Delhi High Court in a March 16 decision said it disagreed with the Indian tax department’s method of analyzing the transfer pricing aspects of payments made by Indian subsidiaries for advertisement, marketing, and sale promotion (AMP). The Court also concluded. . .
The Chinese government has released guidance on the application of its general antiabuse rule (GAAR) to indirect transfers of Chinese assets, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) announced February 6. The guidance seeks to . . .
US lawmakers on January 29 revealed two different plans to address a shortfall in the US Highway Trust fund, each seeking revenue from US multinationals that defer tax on profits from overseas operations. US Senators Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., announced they will introduce legislation that would allow US companies to repatriate their foreign . . .
The India expects to sign an agreement with the US on Sunday that sets out a framework to resolve mutual agreement procedure disputes concerning the appropriate markup to apply to related-party transactions, and hopes to sign similar agreements with the UK, France, and other European nations, writes Jayshree P. Upadhyay of Business Standard in a January 24 article, quoting an unnamed tax official. See, Business Standard.
Irish Tax and Customs on January 13 released updated guidelines on calculating the research and development (R&D) tax credit that take into account new rules, effective tax years beginning January 1, which no longer require companies to subtract base year expenditures . . .
The UK’s proposed diverted profits tax has been drafted to withstand legal challenges and will complement, rather than conflict with, ongoing OECD work on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), a Treasury official said January 7 during a parliamentary debate on the new tax. The official also said that while some MNE profit shifting involving loans is excepted from the diverted profits tax, Treasury is working on the issue in . . .
South Africa’s minister of finance on December 23 released for public comment a draft report that provides a detailed analysis of how South Africa should react to OECD/G-20 base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) plan output . . .
The Swiss Federal Council on November 28 issued a dispatch discussing proposed changes to the taxation of residents and nonresidents currently subject to withholding tax on earned income. See, release.
Russia will begin automatic exchange of financial account information under the OECD/G20 Common Reporting Standard in 2018, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters November 17, Russian news agency TASS. . .
CPA Brandon Vucen and U.S. attorney Alex Manasuev on November 11 announced they have formed U.S. Tax IQ, a tax firm headquartered in Toronto, Canada, that focuses on cross-border tax issues. Release
UAE and Luxembourg on October 26 signed a protocol to amend the countries’ 2005 agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion on income and capital. Release.
The UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters has released draft changes to the UN model tax treaty and other documents in advance of its annual meeting to be held October 27–31 in Geneva. Included is a new draft article and commentary on payments for technical services; a proposal for a new article on taxation of fees for cyber-based services; a proposal to clarify the meaning of “the same or a connected project” for purposes of determining a permanent establishment for service providers under Article 5; amendments to treaty rules to address hybrid entities; and the work plan of the Committee of Expert’s Subcommittee on Extractive Industry Taxation for Developing Countries.
The Committee also released proposed amendments to the commentary to Article 9, dealing with transfer pricing. A . . .
Researcher previews UN debate. Martin Hearson, a doctoral researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science, has previewed the UN debate on changes to the UN Model, including draft amendments to the Article 9 commentary; a proposal to tax indirect transfers of capital assets; and the new draft services article, in an October 27 blog post. See, Martin Hearson
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USCIB contests proposed change to UN Model’s transfer pricing commentary: In an October 24 letter, William J. Sample of the United States Council for International Business states that if adopted, the proposed modification to the commentary to Article 9 of the UN Model will lead to increased disputes and double taxation. Sample condemned the lack of input by stakeholders in the UN process and argues that is inappropriate for non-OECD countries that participated in OECD transfer pricing guideline negotiations and obtained concessions to “undercut” those negotiations by arguing elsewhere for positions that were rejected. USCIB
The UN Economic and Social Council on October 7 announced the appointment of three new members to the Committee of Experts on International . . .
