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May 21, 2012
India’s finance minister has defended his government’s decision to amend the tax law with retroactive effect, but practitioners are not convinced by his arguments.
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May 18, 2012
Treasurer Wayne Swan has told Australian businesses that the abandoned corporate tax rate reduction from 30% to 29% was down to the opposition coalition and the Greens, and has restated the Labor party’s commitment to reduce the rate.
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May 17, 2012
The tax groups of two entertainment companies won the in-house accolades at International Tax Review’s European Tax Awards last night.
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May 16, 2012
The research has now started for World Tax 2013, International Tax Review's directory of leading tax law and tax accounting firms around the world.
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May 15, 2012
The Indian government has long held the view that the India-Mauritius tax treaty is used by foreign investors to avoid capital gains tax payments in India, and the authorities are looking to alter its clauses, though not for the first time.
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May 15, 2012
The OECD’s Task Force on Tax and Development has launched a new initiative aimed at bolstering developing countries’ domestic revenues by improving their tax systems.
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May 15, 2012
US President Barack Obama is calling on Congress to enact a number of measures to encourage businesses to move back to the country.
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May 15, 2012
Hong Kong and Malaysia have entered into a new double taxation agreement (DTA), pending ratification, with provisions to clarify that a tax liability on business profits only arises if the company has a permanent establishment (PE) in the other jurisdiction, as well as reducing withholding tax rates and increasing investment opportunities.
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May 08, 2012
Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan used today’s budget speech to confirm the retention of the 30% corporate tax rate, introduce new loss carry-back measures, and alter the treatment of capital gains.
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May 08, 2012
Delegates at International Tax Review’s inaugural Tax and Transparency Forum heard how taking the initiative is the most important step to take when it comes to tax transparency and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
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May 08, 2012
India’s parliament today passed amendments to the much-criticised Finance Bill 2012, including delaying the implementation of the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) by one year, and shifting the burden of proof from the taxpayer.
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May 04, 2012
The executive director of the leading campaign organisation for tax justice believes the world must make more progress on making automatic exchange of information (EoI) between tax authorities the international standard in the fight against tax evasion.
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May 04, 2012
An ardent tax justice campaigner, an ex-cabinet minister and representatives from two of the largest companies in the extractive industry debated the merits of country-by-country reporting (CBCR) at International Tax Review’s Tax and Transparency Forum on Wednesday and, unsurprisingly, the concept provoked mixed reactions.
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May 04, 2012
General Motors has revealed that its worldwide tax rate has gone up, having paid no US federal tax since exiting bankruptcy.
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May 04, 2012
Companies such as Sony, AstraZeneca, Rank and E.ON Energy Trading have been nominated for the in-house awards at International Tax Review's European Tax Awards.
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May 01, 2012
The Chilean government has proposed a number of tax reform measures, including a corporate tax hike.
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May 01, 2012
The UK tax system has come under attack from taxpayers, protest groups and the general public alike. But the easy headlines of companies not contributing enough do not always depict an accurate representation of how things really are.
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April 30, 2012
In an exclusive interview, Gert Müller-Gatermann, former Director General for International Taxation at the German Ministry of Finance gives ITR Premium the inside line on his time as an official and what the future holds for German and European tax policy.
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April 27, 2012
Witnesses at a Congressional hearing yesterday urged lawmakers not to forget the impact of federal tax reform on state and local taxes.
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April 24, 2012
Country-by-country reporting remains the solution for many in the tax justice movement, but multinationals are set against it.
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April 24, 2012
The European Parliament (EP) has given its support for an EU-wide common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB), stating the measure should become mandatory following a transition period.
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April 24, 2012
A panel of specialists, hand-picked by Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan, is set to evaluate the case for reducing the corporate tax rate in Australia, though there would be a catch.
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April 24, 2012
With Socialist candidate Francois Hollande taking a narrow victory over the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in Sunday’s first round of France’s presidential election, read what the candidates have planned for the country’s corporate tax system.
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April 17, 2012
Austria has become the third EU country to sign a bilateral tax agreement with Switzerland over undeclared accounts of taxpayers held in Swiss banks.
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April 17, 2012
A new report from Citizens for Tax Justice indicates 26 Fortune 500 companies such as Boeing, GE, Verizon and Duke Energy, paid no US federal income taxes in the last four years. While statistics like this will shock some, the biggest impact of this may be the push for tax reform.
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April 17, 2012
Several organisations, including the Tax Executives Institute (TEI) have written to Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, outlining their objections to the government’s decision to retrospectively amend the tax code. Here, the TEI expands on why it has objected.
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April 17, 2012
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information released peer reviews of 11 jurisdictions this month, assessing their progress on transparency and exchange of information, but the Tax Justice Network (TJN) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) are calling for improvements to the process.
