UN: Expert Group Meeting on Extractive Industries Taxation

02 June, 2013

Revenue from minerals is one way in which a developing country can finance its national development and pursue social goals. Currently however not enough tax and other revenue is being obtained by developing countries from mineral exploration and

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OECD report on Tax Administration for 2013

02 June, 2013

The document Tax Administration 2013 has been issued by the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. This report includes statistics on tax administration from 52 tax administrations covering advanced and emerging economies. The document is

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UN_ECOSOC meeting to discuss international tax issues

02 June, 2013

A meeting of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is to take place on 29 May 2013 to discuss the issue of international cooperation in taxation issues and the structural arrangements put in place to encourage this cooperation. Tax

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OECD Approves Changes to Transfer Pricing Guidelines on Safe Harbours

02 June, 2013

The OECD has approved the amended section of the OECD transfer pricing guidelines concerning safe harbours. The draft revised guidelines developed by the OECD were initially published for public consultation in June 2012. Following the receipt of

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OECD Working Paper looks at distortive effects of Swiss tax system

08 May, 2013

A Working Paper written by Andrés Fuentes and published by the OECD looks at features of the Swiss tax system and examines the extent to which certain aspects of the system may have a distorting effect on the Swiss economy. Generally Switzerland

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Germany: Amendments to the taxation of portfolio dividends

08 May, 2013

A new law in respect of dividend taxation was published in the Federal Gazette on 21 March 2013. This law has been introduced following a decision of the European Court of Justice in 20 October 2011 which required a review of the taxation of

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Brazil: Tax subtraction from donations and sponsorships

08 May, 2013

Decree No. 7,988/2013 was published in the Official Gazette of 18 April 2013 and in force as of that date. Individuals and legal entities under the actual profit regime can deduct sponsorships and donations made to the National Program for

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OECD releases draft handbook on transfer pricing risk assessment

08 May, 2013

The OECD has released for comment a draft handbook in respect of transfer pricing risk assessment. This is intended to be a practical resource for tax administrations to follow in developing a risk assessment approach to transfer pricing issues.

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ECJ: Decision on the inclusion of non-taxable persons in UK VAT groups

08 May, 2013

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued a decision in respect of a case brought by the European Commission concerning the provision for VAT groups in the UK. The UK argued in support of its position that non-taxable persons could be included

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OECD: report prepared for G20 on fighting tax evasion

23 April, 2013

The OECD has prepared a report for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on international measures being taken to ensure that taxpayers pay the correct amount of tax. These measures include the work of the Global Forum on Transparency

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UK: the European Commission opens an investigation into the tax relief for video games

23 April, 2013

The UK is introducing tax relief for the animation, high end TV and video games industry from 1 April 2013. The relief would amount to a 25% tax reduction based on 80% of the production budget of a qualifying animation or video game relating to

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EU: Updated study on the consequences of accession of Croatia to the EU for customs legislation

23 April, 2013

The European Commission on 2 April 2013 published an updated study dealing with the consequences of the accession of Croatia to the European Union (EU) for customs legislation. At the moment of Croatia’s accession to the EU which is expected to

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UK: supplementary report by the Global Forum’s Peer Review Group

17 April, 2013

A supplementary report has been issued further to the combined Phase 1-2 report issued by the OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes in September 2011. Since that date the UK has sent a follow up report to

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OECD: Global Forum moves to Phase 2 peer reviews

17 April, 2013

The OECD’s “Global Forum on transparency and information exchange for tax purposes” has a three year mandate to ensure the implementation of tax transparency standards by conducting “peer reviews” of its member countries and of other

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African Tax Administration Forum discusses improved revenue administration

17 April, 2013

Leaders of revenue authorities from twelve African countries held a seminar in South Africa on 10–12 April 2013 to discuss issues surrounding Board governance of revenue authorities. The meeting was organized by the African Tax Administration

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OECD publishes mutual agreement procedure statistics for 2011

11 April, 2013

The OECD has made available the statistics for 2011 in respect of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) in its member countries. The statistics were provided to the OECD by member countries and by Argentina and South Africa which are not currently

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OECD: study of taxation of wages

01 April, 2013

The OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration has published as a Taxation Working Paper a study entitled: “The average personal income tax rate and tax wedge progression in OECD countries”. The tax wedge could be defined as the difference

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OECD: Aggressive tax planning schemes based on after-tax hedging

27 March, 2013

On 13 March 2013 the OECD released a report entitled “Aggressive Tax Planning Based on After-Tax Hedging”. This report uses information on aggressive tax avoidance schemes submitted to the OECD Directory on Aggressive Tax Planning and looks at

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