European Commission calls for more flexible rule making
In its work programme for 2018, published on 24 October 2017, the European Commission has expressed support for moving from unanimity to qualified majority voting by EU Member States on certain EU legislation, including tax legislation. The
See MoreEU takes action against Amazon and Apple in tax cases
The European Commission issued a statement on 4 October 2017 to the effect that it had ordered Amazon to repay EUR 250 million plus interest that it claims Amazon should have paid in taxes on European sales made by the group through its Luxembourg
See MoreUK: Statistics on uptake of patent box relief
On 14 September 2017 the UK government published statistics in relation to the patent box legislation introduced from 1 April 2013. These statistics can be used by the government to assess the benefit to the economy from uptake of the tax relief,
See MoreUK: Main 2017 tax changes affecting corporation tax
The budget insert for the CT600 company tax return, initially issued in March 2017, has been updated to include further information on changes affecting the return. The changes cover announcements made in the 2016 Autumn Statement and measures in
See MoreUK: Tax paid by the banking sector
On 24 August 2017 HMRC issued statistics relating to the UK taxes paid by the banking sector. The sector is defined for this purpose as businesses potentially eligible to pay the bank surcharge. These statistics are of interest to government and
See MoreIMF report looks at US economic prospects and tax reform
On 26 July 2017 the IMF issued a staff report following the conclusion of consultations with the US under Article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement. The report suggests that in the medium term reforms should include a more efficient tax
See MoreOECD: Revenue Statistics in Asian Countries
On 20 July 2017 the OECD published the latest edition of its publication Revenue Statistics in Asian Countries. This covers trends of revenue statistics in Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea (Rep), Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore between 1990
See MoreIndia: CBDT notifies rule for secondary adjustments in transfer pricing
The CBDT has notified a new "Income Tax Rule 10CB" which stipulates a deadline for the reimbursement of excess money (90 days) and the applicable interest rate (separate interest rates for transactions in INR / foreign currency) taken into account
See MoreMauritius: Budget for 2017-2018
On 8 June 2017, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development delivered the Budget speech for 2017-18 to the parliament with little change to economic policy. Key points of the budget are summarised below: Reduced corporate tax
See MoreIndia: Proposed new income tax slab for 2017-18
On 31 March 2017, Finance minister proposed to reduce the tax rate for individuals in the lowest income tax slab to 5% instead of 10% (Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh). The existing rebate under Section 87A as currently given to people with income up to Rs
See MoreKenya presents budget for 2017-18
The Cabinet Secretary submitted the budget for 2017-18 to the National Assembly on 30 March 2017. the main changes are summarised below: Withholding taxes Dividends paid to non-residents by enterprises operating in Special Economic Zones will be
See MorePoland: Important tax changes for 2017
A number of major tax changes have been introduced as of 1 January 2017. The changes are given below: Personal income tax: Personal income tax has a major change on the tax-free amount that is based on the tax base. In accordance with the new
See MoreBelgium: Netherlands UCITS under EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive, Dividend withholding tax exemption
The EU Court of Justice issued a judgment in a case regarding application of the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive, and specifically a withholding tax imposed by Belgium on dividends paid by a subsidiary company of Belgium to its Dutch parent companies
See MoreSweden: No new bank tax before 2018
The government announced on 24 February 2017 its decision to withdraw plans to introduce a special tax on banks and other financial institutions. The bank tax was originally intended to eliminate the tax advantage the banking sector receives due to
See MoreCyprus: Tax department issues guidance relating to exchange of information with Austria
Recently the Cyprus tax department issued a guidance which is related to the exchange of information with Austria under Directive 2014/107/EU on mandatory automatic exchange of information along with Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”) based
See MoreIndia: Presents Budget for 2017-18
The Finance Minister of India presented Budget for 2017-18 to the Parliament on 1 February 2017. Here are the main tax proposals of the Union Budget 2017-2018: Corporate tax: The new Budget introduced following concessional tax rate for small
See MoreJapan: Published Frequently Asked Questions regarding transfer pricing documentation requirements
Japan’s National Tax Agency (NTA) has issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding transfer pricing (TP) documentation requirements in Japan. It addresses those questions that are likely to be of most interest to overseas headquartered
See MoreAustria: Publishes Tax Amendment Act in the Official Gazette
Austria published The Tax Amendment Act in the Official Gazette on 30 December 2016. The most important changes of the Act, which was adopted by the lower house on 15 December 2016 and the upper house on 21 December 2016, are summarized
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