ECJ: Ruling on Outbound Dividends and Free Movement of Capital
On 9 March 2020 a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a case on free movement of capital was published. The case State of Canada v Autoridade Tributaria e Aduaneira related to dividends paid to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
See MoreECJ rules on freedom of establishment and use of tax losses
On 27 February 2020, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a decision in the case of Aures Holdings a.s. In 2007 the place of effective management of Aures was the Netherlands, and it was therefore treated at that time as Dutch tax
See MoreECJ: Decision on State Aid and Turnover Tax
On 3 March 2020 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a decision in Vodafone Magyarország Mobil Távközlési Zrt. The company was a subsidiary of Vodafone Europe B.V operating in the telecommunications market and set up under Hungarian law.
See MoreUK notifies the WTO of withdrawal from the European Union
A communication from the UK on 1 February 2020 (WT/GC/206) has set out detail on the implications for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of its departure from the European Union (EU). The communication notifies the WTO that the UK ceased to be a
See MoreItaly publishes Law 117 to implement EU Directives
On 4 October 2019, Italy has published Law No. 117 in the Official Gazette, approving the legislative decrees for the implementation of several EU Directives. The Directives will be consulted on by parliament but do not require further approval
See MoreRussia proposes Tax Policy for 2020 to 2022
On 30 September 2019, the Russian Government submitted the Draft Law to the State Duma. The draft law includes the following measures: The bill aims to change the approach to taxing companies in the digital sector. The draft law recommend that
See MoreBelgium approves draft law to transpose EU directive on cross-border arrangements
On 11 October 2019, the Belgian Council of Ministers approved a draft law to transpose EU Directive 2018-822 of 25 May 2018 on reportable cross-border tax planning arrangements. The Directive includes measures to require the reporting of
See MoreZambia presents the budget for 2020
On 27 September 2019, the Minister of Finance (MOF) presented the budget for 2020 to the National Assembly. Under the budget the following important amendments to the Income Tax Act will take effect from 1 January 2020: Corporate tax
See MoreLuxembourg: EU General Court upholds EC Commission’s decision in Fiat case
On 24 September 2019, the EU General Court upheld the Commission’s decision that Fiat received unlawful State aid from Luxembourg, and at the same time cancelled the decision which had found the same with respect to Starbucks in the
See MoreDominican Republic: Public Finance Ministry presents annual budget policy 2020
On 10 September 2019, the Ministry of Public Finance presented an annual budgetary proposal for the year 2020 and sent it to the Executive Branch to take it into account for the annual budget. It covers financial activities, excise duty on alcohol
See MoreEcuador: NA Approves Mutual Assistance Agreement on Tax matters
On 7 August 2019, Ecuador's National Assembly approved the bill for the ratification of the OECD-Council of Europe Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters as amended by the 2010 protocol. Its objective is to facilitate
See MoreWorld Bank approves grant to improve domestic revenue mobilization in Liberia
On 16 July 2019 the World Bank approved a grant to its International Development Association (IDA) to improve domestic revenue mobilization systems and strengthen financial control and accountability in public finances. The IDA provides grants and
See MoreZambia publishes Budget for 2019
On 1 January 2019, The Zambian government published budget for 2019 to the National Assembly. Key modifications of tax rules are summarized as follows: Limit the deductibility of interest on debts owed by a taxpayer to 30 % of the
See MoreRussia: Parliament proposes to reduce the corporate property tax rate
On 6 March 2019, a draft bill was presented to the State Duma (Lower House of Parliament) proposing to lower the maximum amount of the property tax rate to be taxed at the cadastral value. According to the bill, the corporation tax rate for real
See MoreSouth Africa introduces Budget 2019 in parliament
On 20 February 2019, Tito Mboweni (South Africa’s Minister of Finance) presented the Budget 2019 in the parliament. The budget proposal would not increase taxes in any category but proposed to increase tax collection by not adjusting for inflation
See MorePortugal legislates the Budget Law for 2019
On December 31, 2018, Portugal published 2019 budget law (No.71/2018) in the official gazette and generally applies as from 1 January 2019. The budget law includes changes to income tax law and other taxes. The budget law include the following
See MoreEuropean Commission to launch proceedings against UK over VAT treatment of commodity traders
It is reported that the European Commission is planning to take a case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in relation to the value added tax (VAT) treatment of commodity traders in the UK. The European Commission argues that although the UK may
See MoreEU: Report by European Commission on investor residence schemes
On 23 January 2019 the European Commission issued a report on citizenship by investment and citizenship by residence schemes operated by a number of EU Member States. The report looks at current practices and identifies some of the risks from such
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