US: IRS Mentions Smooth Start to Tax Filing Season
The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that it had received one-third of the individual income tax returns it had expected to receive during the whole 2014 filing season in the first three weeks. During each week in this
See MoreUnited Kingdom – HMRC report on offshore tax evasion
The United Kingdom government is continuing to take action against artificial tax avoidance and tax evasion. In this connection the tax administration (HMRC) has issued a "corporate report," which sets out how HMRC addresses offshore tax evasion and
See MoreSouth Africa: SARS Issues Guidance on Double Taxation Relief
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued a draft interpretation note for comment on the rebates and deductions available in the country's tax code for foreign taxes on income. The note points out that residents of South Africa are subject
See MoreSingapore: over 1.2m Taxpayers Need Not File Returns
The tax filing season in Singapore started on March 1, 2014. Around 1.23m taxpayers will not need to file a return, as more people benefit from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore's (IRAS) No-Filing Service (NFS). Taxpayers who have been
See MoreIndian Capital Gains Tax slows Saudi Investment
Concerns have been raised by foreign investors about the effect of India's taxation system, particularly its capital gains tax, on foreign investment. The issue was raised during the India-Saudi Arabia Business Forum in Delhi. The Forum also looked
See MoreIndia: Income Tax department identifies 2.17 million potential non-filers
After sending notices to 1.21 million Permanent Account Number (PAN) cardholders who had not filed their income tax returns, the income tax department has now identified another 2.17 million potential non-filers. It had already sent letters to
See MoreIceland enacted its own transfer pricing legislation
Iceland has recently enacted its own transfer pricing legislation, which became effective from January 1, 2014. The transfer pricing rules are now regulated by Article 57 of Act No. 90/2003 on Income Tax based on the arm's length standard. There
See MoreGerman federal state of NRW will issue new tax assessments to taxpayers to clarify their actual tax burden
From March 2014, the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) will issue new tax assessments to taxpayers to clarify their actual tax burden for 2013, expressed as a percentage of gross income. The tax assessments will provide details of
See MoreFrance- Bank Account Regularization Requests
Almost 16,000 residents with undeclared foreign bank accounts have elected to regularize their tax situation in the last eight months, through a voluntary declaration of non-compliance. As of February 7, 2014 the tax authorities had received 15,813
See MoreCyprus to cut tax appeal waiting time
Cyprus's Justice Minister has promised that a new Administrative Court due to open in September will cut the waiting time for tax appeals. Tax cases currently take two years to process in the Supreme Court, but the time required to hear a case will
See MoreChile: New tax reporting format
The tax authorities have provided a new reporting format for the declaration that Chilean individuals and foreign individuals that have been domiciled or resident in Chile for more than 3 years must file a return by 19 March 2014 to report foreign
See MoreBelgium – Resident companies must file their corporate tax returns electronically
On 14 February 2014 a royal decree was published requiring resident companies to file their corporate tax returns electronically as from tax year 2014. E-filing will be mandatory for nonresident companies as from tax year 2015. An exception will
See MoreSouth Africa: Revenue Service increases Transfer Duty Refund System
The South African Revenue Service’s (SARS’s) will not process manual requests for Transfer Duty refunds after February 17, 2014. This is follows introduction of electronic submission for Transfer Duty declarations and an e-Account for Transfer
See MoreNamibia: Budget for 2014/15
The 2014-15 Budget was presented by the Minister of Finance on 19 February 2014, and includes the following measures: Corporate taxation: The non-mining corporate income tax rate will be reduced from 33% to 32%. VAT: The VAT registration
See MoreUS: Proposes tax break for investment in infrastructure fund
The US is planning a tax break for US companies if they invest in the fund to be set up by the proposed bipartisan Partnership to Build America Act. US companies would be able to repatriate a certain dollar amount in overseas and will be able to
See MoreUkraine: Reduces corporate income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) rates
Ukraine has reduced corporate income tax and VAT rates from 1 January 2014. The reduced rates are: For corporate income tax: 18% from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014; 17% from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015; 16% from 1 January 2016. VAT
See MoreMalaysia: Flat corporate tax rate introduced for SMEs which merge
On 14 February 2014, the International Trade and Industry Minister announced a flat rate of 20% for 5 years for Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which have merged to form larger entities. Currently, SMEs only enjoy the reduced corporate tax rate of
See MoreLithuania : Loss carry forward limitations, extended incentives and reduced VAT rates
Losses carry forward limitations: Beginning in 2014, the ability of corporations in Lithuania to carry forward tax losses, for corporate income tax purposes, is limited. In calculating their corporate income tax for 2014 and subsequent tax periods,
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