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April 17, 2012
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) does not intend to introduce new taxes on companies until 2013 at the earliest, despite conducting studies surrounding a proposal to tax companies operating in the region.
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April 12, 2012
The number of firms in contention for International Tax Review’s European Tax Awards shows that the competition for the money tax executives have to spend on external advisers is intense.
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April 10, 2012
In late 2011 Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) adopted changes to the Law on Corporate Income Tax extending corporate income tax incentives to companies investing into Lithuanian free economic zones, explains Rokas Daugela of Sorainen.
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April 10, 2012
The OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information identified serious deficiencies in the domestic laws of Costa Rica and Guatemala for exchange of tax information purposes.
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April 10, 2012
At the beginning of this month, when Japanese reforms became effective, the US became the country with the world’s highest corporate tax rate. While some point to lower actual effective tax rates, for most this is the straw that broke the camel’s back, and Americans want the reform process to be sped up.
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April 10, 2012
When undertaking a domestic transaction, all parties generally share the same principles regarding what needs to be done to close the deal. But this is not the case for cross-border transactions, where such harmony is often not achieved.
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April 03, 2012
Delegates at last week’s ABA/IFA/IBA 12th Annual Tax Planning Strategies conference in Vienna, Austria, heard how the UK’s reform of its controlled foreign company (CFC) legislation is finally close to being completed, and that the changes should be welcomed.
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April 03, 2012
The Finnish government has announced new incentives targeted at stimulating economic growth, including a tax credit for companies related to the salaries of personnel involved in research and development (R&D).
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April 03, 2012
With an increasing interest in international tax norms and trying to apply best practices, there is increasing uncertainty for taxpayers and tax administrations. One result of all of this, coupled with the fact that authorities are aggressively chasing revenue to ease the effects of the financial crisis, is that countries are looking to expand the tax base.
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April 02, 2012
Companies are highly concerned with their public reputation and, in light of this, their tax positions are becoming an increasingly important concern.
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April 02, 2012
Beneficial clauses in a new tax treaty between Hong Kong and Indonesia, particularly in relation to withholding rates on dividends, are set to make Hong Kong one of the best locations for Indonesian investments.
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March 30, 2012
Companies are highly concerned with their public reputation and, in light of this, their tax positions are becoming an increasingly important concern.
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March 29, 2012
The Argentine tax authorities have implemented a new informative regime for transfers of Argentine shares.
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March 27, 2012
Billions of dollars of research and development (R&D) tax breaks for large Australian businesses may be cut as a specialist panel seeks to remove loopholes from the corporate tax code.
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March 27, 2012
House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) has unveiled a Republican alternative budget resolution for fiscal year 2013, which has been approved by a vote of 19-18.
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March 27, 2012
The UK government has released its designs for the new above-the-line R&D tax credit, as announced in George Osborne’s budget last week.
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March 26, 2012
The research has now started for World Tax 2013, International Tax Review's directory of leading tax law and tax accounting firms around the world.
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March 21, 2012
Read what changes the government has made to the UK's tax system.
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March 20, 2012
Read why Singapore is using its tax system to attract more foreign investment.
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March 16, 2012
One year on from the Irish general election, and against the backdrop of the eurozone crisis, Irish multinationals are predicting $7.5 billion investment in Irish operations as well as the creation of 20,000 jobs in the next three years.
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March 14, 2012
A report from the Tax Justice Network (TJN) has piled criticism on the OECD’s methods of tackling tax haven secrecy. It has drawn the ire of the organisation’s head of tax, Pascal Saint-Amans, and deepened a growing divide between the two camps on how best to stamp out avoidance.
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March 13, 2012
The Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) in Taiwan has provided guidance for taxpayers to help them prepare the documentation required to benefit from the R&D investment tax credit.
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March 13, 2012
In 2010, China collected a record amount of tax from non-resident enterprises. That momentum for growth was expected to continue in 2011, and recent figures confirm this.
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March 09, 2012
India’s Standing Committee on Finance has sent its latest report on the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) to parliament, recommending a more user-friendly structure and stricter reviews of assessing officers, as well as changes to the controlled foreign company (CFC) and general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) regimes.
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March 07, 2012
The organisation that sets Australia’s accounting standards has decided not to add the question of whether the proposed Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) would be an income tax for accounting purposes, to its agenda.
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March 07, 2012
The UK tax authorities have made substantial improvements to its compliance work between 2006 and 2011, says a report from the organisation that keeps track of how the UK government spends taxpayers' money.
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March 06, 2012
The Swiss parliament yesterday amended its tax treaty with the US allowing the IRS to easily identify US taxpayers with undeclared Swiss accounts.
