International law firm, Withers, has hired Eric Roose, formerly of Morrison & Foerster, to head its international corporate tax practice, the firm announced on June 8. Withers also launched . . .
ndia’s Committee on Direct Taxes on May 26 requested that stakeholders submit written comments on the issue of whether the government should impose minimum alternate tax (MAT) on gains of foreign financial institutions (FFIs) that arose prior to April 1. The committee, headed by Justice A.P. Shah, former. . .
The European Commission has been forced to delay decisions on whether countries violated state aid rules by granting private tax rulings to Amazon, Apple, Fiat, and Starbucks, EU competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said May 5 . . .
The Italian goverment, on April 21, released draft legislation which “significantly reshapes the tax rules applicable to cross-border scenarios and redefines the concepts of abuse of law and tax avoidance,” writes EY in an April 27 tax alert. According to EY, the draft would replace Italy’s general antiavoidance rules with a new “abuse of law” provision and would expand types of matters that can be the subject of an advance tax ruling. Also included are proposals to modify the tax treatment of transactions with black list countries, the computation of the interest expense deduction cap, attribution of income to Italian permanent establishments, foreign tax credit and controlled foreign corporation rules, and provisions on consolidation between sister companies. See, EY.
UPDATE (05/07/2015): See, also PWC.
Hong Kong’s Treasury Branch on April 24 launched a consultation on the legislative regime and operational framework for implementing automatic exchange . . .
The US IRS on April 23 issued proposed regulations (REG-108214-15) defining the terms “active conduct” and “insurance business” for purposes of determining when a foreign insurance company’s income is excluded from the definition of passive income under section 1297(b)(2)(B). The regulations . . .
UPDATE: See, also PWC.
The OECD on March 31 released a discussion draft under the OECD/G20 base erosion profit shifting (BEPS) plan providing recommendations to tax administrations on how to structure mandatory disclosure rules to address aggressive tax planning. Included are recommendations on how to deal with international . . .
Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna on March 11 signed tax treaties with representatives of Hungary and Uruguay while attending an Ecofin meeting . . .
Tax measures in the Hong Kong government’s 2015-16 budget, released February 25, include tax reductions for corporate treasury centers and an extension of the profits tax exemption for offshore funds to private equity funds.. . .
Geoffrey Scardoni has joined DLA Piper’s Luxembourg office as a partner on their tax team, the firm announced . . .
The Indian government on December 19 introduced a constitutional amendment in the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of parliament, to pave the way for the introduction of a goods and services (GST) tax. The GST would be a simplification measure, replacing numerous taxes levied by individual states, including VAT, entertainment tax, octroi, entry tax, luxury tax, and purchase tax on goods and services. See, Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Times of India, Tax Guru.
The UK, on December 10, released a draft Finance Bill modifying the taxation of the loan relationships and derivatives contracts. The bill updates the computation of profits and losses on these instruments and the detailed rules by which they are taxed. See: Corporation tax: modernising the taxation of corporate debt and derivative contracts
Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates on December 11 signed an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation, Hong Kong’s Inland Revenue Department has announced. Under the agreement, tax paid in Hong Kong by UAE residents will be allowed as a credit against tax . . .
A joint proposal advanced by the UK and Germany that put limits on preferential intellectual property regimes has been adopted by the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices (FHTP) as a new starting point for drafting guidance under Action 5 the base erosion profit shifting (BEPS) plan, UK Financial Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke said December 2. Gauke said the UK/German proposal . . .
German, French, and Italian finance ministers have asked the EU Commission to take immediate steps to more aggressively tackle corporate tax avoidance in the EU. In a letter addressed to European economy, finance and tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici . . .
The OECD on November 21 released a discussion draft under Action 6 of the OECD/G20 base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) plan relating to preventing abuse of tax treaties. The draft follows up on an OECD interim report, issued September 16, which reflects an agreement among countries to require minimum standards in tax treaties to prevent treaty abuse. The report states that treaties should include either a principle . . .
European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker on November 12 said advance tax rulings issued by Luxembourg to multinationals while he was the country’s prime minister were legal even though the rulings helped multinationals avoid tax due other European nations. Juncker was responding the uproar over the release of leaked taxpayer private rulings and tax returns which were . . .
