India: Cabinet approves signing of MLI to implement tax treaty related BEPS measures

21 May, 2017

The Union cabinet on 17 May 2017, approved the signing by India of the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) to implement into bilateral tax treaties the tax treaty-related measures arising from the OECD / G20 BEPS Project to tackle base erosion and profit

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India: Latest update on country-by-country reporting

21 May, 2017

India has recently included a country-by-country (CbC) reporting requirement in section 286 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1961, with effect from the financial year 2016-2017. The first round of CbC reports, if applicable, must be submitted to the

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India: Section 14A is subject to dividend income tax regardless of dividend distribution tax (DDT) Payment

17 May, 2017

Section 14A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (Act) provides for disallowance of expenditure incurred in relation to income which is not included in the total income of the assessee. The Supreme Court of India in the case of Godrej & Boyce

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Negotiations for DTA between Japan and Iceland

17 May, 2017

The Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Iceland will initiate negotiations for a tax convention between the two countries. The first round of negotiations will take place on May 17 in Tokyo. Further details of this treaty will

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Japan and Estonia have agreed on a DTA

17 May, 2017

On May 15, 2017, the Japanese Ministry of Finance announced that the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Estonia have agreed in principle on the tax convention between Japan and the Republic of Estonia. This new agreement will

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Japan and Denmark have agreed on a new DTA

17 May, 2017

On May 15, 2017, the Japanese Ministry of Finance announced that the two countries (Japan and Denmark) have agreed in principle on the new Convention replacing the convention between Japan and the Kingdom of Denmark for the avoidance of double

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Pakistan: Companies Act 2017 passed by Senate

16 May, 2017

On 15 May 2017, the Senate approved the draft Companies Bill, 2017, replacing the Companies Ordinance 1984. The Bill aims to facilitate procedures for the country’s business sector and discourage fraud, money laundering and terror

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Pakistan: FBR publishes a guideline on the mechanism of ADR

11 May, 2017

Recently, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued a guideline on the mechanism of ADR. The FBR has motivated taxpayers to resolve their issues through the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism, which will help taxpayers from unnecessary

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Russia: Publishes the draft law on CbC reporting requirements for multinationals corporate groups

10 May, 2017

The Russian government on 6 March 2017, published an amended draft law providing for new provisions on the international automatic exchange of financial accounting information for the Russian fiscal regulation and for setting new standards for the

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Russia: Value added tax increased to 22% from January 2019

09 May, 2017

The Russian government has confirmed that it intends to increase VAT from 18% to 22% on 1 January 2019. The rise will help to fund a reduction in the employee's tax rate to 22% from

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Dominican Republic: New facility for taxpayers to make payments to online accounts

07 May, 2017

On 24 April 2017, the Directorate-General for Internal Taxation (DGII) introduced the online "Payments to account", which explains to companies and individuals their tax obligations and the due date for payment of the tax and enables them to make

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World Tax Brief: April 2017

04 May, 2017

UK Corporate income tax rate: The corporate income tax rate in the UK has been reduced to 19% from the current 20% rate starting from 1st April 2017, in order to support investment, growth and job creation. Further, the main rate of corporation

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Japan and Russia have agreed on a new DTA

01 May, 2017

On 28 April 2017, Japan’s Ministry of Finance has announced that the two countries have agreed in principle to a new tax convention to replace the existing tax treaty between Japan and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which entered into

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Ghana: Amendments to the VAT Act

30 April, 2017

The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on 24 April 2017 published a notice on the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2017 (Act 948), informing taxpayers that the following changes have been made in relation to Value Added Tax

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India: Government increases SIPP scheme for three years

26 April, 2017

The Indian government has extended the Start-Ups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) scheme for three years till March 2020, to support potential entrepreneurs protect their patents, trademark and designs. The Department of Industrial Policy

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India: Prime Minister suggests January-December fiscal year

25 April, 2017

On 23 April 2017, at the Niti Aayog’s governing council meeting, Prime Minister proposed changing to a January-December fiscal year, saying it would to help prepare budgets once agricultural income is determined. Most countries follow the January

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Negotiations to update DTA between Japan and Spain

25 April, 2017

Japan’s Ministry of Finance announced on 24 April 2017, that the governments of Japan and Spain will begin negotiations to amend their existing tax treaty (1974) for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with respect to Taxes on Income. The first

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Pakistan and Hungary sign an agreement to promote economic cooperation

25 April, 2017

On 11 April 207, Pakistan and Hungary signed an agreement in Islamabad to enhance economic cooperation and trade ties in various areas including machine industry, electronics industry, food and agriculture, water management, environmental and energy

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