Russia: A draft order regarding tax exchange information published
The Federal Tax Service (FTS) has released a draft order on 26th October 2015 that contains a list (in Russian) of countries and territories which do not exchange tax information with Russia for discussion purposes. According to article 25.13-1 of
See MoreHungary: Draft bill for tax law changes in 2016
The government of Hungary recently presented to the Parliament a draft bill with proposals for tax law changes which would take effect as from 2016. The proposed draft bill creates a classification system for taxpayers based on the level of risk
See MoreRomania: Government planning to cut VAT on water supplies
The Romanian Government approved an urgent order on 27 October, 2015, aimed to enforce a reduction of value-added tax (VAT) for the supply of drinking water and water for irrigation. According to the Act, the VAT rate on supplies of water will be
See MoreRomania: Proposed reduction of dividend tax from 2016
The Romanian government is planning to cut dividend tax from 2016. At present dividend payments are taxed at 16%. This rate will be reduced to five percent from January 1, 2016, rather than from January 1, 2017 as previously planned. The
See MoreKenya submits Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies to the IMF
A Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies prepared by Kenya on 31 August 2015 in connection with a request for financial support from the IMF was published on the IMF website on 22 October 2015. The Memorandum notes that the Kenyan economy
See MoreThailand- Corporate tax rate of 20% becomes permanent
The Royal Cabinet of Thailand ruled on 13 October 2015 that the corporate income tax rate will be permanently kept at 20% effective from 1 January 2016. Previously the rate was reduced to 23% from 30% for the tax year 2012 and temporarily to 20% for
See MoreNigeria: Federal High Court reversed a decision regarding companies fixed base
The Federal High Court has reversed a decision of the Tax Appeal Tribunal in a case concerning if a corporation had a fixed base in Nigeria and concluded that the foreign corporation did not have a fixed base in Nigeria and was not responsible for
See MoreItaly: Published Legislative Decree to Implement Tax Measures
Italy has Published Legislative Decree No. 147 of 14 September 2015 to Implement Tax Measures. The following issues are the main corporate tax measures as per the Legislative Decree: As per article 3 of the Legislative Decree, Dividends directly
See MoreUK: Tax Gap Still Decreasing
According to statistics released this week by HMRC the tax gap in the UK decreased to 6.4% of the tax due in 2013/14. This represents a figure of around GBP 34 billion. The tax gap is the difference between the tax that should be collected and the
See MoreBulgaria: Draft bill to amend tax laws for 2016
The Council of Ministers has approved the bill for amendments to tax laws for 2016 and submitted the draft on 13th October 2015 to the parliament for consideration. The major improvements are as follows: Dividend withholding tax: Implementation of
See MoreATAF conference on tax evasion and illicit financial flows
The African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) is to hold its second International Conference on Tax in Africa from 21 to 23 October 2015. The conference in Lomé, Togo has the theme of “Tax Compliance and Limiting Illicit Financial Flows”.
See MoreSlovak Republic: Amendments to income tax, VAT, excise duties and Tax Code approved
The Slovak parliament has approved the amendments to the Income Tax Act, VAT Act, legislation on excise duties and the tax code as proposed by the Finance Ministry. All the amendments have been signed by the president except the VAT Act. The changes
See MorePakistan: IMF discusses fiscal and tax policy
On 6 October 2015 the IMF held a conference call on completion of the eighth review of Pakistan’s economic performance under an EFF arrangement. The IMF considers that Pakistan’s economic performance has been generally positive under the program
See MoreNorway Fiscal Budget for 2016 Presented to the Parliament
Norway Fiscal Budget for 2016 was presented to the parliament on 7 October 2015. A reduction of the corporate income tax rate from 27% to 25% has been proposed in the budget. The application of the participation exemption with regards to dividends
See MoreWorld Tax Brief: September 2015
Australia Sanctions for tax evasion: The Government of Australia announced double the maximum administrative penalties that can be applied by the Commissioner of Taxation to large companies that enter into tax avoidance and profit shifting
See MoreEgypt- Reduced Tax Rates published in the Official Gazette
Decree Law No. 96 for 2015 amending Income Tax Law No. 91 for 2005 was published in the Official Gazette No. 24.bis for 2015 on 20 August 2015. The main changes are summarized below: 1) The standard corporate tax rate is reduced from 25% to 22.5%
See MoreItaly: Published Legislative Decree on Transfer Pricing Issues in the Official Gazette
Italy Published Legislative decree n. 147 in the official gazette on 22 September 2015 with a view to provide investors with certainty arising from their investment plan. As per the published Legislative decree, expenses relating to the transactions
See MoreThailand: Tax incentives for international headquarters
To promote the location of headquarters in Thailand the Board of Investment has introduced a new program. According to the program there will be relief from corporate income tax (0% on non-Thai source income from services, royalties, and dividends,
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