Mexico settles issues with Maquiladoras

09 February, 2014

The President of the National Council of the maquiladora industry has commented that the sector has largely settled its differences with the Mexican government over tax issues, following the changes to the Mexican Government's tax reform bill which

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India: Improvements to VAT compliance and administration procedures

09 February, 2014

Some improvements to the Indian VAT compliance and administration procedures have been announced to help traders. India’s VAT is a state level tax on the sale of goods.  The changes include plans to reduce the number of Indian VAT audits, the

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Brazil – Social Security Tax on Exports to Trading Companies

09 February, 2014

The tax department has issued guidance clarifying that revenues from the sale of products to trading companies for the purpose of export are subject to social security taxation. Normative Instruction 1436 (IN 1436) released on 9 January 2014 was

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Malta – Inclusion of the individual tax proposals in budget legislation

04 February, 2014

In Malta legislation has been presented to parliament to implement measures that were presented in the government’s budget for 2014. The proposed amendments include the introduction of a new tax bracket; the extension of the parental computation;

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United Kingdom: Partnerships, tax policy

03 February, 2014

To inquire into the draft Finance Bill 2014 as published on 10 December 2013 the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee has established a Finance Bill sub-committee. The sub-committee will focus on two areas: The draft clauses relating to the

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United Kingdom – Derivative contracts and anti-avoidance legislation

03 February, 2014

On 23 January 2014, draft legislation amending the rules for derivative contracts was updated by adding an anti-avoidance provision which disregards debits and credits arising from arrangements to transfer profits between group companies. The

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Ukraine: Tax Code Changes Included in 2014 Budget

03 February, 2014

The Ukrainian President signed the law on the state budget for 2014 on January 17, 2014. The draft law on the budget provides for changes to the country's tax code. According to the draft the value-added tax rate will remain unchanged at 20 percent

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Spain to review tax system for families

03 February, 2014

Spain's Finance Minister has announced that the Government will review family tax reliefs ahead of the next tax reform. In a meeting, he has reiterated the Government's commitment to helping Spanish families and promoting equality of opportunities.

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South Africa: Tax implications of assumption of contingent liabilities

03 February, 2014

The tax implications in relation to the assumption of contingent liabilities in partial settlement of the purchase price of assets acquired as part of a going concern have been addressed by the South African Revenue Service (SARS). The initial views

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Russia considers Tax on Foreign Online Retailers

03 February, 2014

Russia is considering whether to levy a 30 percent tax on imports from foreign online retailers and restrict the number of parcels imported. The proposed tax, which would be imposed on imports worth more than RUB7, 000 (USD 202), is intended to

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Portugal: Corporate Income Tax Reform

03 February, 2014

The Corporate Income Tax Reform (“CIT Reform”) represents one of the most ambitious tax initiatives undertaken by the Portuguese Government. On January 16 2014, Law no. 2/2014introduced a set of measures that aim to raise the competitiveness of

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Peru: Changes to “frequent importers” regime

03 February, 2014

On 11 January 2014, the tax administration of Peru issued a resolution establishing changes to the “frequent importers” regime (Relación de Importadores Frecuentes). Resolución No. 00002-2014-SUNAT/300000 offers a list of the importers

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Malaysia Confirms Change of Policy on Vehicle Excise Tax Cut

03 February, 2014

Despite last year's election manifesto promise, and persistent calls for a reduction in Malaysia's high car prices, the International Trade and Industry Minister has confirmed that the Government has no plans to reduce vehicle excise duties at the

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Japan Studies Corporate Tax Rate Cut for Growth Strategy

03 February, 2014

Japan's Prime Minister is looking again at lower corporate taxes to provide a new impetus to growth in the economy. The Finance Minister has however again cast doubt on whether such a policy is viable at the present time. In a meeting of the

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Italy Cancels Budget’s Automatic Tax Deduction Changes

03 February, 2014

The Italian Government has decided to include proposed measures to rationalize individual income tax deductions within the framework of the draft tax reform law, which is currently before parliament, rather than the recently-approved 2014 Budget

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Ireland: Anti-VAT fraud measures

03 February, 2014

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

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Hong Kong: Tax concession for captive insurance companies

03 February, 2014

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

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EU Steps Up Actions to Decelerate Custom Fraud

03 February, 2014

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

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