Washington — JUST about every American chief executive has the same dream: to get out from under the corporate income tax. For many, that means lobbying Congress to change the tax code. But for a growing number, it also involves increasingly creative — and successful — tricks to avoid their… – Continue reading
‘We’re not a tax haven, we have never been involved in any kind of tax malpractice’ – Michael Noonan, Irish Minister for Finance 5th October 2015 If your top political figures need to constantly state that your country is not a tax haven, then the chances are it probably is… – Continue reading
The focus has been on increasing global participation in India through liberalisation of foreign direct investment (FDI) laws. It covered easing FDI sectorial caps and conditions in diverse sectors ranging from highly regulated sectors like defence, construction& development, civil aviation to single brand retailing, automatic route for FDI in Limited… – Continue reading
As part of the ATO’s reinvention agenda we have been reviewing our Advance pricing arrangement (APA), Mutual agreement procedure (MAP) programs and our Competent Authority Network to identify opportunities to: improve the client experience and better support willing participation improve our bilateral and multilateral engagement increase our efficiency and effectiveness…. – Continue reading
Changes in I-T Act likely to curb tax evasion by multinational companies The government might change transfer pricing provisions in Budget 2016-17 to ensure companies with overseas presence and consolidated revenue of more than Rs 5,000 crore comply with extensive data reporting and documentation. Legislative changes in the Income Tax… – Continue reading
The Nigerian Transfer Pricing (TP) Regulations officially known as Income Tax (Transfer Pricing) Regulations No 1, 2012 regulates transactions between connected taxable persons (controlled transactions). The regulation seeks to ensure that transactions among connected taxable persons are carried on at arm’s length. Applying the arm’s length principle to controlled transactions… – Continue reading
few days before Christmas, in the full light of an Australian summer, the Australian tax commissioner published the tax details of 1,500 large corporate taxpayers which showed a staggering one-third of these companies paid no tax in 2014. This transparency measure was part of a wider package of ground-breaking legislation… – Continue reading
The international community led by the G20 initiated the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project a few years ago with the aim of ensuring that profits are taxed where economic activities are performed and where value is created, the Business Standard reports. Governments, tax authorities and social groups have… – Continue reading
Thai consumer goods group TCC Holding Co. Ltd has completed its acquisition of the Vietnamese operations of Metro for 655 million euros (US$704.1 million). TCC’s subsidiary TCC Land International Pte. Ltd. takes over Metro’s 19 stores and related real estate portfolio in Vietnam, the German company said in a press… – Continue reading
January 2016 You will find below a summary of some of the most important tax developments that have happened since the release of our last newsletter, at OECD, EU or country level, in the area of tax transparency and the fight against tax avoidance. EU – Tax transparency and anti-BEPS… – Continue reading
With all due respect, the OECD’s BEPS project was a fiasco, accomplishing little of any positive value and opening up a Pandora’s box with its focus on “value creation” in the context of transfer pricing. Despite all the “happy talk” coming out of the OECD and all the talk of… – Continue reading
We conduct transfer pricing reviews as part of broader risk reviews of businesses under our compliance program. Documenting your transfer pricing: > is important for demonstrating your compliance with Australia’s transfer pricing rules > can be costly, particularly for smaller businesses. We have developed some simplified transfer pricing record keeping… – Continue reading
Thousands of entrepreneurs are expected to liquidate their companies over the next three months amid fears that an imminent tightening of the tax rules will more than triple their bills, reports the Financial Times. Advisers said many small company owners were drawing up plans to lock in tax rates as… – Continue reading
Dutch holding companies have been again included on the Brazilian government’s list of “privileged tax regimes.” Accordingly, this action has implications for purposes of the transfer pricing, thin capitalization, and tax deductibility rules. Background Under Brazilian tax law, the concept of “privileged tax regimes” is relevant for determining: Whether Brazil’s… – Continue reading
Jamaica has released information explaining its new transfer pricing regime, with transfer pricing documentation due on March 15, 2016. According to the Government, 2015 amendments to the Income Tax Act were intended to remove any subjectivity in the administration of transfer pricing rules. The Government said: “Taxpayers have always had… – Continue reading
SOUTH African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Tom Moyane has been instructed by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to halt the implementation of his ambitious restructuring plans. The far-reaching restructuring project for the tax authority was one of the first initiatives undertaken by Mr Moyane following his appointment as commissioner in October… – Continue reading
