France Pushes Ahead On FTT

January 19, 2014

Embarking on a lonely and uncertain course, France’s long-awaited, much debated tax on financial transactions (FTT) finally entered into force on 1 August 2012. Supposedly prefiguring the introduction of a mechanism at European level, a 0.2% tax

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Bank of Ireland estimates cost of new levy

December 08, 2013

The presentation of an annual banking levy will cost it EUR40m (USD53.9m) a year for the following three years. This is estimation made by the Bank of Ireland Group. Provisions for the introduction of a levy on the banking sector are made in the

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Italy: Decree on Financial Transaction Tax has been issued with Amendment

November 03, 2013

A Decree has been approved by The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance on 16 September 2013 which makes the amendment of Decree on the Italian Financial Transaction Tax (IFTT) issued in order to implement the IFTT Law adopted last year on 24

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Brazil: Tax Authority has published guidance on Transitory Tax Regime

October 22, 2013

Tax Authority has published guidance on the Transitory Tax Regime in the Official Gazette on 17 September 2013, introduced the Federal Law 11,941/2009. One of the main motives of Law 11,941/2009 was to make the Brazilian GAAP more adaptable with the

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Australia: Start date to offshore banking unit reforms delayed

October 22, 2013

The Government of Australia has delayed the start date (1 October) for the reforms to the offshore banking unit (OBU) regime. In the 2013 budget, the Australian government reported the proposition to change some OBU provisions to address existing

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UK: Corporation tax statistics

September 08, 2013

On 30 August 2013 HMRC released the latest corporation tax statistics. The publication shows the statistics for corporation tax receipts for 2012/13 and some revised figures in relation to corporation tax liabilities of previous years. Also shown

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Hungary: Increased financial transactions and mining tax rates

July 21, 2013

The Hungarian Parliament passed legislation in late June 2013. The legislation is planned to increase the tax collections and other supports so that the government could meet its target for a balanced national budget. According to the legislation a

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UK: Review of bank levy

July 11, 2013

When the introduction of the UK bank levy was announced in the 2010 budget it was also announced that there would be a review in 2013 to ensure that the levy was operating efficiently. On 4 July 2013 the UK published a consultation document on the

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UK: Double tax agreement with the Netherlands on bank taxes

June 18, 2013

The UK and the Netherlands signed a double tax convention on 12 June 2013 in respect of bank taxes. The taxes covered by the Convention are the UK bank levy under Schedule 19 FA 2011 and the tax charged under the Netherlands law on bank tax. The

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ECJ: Ruling on freedom of provision of services by banks

June 18, 2013

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on 6 June 2013 in Commission v Belgium (C-383/10) that Belgium had failed to fulfill its responsibilities under Article 5 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Article 36 of the

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UK: Strengthening the code of practice on taxation for banks

June 04, 2013

The HMRC released a consultation document on 31 May 2013 in respect of amendments to the code of practice on taxation for banks. Comments on the proposed changes are invited by 16 August 2013. The provisions of the code cover the required practices

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Colombia: Proposed Regulations for Bank Debit Tax

May 08, 2013

The Colombian Government is currently preparing a Decree, which will regulate the provisions of bank debit tax. This bank debit tax was introduced by Law 1607 of 2012. This proposed Decree will provide for exemptions and the refund of the bank debit

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UK challenges financial transactions tax

April 23, 2013

The UK has launched a legal challenge in the European Court of Justice to the planned financial transactions tax. This tax is to be introduced by eleven European countries under the EU provisions for enhanced cooperation and is planned to go into

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Slovakia Unveils Special Bank Tax Plans

May 30, 2012

Slovakia’s Prime Minister has recently announced plans to introduce a special windfall tax on banks and to extend the existing tax on banking deposits, as part of government efforts to reduce the budget deficit. The Government plans to introduce a

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Thailand Increases Bank Tax

February 16, 2012

From July 31, 2012, all banks in Thailand will have to pay an increased levy to help fund the public debt that arose out of financing their rescue during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In order that the government will be able to borrow additional

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Tax Cuts in Brazil

December 07, 2011

The Brazilian Finance Minister announced a number of tax cuts, including financial transactions tax, known as IOF. According to this plan, foreign purchases of corporate bonds with maturities of over four years, and local equities, would be no

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