Netherlands: Commodity Board Levies Removed

07 January, 2014

The Netherlands Finance Ministry has announced that compulsory levies payable by companies to the Dutch commodity and industrial boards (PBO) will be abolished from 1 January 2014. While PBOs undertook a number of functions, e.g. animal welfare and

See More

France: Property Savings Account Tax Perk to remain

07 January, 2014

The Budget Minister of France has confirmed that there are no plans to change regulated home buyers savings account (PEL savings account). This measure enables individuals to earn tax free interest earned up to a period of 12 years, and offers

See More

Vietnam: APA regime procedures and rules

06 January, 2014

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has issued detailed guidance in Circular 201/2013/TT_BTC dated 20 December 2013, for the advance pricing agreement (APA) regime, which was added to the income tax law in July 2013. The new guidance is effective from 5

See More

Slovakia: Corporate tax rate reduction, international tax rules changed

06 January, 2014

The Finance and Budget Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic recently proposed some changes to the Slovak Income Tax Act. The proposed changes cover reduction in the corporate income tax rate, carry forward of tax losses, transfer

See More

Netherlands: New decree on arm’s length principle published

06 January, 2014

The Netherlands State Secretary for Finance issued Decree No. IFZ 2013/184M on 26 November 2013 (Official Gazette No. 32854) which relates to the application of the arm’s length principle and the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines. The revised

See More

France: Tax provisions enacted

06 January, 2014

The French Parliament passed the tax legislative packages for 2014 on 19 December 2013, which were subsequently scrutinized by the Constitutional Court on 29 December 2013 and eventually enacted into law on 30 December 2013. Most of the key

See More

Belgium: Proposed changes to expatriate tax rules

06 January, 2014

The Belgian government has proposed legislation to amend the rules for determining the non-resident individual (personal) income tax as applicable to expatriates. Proposed changes include the repeal of personal exemptions for expatriates benefiting

See More

New Zealand: Non-residents must register for GST from April 2014

01 January, 2014

The New Zealand Inland Revenue Department has set out mandatory requirement for non-resident taxable persons to register for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1 April 2014 if they provide local taxable supplies. The criteria to meet to register

See More

Bulgaria: Tax Increase for the Wealthy

01 January, 2014

The Bulgarian Government has confirmed that it intends to introduce a higher rate of tax for the wealthy during 2015. A new 15% rate would apply to those earning more than BGN2,700 (USD1,900) per month instead of the flat 10%. Other measures

See More

Brazil Repeals Transitional Tax Regime and established important changes to tax system

30 December, 2013

Brazil’s Federal Government has published Provisional Measure No. 627 (PM 627) on 12 November 2013, containing a long expected set of rules that not only repeal the Transitional Tax Regime(TTR) but also added new rules aimed at permanently

See More

Spain: plans to cut taxes for lower incomes

27 December, 2013

The Government of the Spain intends to reduce individual income taxation (IRPF) for those on lower incomes over the next three years, while higher-income taxpayers will continue to pay more, disclosed by the Spanish finance Minister. This is the

See More

Individual tax relief measures in China

27 December, 2013

The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the State Administration of Taxation have jointly issued a circular regarding guidance on the collection and administration of individual income tax on enterprise

See More

Peru –Amendments to the Income Tax Regulations

27 December, 2013

The department of Economy and Finance of Peru has made some modifications to the country’s existing Income Tax Regulations which are effective from 7 November 2013. According to the amendments a joint responsibility will be imposed on a Peruvian

See More

Irish PM considers tax cuts

27 December, 2013

It has been reported on 27 December 2013 that for middle income families the Irish Government will prioritize income tax cuts when there is due scope for change, according to the Prime Minister. There will be no income tax increases in the next

See More

Austria:  Chancellor says tax reform is first priority

23 December, 2013

The Austrian Chancellor has clarified that his number one priority is to reform the country’s tax system, as soon as there is scope to do so. The Chancellor highlighted that he will push for the fiscal reform to be financed by wealth taxes. The

See More

Latvia: changes of VAT code 2014

22 December, 2013

The following changes have been taken place under the Latvian VAT code which will come into effect in January 2014. The requirement to appoint a VAT fiscal representative by non-resident taxable persons is withdrawn. For advertising costs, the

See More

China: VAT pilot program expanded to new industry sectors

20 December, 2013

China’s Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued guidance to expand the value added tax (VAT) pilot program to apply to the railway sector, the postal delivery services sector, and the telecommunications sector.

See More

US ensure further tax benefits for same-sex married couples

20 December, 2013

The Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued a further notice in response to the Supreme Court ordered that same-sex couples should be given all of the federal tax benefits that are extended to heterosexual married couples. On June

See More