France to Hike VAT

06 January, 2012

The French President announced on January 3, 2012 that his government will hike value-added tax before the upcoming elections, to allow for a reduction in social security contributions paid by companies. The tax measures would be in place before

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Japan’s Government Agrees Plan for Consumption Tax Hikes

02 January, 2012

It was reported on 2 January 2012 that Japan’s Prime Minister has been able to fulfill his government’s target to produce a detailed plan for future consumption tax rises, but only after his personal intervention at a meeting of the ruling

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Japan: Raise of consumption tax rate

31 December, 2011

It was published on 31 December 2011 that, the Japanese coalition government has put forward long awaited plans to raise Japanese consumption tax to 10% by April 2015 in two steps. First there will be an increase from the current 5% consumption tax

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2012 Budget issued by the Japanese government

28 December, 2011

The Government of Japan has approved and submitted a JPY90.3 trillion budget for the next fiscal year, beginning on April 1, 2012. The proposed budget will be presented to the country’s parliament early in 2012. The Japanese government has

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Ireland: VAT rate raise from 21% to 23%

07 December, 2011

The government of Ireland announce an increase of its standard VAT rate from 21% to 23% from January 2012. This increase is an acceleration of plans to raise the VAT rate to 23% by 2014. The government’s main target is to reduce the GDP deficit

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France: Increases Targeted VAT

31 October, 2011

To reduce the country’s deficit next year and to preserve its AAA rating, the French government is considering the idea of increasing the value-added tax (VAT) in France to either 7% or 9% in certain targeted areas from prevailing 5.5% rate and at

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