Malaysia: Budget 2016
The Malaysian Prime Minister announced Malaysia's 2016 budget on 23 October 2015 highlighting some tax measures including corporate and personal income taxation changes. Corporate taxation A special reinvestment allowance of 60% of qualifying
See MoreHong Kong-Macao begins FTA Negotiations
Hong Kong has started a consultation on Free Trade Agreement on the areas to be covered in a proposed Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) trade treaty with Macao. At present, Hong Kong and Macao have each entered into a separate CEPA
See MoreHong Kong: Government committed to timely implementation of automatic exchange of tax information
In response to input from stakeholders the government will make changes to a legislative proposal to implement the new international standard on automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters (AEOI). Based on valuable feedback
See MoreKazakhstan: Bill regarding social health insurance sent to Senate
A bill about compulsory social health insurance contributions has been introduced and was sent to Senate on 8th October 2015. This bill is about a new social health insurance system to be launched from 2017. In calculating social health insurance
See MoreKazakhstan: Electronic VAT invoice
The State Revenue Committee has published a press release on 8th October 2015 for describing the system of electronic VAT invoice. A new digital registration system was announced from 1st July 2014 qualifying taxpayers to issue VAT invoices
See MoreKazakhstan: List of representative offices of foreign states and organizations published
Generally, a VAT refund is possible for both resident and non-resident taxable persons registered in Kazakhstan for VAT purposes. There is an exception to this rule in the case of representative offices. Representative offices are only eligible
See MoreNew Zealand: Inland Revenue revises its guidance on APA
Inland Revenue recently updated its guidance on the Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) application process and published a list of steps aiming to standardize the process. Agreements can be required from Inland Revenue alone (unilateral) or between
See MoreIndonesia: Revised Debt-to-Equity Ratios for 2016
As per the regulation No. 169/PMK.010/2015 issued by the Ministry of Finance, the debt-to-equity ratio under the “thin cap” rules is set at 4:1 maximum for fiscal year 2016. Indonesia’s thin capitalization rules regulate the deductibility of
See MoreThailand: Tax incentives for international headquarters
To promote the location of headquarters in Thailand the Board of Investment has introduced a new program. According to the program there will be relief from corporate income tax (0% on non-Thai source income from services, royalties, and dividends,
See MoreAustralia introduced multinational anti-avoidance law, CbC reporting and increased penalties
The Treasurer of Australia introduced a Bill to implement the announced multinational anti-avoidance law to apply to foreign multinationals generating certain profits earned from Australia without an Australian permanent establishment;
See MoreDTA between Chile and Japan will be negotiated
The first round of negotiations for a tax treaty between Chile and Japan will take place from 1st October
See MoreIndia: Minimum Alternate Tax not applicable to foreign companies without a PE
A press release was issued on 24 September 2015 stating that, with effect from 1 April 2001, the minimum alternate tax (MAT) provisions will not apply to a foreign company if that foreign company is a resident of a country that has concluded a tax
See MoreKazakhstan: Draft law amending excise duties has sent to government
A draft law along with the amendments to the excise duty rates has been sent to the Government on 15th September 2015. The changes are as follows: The excise duty for wholesale of locally produced petrol and petrol transfers is currently set at
See MoreKazakhstan: VAT withdraws
Kazakhstan has accepted plans to withdraw its VAT regime next year and it will be substituted with a simple sales tax. This sales tax will be levied at 12% regarding cash payments. To discourage non-disclosure, there will be a 7% discount on this
See MoreIMF: Policies in support of sustainable development goals
A Staff Discussion Note published by the IMF on 22 September 2015 looks at policies that countries could adopt in pursuing sustainable development goals. The Note entitled From Ambition to Execution: Policies in Support of Selected Sustainable
See MoreDTA between Malaysia and Slovak Republic approved by Slovak Republic
The Income Tax Treaty (DTA; 2015) between Malaysia and the Slovak Republic was approved by the government of the Slovak Republic on 28th August 2015 and has now been submitted for ratification to the National Council. This treaty was signed on
See MoreChina: SAT is Seeking Public Comments on Consultation Draft for Implementing Special Tax Adjustments
On 17 September 2015, China’s State Administration of Taxation released a consultation draft circular concerning implementation measures for special tax adjustments that would replace the existing Guoshuifa No. 2 (Circular 2). Now the SAT is
See MoreIsrael: VAT rate reduced
A Ministerial Order was issued on 10th September 2015 regarding reduction of the VAT rate to 17% from 18%. This new rate will be effective from 1st October
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