Malaysia’s 2015 budget, announced October 10, includes a reduction to the corporate tax rate, an expansion of the list of items not subject to GST, corporate tax incentives, an extension of the statue of limitations for transfer pricing adjustments, and increased withholding for real property gains tax writes EY in an October 16 report. For details, see EY.
(Updated 10/15/2014) EU finance ministers on October 14 agreed to extend mandatory automatic exchange of information between tax administrations to interest, dividends, and other income, and to account balances and sales proceeds from financial assets.
The agreement amends directive 2011/16/EU on administrative . . .
The UK’s HM Revenue and Customs on October 13 launched an online FATCA guide to assist UK financial institutions in registering and reporting financial information on behalf of their US customers in accordance with UK-US legislation. HMRC
Kathryn Keneally will join DLA Piper’s global tax practice in October and will be based in the firm’s New York office. Keneally served as Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division of the US Department of Justice from 2012–2014. Release
The U.S. IRS and Caterpillar, Inc., on July 31, filed a stipulated settlement, ending their U.S. Tax Court dispute over whether royalty income should be allocated to Caterpillar from the company’s Belgium and French subsidiaries. Tax Court Docket No. 010790-13, For analysis of the dispute, see post by Jerald David August of Fox Rothschild, LLP.
The UK’s HM Revenue & Customs, on July 31, released draft implementing agreements and regulations for a common reporting standard for automatic exchange of information, and has requested stakeholder input . . .
On behalf of 32 civil society organizations, Eurodad has written to the European Commission protesting the Commission’s decision to hire PwC to assess the impact of proposals to require public disclosure of country-by-country reporting for banks
. . .
HM Revenue & Customs, on June 30, published draft regulations that simplify the determination of the market value of shares in listed companies and similar instruments for tax purposes. The draft responds to recommendations made by the Office of Tax Simplification, replacing complicated valuation methods such as the “quarter up” method with methods that require no calculation, such as, in the case of shares, the closing price of the shares on the relevant day. Comments on the draft are requested by August 22. Draft statutory instrument (PDF 103K), Draft explanatory memorandum (PDF 103K), Release.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ), on June 12, ruled in SCA Group Holding BV and other joined cases that the Netherlands may not deny single entity tax treatment to a resident parent company and its indirectly held Dutch subsidiary (sub-subsidiary) in cases where the sub-subsidiary’s parent is a not a Dutch . . .
-For implications of the ECJ opinion on Spain’s rules governing tax consolidation, see a June 17 report by EY
Singapore and the US have initialed a Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) to facilitate compliance with the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). IRAS Press Release
Pfizer Inc.’s attempted takeover of British pharmaceutical rival, AstraZeneca, if successful, could yield a massive loss to the U.S. Treasury as its offshore profits could permanently escape taxation. See, Jessie Drucker and Zachary R. Mider, Bloomberg; Richard Murphy, Tax Research U.K.; Liz Hoffman, Wall Street Journal; Jia Lynn Wang. Washington Post; Matthew Herper, Forbes
Poland’s Counsel of Ministers, on March 18, adopted guidelines to draft legislation that would modify Poland’s advance pricing agreement program, according to KPMG’s Poland office. Read more: KPMG
Staff of the OECD, UN, IMF, and World Bank on November 6 released a report Options for Low Incomes Countries’ Effective and Efficient Use of Tax Incentives for Investment. The report was prepared at the request of the G20 Development Working Group. See: Report.
Japan closed 174 mutual agreement procedure (MAP) cases during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, a record high, Japan’s National Tax Agency (NTA) said in an . . .
VAT refunds owed Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Colgate totaling hundreds of millions of dollars were withheld by the Mexican government while the companies were under investigation for tax avoidance, writes Henry Romero of Reuters in a September 1 article. See: Reuters.
Criminals have allegedly duped Denmark’s tax authority into inappropriately refunding DKK 6.2 billion (approx. €830 million), causing the agency to temporarily suspend payout on pending refund claims, writes EY in an August 27 tax alert. See: EY
The Australian goverment on July 7 launched a consultation on proposed legislation that would impose a 10 percent withholding tax on the disposal of Australian property by foreign residents. The tax is designed to . . .
The European Commission on June 8 escalated its inquiry into whether EU countries’ tax ruling practices provide a selective advantage to companies in violation of state aid rules, asking 15 EU nations to provide the . . .
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