Europe

With the 2021 interim reporting season rapidly approaching, the UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has provided examples companies should follow . . .

Europe

Romania implements new rules for establishing tax residence

Felix Tapai and Oana Săvulescu, MPR Partners, discuss a May 17 Romanian questionnaire affecting foreign legal entities seeking to establish tax residence . . .

Europe

Two EU Parliament committees approve public country-by-country compromise: European Interest→

Europe

Finnish tax administration publishes statements addressing transfer pricing guidelines and effect of COVID-19 on permanent establishment rules

Ville Alahuhta, Bird & Bird Attorneys Ltd, discusses the Finnish tax administration’s April 19 and 21 guidance clarifying its position on the retroactive effect of updates to the OECD transfer pricing guidelines and the effects of COVID-19 . . .

Europe

EU will propose minimum tax legislation if G20 reaches deal, commissioner says

June 14, 2021

The European Commission will propose legislation to implement an international agreement on a global minimum corporate tax to ensure its uniform application within the EU, according to June 14 . . .

Asia-Pacific

India has little to gain under G7 tax agreement

June 14, 2021

Suranjali Tandon, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, discusses how, for developing countries like India, the agreement that the G7 finance ministers reached on June 5 may bring little new tax revenue while imposing . . .

Germany

Indonesian, Mexican, South African finance ministers join German, US counterparts in op-ed endorsing global minimum tax of at least 15%: Arturo Herrera Gutiérrez, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Tito Mboweni, Olaf Scholz and Janet L. Yellen / Washington Post→

June 10, 2021

OECD

UK finance minister Rishi Sunak seeks agreement on financial services exemption from global minimum tax: Emma Agyemang, George Parker, Chris Giles / Irish Times→

June 10, 2021

Europe

Ukraine implements mutual agreement procedure for resolving tax disputes

June 10, 2021

Viktoriia Bublichenko, GOLAW, discusses the Ukraine finance ministry’s March 26 decree establishing the detailed order of conduct of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) for resolving international tax disputes . . .

Europe

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway tax-related state aid investigations close

June 9, 2021

Investigations into the tax-ruling practices of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway have found no evidence of the countries’ tax rulings being used in violation of state aid rules, according to a June 4 . . .

Americas

G7 tax breakthrough sets stage for G20 talks in July, issues remain

G7 finance ministers reached a momentous agreement on June 5 on a global corporate minimum tax and changes to the allocation of taxing rights between . . .

Americas

Professor assesses Pillar One Amount A impact per country, industry: Lorraine Eden / SSRN→

Accounting

UK’s FRC revises auditing standard for auditors’ responsibilities in regards to fraud

The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on May 27 issued a revision of its auditing standard on the responsibilities of auditors relating to fraud. Revisions in ISA (UK) 240 (Revised May 2021) – The Auditor’s responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of

Europe

Switzerland will continue to operate as a highly attractive business location despite global tax deal, finance ministry says: Reuters→

Austria

How will the European Commission define shell companies to stop tax avoidance?

New York City Economist Dr. J. Harold McClure discusses the European Commission’s launch on May 20 of an initiative to address the use of shell companies in international arrangements . . .

Europe

Greece enacts corporate tax rate reduction, other support measures

Emmanouela Kolovetsiou-Baliafa, KG Law Firm, discusses a Greek law retroactively reducing the corporate income tax rate, suspending of the special solidarity contribution (SSC), and introducing other support measures that were published in the Official Gazette on May 18 . . .

Digital Economy

Ukraine passes ‘Google tax’ law impacting non-resident digital service providers

Iryna Kalnytska, GOLAW, discusses the Ukrainian parliament’s June 3 adoption of a bill introducing the so-called “Google tax,” which directly affects large non-resident companies that provide electronic and digital services in Ukraine . . .

Europe

Ireland’s new VAT rules for goods arriving into Ireland from non-EU countries enter into effect July 1, government notes: Irish Revenue→

June 4, 2021

Americas

UK finance minister says US plan to break global tax deadlock could work: William Schomberg / Reuters→

June 4, 2021

Americas

Cyprus to oppose global min tax, EU public country-by-country reporting: eKathimerini.com→

June 4, 2021

Americas

US plans tariffs against six nations as digital tax talks heat up

The US Trade Representative on June 2 announced and then immediately delayed implementation of new tariffs on goods from six countries – Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK – in response to . . .

