China, EEU complete negotiations on economic and trade cooperation agreement
China and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) have finished substantial negotiations on an economic and trade cooperation agreement, the Ministry of Commerce said on Oct 1 in a statement. Zhong Shan, China’s commerce minister, signed a joint
See MoreZambia: Budget for 2018
Finance Minister of Zambia presented the 2018 National Budget for the year 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018 to the National Assembly on 29th September 2017. Budget for 2018, which lays out the various expenditure and revenue measures aimed at
See MoreEuropean Commission proposes far reaching VAT reform plans
The European Commission published plans on 4 October 2017 that would fundamentally change the current VAT system applied by EU Member States. The proposals are aimed on the one hand at cutting back on VAT fraud, and on the other at simplifying
See MoreEuropean Commission Communication on taxation of digital business
Following on from a call for action from four EU finance ministers, the European Commission published a report on 21 September 2017 setting out the issues on how to tax digital business and some possible solutions. These included, by way of short
See MoreCanada: CETA Trade Agreement enters into force
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and European Union came into force on September 21, 2017. The CETA is a progressive free trade agreement that covers virtually all sectors and aspects of Canada-EU trade in order
See MoreUAE: Excise tax on tobacco, energy and soft drinks enters into effect
The Ministry of Finance was published the implementing regulations to the Excise Tax Law. This Excise Tax Law regarding production of excise goods in the UAE, import of excise goods in the UAE, release of excise goods from a designated zone and
See MoreOECD: Forum on Tax Administration meets to discuss tax priorities
The Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) discussed tax issues at its plenary meeting on 27 to 29 September 2017. The FTA includes the Tax Commissioners of fifty tax administrations covering industrialized and emerging economies including the OECD and
See MoreOECD: Peer review reports on dispute resolution mechanisms
On 26 September 2017 the OECD released six peer review reports evaluating efforts to improve dispute resolution mechanisms. The reports relate to implementation of measures by Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK and the US. A document
See MoreOECD: Request for input on tax challenges of digital economy
On 22 September 2017 the OECD issued a request for input on work relating to the tax challenges of the digital economy. The OECD is requesting public comments on important issues relating to tax challenges raised by digitalization and potential
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 MoreCanada: Finance Department announces public consultation on draft tax legislative proposals
The Finance Department released a public consultation on September 8, 2017 regarding draft legislative and regulatory proposals on the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) and excise duty as well as income tax. GST/HST and Excise
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 MoreOECD: Appropriate use of information in CbC reports
On 6 September 2017 the OECD released guidance in relation to the appropriate use of information in Country by Country (CbC) reports exchanged under action 13 of the project on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). This includes guidance on the
See MoreOECD: Further guidance on CbC reports
Further guidance has been issued by the OECD's Inclusive Framework on BEPS in relation to the implementation and operation of Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting under Action 13 of the project on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). This latest
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 MoreTaiwan: MOF publishes draft amendment to transfer pricing guidelines
The Tax Administration of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has published a draft amendment to the transfer pricing guidelines for public consultation on 27th July 2017. According to the draft regulations, the Master File should include an overview of
See MoreOECD: Comments received on draft updates to Model Tax Convention
On 11 August 2017 the OECD published comments received on the draft 2017 updates to the OECD Model Tax Convention and commentary. The draft updates had been published for comment on 11 July 2017. Comments were received from the BEPS Monitoring
See MoreKorea: 2017 tax reform proposals announced
The government of South Korea is planning to increase the tax rate for large companies and high-earning individuals with the hope of reducing inequality. With this aim, Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced the 2017 tax reform
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