China, Georgia FTA enters into Force
On 1 January 2018, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between China and Georgia entered into force and implemented. China-Georgia FTA is the first FTA China has signed with Eurasian countries as well as the first Free Trade Agreement China has initiated
See MoreAustralia: Final guideline on cross-border related-party financing arrangements
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has published the final Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2017/4 on its compliance approach to cross-border related financing arrangements. The guidance explains how taxpayers can price related party loans to
See MoreVietnam considers special tax for sweet drinks
The Ministry of Finance is proposing to levy a special consumption tax of 10% on sweet drinks to combat child and adult obesity rates. It is part of a ministry proposal to revise five tax laws, including a value-added tax (VAT), special consumption
See MorePakistan: Government has withdrawn sales tax and customs duty on cotton imports
On 5 January 2018, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved withdrawal of sales tax and customs duty on import of cotton effective from 8 January 2018. The ECC also granted approval for issuance of GoP Sovereign Guarantee
See MoreHong Kong signs AEOI agreement with France
According to an announcement published on 15 January 2018, Hong Kong has signed an agreement with France on the automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters (AEOI). The Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative
See MoreMalaysia: IRBM updates the rules for CbC reporting
The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has recently published an amendment to the country-by-country (CbC) rules. Among the changes, the amended CbC rules include revised measures regarding entities having cross-border transactions with other constituent
See MoreChina: New incentives for profit reinvestment
On 28 December 2017, The Ministry of Finance, State Administration of Taxation, National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce jointly introduced Circular-Caishui 88 and relevant interpretations, which provide foreign investors
See MoreChina updates foreign tax credit rules
The State Administration of Taxation of China has published Circular 84 of 28 December 2017 regarding the determination of foreign tax credits. According to foreign tax credit rules, resident companies and permanent establishments of non-resident
See MoreThailand: Cabinet approves draft Transfer Pricing Act
On 3 January 2018, the Thai Cabinet approved the draft transfer pricing act following a public hearing held in July 2017 on the first draft Act that was approved in principle in May 2015. Subject to a legislative procedure and announcement, the
See MorePhilippines: DoF releases the second package of the tax reform bill
The Philippines Department of Finance (DOF) released the second package of the tax reform on 9 January 2018, as part of the country's broader Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP). Under the Package Two, the DOF aims to lower the CIT rate from 30%
See MoreHong Kong publishes a bill to implement transfer pricing documentation
On 29 December 2017, Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 6) Bill 2017 published in order to sets out rules on transfer pricing documentation including country-by-country reporting, and contains other measures to implement the minimum standards under
See MoreTaiwan: MoF increases dividends withholding tax rate
Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MoF) has stated that, the withholding tax rate on dividends paid to nonresidents is increased from 20% to 21%. The withholding tax rate effects from 1st January 2018. Ministry of Finance further said that this standard
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 MoreHong Kong: IRD introduces two tiered profits tax rate
The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No.7) Bill published on 29 December 2017 proposes to modify Hong Kong’s tax relief for various businesses including reinsurance, captive insurance, aircraft leasing, shipping and corporate treasury centers as these
See MoreKorea: Free Trade Agreement (FTA) lending a helping hand to strengthen Australian Exports
After the KAFTA (Korean-Australian Free Trade Agreement) coming into action since 12th December, 2014 enabling the Korean FTA chipping in to boost the Australian exports, it has been a sheer class of masterstroke which has immensely uplifted the
See MoreKazakhstan: Law signed for ratifying DTA with Ireland
The President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, signed a law on December 29, 2017, for ratifying the Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) with Ireland. The Treaty is aimed at strengthening and expanding economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and
See MoreAustralia: New guidance on DPT
On 18 December 2017, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) published a draft law companion guideline (LCG) 2017/D7 on Diverted profits tax (DPT) for public consultation. The draft Guideline addresses Schedule 1 to the Treasury Laws Amendment Act 2017
See MoreChina: New guidance of CbC reporting
On 19 December 2017, China’s tax authority issued a public notice No. 46 clarifying country-by-country (CbC) reporting matters, that illustrate certain provisions of country-by-country (CbC) reporting will not apply for the CbC report for
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