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Europe

Ireland Budget 2019 announces new taxes on assets shifted offshore

October 9, 2018

As a part of Ireland’s commitment to implement the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive, Ireland’s Finance Bill will provide for new exit tax . . .

Americas

Canada speeding up completion time for advance pricing agreements, report shows

August 6, 2018

Kabir Jamal of Goodmans LLP, Toronto, discusses Canada’s 2017 advance pricing agreement report, which reveals improvements in the operation of this government program designed to provide multinational taxpayers with certainty regarding their prospective transfer pricing transactions . . .

OECD discussion draft on transfer pricing for financial transactions avoids key issues

July 19, 2018

Julian Feiner of Dentons, London, analyzes the OECD’s July 3 discussion draft on the transfer pricing aspects of financial transactions, highlighting three issues that warrant further consideration …

EU puts public country-by-country reporting of tax data back on the agenda

June 14, 2018

After several quiet months, it seems that consideration of an EU Commission proposal for public country-by-country reporting is now moving forward . . .

Europe

Germany suspends interest charge on late tax payments providing relief for MNEs

May 16, 2018

Ninja-Antonia Reggelin discusses the German Federal Fiscal Court’s May 14 announcement that it will suspend a law imposing large interest charges on unpaid taxes because the law may be unconstitutional . ..

Europe

Slovakia tax on food retail sector under EU investigation for illegal state aid

April 3, 2019

Davide Anghileri of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, notes the European Commission’s April 2 announcement of an in-depth state aid investigation into tax exemptions provided in Slovakia’s tax on the food retail sector . . .

Croatia

Taxation of interest between associated parties: the Croatian view

March 25, 2019

Ksenija Cipek, Assistant Director General for Tax Legislation and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Finance in Croatia, discusses new developments in Croatia concerning the tax treatment of interest between associated parties . . .

Americas

First Look: US IRS releases proposed FDII regulations

March 5, 2019

The US IRS on March 4 released proposed foreign-derived intangible income or FDII regulations. The FDII provisions, added in the 2017 Tax Cuts . . .

Europe

Nike tax rulings under EU Commission scrutiny

January 11, 2019

Dr. Patricia Lampreave, an EU tax and state aid expert and professor at the Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles, Madrid, discusses the EU Commission’s announcement yesterday of an investigation into tax rulings granted by the Dutch tax authorities to Nike group companies . . .

Americas

What Brazil’s coming elections mean for tax and transfer pricing

October 19, 2018

Francisco Lisboa Moreira of Bichara Advogados, São Paulo discusses likely tax and transfer pricing changes in Brazil following presidential elections on October 28. . .

Switzerland’s Tax Proposal 17 approved

October 9, 2018

Davide Anghileri of the University of Lausanne, provides an update of the status of Switzerland’s tax reform initiative, Tax Proposal 17 . . .

Asia-Pacific

Israel Supreme Court rules stock-based compensation must be added to cost base for transfer pricing

April 29, 2018

Shlomo Hubscher and Jacky Houlie of JH & Co. Law Office analyze an April 22 Israel Supreme Court decision which concluded that companies that use the cost plus transfer pricing method must include stock-based compensation in the cost base, thus increasing the taxes paid by many multinational firms with research and development operations in Israel . . .

Americas

Brazil seeking to align transfer pricing regime with OECD norms

March 5, 2018

Francisco Lisboa Moreira of Bichara Advogados, São Paulo, discusses a joint project undertaken by Brazilian and OECD tax officials to more closely align Brazil’s international tax and transfer pricing regime with OECD guidelines, noting this project could result in changes to Brazil’s fixed margin and royalty deduction rules . . .

Americas

US FDII rules under review as potentially harmful tax regime, Treasury official says

February 19, 2019

The US’s foreign-derived intangibles income (FDII) tax rules are being scrutinized by the OECD’s Forum on Harmful Tax. . .

