South Africa: Finance Minister presents the Budget for 2018
On 21 February 2018, South Africa’s Minister of Finance, Malusi Gigaba, delivered the Budget for the year of 2018. The budget includes the following tax proposals: VAT rate to increase from 14% to 15%. This change is effective from 1 April
See MoreCanada: Finance Minister presents the Federal Budget 2018
The Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, presented a federal budget, on February 27, 2018, that plans a clear course for the Liberals to the 2019 election, an aspirational road map designed to ensure that no woman, scientist or national wildlife area
See MoreNigeria: FG to re-introduce excise duty
In accordance with the directive of ECOWAS council of ministers, the Federal Government (FG) will re-introduce excise duty on some goods manufactured in the country and excisable imported goods. Excise duty is a type of tax paid on goods
See MoreCanada: CRA announces prescribed interest rates for 2018
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced the recommended annual interest rates for the first quarter (Q1) on December 15, 2017. It will apply to any amounts owed to the CRA and to any amounts owed by the CRA to individuals and corporations. The
See MoreOECD: Taxing Energy Use 2018
On 14 February 2018 the OECD issued Taxing Energy Use 2018, a publication that summarises the patterns of energy taxation in 42 countries of the OECD and G20. The countries included in the publication account for around 80% of global energy use. The
See MoreSouth Africa: National Treasury issues 2nd draft of the carbon tax bill for public comment
On 14 December 2017, the National Treasury was published the 2nd draft of the Carbon Tax Bill for public comment and presented in Parliament. The version of the second draft law is generally follows the first version (published in 2015) but reflects
See MoreIndia: Finance Minister presents Budget for the year 2018-19
Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today disclosed its budget 2018-2019 for the fiscal year starting from 1 April 2018. The budget is largely focused on uplift of agricultural sector, along with major push to healthcare and education sectors in
See MorePakistan: Government has withdrawn sales tax and customs duty on cotton imports
On 5 January 2018, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved withdrawal of sales tax and customs duty on import of cotton effective from 8 January 2018. The ECC also granted approval for issuance of GoP Sovereign Guarantee
See MoreUK: Research on small producers and importers of soft drinks
The introduction of an industrial levy on the production and import of sugary drinks was announced in the 2016 Budget and is to come into force in April 2018. In connection with the planned levy on sugary drinks HMRC commissioned research on small
See MoreTurkey: Govt. publishes new Law 7601 to increase revenues
The Turkish Government published a new Law No. 7601 on 5 December 2017, in the Official Gazette. This Law amends different tax laws for increasing tax revenues, stipulating procedural rules and eliminating some tax or fee applications. According to
See MoreUS: Senate finance committee proposes to tax cut for US beverage industry
The Senate Finance Committee included provisions to reduce the tax burden on US brewers and distilleries for two years, and to allow wine producers a permanent tax cut. The proposal lowers the tax on beer to $ 16 a barrel on the first six million
See MoreAzerbaijan: New customs duties declare for import of wheat, rice and corn
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the “Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity, Rates of Import and Export Customs Duties”. According to that the customs duties for import of wheat, rice and corn will be changed from January 1,
See MoreBahrain: Cabinet approves draft law regarding excise tax
The Cabinet approved a draft-law on ratifying the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) unified selective excise tax on unhealthy drinks on 16th October 2017. The Cabinet has endorsed an excise tax bill that would impose a 100% tax on tobacco products,
See MoreCanada: Federal Govt. announces cannabis tax plan
The federal government proposed a new excise duty framework that imposes duties on cannabis products on November 10, 2017. A Bill C-45 (referred to as the “Cannabis Act”), “an Act respecting cannabis and to amend the Controlled Drugs and
See MoreArgentina: Treasury Minister announces tax reform plan
The Treasury Minister, Nicolas Dujovne, on October 31, 2017, announced a tax reform plan. This proposed tax reform includes tax procedure law, corporate income tax reduction, criminal law, individual income tax, social security contributions,
See MoreRussia: Government proposes to introduce an environmental tax on cigarettes
The Ministry of health of Russia proposed to introduce an environmental tax on cigarettes for manufacturers, according to a draft of the “concept of state policy on combating tobacco consumption for years 2017-2022 and beyond”. This is
See MorePakistan: SME and export sectors are exempted from regulatory duty
On 16 October 2017, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has said that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and export-oriented units are exempted from paying regulatory duty levied through SRO 1035(I)/2017 on the import of raw material and
See MoreUAE: MoF still works with VAT regulations
The Ministry of Finance is still in the process of preparing the executive VAT regulation, in coordination with the concerned authorities. The Finance Ministry is committed to working with the highest levels of transparency and disclosure
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