Italy receives further Financial Transaction Reports
As part of efforts by the Italian Revenue Agency to increase the scrutiny of tax compliance reports by banks and other financial institutions containing statistics of transactions for 2012 were due to be submitted by March 31, 2014. The scrutiny of
See MoreGerman Government under renewed pressure to raise personal income tax bands
Germany is being urged to increase the personal income tax bands to keep pace with inflation following estimates that a sizeable amount of tax will be collected as a result of the effects of inflation rather than real increases in individual income.
See MoreGermany: Proposals to adjust personal income tax brackets
The leader of Germany’s Social Democrat party (SPD) has backed proposals to adjust the personal income tax brackets in an effort to undo stealth taxation that has resulted from the effects of inflation. This is considered to have unfairly hit
See MoreUS: Case Made For Progressive Consumed Income Tax
In a recent editorial article the President and CEO of the American Council for Capital Formation called for consideration to be given to a change from the current income tax code to a "progressive consumed income tax" in the United States. He
See MoreMexico settles issues with Maquiladoras
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
See MoreIreland: SME Body requests changes in tax system
The SFA (Small Firms Association) has stated that Ireland needs changes to the tax system in order to create more jobs. He pointed out that the country has one of the highest marginal individual tax rates in the Organization for Economic
See MoreChina: Financial policies for Shanghai pilot free trade zone
The People’s Bank of China on 2 December issued opinions regarding financial support for the development of China (Shanghai) pilot free trade zone. The guidance has five areas of focus: Expansion of cross-border use of RMB; Acceleration of
See MoreSwitzerland: Rejects some key tax initiatives
The Swiss people rejected some major tax initiatives, which would have had a reflective impact on both the economy and the attractiveness of the Confederation Fair Play would have limited executive pay to several of 12 times the wages of the lowest
See MorePortugal: VAT rate need not be reduced on restaurant trade
There is no need for a cut from the standard 23% rate to the reduced 13% rate. This is indicated by the latest positive estimates of Portuguese VAT restaurant receipts points. VAT rate on restaurant services in Portugal raised from 10% to 23% in
See MoreFrance: Independent Worker Union Criticizes Corporate Land Tax Reform
The government of France proposed reform to the corporate land tax contribution (CFE) under the framework of the finance bill of 2014- PLF 2014. But the independent worker union UNAPL has strongly criticized the proposal. The PLF 2014 presents
See MoreCanada – Venture Capital Tax Credit has phased out
The Canadian Government is negotiating on a series of draft legislative proposals for the orderly phase-out of the federal Labor-Sponsored Venture Capital Corporations (LSVCC) tax credit. LSVCCs are a type of mutual fund corporation, sponsored by
See MoreUS: IRS Under Further Pressure Over Erroneous Tax Refunds
Having recently noted that the United States Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) processes can be ineffective in identifying tax returns claiming improper tax credits and fraudulent tax refunds, a further report from the Treasury Inspector General for
See MoreUK: Shares issued under interest free loan agreement are taxable income
On 15 November 2013, it was reported that the United Kingdom First Tier Tribunal found that the receipt of shares from a borrower in an interest free loan agreement between United Kingdom companies was taxable income. The case in which this decision
See MoreLuxembourg wants acceleration of negotiation on Savings Tax
Luxembourg has called on the European Commission (EC) to accelerate negotiations with third party countries, to make sure that progress is made on plans to modify the Savings Tax Directive. The Savings Tax Directive is designed to ensure that income
See MoreLuxembourg Considers Tax Rise
The assessment of current negotiations on the formation of a new Government of Luxembourg is that there is a pledge to redressing the public finances if necessary with recourse to tax measures. However Luxembourg is starting from a favorable
See MoreEgypt: Forbidden Progressive Tax Plans
Recently, the Egyptian committee has forbidden plans to include an article in the country’s basic law providing that progressive taxation should serve as a basis for tax policy. From the 2011 uprising, Egypt has been planning the idea of
See MoreSwitzerland: Flat’s Tax support to SMEs
It was reported that SGV (Switzerland’s main trade association), represents small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland, has accepted the decision of the Swiss Council of States to refuse the people’s initiative calling for an end
See MoreUK: report on the role of large accountancy firms in tax avoidance
The UK’s Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) has issued a report entitled “Tax avoidance: the role of large accountancy firms” criticizing the close relationship between accountancy firms and the tax authorities. The practice of seconding
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