India: Vodafone case regarding transfer pricing

06 November, 2013

The Bombay high court directed the income-tax department to stop the proceedings of its dispute resolution panel (DRP) against the Indian subsidiaries of Vodafone Group Plc and Royal Dutch Shell plc in an alleged transfer pricing case till the court

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EU: Standard VAT return proposed

06 November, 2013

The European Commission announced on 23 October a proposal for a standard value added tax (VAT) return. As indicated by the new rules, the VAT return would have a uniform set of prerequisites for businesses when documenting their VAT returns.

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ECJ: Advocate General opines on VAT exemption for transferable cards

06 November, 2013

A Court in the Netherlands had referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) the question of whether it was possible to exempt from VAT the issue and sale of transferable cards that can be used to pay for goods or services. The advocate general

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Spain –Proposal to bring VAT provisions in line EU rules

04 November, 2013

Recently, Spain has suggested some changes to its VAT provisions so that they are more in line with those of the European Union. The changes are expected to be started during calendar year 2014 and included removing the special deadline for filing

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Spain – Cash accounting to be introduced

04 November, 2013

Spain will introduce an optional VAT cash accounting scheme for businesses with turnover less than EUR 2 million effective from 1 January 2014. On 27 September 2013, the new Spanish cash accounting scheme was approved by Law 14/2013. The main

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Germany: Additional administrative burden for VAT reporting for cross-border, intra-EU supplies

31 October, 2013

A new document has been introduced in Germany that increases the administrative burden with respect to intra-EU supplies (the cross-border transport of goods) within the European Union. Suppliers can apply a value added tax (VAT) rate of 0% for

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EU: New incentive limits for all European Union (EU) member states

31 October, 2013

The European Commission (EC) wants a new incentive limits for all European Union (EU) member states from 1 July 2014. These limits exist to guarantee that no extreme unreasonable incentives are given by an EU member state to businesses. Incentives

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OECD: Welcomes Japanese tax increase

22 October, 2013

Recently, the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has welcomed the announcement by Prime Minister on 7 October 2013 that,  the nation will increase its consumption tax from its current 5% levy to 8%

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OECD consults developing countries on base erosion and profit shifting

07 October, 2013

A meeting of more than 300 tax officials from the tax administrations of more than 100 countries and organizations was hosted by the OECD in Paris on 26 September 2013.  The participants in the meeting discussed the ways in which developing

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Luxembourg: A judgment of the ECJ regarding Principal establishments

06 October, 2013

A judgment of the EU Court of Justice concluded that a company having its principal establishment in an EU Member State may not take into account for reasons of calculating the deductible amount of VAT, the turnover of its foreign branches on 24

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Thailand raised alcohol excise taxes

19 September, 2013

In Thailand the excise taxes on liquor, beer and wine will increase by 7 -15% effective on 4 September 2013. The price will be higher particularly for

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OECD: Engaging and involving SME taxpayers

19 September, 2013

The OECD recently published a paper entitled “Together for Better Outcomes” dealing with the issue of how to involve and engage small and medium enterprise (SME) taxpayers and other stakeholders in the tax compliance process. This study was

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WTO, OECD and UNCTAD paper on Global Value Chains presented to G20

10 September, 2013

A joint report by the WTO, OECD and UNCTAD entitled “Implications of global value chains for trade, investment, development and jobs” dated 6 August 2013 was presented to the G20 meeting of September 2013. The report is a result of research into

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OECD: Tax policy developments after the financial crisis

10 September, 2013

A new OECD working paper entitled “The Tax Policy Landscape Five Years after the Crisis” published on 9 September 2013 looks at developments in tax policy in the five years since the financial crisis. The paper points out that in 2008 and 2009

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OECD reports to G20 on tax matters

10 September, 2013

The OECD Secretary General submitted a report on tax issues to the G20 meeting on 5 and 6 September 2013. The first part of the report relates to progress made by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes; and the

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Germany: New VAT invoice requirements

10 September, 2013

Germany has approved a new Act to implement changes to bring German VAT compliance rules into line with the EU VAT Directive and with a number of recent court cases.  Under the new Act changes to German VAT invoices include: The obligation to

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China: OECD publishes working paper on China’s tax policy

10 September, 2013

An OECD working paper titled “Tax policy and tax reform in the People’s Republic of China” was published on 9 September 2013. The paper makes a comparison between OECD tax policies and those in China and looks at the ratio of tax to GDP and

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Kenya: The Revenue Authority adduces “force of attraction” rule

09 September, 2013

Kenya’s tax treaties generally follow the provisions of the OECD Model Tax Convention. However despite the expectation under the OECD Model that only profits acquire or accumulate from Kenya and attributable to the permanent establishment should

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