FATCA agreement between US and Latvia signed
Latvia and the United States signed a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Agreement, on June 27, 2014. Under the agreement, Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) in Latvia will report the information required under FATCA about U.S. accounts
See MoreEU Signs Historic Trade Pacts with Eastern States
The European Union (EU) and three of Russia’s neighbors signed sweeping trade-and-political agreements that will ultimately eliminate tariff barriers to trade. The deals with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova which will provide for a deep and
See MoreSwitzerland-Hungary: Signed Double Taxation Agreement
Switzerland and Hungary signed a double taxation agreement on 4 June 2014. Switzerland's lower house of parliament has approved the DTA after ratification by both
See MoreSpain: Cabinet approves reduction to income tax rates
The Spanish Cabinet on June 20, 2014, approved the downsizing the corporate and individual income tax rates to encourage investment and employment. Under the revised plans, the corporate tax rate will fall from 30% to 28% in 2015 and to 25 percent
See MoreIMF alerts Slovak Republic on VAT rate cut
Slovakia has increased its VAT rate from 19% to 20% in 2011. IMF has warned that reducing the rate back to 19% would expense 0.3% GDP in tax takes for the country. As the economic picture has enhanced slightly, many countries have started to think
See MoreFrance Reveals Revised HGV Tax
The French Ministry of Ecology has announced that the plans for a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) "eco" tax will be abandoned. Instead of this a truck transit toll will be imposed from 1 January 2015. The charge will be applied to all HGVs over 3.5
See MoreFrance: Withdraws IHT Agreement with Switzerland
The government of France has announced to withdraw the 1953 inheritance tax (IHT) agreement with Switzerland effective from 31 December 2014. Accordingly from 1 January 2015 in the absence of a treaty domestic inheritance tax rules will be
See MoreSlovak Republic: IMF advises to keep current VAT rate
International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) advice to Slovakia to preserve the 20% VAT rate and focus more on boosting state revenues rather than further cutting of expenses. The IMF assumes that the plan to reduce VAT to 19 % would responsible for 0.3%
See MoreCzech Republic: Announcement of new anti-tax evasion force
The Ministry of Interior has declared the a new anti-tax evasion unit, naming "Cobra" regarding the sign of a protocol agreement on exchange information for customs, tax, and police chiefs and promised results by the end of the year. Finance
See MoreItaly: Simplification of Individual Tax Filing by incorporating the provision of pre-compiled tax returns
Italian cabinet approved a draft tax simplification law decree on June 20, 2014. It was confirmed by the Minister of Constitutional Reforms and Relations Maria, Elena Boschi that from 2015 tax returns will be pre-compiled for 30 million Italian
See MoreGermany: Setting up a special unit within the tax investigation department to protect fiscal crime
A special unit has been set up by the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg within its tax investigation department to protect fiscal crime at federal level. The unit will involve carrying out investigation to trace tax evasion strategies and
See MoreFrance: Planning of Tax Cuts By 2017
The French Court of Auditors is estimating that the companies’ liability to mandatory levies will be cut by EUR14bn between 2015 and 2017. The Responsibility, Solidarity Pact, the tax credit for competitiveness and employment program will
See MoreFrance: Adopted Amending Finance Bill for 2014
The Council of Ministers of France adopted the Amending Finance Bill for 2014 on 11 June 2014. According to the adopted bill the temporary surtax on the corporate income tax for large companies will be eliminated on 30 December 2016. The thresholds
See MoreCzech Republic ratified the DTA with Luxembourg
The Czech Republic has ratified the Income and Capital Tax Treaty between Czech Republic and Luxembourg on June 5, 2014. Once in force and effective, this new treaty will generally replace the prior Czechoslovakia - Luxembourg Income and Capital
See MoreSlovak Republic: Thin capitalization rules has considered related-party debt
The Ministry of Finance is currently considering the chance of re-initiating thin capitalization rules into Slovak tax law. With the help of an internal document the Ministry of Finance highlights that low capitalization expresses an effective tax
See MoreCzech Republic: Income tax law changes are proposed
The Ministry of Finance has published a draft amendment to the income tax law of the Czech Republic for requiring comments. Among the proposals in the draft bill are measures that would: Continue the tax rates and tax base for individual income
See MoreIndia: Refurbish Tax Treaty with Cyprus
India is seeking an amendment to its 1994 double tax agreement with Cyprus before the territory can be out as a notified jurisdictional area. From November 2013, the Indian Government raised powers under Section 94A of the Indian Income Tax Act
See MoreLuxemburg: Tax circular governing the functional currency regime
A tax circular letter containing framework of rules governing the functional currency regime (FRC) was issued by the Luxemburg Tax Authorities on 16 June 2014. It will apply to corporations that expresses in a currency other than Euro and maintain
See More