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March 06, 2012
A study says that taxpayers run the risk of being caught out by a new reporting system in the UK if they do not take action now.
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March 06, 2012
Irish leader Enda Kenny signed up to the EU’s fiscal compact on tighter budgetary controls last week, pending ratification by a referendum, but this should not be taken as a sign the country would agree to EU harmonisation over corporate tax rates.
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March 05, 2012
The world’s largest advertising and marketing group, WPP, has announced that it is planning to move its headquarters back to the UK, after the government committed to reforming the country’s controlled foreign company (CFC) rules.
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March 02, 2012
A report from PwC assessing the total tax contribution of the Hundred Group – which consists of the finance directors of the UK’s biggest companies – shows that such companies contributed £67.7 billion ($108 billion) to the government in taxes for the year ending March 2011, but news such as the unveiling of avoidance schemes used by Barclays bank uncovers the fact that this could, or even should, be higher.
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March 01, 2012
With the Greek economy under extreme strain and the government being pressurised to impose strict fiscal measures in return for a €130 billion ($173.4 billion) IMF bailout, the country is being driven towards tax reform at high speed.
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February 29, 2012
The Australian tax authorities have issued instructions to officials about the procedures they must follow when gathering information for compliance purposes.
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February 29, 2012
Essar Energy, of India reported a loss of $568.2 million for 2011 after a tax ruling that went against the company. However it is challenging the decision.
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February 28, 2012
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has thrown its weight behind the UK’s planned general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR), arguing that corporate tax avoidance schemes are harming the reputation of British industry.
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February 28, 2012
French companies could benefit from a lower corporate tax rate and a reduced administrative burden if the green paper on business tax convergence between France and Germany comes to fruition.
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February 28, 2012
The German government has released a concept paper containing 12 proposed changes to the corporate tax system, including changes to the treatment of interest expense deductions, group taxation, partnerships and losses.
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February 28, 2012
Jurisdictions that have been in conflict with Switzerland over tax evasion will be pleased to hear that the Federal Council in Bern is intent on creating a “credible, tax-compliant and competitive financial centre”.
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February 27, 2012
Philip Kermode is director of Direct Taxation, Tax Coordination and Economic Analysis and Evaluation at the European Commission. In an exclusive interview, he discusses how the Commission’s policies are making life easier for taxpayers doing M&A work, its efforts to iron out the creases caused by national tax policy and the importance of tax in the functioning of the single market.
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February 22, 2012
President Barack Obama’s administration has unveiled plans to cut the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 28%, a reduction that would be offset by the closure of certain tax breaks and subsidies.
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February 22, 2012
South Africa today released its 2012 budget which included changes to the treatment of capital gains and dividends, as well as the way the tax system is administered.
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February 22, 2012
As Greece struggles to fix the problems in its economy, today it signed an international tax agreement that could be a source of much-needed funds.
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February 22, 2012
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) signalled a general approval of Chancellor George Osborne’s tax policy yesterday, but warned he must get the details right to make the UK the most competitive regime in the G20.
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February 22, 2012
Weatherford, an oilfield services and equipment company, has told investors that because of deficiencies in its income tax reporting, they should not rely on the company’s previous financial statements.
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February 21, 2012
Last week’s Singapore budget provided some important changes for capital gains on sale of shares, as well as for the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme.
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February 21, 2012
The Irish Finance Bill has signalled the introduction of targeted tax provisions aimed at improving the competitiveness of Ireland’s financial services industry, as well as enhancements to the R&D tax credit scheme.
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February 21, 2012
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has confirmed that the White House’s corporate tax reform framework will be released by the end of the month.
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February 21, 2012
Calling the health and state of the economy “obviously the number one issue in this campaign”, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has announced his corporate tax plan, standing by his commitment to provide manufacturing businesses with significant incentives.
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February 20, 2012
Businesses want certainty, and they want quick, decisive action on tax reform. President Barack Obama’s budget did not provide for any of these, and the continuing delays in action being taken could hurt US companies for some time to come.
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February 17, 2012
Companies around the world are beginning to understand the importance of transparency about their tax affairs and the reputational benefits of eschewing aggressive tax planning. They will have the opportunity to debate these crucial issues with administrators, activists and practitioners at International Tax Review's first Tax & Transparency Forum on May 2.
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February 15, 2012
The US announced on February 8, that it is pursuing “FATCA Partnerships” with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
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February 15, 2012
The proposed regulations for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) are evidence that the US Treasury has listened to financial institutions about the difficulty of implementing such complex legislation in the time allowed.
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February 14, 2012
Credit rating downgrades may be worrying, but German chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders must resist hasty tax policy changes.
