World Tax Brief: March 2019
Hong Kong Incentives for industry/manufacturing: On 27 February 2019, the Secretary of State presented the 2019/2020 Budget to the Legislative Council. The budget cuts profit tax for 2018/19 by 75%, subject to a ceiling of HKD 20,000, giving
See MoreIreland: Tax relief for new start-up companies
On 1 March 2019, Irish Revenue released Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-03-03 that has been updated to reflect the amendment made in Finance Act 2018 which extended the relief for start-up companies under section 486C of the Taxes
See MoreKenya: Court of Appeal explains the decision about Ruling on income “paid” for Withholding tax
On 5 February 2019, the Kenyan Court of Appeal issued its ruling on: Kenya Revenue Authority v. The Republic of Kenya (ex parte Fintel Limited). In this case, the Court of Appeal overruled the decision of the High Court that the withholding tax
See MoreArgentina updates compensatory interest rate
On 8 February 2019, Argentina has published resolution 50/2019 of 7 February 2019 in the official gazette updating the compensatory interest rate and punitive interest rate established in articles 37 and 52 of Law No. 11,683 and the Customs Code
See MoreHong Kong: Financial Secretary presents 2019/2020 Budget
On 27 February 2019, the Financial Secretary has presented the 2019-20 budget to the Legislative Council. The Budget measures includes the following: -Reducing profits tax by 75% for 2018/19, subject to a ceiling of HKD20,000, effectively giving
See MoreBolivia updates list of tax haven jurisdiction
On 15 February 2019, Bolivia's National Tax Service issued Resolution No. 101900000002 to update the list of jurisdictions considered to have low or no taxation, which also contains jurisdictions recognized as non-cooperative, applies from the date
See MoreSlovak Republic: New proposal to revise R&D tax regime
On 21 February 2019, the government of Slovak Republic proposed to amend the research and development (R&D) tax regime. The proposed amendment would increase the allowable deduction with qualifying R&D expenditures. According to proposal,
See MoreLuxembourg: Tax Authority clarifies the new Permanent Establishment definition
On 22 February 2019, Luxembourg tax authorities issued a new circular (No.19) that clarifies recently added the new Permanent Establishment (PE) definition as set forth in article 16(5) of the Tax Adaptation Law (StAnpG). Under the new paragraph,
See MoreHong Kong: IRD publishes 2018/19 profits tax returns and supplementary forms
On 18 February 2019, the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has published the sample Profit Tax Returns for 2018/2019 including new Transfer Pricing Disclosure Form and other supplementary forms. The supplementary forms are also provided for
See MoreCosta Rica: MOF publishes resolution on tax residence certificates
On 19 February 2019, Costa Rica's Ministry of Finance (MOF) published a Resolution (was first published in the Official Gazette on 4 February 2019), which provides rules on the determination of tax residence and the issuance of residence
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 MoreArgentina: Resolution for benefits under mining regime
On 4 February 2019, Argentina published Resolution 6/2019 of 31 January 2019 in the Official Gazette, which establishes a special promotion regime for the development of the mining activity in the Argentine territory provided by Law No. 24,196. The
See MorePeru: Tax authority clarifies the scope of CFC rules
On 7 February 2019, the Peruvian Tax Authority published a report (097-2018-SUNAT / 7T00000) clarifying the passive net income attribution of CFC rules to its Peruvian shareholders. The Ministry of Finance simplifies the following issues in the
See MorePortugal: Parliament proposes to implements The Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive
Recently, the Portuguese Government has submitted to Parliament the Bill No.177/XIII introducing changes to the Income Tax Act to implement certain ATAD-1 rules. The bill proposed rules for the limitation of interest deductions and rules for
See MoreSingapore presents Budget for 2019
On 18 February 2019, the Finance Minister of Singapore delivered the Budget for 2019. The main tax-related measures are summarized below: To maintain support to companies in their automation, productivity and scale-up efforts, the 100%
See MoreKenya simplifies the taxation of non-tax profits distributed as dividends
On 8 February 2019, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) published a notice clarifying the new measure introduced by the Finance Act, 2018. The Act introduced a new corporate rate on untaxed gains or profits from which dividends are distributed with
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 MoreSpain introduces law on digital service tax
On January 25, 2019, a bill on the digital service tax was published in the law sheet of the Spanish legislature. If adopted, it is expected that the bill will be applied in the second half of 2019. The digital services tax would apply to taxpayers
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