Ireland: Finance Act 2013
The Irish Finance Bill 2013, which was published on 13 February 2013, was enacted on 27 March 2013 as the Finance Act 2013. Modifications have been made to the tax regime for start-up companies. These companies currently are not required to pay
See MoreColombia: Introduces Corporate Tax Reforms
The Colombian Government has introduced measures relating to corporate tax changes. For the purposes of corporate tax, it redefined the concept of permanent establishment. Corporate income tax rate for companies and for non-resident companies
See MoreAustralia: Publication of changes in Pension Taxation
The Australian government has published a plan for the tax exemption on pension earnings in superannuation accounts to be capped at $100,000, with any amounts above that threshold to be taxed at 15%. Currently a 15% tax applies to earnings from
See MoreAndorra signs a double tax treaty with France
A double tax treaty between France and Andorra was signed on 2 April 2013. No further details of the agreement are currently available. Andorra was removed from the OECD list of uncooperative list of tax havens in 2009, and in that year signed
See MoreKorea: Update on rules for application of arm’s length standard to head office–branch transactions
Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance has issued new regulations to clarify the method for calculating domestic-source income from intra-company transactions between a foreign head office and its Korean branch. This follows the passing of the
See MoreFinland: Government’s 3-Year Tax Plan
The Finnish government has formed a new 3-year spending plan to respond to the current decline in the Finnish economy. The plan covers the years from 2014-2017. The main key points of the plan are as follows: • Corporate income tax will be
See MoreChina: Non-resident enterprises – tax collection in 2012
A report on statistics compiled by China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) indicates that the tax paid in 2012 by non-resident enterprises in China showed a slight increase, following a sharper rise in the previous year, and amounted to
See MoreIndia: Guidelines for application of the profit split method
India’s Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued Circular No. 2 of 2013, setting out guidelines for application of the Profit Split Method (PSM) in international transactions. The profit split method is one of the permitted methods for
See MoreNetherlands: Finance Minister clarifies aspects of international taxation
A letter to the Upper House of Parliament (Eerste Kamer) from the Dutch Finance Minister has presented clarifications of the Dutch tax system in the light of the recent OECD report on base erosion and profit shifting and the steps taken by the G8
See MoreOECD: study of taxation of wages
The OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration has published as a Taxation Working Paper a study entitled: “The average personal income tax rate and tax wedge progression in OECD countries”. The tax wedge could be defined as the difference
See MoreSweden: Record number of taxpayers filing electronically
Online individual tax returns filing, or by text message or phone is available in Sweden. This offers advantages for taxpayers such as earlier receipt of tax refunds due, and helps the tax administration by reducing compliance costs. The Swedish tax
See MoreTreaty between Albania and United Kingdom signed
On 26 March 2013, Albania and the United Kingdom signed a Double Taxation Agreement. The agreement generally follows the provisions of the OECD Model, with some modifications. The agreement will enter into force when the appropriate ratification
See MoreUK Finance Bill 2013 published
Following the Budget announcements on 20 March, the UK published the Finance Bill 2013 on 28 March 2013. The Bill includes a reduction in the main rate of corporation tax to 21% in 2014 and to 20% in 2015. Explanatory Notes to the Finance Bill have
See MoreCanada – 2013 budget announcements
The Canadian budget proposals for 2013 were announced on March 21, 2013. The proposals include measures to combat tax evasion and to provide some help for companies in the manufacturing and mining sectors. There is no change to the corporate tax
See MoreFinland Plans to Cut Corporate Tax Rate in 2014
On 21 March 2013, the government of Finland announced that it had reached an agreement on its tax plans for the tax years from 2014 to 2017. Finland plans to further cut its corporate tax rate to 20% from the current 24.5% rate, as of the beginning
See MoreOECD: Aggressive tax planning schemes based on after-tax hedging
On 13 March 2013 the OECD released a report entitled “Aggressive Tax Planning Based on After-Tax Hedging”. This report uses information on aggressive tax avoidance schemes submitted to the OECD Directory on Aggressive Tax Planning and looks at
See MoreOECD: report on aid modalities for strengthening tax systems
An OECD report entitled “Tax and development: aid modalities for strengthening tax systems” was published on 11 March 2013. This is a result of work by the OECD’s Informal Task Force on Tax and Development, which incorporates the expertise of
See MoreRussia: Clarifications regarding the advance pricing agreements
The Ministry of Finance has released Letter 03-01-18/2676 on February 6, 2013 clarifying the procedure for concluding advance pricing agreements (APAs) for foreign transactions. According to article 105.20 of the Tax Code the Ministry of Finance
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