UK: Updated guidance on the Scottish rate of income tax

October 31, 2015

On 27 October 2015 the UK published updated guidance on the Scottish rate of income tax that becomes effective from 6 April 2016. The Scottish Parliament is empowered to set a tax rate that is different from the rate applicable in the rest of the

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UK publishes statistics on employment allowance

October 31, 2015

The UK has published statistics on employers taking up the employment allowance for the first six months of the 2015/16 tax year (6 April 2015 to 5 October 2015). The Employment Allowance was introduced from 2014 and gives up to GBP 2,000 relief

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Ethiopia: IMF report comments on economic and fiscal position

October 31, 2015

Following consultations with Ethiopia under Article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement the IMF released a staff report and other documents on 30 October 2015. Ethiopia’s recent economic performance has been strong, with economic growth of

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Angola: IMF comments on economic and fiscal position

October 31, 2015

The Executive Board of the IMF concluded its consultations with Angola under Article IV of its articles of agreement on 28 October 2015 and has published a press release. Angola’s economy has been adversely affected by the low oil price and there

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UK Explains VAT Changes Following the Skandia Decision

October 30, 2015

The UK has issued Revenue and Customs Brief 18 (2005) explaining VAT grouping rules and the Skandia judgment. The VAT changes in the UK effective from 1 January 2016 result from the Skandia decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The

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Argentina-Double Tax Treaty with Switzerland enters into force

October 30, 2015

The new Double Taxation Treaty between Switzerland and Argentina will enter into force on 27 November 2015. The new treaty will be applicable from 1 January 2015. For taxes withheld at source the relief has become applicable from 2015. The new

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DTA between Czech Republic and Pakistan enters into force

October 30, 2015

The Income Tax Treaty (2014) between Czech Republic and Pakistan entered into force on 30th October 2015 and it generally applies for the Czech Republic from 1st January 2016 and from 1st July 2016 for

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Bosnia: IMF Report Suggests Reforms to Taxation and Social Security

October 29, 2015

Following consultations in Bosnia by IMF staff under Article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement a staff report and a selected issues paper were published on 28 October 2015. The selected issues paper includes a section on moving towards a more

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UK: Two year plan to increase SME awareness of R&D tax relief

October 29, 2015

Following a consultation on research and development tax relief the UK government has announced a two-year plan to make it easier for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) conducting research and development (R&D) to claim the tax relief. The

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Bulgaria: Budget for 2016 published

October 29, 2015

The Finance Ministry (MoF) has published the Budget for 2016 on 26th October 2015. The MoF included the following measures in this budget: The income tax rate, withholding tax rate, and VAT rate will remain unchanged for 2016 through

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Luxembourg: Electronic filing for company income tax return

October 29, 2015

Electronic filing is now available for Luxembourg resident company. On 29 October 2015, the Finance Minister declared a new e-filing tool for company income tax return, municipal business and net worth tax return. Initially e-filing process is

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Poland: The President of Republic amends rules on transfer pricing documentation

October 29, 2015

The President of Republic of Poland signed an Act amending the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Act, the Personal Income Tax (PIT) Act on 27 October 2015. The Act initiated important changes related to transfer pricing (TP) documentation. As per the

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Greece: Enacted Rules on Transfer Pricing Penalties and Issued Guidance on TP Documentation

October 29, 2015

Greece enacted changes to the applicable transfer pricing (TP) documentation rules based on Law 4337/17.10.2015 on 17 October 2015 and issues guidance. Based on the new Law 4337/17.10.2015, the following changes are introduced to the penalties

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Canada: Alberta fiscal budget for 2015-2016 issued

October 28, 2015

The Finance Minister of Alberta has presented the Province’s fiscal budget for 2015-2016 on 27th October 2015. The budget contains no changes to the personal income tax rates. However, some other new tax measures contained in the budget may

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Russia: A draft order regarding tax exchange information published

October 28, 2015

The Federal Tax Service (FTS) has released a draft order on 26th October 2015 that contains a list (in Russian) of countries and territories which do not exchange tax information with Russia for discussion purposes. According to article 25.13-1 of

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Hungary: Draft bill for tax law changes in 2016

October 28, 2015

The government of Hungary recently presented to the Parliament a draft bill with proposals for tax law changes which would take effect as from 2016. The proposed draft bill creates a classification system for taxpayers based on the level of risk

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Kazakhstan: Amendment to the deductibility of charitable donations

October 28, 2015

The Senate has passed a bill on 22nd October 2015 that changes the deductibility of charitable donations. In accordance with the bill, the deduction of charitable donation by companies and individual entrepreneurs will be limited to the following

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Second round of FTA negotiations between China and Pakistan

October 28, 2015

The 2nd round of the China-Pakistan free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations was held in Beijing on October 14 to 16. The negotiations were based on tax reduction for trade in goods; further opening of trade in services; Pakistan’s regulation

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