1. NON-TAX ISSUES 1.1 Domestic law 1.1.1 Briefly describe your legal system and its origins The legal system of the Republic of Ireland is a common law system. In order to ensure consistency, a legal principle developed whereby courts were generally required to follow earlier relevant decisions. This doctrine of… – Continue reading
India said foreign portfolio investors can use tax treaties to reject demands on past capital gains, seeking to defuse a row that cast a cloud over the $48 billion poured into stocks and bonds from overseas. Foreign institutional investors domiciled in countries that have signed double taxation avoidance treaties with… – Continue reading
TL: What are the main considerations and advantages for doing business in Malta? AB: Malta’s positive approach to business promotion, development and standard of living within the EU makes the island a destination of choice for relocation of business purposes. Malta offers noteworthy benefits to individuals and investors who are… – Continue reading
Dinesh Kanabar, CEO, Dhruva Advisors explains that there are three kinds of FIIs: protected by double taxation avoidance treaty, no treaty but physical presence in India, and no treaty and no presence in India. So far notices have been sent only to the second category of investors. Minimum alternate tax… – Continue reading
Sofia. The Bulgarian government approved a draft of a new agreement between Bulgaria and Romania for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. The document will be signed in case of following ratification. That is what the government information service announced…. – Continue reading
The Finance Minister has failed to assuage markets’ fears on the issue of retrospective tax Markets are getting jittery each time the finance minister or his ministry utters the T word. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reminds the market of UPA’s finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who introduced the now-dreaded retrospective tax…. – Continue reading
BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) — China’s taxation authority unveiled ten measures on Monday to improve taxation services for investors to serve the Belt and Road Initiative. The measures will protect investors’ interests, promote development and achieve a win-win outcome, said the State Administration of Taxation (SAT). Tax guides will be… – Continue reading
The internationally recognized handbook for legal experts Global Law Experts has distinguished GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors as one of the leading law firms in the field of tax law. GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London has been… – Continue reading
The OECD Mutual Agreement Procedure Statistics for 20131 (MAP Statistics), released on November 25, 2014, show a dramatic surge in the inventory of mutual agreement procedure (MAP) cases among OECD member countries. The MAP Statistics confirm that the potential for double taxation is increasing. This is reflected most starkly in… – Continue reading
The National Taxpayer Advocate has recommended that the reporting rules under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and for foreign bank account reports in effect be merged to simplify the duplicative disclosure requirements that make it difficult for American expatriates to have bank accounts in the foreign countries where they… – Continue reading
Australia’s $29 billion system of franking credits for investors is skewed heavily to the rich and is ripping a hole in the budget, a new analysis has found, with one tax break found nowhere else in the world costing almost $5 billion a year. Millions of Australians benefit from franking… – Continue reading
The United States of America (USA) has toppled Mauritius to become the top jurisdiction from where India is receiving the highest amount of foreign portfolio investment (FPI) into the equity markets. Mauritius lost out due to the uncertainty over the double tax avoidance treaty (DTAA) between India and Mauritius and… – Continue reading
Global cues are negative with the Asian markets starting the week on the back foot, following a lower finish on Wall Street on Friday. Moneycontrol Bureau The Indian equity market is likely to open in the green as suggested by SGX Nifty, that was trading at 8618.00, up 3 points… – Continue reading
Tensions between Swiss banks and the United States justice authorities should ease up in 2015, Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf has said on the sidelines of the joint International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington. The minister said she had received positive signals that this year would bring… – Continue reading
ABU DHABI: The UAE Cabinet has on Sunday endorsed hosting the headquarters of the joint Police Force of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) in Abu Dhabi. By hosting the GCC Police Force, the UAE aims to foster its relations with the other Gulf countries to safeguard the region from any… – Continue reading
The United Kingdom (UK) has followed Germany in lodging a formal protest with the Finance Ministry over the alleged breach of confidentiality of data and secret banking details received via diplomatic channels. While German authorities objected to the manner in which 18 names of Indian account holders in the LGT… – Continue reading
ROME–Italy’s Chamber of Deputies passed legislation Wednesday aimed at avoiding double taxation with Taiwan. It is the first time Italy’s parliament has passed legislation related to relations with Taiwan. The bill gained the support of the center-left Democratic Party, the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, as well as… – Continue reading
