Europe

Americas

Australian official says six nations jointly investigating e-commerce firms; reviews ATO work on BEPS

May 22, 2014

An Australian Taxation Office (ATO) official, on May 22, confirmed that Australia and five other nations are collaborating to investigate the global tax planning of multinationals operating in the e-commerce industry.

Mark Konza, ATO Deputy Commissioner, International, said that Australia was “currently involved in a cooperative compliance approach” with five other nations. The collaboration led to the production of an

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Europe

Irish government to investigate effect of its tax regime on developing nations

April 29, 2014
Responding to calls from the G-20 and civil society groups, the  Irish government, on April 29,  announced that it will undertake a ‘spillover analysis’ to research what effect Ireland’s tax system has on the economies of developing countries.  The Irish government will engage consultants to assist with the evaluation and has launched a public consultation, asking interested parties to make submissions on the topic. See Public Consultation.

Europe

UK bill’s proposed limits on double tax relief may go too far, says KPMG

April 9, 2014

An anti-avoidance rule that would limit double tax relief, under consideration in U.K. Finance Bill 2014, sweeps in too many transactions and should be modified to require a tax avoidance purpose, according to KPMG’s UK office. The proposal limits double tax relief claimed with respect to loan relationships, derivatives, and intellectual property non-trading credits. KPMG

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Europe

Switzerland to tweak corporate tax reform proposal

April 3, 2015

A consultation has revealed widespread support for a corporate tax reform plan, proposed last fall, to abolish the cantonal tax statuses for holding, domiciliary, and mixed companies, and to introduce a royalty box, Switzerland’s Federal Council said in an April 2 release. Some modifications to the reform proposals will be . . .

OECD
Asia-Pacific

OECD BEPS Eurasia regional meeting draws tax officials from only six nations

March 10, 2015

Tax officials that attended an OECD Eurasia regional meeting on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) welcomed the OECD’s effort to involve developing nations in the BEPS project, but said that barriers prevent nations in the region from participating, according to a report released March 10. These barriers were apparent as representatives of only six nations attended the regional meeting, held in Ankara, Turkey, on March 5-6.. . .

Europe

UK and Senegal sign tax treaty

February 27, 2015

The UK and Senegal signed a tax treaty on February 26, the UK’s HM Revenue and Customs has announced. Under the agreement, taxation in the source country on dividends is 5 percent for corporate shareholders that hold at least a 25 percent interest in the company paying the dividends, is 8 percent if the beneficial owner is a pension scheme established in source country, and is 10 percent in other . . .

Africa

UK and Algeria sign tax treaty

February 19, 2015

The UK and Algeria signed a tax treaty on February 18 which provides for maximum rates of withholding tax for interest and royalty payments of 7 percent and 10 percent respectively, UK’s HM Revenue and Customs has announced. The treaty also provides for withholding taxes for dividends of 5 percent . . .

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European Court of Justice

ECJ rules that intragroup services provided by US company to Swedish branch are subject to VAT, hitting global financial firms

September 19, 2014

A European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment, released Sept. 17, will result in large VAT bills for banks, insurers, and other businesses considered VAT-exempt.  

The decision, Skandia America Corp. v. Sweden, concludes that supplies of services from a non-EU company to its EU branch are subject to VAT when the branch belongs to a VAT group. Previously, provision of these services . . .

Update: For UK government’s October 14 reaction to Skandia, see HM
Revenue and Customs Brief 37 (2014) – VAT grouping rules

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Americas

ECJ rejects US company’s assertion that Germany’s differing treatment of foreign and domestic dividends violates free movement of capital

September 11, 2014

The European Court of Justice, in Kronos International Inc. released Sept 11, has ruled that a US registered company resident in Germany may assert that German tax rules violate free movement of capital, but the company may not claim freedom of establishment rights. The ECJ went on to reject the company’s contention that Germany’s tax rules in effect at the time, which permitted a set off for . . .

Europe

Roubalsky joins Denton’s Moscow office

September 5, 2014

Kirill Roubalsky has joined the Moscow office of Dentons as a senior associate in the Tax and Customs practice. Roubalsky, fomerly with Pepeliaev Group, Schekin & Partners and Muranov, Chernyakov & Partners, specializes in tax litigation, general corporate and international tax law and tansfer pricing issues. Release

Europe

Gibraltar consults on proposed register of beneficial ownership of companies

July 31, 2014

The government of Gibraltar, on July 24, opened a consultation on a proposal to establish a registry of the ultimate beneficial owners of Gibraltar companies. Input is requested on topics such as whether the registry should made available publicly or only to select users, and what type of information, beyond names and addresses, should be required. Submissions are due September 30. Consultation Paper (PDF 386KB)

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Europe

EU probes whether tax rulings granted to Apple in Ireland, Starbucks in Netherlands, and Fiat in Luxembourg violate state aid

June 11, 2014

The European Commission, on June 11, announced that it is investigating whether individual transfer pricing rulings granted to Apple in Ireland, Starbucks in the Netherlands, and Fiat in Luxembourg sanctioned the allocation of too little profit to activities in those countries, thereby amounting to illegal state aid. The Commission has also initiated an infringement action against Luxembourg in connection with the matter.

The decision is part of a wider investigation into whether tax rulings and
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-Update: The Luxembourg Finance Ministry, in a June 12 statement, said it would continue to defend against the Commission’s charges of illegal state aid, and said it still has doubts about the legality Commission requests for information, see statement.

Europe

Former PwC auditor charged in Lux Leaks theft

December 16, 2014

Former PwC auditor, Antoine Deltour, was charged with multiple crimes in Luxembourg on December 12 for stealing and leaking confidential PwC client advance tax rulings and other documents that were later placed on the Internet by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). He has admitted his involvement, but says that he did not provide all the material released on the ICIJ website. See, Blomberg, The Guardian, Luxemburger Wort, The Irish Times.

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Asia-Pacific

Switzerland and Cyprus sign tax treaty

July 25, 2014

Switzerland and Cyprus, on July 25, signed an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and on capital. It is the first tax treaty to be signed between the countries. The agreement includes a provision for the exchange of tax information on request.