comply with its Foreign Account Tax Compliance… – Continue reading

Italy: Transactions with tax havens governed by proportionality (and reason) | International Tax Review

ITR Correspondent Italy has updated its rules governing transactions with parties located in tax havens. Following a legislative process which began in 2013, the Italian Government on September 14 2015 enacted a decree addressing a wide array of international tax matters, including one of the most controversial Italian tax rules… – Continue reading

European Union: The End Of Financial Privacy?

Over 90 jurisdictions have committed to the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS), creating comprehensive global automatic information exchange for financial assets and the entities through which such assets may be held. Over 70 jurisdictions have signed the OECD’s Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement, which implements the CRS. The CRS is scheduled… – Continue reading

KPMG releases new global tax survey; economic and social pressures expected to impact global tax system

Taxpayers in Romania and throughout the world can expect to pay more tax in the years ahead as governments expand their tax systems to repay debt and pay for increased social welfare, and international efforts to update tax legislation for the 21st century take hold. These are the conclusions of… – Continue reading

Previewing US Tax Reform

The latest Tax Reform Business Barometer survey, issued by The Tax Council and Ernst & Young, found that tax professionals expect Congress to approve tax reform legislation no earlier than 2017, with most congressional leaders having all but given up hope that tax reform is achievable in the remainder of… – Continue reading

The offshore financial industry shows resilience as demand stays robust

The offshore industry is poised for growth, as the industry insiders see the demand for offshore financial and corporate services likely to increase in the coming years, according to an industry survey conducted by OIL, a corporate service provider specializing in international incorporations. The industry has been battling negative perceptions… – Continue reading

Switzerland: The Free Flow Of Data

Switzerland is on its way towards the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI). The AEOI will lead to the transmission of sets of data from a reporting financial institution (e.g. a bank) to the domestic tax authority. The domestic tax authority will have to exchange such data with the respective foreign… – Continue reading

Better global rankings underline India’s potential

The World Bank has placed India twelve notches higher than last year in its Ease of Doing Business rankings for 2016. This comes close on the heels of the country’s sixteen place leap on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness index. These rankings underline the impact of the recent spate… – Continue reading

Hong Kong Adapts To Global Tax Developments

Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, K C Chan, has emphasized that the Government is committed to complying with the latest international tax developments, including on tax transparency and tackling base erosion and profit shifting. In his speech to the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong 2015 CTA… – Continue reading

Why incorporate a startup in the British Virgin Islands?

As the founder of a startup company, one of the first questions you need to consider is “where should I incorporate my company?” Investors are drawn to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for its flexible and modern corporate regime, tax neutrality, respected legal system, political stability and effective regulatory framework…. – Continue reading

PwC Makes UK Autumn Statement Predictions

Professional services firm PwC has predicted that UK Chancellor George Osborne will introduce an “apprenticeship levy” and seek to lessen the impact of tax credit cuts when he delivers his Autumn Statement on November 25. In his Summer Budget, Osborne pledged that the Government would “introduce an apprenticeship levy on… – Continue reading

Denmark introduces a legislative proposal in order to implement BEPS Action Point 13

On 10 November 2015, the Danish Ministry of Taxation introduced a draft bill (bill no. L46) including an amendment to section 3B of the Danish Tax Control Act (skattekontrolloven). The purpose of the proposed amendment is to implement Action Point 13 of the BEPS Initiative (Guidance on Transfer Pricing Documentation… – Continue reading

U.K., U.S. Differ on Approaches to Implement BEPS

The U.K. and the U.S. governments will adopt different approaches to implementing the OECD’s final package of measures to tackle base erosion and profit shifting, panelists at a London forum said. The U.K. government considers an inclusive, multilateral instrument to upgrade bilateral tax treatments as the “best way” for countries… – Continue reading

Praise for Gibraltar government from Washington D.C.

DESPITE repeated allegations from the Spanish government that Gibraltar is a tax haven, news is regularly received that suggests this is far from the case, and that the government has been doing all that it can to ensure that it complies as fully as possible with international standards, whilst generating… – Continue reading

FATCA – correlation of the global economy with the US economy

Already from December 1, 2015 come into force provisions requiring all financial institutions calling their clients to make statements about their residence tax (FATCA – Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act). It is the first significant action since records to OPF. FATCA imposes on foreign institutions, including the Polish reporting obligations… – Continue reading

Ambassador Hull: Region should not be strong-armed into becoming tax collectors for the US government

LK Hewlett St. Kitts-Nevis Permanent Representative to the OAS, Dr. Everson Hull has expressed strong views on the impact of FATCA on the region’s banking system. Delivering a presentation to over 200 banking executives and other stakeholders in the financial services sector from across the Caribbean at the recent Caribbean… – Continue reading

Blacklisted HK: The Spanish Case

The blacklisting saga did not start with Spain, but it did end with a timely correction related to it. Harbour Times explains how Hong Kong was taken off the Spanish tax haven list. Friends of Harbour Times would be familiar with the remedy of Hong Kong being named a non-cooperative… – Continue reading

Advance payments by non-residents disposing of immovable property

Introduction Withholding obligation Proposed amendment Comment Introduction The 2015 Taxation Laws Amendment Bill proposes an amendment to Section 35A of the Income Tax Act (58/1962), dealing with withholding percentages from payments due to non-resident sellers of immovable property situated in South Africa. The proposed amendment raises interesting questions regarding compliance… – Continue reading

Stricter norms likely for transfer pricing

MUMBAI: India’s forthcoming budget may draw from some of the recommendations, especially in the realm of transfer pricing, contained in the final package of ‘Base Erosion and Profit Shifting’ (BEPS) measures, rolled out in October. Certain anti-abuse measures, such as thin capitalization, which for tax purposes disallows interest payments beyond… – Continue reading

Finance Malta wants faster innovation

Malta recently ranked first for efficiency in transposing directives into national legislation – but the chairman of Finance Malta, Kenneth Farrugia, believes that the pace of innovation needs to accelerate. “We claim to be nimble, but we need to push it much more. Innovation needs to be much faster paced…. – Continue reading

CEE countries must share best practices better to successfully combat VAT fraud

Officials from the ministries of finance and economy of five CEE countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) have called for a joint approach to combat VAT fraud and increase VAT collection in a conference hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Budapest on Thursday. According to the EU Commission data,… – Continue reading

European Commission requests Germany to bring its inheritance tax rules on special maintenance allowances in line with EU law

On November 19, 2015 the European Commission published the key decisions of its November infringement package. One of the key decision mentioned is the Commission’s decision to request Germany to bring its inheritance tax rules on special maintenance allowances in line with EU law. According to a press release issued… – Continue reading

CE + IT Multinationals Seek Talk With ATO As Avoidance Laws Near

CANBERRA – Several multinational companies have approached the Australian Taxation Office to negotiate before the Coalition Government’s tougher anti-avoidance laws take effect in January, tax commissioner Chris Jordan has said in opening remarks to the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance. While not naming the companies, Jordan said he expects… – Continue reading