Chinese authorities will cooperate with Indonesia to confiscate more than $500 million of ill-gotten assets illegally transferred to China by corrupt Indonesian banking officials. Under the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between China and Indonesia that took effect in 2006, the Ministry of Justice will “give support… – Continue reading
World-Herald Bureau WASHINGTON — Nebraska rancher John McFadden will be watching this week as the House votes on eliminating the federal estate tax that could affect how much of his 500-head cattle operation he leaves to his children. McFadden saw much of his grandfather’s land sold off to pay taxes… – Continue reading
Dixcart, an international business support services provider, has released a new guide on the UK’s Diverted Profits Tax, which was altered ahead of its introduction on April 1, 2015. The DPT is intended to counter aggressive tax avoidance by multinational companies. It is charged at a rate of 25 percent… – Continue reading
The measure probably won’t advance further, at least not this year. The U.S. House voted to repeal the 99-year-old U.S. estate tax amid a partisan clash over whether the government should break up concentrated wealth or make it easier to pass along assets to the next generation. The House passed… – Continue reading
Portugal’s deputy prime minister, Paulo Portas, and Saudi Arabia’s minister of trade, Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, recently signed an agreement abolishing double taxation between the two countries, as part of a continued broader effort by Portugal’s government to boost exports and investment. The document was signed after a meeting in… – Continue reading
Rome, April 16 (CNA) Italy’s Chamber of Deputies passed legislation Wednesday aimed at avoiding double taxation with Taiwan. It is the first time Italy’s parliament has passed legislation related to relations with Taiwan. The bill gained the support of the center-left Democratic Party, the largest party in the Chamber of… – Continue reading
The Attorney-General, Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum today received the new non-resident Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to Fiji, His Excellency Nazar Al-Said. In welcoming the Omani envoy to Fiji, Minister Sayed-Khaiyum said that the Fijian Government looked forward to developing its bilateral relations with Oman, particularly in the areas of… – Continue reading
It’s undoubtedly too soon to begin getting your hopes up yet, but there are signs that the new GOP controlled Congress may finally be getting down to some of the regular business we were promised during the election. Plenty of fire and brimstone has been flying around both chambers over… – Continue reading
Ahead of this week’s income tax filing deadline, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation Foundation said the U.S. should exempt its companies’ foreign earnings from corporate taxes. In contrast to current tax policy, the groups’ analysis argued that exempting those earnings would allow… – Continue reading
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a GOP 2016 presidential candidate, joined Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to discuss their new tax reform plan at The Heritage Foundation, which they recently released. Lee began by saying the proposed tax plan is “pro growth and pro families,” explaining that the current tax code is… – Continue reading
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will not intervene in oversight of digital currencies such as bitcoin at the moment, The Australian Business Review reports. In reply to an Australian Senate inquiry, RBA’s representatives said in their opening statement that the limited use of the currency had no discernible impact… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has sought foreign assistance for improvement in two key areas; capacity building of officers and staff and IT infrastructure development. “FBR is of the view that if developed, both of these areas can only play key role in bringing FBR at par with… – Continue reading
The Revenue Office will take steps to tax social networking sites and implement other regulations related to e-commerce. After the implementation of this regulation, all such virtual sites will be deemed as “work places” and the advertisers of social networking sites will also be deemed as “electronic tax payers.” Moreover,… – Continue reading
For entrepreneurs who want to set up a company and avoid double taxation (i.e., taxation of amounts earned by the company and then taxation of the owners when they receive payments from the company), the choice often comes down to using an S-corporation or LLC (limited liability company). What if… – Continue reading
New Jersey is known for many things. As a burial ground for New York mobsters. Home to an impressive array of environmentally toxic factories. Atlantic City is the established gambling capital of the Eastern United States. Newark, New Jersey: one of the United States’s most criminal-minded cities. And a catchy… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone Authority (UAQ FTZ). This agreement has been signed to ensure international standards of transparency in the exchange of information for tax purposes, as per Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)… – Continue reading
Pakistan-Japan Business Forum has recommended to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately de-notify Federal Excise Duty (FED) on royalty and technical fee, which is now chargeable under the provincial legislation promulgated in Sindh, Punjab and KP, as sales tax on services. Sources told Business Recorder on Saturday that… – Continue reading
