Vietnam: Corporate income tax rate reductions and rule changes

10 January, 2014

The Vietnam corporate income tax rate will be reduced to 20% from 1 January 2016 (now 22%). For taxpayers with total revenue lower than VND 20 billion, the will be 17% effective 1 January 2016 (now 20% as of 1 July 2013). New guidelines published as

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United Kingdom: Dispute resolution, CFC financing, investment “white list”

10 January, 2014

HM Revenue & Customs have updated some key documents regarding resolution of tax disputes, and have provided new guidance on CFCs. The dispute resolution documents are the Code of Governance for resolving tax disputes; and Commentary on the

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Turkey: Special consumption tax changes for 2014

10 January, 2014

Turkey’s Council of Ministers have issued Resolution 2013/5761, that revises and/or specifies the special consumption tax (SCT) rates and amounts to be applied effective from 1 January 2014. These revise the SCT rates for vehicles, for beer and

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Nigeria: High Court affirms taxpayer appeal and orders disbandment of Tax Tribunal

10 January, 2014

Nigeria’s Federal High Court (FHC) delivered a key judgment on 30 October 2013 in a suit between TSKJ Contruces Internationals Sociadade Unipessoal LDA (TSKJ) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). The FHC upheld TSKJ’s appeal against

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Italy: Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) annual return model published

10 January, 2014

The Italian tax administration has issued the final Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) annual return model and the related instructions under Protocol No. 2013/154577. The FTT return should be filed by 31 March of every year, subject to a de minimis

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Colombia: Definitions for classification of resident individuals

10 January, 2014

Decree 3032 of 2013 has just been reported clarifying the classification of resident individuals into the employee and self-employed categories. The same Decree provide key definitions for employee; self-employed; personal service; liberal

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Belgium: New tax rules on notional interest, small companies and withholding tax

10 January, 2014

The Official Gazette issue of 31 December 2013 notifies some new tax rules. The first measure aligns the rules relating to notional interest deductions (NID) with the judgment of the European Court of Justice in the Argenta Spaarbank case. The NID

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Austria: “Provisional” Budget submitted

10 January, 2014

The Austrian Government has submitted a provisional budget for 2014 to the Austrian National Council; the proposals broadly follow the coalition accord. Tax rises are proposed in the motor vehicle insurance tax and on alcohol and tobacco, and for

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Hong Kong: Stamp Duty Increases Affect Property Sales

09 January, 2014

Increases in the rates of existing ad valorem stamp duty for both residential and non-residential property transactions appear to have cooled the real estate market.  The Government increased such taxes from February 23, 2013 for that goal and it

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Finland: decree on blacklist countries updated

09 January, 2014

The Ministry of Finance of Finland published Decree No. 1284/2013 on 31 December 2013. This covers countries where the tax burden differs significantly from that in Finland; the blacklist applies in implementation of the controlled foreign company

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Bulgaria: Companies located in “preferential” jurisdictions banned from certain transactions

09 January, 2014

Bulgaria has enacted a new law, effective from 1 January 2014 which prevents companies located in “preferential tax regime jurisdictions” (and persons related to such companies) from receiving public funds, participating in privatizations in

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Uruguay: Tax penalties increased

08 January, 2014

Decree No. 402/013, was published in the Official Journal (Diario Oficial No. 28,870) on 23 December 2013. This increased the penalties on tax infringements and such penalties applicable as from 1 January 2014 will range from a minimum of UYU290 to

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Ukraine: Introduces a value-added tax exemption

08 January, 2014

In a statement on January 8, 2014, Ukrainian Prime Minister confirmed that he had ordered the preparation of draft legislation to amend the country's tax code to lower the cost of natural gas for consumers. The price for consumers will be reduced by

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Netherlands: Relief, clarifications under FATCA

08 January, 2014

The Netherlands government has announced completion of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide relief and clarify the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) for automatic exchange of data between the Netherlands Belastingdienst and the US IRS. The

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Belgium: Rules for “self-billing” for VAT purposes

08 January, 2014

The Belgian fiscal administration has issued guidance on the application of a “self-billing” system for value added tax (VAT) purposes. The Belgian self-billing rules enable a customer to issue an invoice in respect of the supplier, for supplies

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Vietnam: Decree on tax penalties

07 January, 2014

Vietnam has released a new Decree on 16 October 2013 on tax penalties along with the amended law on Tax Administration, which specifies tax administrative procedures. The Decree becomes effective on 15 December 2013 and applies to any violations

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UK: Coalition Partner indicates preference for Income Tax Allowance Increases

07 January, 2014

The UK Deputy Prime Minister has said that the personal allowance could be increased beyond the  target GBP 10,000 in April 2014 if the Government were to abandon “pet projects” on tax and focus on on a single goal of a high allowance

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UK Chancellor Envisions Permanent Tax Cuts

07 January, 2014

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer has reiterated the government’s commitment to continue cutting taxes, especially through spending cuts, and without any extra borrowing. He cited the cuts in income taxes and freezing fuel duty, and the increase

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