Germany implements legislation that restricts the tax deductibility of related-party royalty payments
The Federal Parliament and the Federal Council on 12 May 2017 and 2 June 2017 have agreed on the implementation of legislation which restricts the tax deductibility of the contributory payments under certain conditions. This royalty limitation rule
See MoreGermany: Government approves signing of MLI to implement tax treaty related BEPS measures
The German Federal Parliament on 21 December 2016, approved the signing of the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) to implement into bilateral tax treaties the tax treaty-related measures arising from the OECD / G20 BEPS Project to tackle base erosion and
See MoreGermany: Issues new procedure for non-residents regarding reimbursement of the withholding tax
Recently, the tax administration published an updated guidance on the tax refund procedure for non-residents to claim a 15% refund of withholding tax on portfolio dividends. According to the new procedure, as from 1 January 2017, the income from
See MoreGermany: Draft amendments to transfer pricing documentation ordinance
The Ministry of Finance on 23 February 2017 published draft amendments to the transfer pricing documentation ordinance. These show the changes introduced by the bill on the implementation of amendments to the EU Mutual Assistance Directive and other
See MoreGermany: Ministry of Finance publishes guidance on application of OECD’s Common Reporting Standard
The German Ministry of Finance on 3 March 2017, published official guidance (1 February 2017), on the application of the OECD's Common Reporting Standard concerning the automatic exchange of information and application of the Germany-United States
See MoreGermany-India: Social security agreement to enter into force
The Germany - India Social Security Agreement will enter into force on 1 May 2017. The agreement generally applies from 1 May 2017. From this date, the new agreement generally replaces the previous Germany - India Social Security Agreement
See MoreGermany: Government plans to limit the royalty deductions as from 2018
The Federal Ministry of Finance recently approved a draft bill on the limitation of the deduction of royalties on 25 January 2017. The bill focused on foreign IP boxes incompatible with the OECD nexus approach, and to make their use
See MoreGermany: Approves the draft bill on the limitation of the deduction of royalties
The German Government has approved the draft bill on the limitation of the deduction of royalties on 25 January 2017. The bill generally is based on a draft law that was published by the federal ministry of finance on 19 December
See MoreSweden: Administrative Court rules PE exists in Sweden due to regular nature of activities
The Swedish Administrative Court of Appeal in the case of: Gothenburg (Kammarrätten i Göteborg) case number 2276-15, has found a German company to have a permanent establishment (PE) in Sweden due to its annually recurring short-term activities in
See MoreGermany: Announces reduction of energy tax for manufacturing companies
The Ministry of Finance issued a press release on 11 January 2017, specifying that be eligible manufacturing companies may apply a percentage of the tax cap on their 2017 electricity and energy tax due because energy consumption reduction goals were
See MoreGermany: Approves draft bill on combat of tax avoidance
The Federal Cabinet on 21 December 2016 approved the draft bill on the combat of tax
See MoreGermany: Approves the bill on amendments to change-in-ownership rules
The Federal Council permitted the bill on amendments to the change-in-ownership rules on 16 December 2016. The bill will enter into force after its publication in the Official Gazette. According to the section 8c of the Corporate Income Tax Act and
See MoreDTA between Australia and Germany entered into force
The Income Tax Treaty (2015) between Australia and Germany has been entered into force on 7 December 2016. The treaty generally applies in Germany from 1 January 2017 and in Australia from the following dates: For withholding tax on income that is
See MoreGermany: Publishes social security contributions thresholds for 2017
The Federal Council approved the regulation concerning the thresholds for social security contributions for 2017 on 25 November 2016, which had been previously approved by the Federal Cabinet on 12 October
See MoreProtocol to a treaty between Germany and Netherlands signed
The amending protocol, to the Germany - Netherlands Income Tax Treaty (2012) signed on 11 January 2016, which will enter into force on 31 December 2016. The protocol was concluded in the Dutch and German languages, each text having equal
See MoreGermany: Releases draft bill to combat tax avoidance
The German Ministry of Finance released a draft bill on 28 October 2016 about further measures taken to combat tax avoidance. The main important details are summarised below: -The bill provides for the introduction of an EU beneficial ownership
See MoreIMF report comments on the economic position of Germany
On 24 June 2016 the IMF published a report and selected issues paper following the conclusion of consultations with Germany under Article IV of the IMF’s articles of agreement. Germany’s economy has continued its growth momentum with domestic
See MoreGermany: Ministry of Finance introducing CbCR, Master File and Local File
The German Ministry of Finance published a draft bill on 1 June 2016 to incorporate guidance on transfer pricing documentation and country-by-country (CbC) reporting into local legislation. The draft bill required multinationals with consolidated
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