UK: Call for evidence on cash and the hidden economy
The hidden economy has generally been understood as an economy that uses cash to avoid leaving a record of transactions. Recently the decline in the use of cash within the UK economy has been highlighted as consumers and businesses use other methods
See MoreUK: HMRC to reorganize into regional centers
The UK tax authority HMRC has announced a reorganization of its offices that will result in the replacement of 170 local offices by 13 new regional centers. The regional centers will support the necessary digital infrastructure and contain a mix of
See MoreOECD: Harmonizing revenue statistics
Representatives of thirteen Asian Finance Ministries and tax administrations met on 14 and 15 October 2015 to consider a framework to increase the comparability of revenue statistics. The countries involved in the meeting were Cambodia, China,
See MoreSpain: Budget for 2016 contains important tax measures
The Spanish government gazetted the details of the Budget for 2016 on 30 October 2015, addressing some significant income tax measures. Corporate income tax Companies whose total annual income does not exceed EUR 75,000 and whose exempt annual
See MoreUK: Two year plan to increase SME awareness of R&D tax relief
Following a consultation on research and development tax relief the UK government has announced a two-year plan to make it easier for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) conducting research and development (R&D) to claim the tax relief. The
See MoreLuxembourg: Electronic filing for company income tax return
Electronic filing is now available for Luxembourg resident company. On 29 October 2015, the Finance Minister declared a new e-filing tool for company income tax return, municipal business and net worth tax return. Initially e-filing process is
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 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 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 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 MoreUK: Research into motivators and incentives for voluntary disclosure
HMRC has published a report on the findings of a research project on drivers for taxpayer participation in voluntary disclosure opportunities. The project involved 38 interviews with taxpayers who had either disclosed voluntarily; been investigated
See MoreUK: HMRC research into business cycles and tax reporting
On 8 September 2015 HMRC published on its website research on understanding the impact of reporting cycles. This examined the business experience and compliance behaviour of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and asked for information on the
See MoreOECD: Taxation of Small and Medium Enterprises
The OECD has issued a publication on the taxation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in OECD and G20 countries. The report examines tax policy and administration in relation to SMEs, noting that these firms generally represent more than 95% of
See MoreUK: HMRC Publishes Results of Large Business Panel Survey 2014
The results of the Large Business Panel Survey for 2014 have been published on HMRC’s website. The survey of large businesses was performed in late 2014 and early 2015. The aim was to track and assess the views of businesses on the services
See MoreNigeria: Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance on tax matters entered into force
As amended by the 2010 protocol, the multilateral agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance regarding tax matters has been entered into force on 1st September 2015 in Nigeria and it generally applies from 1st January
See MoreUK: HMRC issues updated guidance on accelerated payments
On 20 August 2015 the UK tax authority HMRC published on its website a fact sheet containing updated information on the requirement to make accelerated payments in connection with tax avoidance schemes. A tax avoidance scheme is defined for this
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