Italy: Parliament Approves 2018 Budget Law
The Italian Parliament approved the Budget Law on 23rd December 2017 and it will come into force on 1st January 2018. The law prolongs the extra-amortization regime for entities investing in new assets between 1st January 2018 and 31st January 2018
See MoreKorea Rep OF: Legislation of Tax Reform Bill 2018
On 19 December 2017, Korea passed the 2018 Tax Reform Act (the 2018 tax reform) after it was passed by the Korean National Assembly on 5 December 2017. The tax reform 2018 contains provisions in line with the BEPS Action 2 and Action 4 of the OECD.
See MoreThailand launches SMART visa to enhance Thai industries
By mid-January 2018, the Government of Thailand will launch a “Smart Visa” scheme which grants 4 years permission to investors and highly skilled professionals working within 10 specialized fields. The Smart Visa targets foreign entrepreneurs,
See MoreAngola: Parliament approves 2018 State Budget
On 18 January 2018, the Parliament approved the State Budget for 2018. As part of the budget proposal, introducing a mechanism for the settlement of, by means of withholding, on purchases of goods from small businesses by companies that have
See MoreUK: Research on knowledge and use of VAT partial exemption
HMRC commissioned a telephone survey of almost two thousand VAT registered businesses representing 17 different industry sectors. The aim was to explore their knowledge and use of VAT partial exemption and to gain information on rates of VAT
See MoreUK: Research on small producers and importers of soft drinks
The introduction of an industrial levy on the production and import of sugary drinks was announced in the 2016 Budget and is to come into force in April 2018. In connection with the planned levy on sugary drinks HMRC commissioned research on small
See MoreIMF report recommends further reforms in Ethiopia
On 17 January 2018 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a report following the conclusion of consultations with Ethiopia under article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement. Ethiopia’s average annual GDP growth has been around 10% in
See MoreEU Finance Ministers to review tax haven blacklist
It is reported that the EU Economic and Finance Ministers (ECOFIN) will at their meeting on 23 January 2018 remove some countries from the EU’s blacklist of tax havens following commitments made by the countries to improve their tax policy. It has
See MoreUK: Increase in average length of tax investigations of large companies
It was reported on 15 January 2018 that recent figures from HMRC indicated an increase in the length of time taken to conduct tax investigations of large companies in the UK. In the year to 31 March 2017 the average length of time for investigations
See MoreWorld Bank presents proposals for improving tax collection in the Dominican Republic
A report issued by the World Bank on 17 January 2018 entitled Gearing up for a More Efficient Tax System in the Dominican Republic presents proposals for raising the level of tax collection. The report notes that tax is lost to a greater extent than
See MoreIMF report comments on the economic position of Croatia
On 16 January 2018 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report following the conclusion of consultations with Croatia under article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement. Croatia experienced its third year of positive economic growth
See MorePanama signs agreement for exchange of financial account information
On 15 January 2018 Panama signed the CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (CRS MCAA), the agreement for implementing the automatic exchange of financial account information under the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative
See MoreIMF report comments on economic position of Tanzania
On 10 January 2018 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the final review of Tanzania’s economic performance under a program supported by the Policy Support Instrument (PSI). Recently Tanzania’s economy has had a mixed performance and
See MoreMalaysia: Budget-2018 introduces a number changes to GST
Malaysia's 2018 budget introduced a number of changes to the tax regime for goods and services. These include: The sale of newspapers, magazines and books is newly classified as a zero value Exempting municipal services from GST Exempting
See MoreUS: President signs tax cuts and jobs act
On December 22, 2017, President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). On 20 December 2017, both the US Senate and the House of Representatives approved the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act with some minor changes to comply
See MoreUK: Making Tax Digital – survey of small businesses and landlords
On 11 December 2017 HMRC published a survey of the attitudes of small businesses and landlords towards the requirements of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) changes to be introduced in the UK. This research commissioned by HMRC involved a survey of 2,900
See MoreGulf Cooperation Council: Saudi Arabia and UAE to implement VAT
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are to introduce value added tax (VAT) from 1 January 2018 at a rate of 5%. Their new VAT systems will be in line with the terms of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Unified VAT Agreement. Four other
See MoreIMF publishes report on the economic situation of Belgium
On 18 December 2017 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report on Belgium following discussions under article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement. The report notes that the economy is recovering with a projected 1.75% rise in GDP
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