Switzerland to exchange country-by-country reports on multinationals with more countries

October 26, 2018

Switzerland’s Federal Council, during its meeting of October 17, decided to extend the exchange of country-by-country on multinationals to additional countries, writes Davide Anghileri, University of Lausanne . . .

Countries make headway on country-by-country reporting

May 25, 2018

An OECD report released May 24 found that 60 out of 95 countries reviewed have adopted final legislation to require multinationals to file country-by-country reports consistent with . . .

Europe

Italy issues draft tax regulations on arm’s length standard, corresponding adjustments

February 22, 2018

Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance on February 21 released for public consultation draft regulations designed to align Italy’s transfer pricing rules with the outcome of Actions 8–10 of the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, writes Davide Anghileri, University of Lausanne . . .

Americas

Brazilian guidance addresses taxation of cross-border software licensing payments

May 7, 2019

Francisco Lisboa Moreira, a partner with Bocater, Camargo, Costa e Silva, Rodrigues Advogados, discusses the Brazilian Federal Revenue’s April 15 guidance addressing the taxation of cross-border software licensing for commercialization or distribution . . .

Europe

Intragroup IP transfer was undervalued for tax purposes, Norway appeals court rules

April 2, 2019

Pilar Barriguete and Edland Graci of Duff & Phelps, Spain, discuss an interesting March 19 Norwegian appellate court decision which concluded that the “relief from royalty” valuation method should not have been used to determine the value of an intangibles transfer in a merger and acquisition transaction involving Dynamic Rock Support AS . . .

Asia-Pacific

New Zealand to explore digital services tax for multinationals

February 19, 2019

The New Zealand government today announced that it will open . . .

Europe

Ukraine publishes draft tax and transfer pricing law to implement BEPS provisions

October 29, 2018

Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of Ukraine have published a draft amendment to the tax code designed to implement international tax and transfer pricing provisions . . .

Americas

US IRS proposes to withdraw controversial Section 385 debt-equity documentation regulations

September 23, 2018

The US IRS on September 21 proposed to revoke the hotly contested Section 385 debt-equity documentation regulations and work toward developing . . .

Digital Economy

UN won’t wait for OECD action to tackle digital economy taxation

May 21, 2018

The UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters will not wait for the OECD to reach final conclusions on the taxation . . .

Americas

IRS signed 116 advance pricing agreements in 2017

March 30, 2018

The US IRS today released statistics on the performance of its advance pricing agreement (APA) program in 2017, revealing that the tax agency signed 116 APAs that year. APA are agreements signed between the tax agency and multinational taxpayer resolving transfer pricing . .

Europe

Netherlands reveals plan for new withholding tax regime, increased substance requirements

March 5, 2018

Jian-Cheng Ku and Tim Mulder of DLA Piper, Amsterdam, discuss new Dutch government proposals for a conditional withholding tax on royalties, interest, and dividends and increased substance requirements for Dutch holding, license, and financing companies . . .

Americas

EU Parliament adopts controversial report on tax avoidance and evasion

March 27, 2019

Davide Anghileri of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, writes that the EU Parliament endorsed a report March 26 that calls out seven member states for their role in facilitating aggressive tax planning and recommends countermeasures against the US should it fail to provide FATCA reciprocity . . .

Denmark

Denmark finance minister endorses global minimum tax for multinational groups, common tax base

March 4, 2019

Denmark’s ruling party, Venstre, supports the global adoption of a minimum tax on multinational group profits, Denmark’s finance minister said on March 3. The minister also . . .

Europe

EU Advocate General addresses deductibility of subsidiary losses in context of merger

January 28, 2019

Davide Anghileri of the University of Lausanne discusses the ECJ Advocate General’s January 10 opinion in the Memira Holding case which concerns the notion of final losses in the context of a merger . . .