Europe

EU states should increase cooperation on corporate tax rates and base to reduce tax competition and avoidance irrespective of any global agreement, IMF paper concludes: International Monetary Fund→

Austria

EU reaches agreement on public country-by-country tax reporting

Negotiating teams from the European Council and European Parliament reached an agreement on June 1 on a proposed directive that would require public disclosure of country-by-country tax information by certain . . .

Asia-Pacific

Australia, UK agree on how to apply the arbitration provisions added via the MLI to their tax treaty: Australian Taxation Office→

Asia-Pacific

Glencore prevails in the Cobar copper transfer pricing dispute, but should it have?

New York City Economist Dr. J. Harold McClure discusses Glencore’s transfer pricing dispute with the Australian Taxation Office and assesses whether the courts reached the correct conclusions. . .

Accounting

UK consults on uncertain tax treatment notification requirement

The UK HM Revenue & Customs launched a consultation on March 23 on the proposed requirement for large businesses to notify HMRC when they . . .

Asia-Pacific

South Korea expands R&D tax breaks to bolster semiconductor industry

The Republic of Korea signaled its intention to heavily boost its semiconductor industry with an announcement on May 13 that it will offer up to 50 percent tax credits on research and development (R&D) investment and up to 20 percent . . .

Belgium

EU Tax Observatory’s first report predicts amounts to be collected under a minimum tax

The European Commission on June 1 announced the launch of the European Tax Observatory, an independent, EU-financed research laboratory to study and advise . . .

Europe

Russian law denounces tax treaty with Netherlands

May 27, 2021

Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 26 signed a law denouncing the treaty for the avoidance of double taxation between Russia and the Netherlands that was signed in Moscow in 1996 . . .

Digital Economy

Self-assessment of Spain’s digital services tax postponed until July

May 27, 2021

Alma Delia Virto Aguilar, Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Valencia and Professor, International Taxation LLM, UNIR, discusses the status of Spain’s digital services tax . . .

Africa

Hungary, Ireland, UK reiterate resistance to global minimum tax while Germany remains optimistic

May 26, 2021

Hungary, Ireland, and UK officials have again warned that their countries will not accept the global minimum . . .

Europe

UK R&D tax incentives need overhaul to improve effectiveness, study concludes

May 26, 2021

The UK’s research and development (R&D) tax incentive policies have generated a poor return in terms of increased R&D investments, but there are ways to make the incentives more effective while saving taxpayer money, according to a study . . .

Estonia

Greece, Hungary, Iceland fall short of tax dispute resolution goals, OECD review finds

May 26, 2021

Iceland has no bilateral advance pricing agreement (APA) program in place, and Greece, Hungary, and the Slovak Republic are failing to timely resolve mutual agreement procedure (MAP) cases, according . . .

Europe

Poland provides details on coming R&D, innovation tax incentives

May 25, 2021

The Polish Ministry of Finance on May 24 announced details of its tax plan for boosting innovation in Poland, including enhancements to the research and development (R&D) credit and increased deductions . . .

Europe

EU consults on measures to combat use of shell companies to avoid taxes

A new European Commission initiative launched May 20 is exploring ways to fight the continued use of shell companies, i.e., entities with little or no economic substance, in cross-border arrangements . . .

Americas

G7 reportedly close to deal on new rules for taxing multinationals

The G7 group of leading economies is getting close to an agreement to shake up the global rules on the taxation of multinational businesses . . .

Carbon Tax

European Commission to propose green taxes in July

The European Commission plans to propose tax changes, including a carbon border adjustment mechanism, in July to support a European “Green Deal,” . . .

United Kingdom

UK Labour Party to force vote on US global minimum tax proposal to push government to support plan: Reuters→

Europe

EU Parliament approves Fiscalis programme to provide EUR 269 million over seven years to help EU tax administrations build capacity to share information and better enforce EU tax law: European Parliament→