Slovenia – Constitutional Court Suspends Real Estate Tax
Slovenia's Constitutional Court has suspended property tax assessments. The tax imposes a charge based on property value of between 0.15 percent for occupied residences through to 0.5 percent for empty homes and 0.75 for commercial properties.
See MoreSlovakia – Reduced corporate income tax rate
Slovakia’s Parliament has reduced the corporate income tax rate from 23% to 22% with effect from 1 January 2014. The reduced corporate income tax rate is effective for tax periods beginning after 31 December 2013. This change affects both the
See MoreNetherlands – Dividend withholding tax when companies located in Curaçao
The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued an opinion in two joined cases that involve profit distributions made by Dutch companies to their parent companies that are residents of Curaçao. The opinion of the
See MoreNetherlands – Distinction between loan interest and dividend
The Netherlands Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) on 7 February 2014 issued two decisions affecting taxpayers. The first decision related to whether a payment would be regarded as interest on a loan or as a participation dividend paid on a share capital
See MoreBelgium: Transfer pricing audits process
Likely high-risk targets for audits are highly leveraged companies, those with large tax losses carried forward, and those with fluctuating profits. Belgium has increased the number of transfer pricing audits and expanded the team of transfer
See MoreUnited Kingdom – Proposals related to tax disputes and identifying scheme promoters
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued consultation documents which include proposals for taxpayers to make accelerated payment of tax that is in dispute or subject to enquiry and for identifying “promoters” of tax avoidance schemes. The
See MoreUnited Kingdom – Councils to Retain Tax Revenues from Shale Gas Developments
On 13 January 2014, the UK Prime Minister announced that the local councils in the U.K. that approve shale gas developments will be able to retain 100 percent of business rates collected from local shale gas sites, doubling the current 50 percent
See MoreSpain extends latest deadline for cash accounting
The opportunity for Spanish companies to join the new cash reporting VAT scheme has been extend to 31 March 2014. The Spanish VAT cash accounting scheme was announced last year to help small businesses better manage their cash flows. It enables
See MoreNetherlands – Revised rules for employing foreign workers
A new law in the Netherlands (“Foreign Nationals Employment Act”), effective from 1 January 2014, concerns changes to the current labor market rules. The new law was followed by a re-write of the implementation rules. The law generally affects
See MoreNetherlands – Planned pension changes
On 20 January 2014, a proposal was presented to amend pension accrual rates and impose a limit on “pensionable” income. The following measures are included in the proposed amendments: An adjustment to the maximum pension accrual rates; A cap
See MoreItaly: Law Decree published regarding voluntary disclosure procedure
On 29 January 2014 Law Decree No. 4 of 28 January 2014 was published in the Official Gazette. This Decree provided clarifications with regard to the voluntary disclosure procedure. The Law Decree entered into force also on 29 January 2014 and will
See MoreIreland – FATCA Registration Process
The Revenue Commissioners have confirmed that there will not be a separate Irish registration process for Irish financial institutions pursuant to FATCA, and that Irish financial institutions will only need to register for a Global Intermediary
See MoreHong Kong: Negotiations for DTA with Romania
On 29 January 2014, the Romanian government authorized the start of negotiations for the conclusion of a Double Tax Agreement (DTA) between Hong Kong and
See MoreFrance – New VAT rates for 2014
With effect from 1 January 2014, the rates of value added tax (VAT) in France have been changed and are now as follows: The standard VAT rate is increased from 19.6% to 20%. The intermediary VAT rate which is applicable to the food service
See MoreFinland- TIEA with Panama entered into force
On 9 January 2014, Finland's Ministry of Finance announced that the cabinet of ministers approved regulations ratifying the tax information exchange agreement between Panama and Finland. Certain provisions of the treaty come into effect from 20
See MoreEstonia – Six new DTA in effect
From 1 January 2014, six new Double Tax Treaties (DTA) were added to Estonia’s income tax treaty network. The treaties are with Bahrain, Thailand, Cyprus, Mexico, Turkmenistan, and
See MoreEstonia Approves Draft Agreement to implement FATCA
On 23 January 2014, the government of Estonia approved a draft agreement to implement the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). According to a press release, the agreement is scheduled to be signed by the Estonian Tax and Customs
See MoreCzech Republic joins Convention and protocol on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters
The multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the 2010 protocol, entered into force in respect of the Czech Republic on 1 February 2014. The Convention and the amending protocol generally apply in the
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