Europe

What Ireland’s finance bill means for multinational group taxation

October 23, 2018

Aisling Donohue a partner, with Andersen Tax, Dublin, analyzes the effect of Ireland’s October 18 finance bill on MNEs, focusing on changes to exit tax, CFC rules, income tax relief for investments, and tweaks to provisions on the amortization of intangibles . . .

Asia-Pacific

Cambodia changes transfer pricing rules for related party loans

September 23, 2018

Sujeet Karkala of Sciaroni & Associates discusses the Cambodia tax authority’s new transfer pricing instruction, issued August 21, which addresses the interest rates to be applied to related-party loans . . .

Danish tax law denying cross-border loss relief is invalid, EU court rules

June 18, 2018

Davide Anghileri of the University of Lausanne discusses a June 12 decision of the EU Court of Justice which concludes that a Danish law that precludes the deductibility of final losses incurred by a foreign permanent establishment violates EU law . . .

Europe

Netherlands proposes temporary changes to tax consolidation regime to comply with EU law

June 13, 2018

Jian-Cheng Ku and Tim Mulder, DLA Piper, Amsterdam discuss a Netherlands Ministry of Finance legislative proposal published June 6 that contains emergency measures to bring the Dutch tax consolidation regime in line with EU law . . .

EU tax on tech firm revenue does not target US companies, Moscovici asserts

April 20, 2018

The EU’s proposed digital services tax is not aimed US tech companies; rather, the interim tax is designed to level the playing field for all businesses wherever located, Pierre Moscovici, EU Commissioner . . .

Americas

US IRS to amend country-by-country reporting regulations to protect national security

March 30, 2018

The US IRS today announced that it will amend its guidance for large multinationals on country-by-country reporting obligations to prevent reporting that jeopardizes national . . .

Asia-Pacific

Proposed India profit attribution rules reject OECD approach, add “sales” and “users” as apportionment factors

April 24, 2019

Madhan N of PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited, India, discusses the Indian government’s controversial proposal for new rules for attributing profits to Indian permanent establishments . . .

UN tax committee releases draft transfer pricing chapter on financial transactions, other docs ahead of meeting (Updated)

April 10, 2019

The UN has released draft updates to the United Nations Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries — including a key chapter on financial transactions — and more . . .

Americas

US advance pricing agreement applications surged in 2018, data shows

March 27, 2019

The US IRS today issued its annual report providing statistics on its advance pricing agreement (APA) program. The data reveals a . . .

Americas

MNEs asked to assess tax treaty MAP in Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Monaco, San Marino, Serbia, Brunei, Curaçao

February 19, 2019

The OECD today asked multinational taxpayers and their advisors to provide information about their experiences with the tax treaty . . .

Europe

EU Advocate General clarifies when sub-subsidiary losses are final for tax deduction

January 18, 2019

Davide Anghileri of the University of Lausanne discusses the EU Advocate General’s January 10 opinion in the Holmen case . . .

Khaled Al Zaabi on Spanish government proposes digital services tax: “We are seeking assistance with Digital Assets and International Tax Consulting to help Abu Dhabi UAE Oil Company navigate the…” October 24 ,2024

Emma Hinson Sims on The Pillar One blueprint — the potential future of international taxation and transfer pricing: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A VERY SMART, BEAUTIFUL, YOUNG LADY ON JANUARY 13TH.” January 6 ,2024

David Valdez on US Tax Court resolves Whirlpool tax dispute involving Mexican maquiladora structure: “Greetings Whirlpool Mexico, I’m trying to contact someone involved with the decision making for transportation from all of your Mexican…” October 20 ,2023

Jose Dominguez on The new US international tax rules: what you need to know about GILTI, FDII, BEAT etc.: “Very informative article. Question. Do you have a software to compute these US International Calcs to make them in house?” April 12 ,2023

Ciro César Soriano de Oliveira on Danish High Court rules on beneficial ownership of dividends for tax purposes: “Dear Ms Susi, This article is immensely clarifying. I’d like to know whether Danish Supreme Court has already granted its…” March 24 ,2023

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