World Finance spoke to Thierry Afschrift, founder of Afschrift Law Firm and university professor, about how tax lawyers can respond to a changing European environment In keeping with much of Europe, Belgium’s tax system has been subject recently to a shift of important proportions, as policymakers there look to boost… – Continue reading
Adv. Amit Kriegel is suspected of abetting the super-model in evading taxes in Israel. Adv. Amit Kriegel, lawyer for global super-model Bar Refaeli and a former senior Israel Tax Authority official, was questioned under caution by the Tax Authority in the Bar Refaeli criminal investigation. Kriegel, a partner of former… – Continue reading
The Argentine tax authorities (AFIP) posted an updated “white list” of countries, jurisdictions, and territories—that is, a list of countries and jurisdictions that are identified as cooperative for tax transparency purposes. A broader application of Argentina’s transfer pricing rules will not apply to transactions involving entities located in the countries… – Continue reading
The number of legacy bank tax avoidance schemes under investigation by UK tax authority HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has fallen since the strengthening of Code of Practice on Taxation for Banks, a new departmental report has shown. The Code of Practice on Taxation for Banks was introduced in 2009… – Continue reading
On December 18, 2015, the President signed the Omnibus Appropriations Act (the “Act”) into law.1 Notably, the Act contains a number of substantive changes to the tax laws applicable to “real estate investment trusts” (“REITs”). Although several changes will adversely affect certain REITs, on balance REITs and their investors fared… – Continue reading
On October 5, the OECD issued it formal recommendations on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan. These recommendations have been subsequently adopted by the G20. We acknowledge the monumental effort that has been put forth to produce a modernized international system of tax rules through the BEPS… – Continue reading
Legislation amending the rules governing transfer pricing documentation—to include country-by-country reporting, as well as master file and local file provisions—has been enacted and has an effective date of 1 January 2016. The Dutch Upper House (Eerste Kamer) on 22 December 2015 passed the legislation (the bill is referred to in… – Continue reading
The Norwegian Ministry of Finance published a public consultation paper regarding country-by country reporting for tax purposes. The proposal suggests that multinational groups—when the ultimate parent company is a resident in Norway—would be required to submit country-by country reports. The reporting requirements could also affect foreign group entities that are… – Continue reading
A judgment in the Contira case was handed down two weeks ago in the district court which dramatically changes the Cost Plus issues relevant to certain Israeli companies which provide services to a foreign related company. The judgment impacts on the situation where the Israeli company’s employees are granted options… – Continue reading
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have proposed regulations setting out a new requirement for certain U.S. persons that are the ultimate parent of a multinational group (a “U.S. MNE group”) having annual revenue of at least $850 million to file an annual report (the “CbC report”). The… – Continue reading
Rules requiring master file and local file reporting—“full” transfer pricing reporting—are advancing in Korea. 5 January 2016 Korea’s parliament on 2 December 2015 approved legislation (released as draft legislation by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance of Korea in August 2015) to implement the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting… – Continue reading
Doing business in Poland in 2016? Stay on top of changes to transfer pricing and the potential for tighter local tax regulations. Over the past 12 months we have seen improvements in business-related procedures for tax payers in Poland. Setting up a new company is easier and more efficient, and… – Continue reading
A striking example of the EU’s efforts to accelerate the implementation of anti-base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) measures is the amended Parent Subsidiary Directive (PSD). Originally designed to prevent economic double taxation of profits distributed within an EU corporate, the PSD is now also being deployed to counter undesired… – Continue reading
Although the British Virgin Islands is often seen as an offshore tax haven, a closer look shows such opinions may be overstated There is a stereotypical image of the so-called ‘tax haven’ for ‘shady people to put their money’. While it is true that BVI Finance enjoys warm, sunny weather… – Continue reading
Increasing regulation has made transfer pricing complex for multinational enterprises. Technology can help simplify the process In recent years there has been an increasing focus on transfer pricing, in line with the proliferation of transfer pricing requirements from a growing number of countries around the world, and the OECD’s project… – Continue reading
The international community led by the had initiated the (BEPS) project a few years ago with the aim of ensuring that profits are taxed where economic activities are performed and where value is created. Governments, and social groups have been voicing their concern over the past decade that multinational enterprises… – Continue reading
Official Irish statistics are being fattened up by massive tax inversions and the re-registering of companies, warns Dan White The ESRI estimates that the Irish economy grew by 6.7pc in 2015 and is forecasting GDP growth of 4.8pc for this year. GNP, which is generally regarded as a better measurement… – Continue reading
