Russia Interest on late payments: On 25 October 2019, the Russian Central Bank reduced the interest rate from 7% to 6.5% with effect from 28 October 2019.
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Tax base: On 30 September 2019, the Russian Government submitted the Draft Law to the State Duma. The draft law proposed to change the approach to taxing companies in the digital sector. The draft law recommend that the profits of these companies be taxed at the users’ location. This is in line with the current international initiatives under Action 1 of the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project.
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TurkeyMain corporate income tax rate: On 24 October 2019, the Turkish government submitted a new bill to Parliament. The bill proposed reducing corporation tax from 22% to 20% in 2020, and a gradual 20% reduction for non-financial institutions in 2021.
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Slovenia Main corporate income tax rate: On 23 October 2019, the Slovenian Government adopted amendments to the Corporation Tax Act. Accordingly, corporate income tax will be increased from 19% to 20% from 1 January 2020. This law also introduces a minimum corporate tax at a rate of 7%.
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MalaysiaSanctions for late returns: On 16 October 2019, the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia issued an operational Guideline and imposed sanctions on taxpayers who fail to file tax returns within the prescribed time limits. The Directive entered into force on 1 October 2019 and replaced the previous guideline on penalties for late returns issued in 2015.
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IrelandIncentive on Industry/manufacturing: On 16 October 2019, the Finance Minister announced the Finance Bill 2019. Under the budget, the Research and Development tax credit is being amended to provide enhanced supports to micro and small companies, subject to State aid approval. It is proposed that the 25% R&D credit be increased to 30%, and provides for an enhanced method to be used to calculate the payable element of the R&D tax credit, based on twice the current year payroll liabilities, in respect of small and micro companies.
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PeruInterest income deductibility: On 9 October 2019, the Peruvian Tax Administration has published an Administrative Guidance regarding deductibility of interest paid to non-residents. The guidelines explain that, according to Article 57 of the Law, interest and other financial expenses are deductible if they are necessary to obtain income of the third category income or to maintain the source of revenue.
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Norway Incentive for small business: On 7 October 2019, the Ministry of Finance presented its budget proposal for fiscal year 2020. Under the proposal, the current tax credit of 20% for SMEs and 18% for large companies would be replaced by a new unified tax credit of 19%.
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Greece Main corporate income tax rate: On 7 October 2019, the Finance Minister presented the draft budget for 2020 to the Parliament. The draft budget proposed a gradual reduction of the tax rate from 29% to 25% in a 4 years period, with the resulting fiscal impact starting from 2020 onwards.
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Zambia Withholding tax rates on interest: On 27 September 2019, the Finance Minister presented the budget for 2020 to the National Assembly. Under the budget, interest payments to local banks and financial institutions will be exempt from withholding tax and the withholding tax rate on government securities will be reduced from 20% to 15% in the principal Income Tax Act.
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Switzerland Incentive on Industry/manufacturing: On 27 September 2019, the Federal Council of Switzerland issued guidelines on a proposed reform of the Swiss withholding tax regimes for indirect investments. The primary objective of the proposal for an exemption from withholding tax on certain interest payments would be to strengthen the Swiss debt capital market by enabling Swiss companies to raise debt capital out of Switzerland without incurring withholding tax.
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Taiwan Computation of taxable income: On 26 September 2019, Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) released a tax ruling regarding the new method of calculating income source from Taiwan originating from foreign entities amending article 15-1 in accordance with Article 8 of the Income Tax Act.  Article 15-1 clarifies about the required documents for the application and provides more flexible options to calculate the taxable income foreign entities.
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Ukraine PE rules: On 25 September 2019, the State Tax Service of Ukraine issued a letter regarding determination of profits attributable to permanent establishment (PE). A permanent establishment (PE) is recognized as an independent legal entity with respect to its non-resident parent.
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South Africa Computation of taxable income: On 12 September 2019, the South African Revenue Service published draft law regarding the rebate and deduction of foreign taxes on income for public comment. This interpretation note describes the scope, interpretation and application of section 6quat of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962, which provides for rebate or deduction for foreign taxes on income.
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MalawiWithholding tax rates: On 9 September 2019, the Minister of Finance presented the budget for the period 2019-2020 to the Parliament. The budget increased the withholding tax rate on rental income from15% to 20% and the technical (professional) fees from 10% to 20%.
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Hong KongForeign tax relief: In the middle of August 2019, the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (IRD) revised Departmental Interpretation and Practice Notes No. 28 regarding Deduction of Foreign Taxes. The updated version replaced the one issued on 19 July 2019. Under the general rules, the IRD expressed the view that foreign income taxes imposed on gross income (e.g. WHT imposed on gross royalties, service fees and management fees) are no longer be deductible under the general deductibility rules of section 16(1).
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