The European Commission on Sept. 30 published non-confidential versions of its decisions to open state aid investigations into private rulings granted to Apple in Ireland and Fiat in Luxembourg. . .
McDermott Will & Emery on Sept. 8 announced that Philip D. Morrison has joined the firm’s U.S. and International Tax Practice Group located in Washington, D.C. Morrison is formerly with Deloitte Tax, LLP. Release
Hong Kong signed tax information exchange agreements with six jurisdictions on August 22: Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, according to . . .
Government representatives of Singapore and Seychelles, on July 9, signed an Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation in New York. Under the agreement, the withholding tax on dividends is reduced to 12 percent and the withholding tax on royalties is reduced to eight percent. The agreement also provides for the exchange of tax information. Agreement, Press release.
Japan and the British Virgin Islands, on June 18, signed an agreement to exchange tax information. Press Release, Agreement in English (35KB)
French tax authorities have opened a consultation on a draft transfer pricing information return which would implement transfer pricing requirements adopted November 2013, writes KPMG in a June 5 report. For details, see KPMG
Russia and Malta have ratified a double tax treaty signed on April 24. For analysis of the treaty, see Boston Trust Company Isle of Man, EMCS,
Starbucks will move its European, Middle East, and African headquarters from Amsterdam to London by the end of 2014, according to a post on the company’s website. The move appears designed to quell public outrage over the Starbucks’ creative tax structures, which were brought into the spotlight last winter, as the U.K. House of Commons Public Accounts Committee investigated why Starbucks, along with Google and Amazon, paid such little tax in the U.K. despite having large sales there. The company states that the move will cause it to pay more tax in the U.K. According to Heather Self, Pinset Masons, however, the move is not likely to make much of a difference in Starbucks’ tax bill.
The European Parliament on December 2 voted to create a new committee to investigate tax rulings, specifying that the new committee will have the . . .
Singapore and Russia have signed a protocol amending to their tax treaty . . .
Guernsey and Spain on November 10 signed an agreement on exchange of information . . .
The European Parliament’s special committee on tax rulings on Monday approved its final report, which will be released to the public sometime . . .
The EU Commission has appointed 34 organizations and 12 individuals . . .
The US IRS on September 21 released final regulations regarding the qualification of a transaction as an F reorganization under section 368(a)(1)(F) by virtue of being a mere . . .
Seven US Democrats have written to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, requesting that Treasury publish annually a list of inverted corporations . . .
Tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) between Switzerland and Andorra, Greenland, San Marino, and the Seychelles have been ratified and came into force in July and August, Switzerland’s Federal Department of Finance announced on September 9. All the . . .
“The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has investigated service fee payments by taxpayers to their overseas head office or affiliated companies before. The difference now is the IRD expects explicit transfer pricing (TP) support,” writes KPMG in a July 31 tax alert. See: KPMG
OECD tax officials have expressed dissatisfaction with a blacklist of 30 tax havens prepared by the European Commission, as have several countries on the list . . .
ngapore and Thailand signed a new tax treaty June 11, agreeing to lower the withholding tax rates . . .
Belgium will add Luxembourg to its tax haven blacklist, writes Luxemberger Wort in June 2 article, quoting Belgian media sources. Such a listing would create hassles for Luxembourg and Belgian companies engaged in cross-border business, as all transactions over 100,000 euros must be reported. See, Luxemburger Wort.
The EU Commission may propose a mandatory common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) in its action plan to be released next month, Commission Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, Valdis Dombrovskis, said May 27. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the EU College of Commissioners, Dombrovskis confirmed that the CCCTB . . .
The US IRS on May 8 announced, via a notice sent through its FATCA News and Information update service, that the FATCA IDES enrollment process for US withholding agents (USWA), territory financial institution (TFI), vendors . . .
The UK on April 20 corrected an errors in its interim guidance on the diverted profits tax. Language was modified in DPT2010 on page 66 concerning the duty to notify and a factual description . . .
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