Two more investment banks have reported paying zero tax in Britain in 2014, prompting the opposition Labour party to urge the government to reverse a tax change it made for banks last year. Citigroup and Credit Suisse disclosed in the past fortnight that their main UK subsidiaries paid no corporate… – Continue reading
Dr Peter Phillips, the finance minister, is about to undo all the good he has done with the economy by implementing the proposed transfer pricing regime. The Government assures the country that this unconstitutional transfer pricing mechanism isn’t a tax, but an attempt to get affected businesses to pay their… – Continue reading
HMRC said the amount of money in tax avoidance schemes has fallen from £3.2bn in 2013 to £1bn All but two UK-registered banks have signed up to a Government scheme encouraging lenders to avoid using tax avoidance schemes. Some 303 lenders, including banks and building societies, have now signed up… – Continue reading
The year 2015 was arguably a momentous one for transfer pricing (TP). A combination of local and international developments will mark it as a period which defined the future direction of this subject. Key Developments The Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) released final reports as part of its… – Continue reading
VietNamNet Bridge – The agreements on double taxation avoidance that Vietnam has signed with other countries is one of the reasons that have made it impossible for state agencies to clarify the suspected cases of multinational conglomerates conducting transfer pricing. A lot of multinational conglomerates such as Coca-Cola, Metro Cash… – Continue reading
The Caribbean territory Saint Kitts and Nevis has set out plans to amend the territory’s international tax rules in its 2016 Budget. The Budget is said to target “the potential for abuse through the use of transfer pricing techniques,” which the Government said “not only affects the withholding tax regime… – Continue reading
Multinational companies have enjoyed a sustained period of falling corporate tax rates around the world. However, with the conclusion of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting project earlier this year marking the start of fundamental changes to the international tax system, and with governments more determined than ever to… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Many manufacturing and trading subsidiaries of Indian companies that are currently operating independently outside India may have to pay taxes in India as they could fail the new test set under the Place of Effective Management (POEM) guidelines. Not just that, some of the companies could see complications with… – Continue reading
“Cash Booked Offshore for Tax Purposes by U.S. Multinationals Doubled between 2008 and 2014” In recent years, U.S. multinational companies have sharply increased the amount of money that they book to foreign subsidiaries. An April 2015 study by research firm Audit Analytics found that the Russell 1000 list of U.S…. – Continue reading
Luis E. Benitez VEGAS Already after two years of discussions on the various actions designed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (hereinafter OECD) to address the problem of the erosion of the tax base and the transfer Benefits under the BEPS project (for its acronym in English Base… – Continue reading
Legislation introduced on Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) would safeguard companies in country-by-country reporting requirements. The Bad Exchange Prevention Act follows the issuance by the Treasury Department on Monday of guidelines for adhering to the country-by-country reporting requirements under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Base… – Continue reading
On September 17, 2015, the IRS issued a statutory notice of deficiency to the Coca-Cola Company, increasing its federal income taxes for 2007-2009 by $3.3 billion, based primarily on transfer pricing adjustments exceeding $9 billion. On December 14, 2015, Coca-Cola petitioned the U.S. Tax Court to overturn the adjustments. This… – Continue reading
The new plan shelves one in the works to spin off Yahoo’s vast holdings in ex-commerce giant Alibaba – which could have exposed it to a huge tax bill – but the tech firm still intends to separate out its activities under the new structure. Yahoo stated it has made… – Continue reading
Fertilizer maker CF Industries and Dutch rival OCI NV, which agreed to merge in August, said they would move the tax residency of the combined company to the Netherlands from the U.K., in a move to satisfy inversion rules put in place by the U.S. Treasury. When the deal was… – Continue reading
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came to power with the promise of putting an end to what many called the tax ‘extortion’ regime of the previous government. The year 2015 was the first full year for the government to walk some of its talk on tax reform. Though the… – Continue reading
CF Industries (CF – Analyst Report) and Netherlands-based fertilizers and industrial chemicals producer – OCI N.V. – said that they have amended their merger agreement originally announced in Aug 2015. Under the modified agreement, the jurisdiction of incorporation and tax residency of the new combined company has been changed to… – Continue reading
Dec. 21 — The IRS proposed rules requiring large companies to report information including the amount of revenue, profit or loss, capital and accumulated earnings for each country of operation, consistent with OECD recommendations designed to combat base erosion and profit shifting. The proposed rules (REG-109822-15, RIN 1545-BM70) would apply… – Continue reading
