Japan Planning Corporate Tax Cut Next Year

18 May, 2014

There are plans to lower the corporate tax rate following the work of the Tax Commission appointed by the Japanese government. The Commission suggested an eventual reduction of the corporate tax rate to around 25 percent, and the Deputy Economy

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Ireland: Retailers Call for Personal Income Tax Cuts

18 May, 2014

The retail industry body Retail Ireland is confident that the retail sector will experience a significant recovery in 2014 and has requested individual income tax cuts to increase the spending power of the public and ensure that the public has more

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Ireland Eases Rules for LPT Concessions

18 May, 2014

Certain relief from Ireland’s Local Property Tax (LPT) is available for some disabled individuals. The Finance Minister has now announced that the scope of these reliefs is to be extended. The exemptions relate to property that are built or

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Germany: Draft guidance amending corporate tax loss limitation rules

18 May, 2014

Germany has issued draft guidance to replace prior advice on the corporate tax loss limitation rules. The current guidance was issued in 2008 and although there have not been any changes to the basic provisions in this area the new guidance aims to

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China: Announces the extensionof employment-boosting tax breaks

18 May, 2014

The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has jointly issued an announcement that tax breaks to increase employment are to be extended until 31 December 2016. The tax relief applies to companies that increase employment

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US: Committee Selects US Tax Extenders to Make Permanent

11 May, 2014

The Chairman of the US Ways and Means Committee has conducted a hearing to determine which “tax extenders” that expired at the end of 2013 should be permanently extended. There were more than fifty tax breaks expiring at the end of 2013 and in

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US CEOs United On Need for Tax Reform

11 May, 2014

An annual survey of the views of US Chief Executive Offices (CEOs) reveals that more than 80 percent of those asked are of the opinion that the international tax system must be restructured and around two thirds of those asked want a more

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Estonia: Announces the corporate income tax rate

11 May, 2014

The government has announced its intention to reduce the corporate tax rate to 20% in

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Romania’s Government approves tax exemption on reinvested profit

11 May, 2014

Under an emergency ordinance an exemption from tax on reinvested profits is to be put in place in July 2014 and remain until December 2015. The measure aims to increase the amount of company profits that are ploughed back into the business in the

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Mexico Provides Oil Tax Reform Framework

11 May, 2014

A bill recently introduced by the government contains more detail of the new tax regime in respect of oil companies. This aims to encourage further exploration with the aim of increasing oil production in the future. The state oil and gas company

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Italy – Reduced rates of IRAP regional tax

11 May, 2014

Decreto-Legge n 66/2014 which was published on 24 April 2014 reduces the rates of the regional tax on productive activities (IRAP). This amendment is awaiting ratification from parliament within 60 days but could be subject to further alterations

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Canada – Tax proposals in Ontario’s 2014 budget

11 May, 2014

Ontario’s 2014 budget proposals were announced on 1 May 2014. The measures proposed in the budget include a personal tax increase for individuals earning above CAD150,000; the phasing out of the small business deduction given to some larger

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Austria Lowers Business Taxes in Federal Budget

11 May, 2014

The Austrian budget for 2014 aims to decrease the labor costs incurred by business and has also proposed the abolition of the capital transfer tax. Wage costs will be lowered by means of a decrease of 0.1 percent in the accident insurance

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France: Unveils Medium Term Tax Strategy

30 April, 2014

France’s medium-term economic plan, included in the 2014-2017 Stability Program, involves measures that will help France to reach its public deficit target of 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015. Among the tax measures in the plan is

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Luxembourg: Adopts 2014 Budget

29 April, 2014

Luxembourg’s 2014 Budget has been adopted by the Chamber of Deputies. The debate in parliament was concerned with the Luxembourg Government’s intention to raise taxes with effect from 2015. The government also intends to increase three of the

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Italy: Government reduces IRAP rate and enacts other tax measures

28 April, 2014

Law Decree no. 66 published in the Official Gazette on 24 April 2014 confirms certain tax changes that were previously announced on 12 March 2014. The measures include a reduction of the regional tax on productive activities (IRAP) from a standard

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US: ATR finds that Obama has proposed 442 tax hikes

27 April, 2014

The organization known as Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) has calculated that since 2009 President Obama has proposed 442 tax increases. This figure results from a survey of the budgets for the fiscal years 2010 to 2015. In addition to these tax

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US – IRS issues 2014 foreign housing tax deduction limits

27 April, 2014

In the US the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued Notice 2014-29. The Notice sets out the inflation-adjusted limitations in respect of foreign housing expenses for tax year 2014. The figures included in the Notice show that Hong Kong, Moscow,

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