Malta: Planning to merge Revenue departments
The government of Malta is planning to merge the Inland Revenue Department, Customs Department and the VAT Department into one central revenue authority. This follows the trend in a number of countries worldwide who have merged their direct and
See MoreWCO issues advisory opinion in respect of imports of goods incorporating a trademark
The Technical Committee on Customs Valuation of the World Customs Organization (WCO) has approved a revised “advisory opinion” on the Valuation Agreement in relation to trademark royalties. An advisory opinion of the WCO is not binding on its
See MoreWTO: 2013 World Trade Report
The World Trade Report for 2013 issued by the World Trade Organization (WTO) emphasizes that the development of world trade will be determined by a number of economic policies and social trends including shifts in patterns of production and
See MoreNetherlands: Guidance on application of bonus deprecation rules (2013)
The Dutch tax authorities have given a clarification and cases showing examples of the new rules on “free depreciation” (or bonus depreciation) for businesses making new investments between 1 July and 31 December
See MoreWTO: Global Review of Aid for Trade
The fourth global review of Aid for Trade was held between 8 and 10 July 2013. The closing remarks by the Director General reminded the participants that the main targets of the program are to bring down trading costs while adding value to the trade
See MoreHalf-Year Tax Revenues Fall in Taiwan
Taiwan's Ministry of Finance has announced a 5.2 percent fall in revenue in June 2013 due to a fall in receipts from corporate taxes. There has been a decrease in total tax collections in the first half of this year which includes falls in
See MoreAzerbaijan: Tax authority joins the Executive Board of IOTA
The Ministry of Taxes of Azerbaijan has become a member of the Executive Board of the “Intra-European Organization of Tax Administrations” (IOTA). This was announced at the 17th General Assembly of IOTA. The Ministry of Taxes of Azerbaijan is
See MoreUK: Consultation on community amateur sports clubs
The UK government has published a consultation document in respect of tax relief given to community amateur sports clubs. The current relief gives some tax relief that is similar to the relief given to charities, but policy is being reconsidered in
See MoreECJ rules on relevance of contractual terms in VAT supply
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has reached a decision in the case of HMRC v Paul Newey t/a Ocean Finance (C-653/11). This case concerned the relevance of contractual terms to the identification of the supplier and recipient of services for the
See MoreECJ: Advocate General issues opinion on VAT and educational services
A question was referred to the ECJ by the Supreme Court of Poland in respect of VAT on educational services. The Advocate General has now issued an opinion on the case, which is however not binding on the ECJ which will issue its decision at a later
See MoreUK: consultation on allowing the transfer of savings in child trust funds to junior ISAs
The UK government has published a consultation document in respect of allowing the transfer of savings from a Child Trust Fund to a junior Individual Savings Account (Junior ISA). Child trust funds were originally introduced in 2004 with the
See MoreUK: HMRC guidance the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme
The HMRC published a series of answers on 28 May 2013 to frequently asked questions about the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (Seed EIS). The scheme has been applicable in respect of shares issued after 6 April 2012. The Seed EIS was set up to
See MoreChina: Permitted Industry Catalogue published for Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone
For the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, the Permitted Industry Catalogue was issued in March 2013. This sets out six permitted industries which include financial services, modern logistics, information services,
See MoreUnited Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi issues a decree establishing a financial free zone
The free zone is expected to be set up along the same lines as the financial free zone in Dubai and will help Abu Dhabi to compete as a financial centre with Dubai and other jurisdictions in the region such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The free zone
See MoreNetherlands: Finance Minister clarifies aspects of international taxation
A letter to the Upper House of Parliament (Eerste Kamer) from the Dutch Finance Minister has presented clarifications of the Dutch tax system in the light of the recent OECD report on base erosion and profit shifting and the steps taken by the G8
See MoreUnited States: IRS publishes quarterly list of individuals who have expatriated.
The US Internal Revenue Service has published a quarterly notice with a list of US citizens and long-term US residents who have renounced their citizenship or residency for US federal tax purposes. The Notice is dated 29 January 2013, and is based
See MoreFrance Publishes Revised 2012 ‘Black List’
It was reported on 26 April 2012 that the French Finance Minister and Budget Minister have recently updated the country’s ‘black list’ of countries deemed to be ‘uncooperative’ in tax matters. The revised 2012 list is confirmed in a
See MoreIndia’s Indirect Tax Revenues Peak
India's indirect tax revenue rose 9.6% in February, with the government having now collected 88.7% of its revenue target for the fiscal year to date. The latest statistics show that indirect tax revenue collections hit INR314bn (USD6.3bn), up 9.6%
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