Pakistan-Japan Business Forum has recommended to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately de-notify Federal Excise Duty (FED) on royalty and technical fee, which is now chargeable under the provincial legislation promulgated in Sindh, Punjab and KP, as sales tax on services. Sources told Business Recorder on Saturday that… – Continue reading
Australia and the GCC countries may only be a few months away from signing a landmark Free Trade Agreement (FTA) deal “if a decision is made quickly,” with such a deal having multiple benefits for various Gulf-based businesses and stakeholders, said Australia Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb. Speaking to… – Continue reading
Belgium has not asked Russia to lift the embargo on its food products, and such issues should be discussed between the EU and Russia, says Belgian Foreign Minister and Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Chairman Didier Reynders. “Belgium pursues its policy in solidarity with the European Union, and therefore… – Continue reading
Maryland officials are bracing for a Supreme Court decision this spring that could find a provision of the state’s income tax law unconstitutional, leaving the state and its counties on the hook for as much as $200 million in refunds and facing significant cuts in revenue. Montgomery County stands to… – Continue reading
Australia is one of a handful of countries that offers franking credits, making the nation’s investors the envy of their counterparts elsewhere in the world. A franking credit is an income tax credit that companies can pass on to their shareholders. It is the result of dividend imputation, or attribution…. – Continue reading
The Ukrainian government will review the system of taxation of gas production companies irrespective of their form of ownership. This is stipulated in the draft guidelines of Ukraine’s budget policy, or the budget resolution, for 2016, which was tabled by the Cabinet of Ministers in parliament. Among the other priorities… – Continue reading
Scottish Government must work closely with councils to ensure devolution of taxation powers to Scotland brings tax and welfare systems together, according to experts. The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) also warned draft legislation could have ‘unintended complexities’, leading to double taxation on foreign income and forcing more Scottish taxpayers… – Continue reading
1. Introduction On 14 January 2015, the Swiss Federal Council opened consultations on two draft laws on the international exchange of information in tax matters. One of them deals with the OECD/Council of Europe administrative assistance convention signed by Switzerland on 15 October 2013. The other consultation deals with Switzerland’s… – Continue reading
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited’s securities market turnover has risen to a record high, and the recent signing of the fourth Protocol to the China-Hong Kong double taxation agreement (DTA) will further boost trading activity through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (SHKSC) program. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited’s… – Continue reading
BANGKOK: — IN SPITE of global economic sluggishness dampening overseas shipments this year, the Thai economy should grow more strongly during the current quarter, driven by tourism growth, rising government spending and recovering exports, ministers said yesterday. At the annual meeting of the Thai National Shippers Council, Deputy Prime Minister… – Continue reading
Proposed changes to Australia’s managed investment trust regime have been met with cheers from the investment community as they welcome the boost in certainty and tax treatments. The government revealed the long-awaited changes to Australia’s MIT tax system on Tuesday, and expects to create a new standalone regime that will… – Continue reading
Currently, Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) have no comprehensive federal framework under which to offer employment tax collection and remittance services to their clients. The Small Business Efficiency Act (“SBEA Act”) is set to change this effective as of January 1, 2016, following an interim deadline for the IRS to establish… – Continue reading
China has introduced measures to deny income tax deductions for certain service fees and royalties paid by Chinese companies to their overseas affiliates. They appear to stem from China’s initiatives to implement rules it sees as related to the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project (BEPS) They will likely… – Continue reading
A Bill containing various amendments to the Tax Code has been discussed and agreed by the Georgian Economic Council. Among the measures contained in the Bill is a reduction in the rate of tax for individuals letting property, from 20 percent to five percent. There is also a proposed incentive… – Continue reading
Introduction In a recent chief counsel memorandum (AM 2015-01), the IRS addressed a long uncertain tax question: when a US corporate shareholder includes an amount in income under subpart F, does the subpart F inclusion increase the corporate shareholder’s “earnings and profits” immediately or only when the earnings are actually… – Continue reading
CINCINNATI — March traditionally is the best month for gambling operations, and new tallies show the Horseshoe Cincinnati Casino had its best month for revenues since a year ago. Last month’s results for the Horseshoe Cincinnati, with $17.5 million in revenues, bested every month since March a year ago. Revenues… – Continue reading
