India: CbC reporting changes made in Finance Bill 2018 as passed by the Lok Sabha

15 March, 2018

On 14 March 2018, the lower house of parliament (Lok Sabha) has approved the Finance Bill 2018 with modifications. One of the main changes includes by the bill is changes to the country-by-country (CbC) reporting and Master file requirements. The

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Qatar: New VAT regime will come from January 1, 2019

15 March, 2018

As a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member state, Qatar is expected to introduce a harmonized VAT regime with a standard rate of 5% VAT from January 1, 2019. The introduction of VAT will be a positive step for the country as Qatari firms and

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Australia: Implementing the OECD Hybrid Mismatch Rules

15 March, 2018

The Australian Government announced in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 Budgets that it would implement the Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development’s (OECD) rules aimed at eliminating double non-taxation benefits from hybrid mismatch

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Namibia: Budget for 2018/19

14 March, 2018

On 7 March 2018, Mr. Calle Schlettwein, The Finance Minister of Namibia delivered the 2018 budget speech (the Budget). Changes to the Income Tax Act will come into effect in 2019. Phasing out of preferential tax treatment to manufacturers The

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Brazil releases Private Ruling regarding deduction of payments for certain Intra-group services

14 March, 2018

Brazil has recently released Private Ruling 1001 of 9 January 2018 regarding the deduction of certain cross-border payments to a foreign subsidiary, including strategic decision support, information management, risk management and management of the

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UAE: New deadline for registration extended till April 30

13 March, 2018

The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has made an announcement to advise businesses to take benefit from the FTA decision to waive administrative penalties for businesses until April 30, 2018, clarifying that the decision only covers late registration

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Luxembourg publishes list of jurisdictions for exchanging CbC reports

13 March, 2018

On 20 February 2018, the Luxembourg Government published the Grand Ducal Regulation of 23 February 2018 containing the list of countries considered to exchange Country-by-Country (CbC) reports. The list includes 52 jurisdictions in respect of the

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Hong Kong introduces CbC reporting portal

13 March, 2018

On 5 March 2018, Hong Kong government announced that it has launched its country-by-country reporting portal. Hong Kong Ultimate Parent Entities of Reportable Groups (HK UPEs) can now file CbC Returns for accounting periods beginning between 1

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Hong Kong: Finance Secretary of SARS presents the Budget for 2018/19

13 March, 2018

On 28 February 2018, the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. Paul Chan Mo-po presented the Budget proposal for the country’s tax year beginning 1 April 2018. Major proposals with respect to tax and business

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South Africa: The tax incentive for R & D is expected soon

13 March, 2018

On 2 March 2018, the Department of Science and Technology (“DST”) attended a meeting with the newly appointed Minister of Science and Technology (Ms Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane) to discuss the tax incentives for research and development. A task

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US: IRS publishes interest rate for the second quarter of 2018

13 March, 2018

On 7 March 2018, The Internal Revenue Service announced that interest rates for overpaid and underpaid increased for the calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2018. The rates are 5% for both overpayments and underpayments by individuals, and 4% and 5%

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Bulgaria: E-filing is mandatory from 2018

13 March, 2018

The Bulgarian National Revenue Agency has declared that all declarations under the Corporate Income Tax Act (CITA), for which the filing obligation arises after December 31, 2017, are only submitted electronically. This is also applicable for annual

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Malaysia: MIRB updates the form require to collect information for TP transactions

12 March, 2018

The Malaysian tax office (MIRB) has recently updated the form used by the tax authority to gather information from certain taxpayers in connection with their cross-border transactions to conduct a transfer pricing risk assessment. Certain taxpayers

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Lithuania: MPs proposes to reduce VAT on food and non-alcoholic beverages

12 March, 2018

A group of opposition Lithuanian lawmakers has drafted a proposal to reduce the value-added tax (VAT) on food and non-alcoholic beverages from 21% to 9%, bringing it to the level of one of the country’s reduced tax

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Belgium: Constitutional Court announces the fairness tax unconstitutional

11 March, 2018

On 1 March 2018, The Constitutional Court of Belgium announced the fairness tax unconstitutional, thus nullifying it (judgment n° 24/2018). According to the Court’s ruling, however, the fairness tax is maintained until financial year 2017 (tax

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OECD and Egypt launch programme on implementation of BEPS standards

10 March, 2018

On 7 March 2018 the OECD and Egypt’s Ministry of Finance launched a programme entitled Enhancing domestic resource mobilisation in Egypt through a better tax and exchange of information system. The programme involves funding from the EU to support

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Saudi Arabia: Tax Authority set deadline for filing an appeal against final assessment order

10 March, 2018

In a recent assessment order, the GAZT indicated that the deadline for filing an appeal will be determined from the date that the assessment order is notified to the taxpayer through the ERAD system. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Zakat and

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Russia clarifies the deduction of losses incurred by consolidated group

10 March, 2018

On 9 March 2018, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) clarified the deduction of losses incurred by consolidated group members. Accordingly, the MoF stated that, under article 278.1(1) of the Tax Code (TC), the tax base of a consolidated group of taxpayers

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