Italy Allows Taxpayers to Regularize Undeclared Foreign Capital
Recently the Italian Government approved a new decree to constitute a legal framework to allow for the regularization of undeclared capital held abroad by Italian residents. The new decree allows for favorable treatment, including penalty
See MoreIreland: Anti-VAT fraud measures
To prevent fraud in Irish VAT compliance, the Irish government introduced a number of measures through its Finance Bill which came into effect from 1 January 2014. VAT registered businesses will have to refund to the Irish Revenue any deducted input
See MoreHong Kong: Tax concession for captive insurance companies
On 8 January 2014 legislation was introduced into the Legislative Council to provide a profits tax concession to captive insurance companies for profits from their business of insurance of offshore risks. These profits are to be chargeable to
See MoreEU Discloses Climate Change Plan
The European Commission has proposed the establishment of a market stability reserve at the beginning of the next Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) trading period. The ETS was designed to deliver emissions reduction goals in a harmonized and
See MoreEU Steps Up Actions to Decelerate Custom Fraud
The European Commission expressed their intention to strengthen their effort to anti-fraud operations with the cooperation of the customs and tax authorities. As a part of its six-month European Union (EU) Presidency, Lithuania organized a Joint
See MoreBrazil: Withholding tax thresholds for Employee Profit-Sharing Plans Increased
The employee profit-sharing plan (participação nos lucros ou resultados, PLR) related tax withholding thresholds in Brazil have recently been modified. This will be applicable from 1 January 2014. For the taxable year 2014, the tax withholding
See MoreArgentina: Highest tax to GDP in Latin America is reported
According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), tax revenue in Argentina is the the largest and fastest growing among this region. The latest tax revenue-to-GDP data of Argentina was 37.3 percent, which put the
See MoreAustralian Government restates commitment to lower taxes
The Australian Prime Minister has reiterated his election pledge for “lower, simpler, fairer taxes,” and the new government will draw up a tax reform white paper within two years. Recommendations in the white paper shall be part of the platform
See MoreHungary dismisses OECD Tax Advice
The Hungarian government has rejected OECD proposals for major tax reforms, covering a new property tax as well as energy, environmental, inheritance and wealth taxes. The Minister of Economic Strategy has said that tax reform is complete and no
See MoreCanada: Lower Tax Rates demanded for Small Businesses
The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB), in presenting budget requests to the Finance Minister, has recommended a gradual reduction of the small business tax rate from 11% to 9%. CFIB feels that these changes will help the small
See MorePortugal: Parliament adopts Retroactive Budget for 2014
The Parliament has adopted the Retroactive Budget for 2014, this widens the base of the Portugal’s “Extraordinary Solidarity Contribution” (CES) on pensioners. The CES will apply to pensions greater than EUR 1,000/month (previous level, EUR
See MoreECJ to investigate Portuguese exit tax
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will investigate tax residency rules in Portugal; this results from a referral by the European Commission which considers the Portuguese rules applicable to taxpayers who are no longer resident in the country to
See MoreSpain: Further VAT Rises Unlikely
The Finance Minister has confirmed that further VAT rises will not take place in the near future. The Advisory Committee for Tax Reform had suggested increases in the headline VAT rate from 10% and 21% to 13% and 23% respectively. External advice
See MoreTurkey: Specific Transfer Pricing Compliance
An annual transfer pricing report must be prepared by the date of the annual tax return. The transfer pricing rules also specify documentation that must be maintained. Listed companies may also be required to submit a report on controlled
See MoreSlovenia- Audits time limits
There is no fixed time limit within which a tax audit may take place. The statute of limitations is normally ten years but may be extended for the duration of legal procedures in connection with collecting
See MoreMalaysia: Audits process
Under the transfer pricing audit framework for transfer pricing audit effective from 1 April 2013, a taxpayer may be selected for audit based on the significance of its controlled transactions before taking into account other risk analysis. The time
See MoreIndonesia: VAT registration threshold increased
Indonesia has increased its VAT registration threshold from IDR 0.6bn to IDR 4.8bn per year in taxable turnover with effect from 1 January 2014. The stated goal is to reduce the VAT compliance burden for small and medium sized businesses. The
See MoreChina: Tax Revenues grew in 2013
Total tax revenue in China increased by 9.8% in 2013; VAT revenue rose by 9% to nearly RMB2.9 trillion, while corporate income tax revenue grew by 14% to RMB2.2 trillion. Total tax revenue was just over USD1.8 trillion; however rate pf increase
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