Nigeria: Senate passes third reading of Finance bill 2019
On 21 November 2019, the Senate passed the Finance Bill 2019, which seeks an amendment of Nigeria’s tax laws and make them more responsive to the tax policies of the Federal Government, among other things. The President stated that the amendment
See MoreNigeria: Finance Bill 2019 passes second reading in parliament
On 6 November 2019, the Finance Bill 2019 passed its second reading at the Senate. Main proposed amendments are given below: A lower (i.e. 20%) corporate income tax rate (CIT) applies for companies with turnover between NGN25-million and
See MoreNigeria: Tribunal issues decision in a case on dividends paid from tax exempt income
The Tax Appeal Tribunal issued a decision in a case entitled “United Capital Asset Management Ltd and United Capital Trustee Ltd v. Federal Inland Revenue Service” on the application of excess dividend tax in terms of section 19 of the
See MoreVietnam clarifies the tax implications of interest income
On 24 October 2019, the Tax Authority issued an official letter (No. 80503 / CT-TTHT) explaining the tax implications of interest income on term loans. The letter clarifies that loan interest earned in Vietnam is subject to withholding tax. The
See MoreSouth Africa: Finance Ministry introduces Taxation Laws Amendment Bill 2019
On 30 October 2019, Finance Minister introduced Taxation Laws Amendment Bill 2019 (i.e. B18) in the National Assembly. This draft Bill amends the definition of rental income under section 25BB of the Income Tax Act, 1962. Under this Bill, rental
See MoreTurkey publishes General Communiqué on deferred interest rate
On 25 October 2019, the Revenue Administration of Turkey has published General Communiqué (Series: C, Serial No: 4) in the official gazette reducing the annual deferred interest rate on public receivables. The deferred interest rate for the
See MoreRussia reduces the Interest rate from October 2019
On 25 October 2019, the Russian Central Bank announced the decision to reduce the key rate from 7% to 6.5% with effect from 28 October 2019. For tax purposes, the key rate is important in relation to the safe harbor rates for interest income and
See MoreIreland: Finance Minister announces Finance bill for the year 2020
On 16 October 2019, the Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe TD, announced Cabinet approval for the publication of the Finance Bill 2019. It was published on 17 October 2019. The Bill sets out the legislative provisions to bring effect to the tax
See MoreZambia presents the budget for 2020
On 27 September 2019, the Minister of Finance (MOF) presented the budget for 2020 to the National Assembly. Under the budget the following important amendments to the Income Tax Act will take effect from 1 January 2020: Corporate tax
See MoreSouth Africa: SARS publishes comprehensive guide to dividends tax
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) published a comprehensive guide to dividends tax on 12 September 2019. The objective of this guide is to help users in gaining a more in-depth understanding of dividends tax. This guide is not an ‘official
See MoreIndonesia: Finance Minister declares tax reform plan
On 3 September 2019, the Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, announced Government’s tax reform plan through a draft bill. The draft bill proposed following measures: Gradual decrease in corporate rate from 25% to 20% starting from
See MorePakistan: FBR approves the Finance Act 2019 with certain changes
On 30 July 2019, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued a Circular No. 9 of 2019. The Circular contains important changes to the Income Taxation Act 2001 through the Finance Act 2019, which was published in the Official Journal on 30 June
See MoreFrance publishes interest rate for shareholder loan for FY ends between June and September 2019
Recently, France has published interest rates for entities whose financial year ended between 30 June 2019 and 29 September 2019 , which are used to determine the deductibility of interest payments to shareholders. The portion of interest payments
See MoreFrance publishes interest rate for shareholder loan for FY ends between March and June 2019
On 17 April 2019, France published interest rates for entities whose financial year ended between 31 March 2019 and 29 June 2019, which are used to determine the deductibility of interest payments to shareholders. The portion of interest payments
See MoreAlgeria: DGI releases circular on interest deduction regarding finance bill 2019
On 20 March 2019, Algerian tax agency Direction Generale des Impots (DGI) published circular N°1 /MF/DGI/DLRF/LF amending the provision of article 141 of the code of direct taxes and assimilated taxes. The objective of the circular is to explain
See MoreGreece: Tax administration issues circulars on CIT and Dividend tax rate cut
On 21 March 2019, the Public Revenue Authority issued two circulars (E.2046 / 2019 and E.2047 / 2019) for reducing corporate tax rates and dividend tax rates. These circulars are summarized below: Circular E.2046: This circular confirms that
See MoreSouth Africa: SARS issues tax interpretation note on lease premiums
On 7 February 2019, South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued Interpretation Note 109, which clarifies the rules on the tax treatment of lease premiums. The Note explains that, in the earlier year of assessment of receipt or accrual, lessor
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
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