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February 14, 2012
Foreign investors using Luxembourg holding companies to buy French real estate must restructure their investments or face a significantly increased tax bill, because of imminent amendments to a tax treaty between the two countries.
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February 14, 2012
President Barack Obama delivered his 2013 budget speech yesterday and despite not dealing with comprehensive reform of the tax code – proposals for which will come in the next few weeks – he reiterated the sentiments of his State of the Union address and called for ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, replacing them with incentives for those companies that conversely bring jobs and investment to the US.
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February 13, 2012
With Barack Obama’s administration having announced that broad corporate tax reform will be dealt with separately in the coming weeks, and political turmoil stifling progress on US tax issues in general, there were no great expectations for the President’s 2013 budget, delivered today. But amid Obama’s rhetoric of hope and camaraderie, of fairness and responsibility, some meaningful tax changes were proposed.
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February 13, 2012
Rumours of delays in the implementation of India's Direct Taxes Code (DTC) and goods and service tax (GST) should be welcomed by taxpayers.
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February 13, 2012
Opinion is divided as to what path UK chancellor George Osborne should take in his 2013 budget next month. The coalition government has consistently delivered the statement that “Britain is open for business”, but how is the UK ensuring it remains an attractive location for business and investment?
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February 10, 2012
In its latest meeting about comprehensive tax reform, the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday held its first hearing on the effect of tax and financial accounting on tax reform, and on how businesses evaluate tax policy, concluding that financial accounting factors must be a consideration when designing reform.
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February 09, 2012
HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) decision to extend the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) by a year is a sign that it has been successful. However rumours of a conversation between Dave Hartnett and tax justice campaigner Richard Murphy, denied by HMRC, suggest the UK tax authorities’ other strategies might not working.
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February 08, 2012
The US Treasury has today issued proposed regulations on the implementation of FATCA.
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February 08, 2012
Slashing the corporate tax rate, reforming the controlled foreign company rules and blocking plans for a financial transactions tax are just three ways the government hopes to attract multinationals to relocate to the UK. International Tax Review investigates whether these steps will tempt companies to make the move.
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February 07, 2012
The flag dropped on the world’s biggest initial public offering of an internet company’s shares last Wednesday when Facebook lodged an S-1 form with the SEC. What did the filing tell us about the social networking company’s tax position?
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February 07, 2012
After a series of last-minute changes, the Belgian 2012 budget has been approved with changes being made to provisions for short term capital gains, stock options, thin capitalisation restrictions and the introduction of a new general anti-avoidance rule.
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February 07, 2012
A UK think-tank has urged the coalition government to halve the corporate tax rate, arguing it is the “only source of a viable economic recovery”, but the report overlooks other vital areas of the tax code such as reform of the controlled foreign company (CFC) regime.
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February 07, 2012
India’s finance minister will present his 2012 budget on March 16 and advisers are warning that taxpayers should be prepared for the adoption of controlled foreign company legislation, a general anti-avoidance rule and a place of effective management regime.
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February 07, 2012
The German Ministry of Finance has published an interpretative letter dealing with how the tax authorities intend to enforce revised anti-treaty shopping rules, which took effect on January 1.
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February 07, 2012
The US Senate Finance Committee last week examined the role of extenders – tax provisions that require renewing annually – within the tax system, in the context of fundamental reform of the US tax code. Witnesses said waiting for comprehensive reform would distort business decisions, urging quick action on expired and expiring extenders.
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January 31, 2012
India’s decision to increase its cooperation with the OECD should trigger alarms for taxpayers as their Indian operations are likely to be put under more scrutiny from the country’s tax officials.
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January 31, 2012
A new report from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has called into question the effectiveness of Canada’s corporate tax cuts. The three-step reduction in the country’s corporate tax rate, implemented with the objective of incentivising job creation, is not having the desired effects, says the report.
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January 31, 2012
Rudolf Elmer’s name hit the international headlines when he was exposed as the whistle-blower on the activities of his former employer, Swiss bank Julius Bär, in the Cayman Islands, handing over the names of 2,000 tax evaders to WikiLeaks. The episode was one of a number that focused attention on tax havens. In an exclusive interview, Elmer explains why he did it, what the impact has been on the world and his life and why he is the one being treated as a criminal.
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January 30, 2012
The British emergency services telephone number is 999. In times of trouble, this is the number that is relied on for help and, interestingly enough, this same number was the initial spark that propagated the focus on a particularly troublesome issue in the US – corporate tax reform.
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January 30, 2012
The US government has listened to the concerns of financial institutions and practitioners about the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
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January 30, 2012
International Tax Review has compiled a special free pdf report on Vodafone’s Indian Supreme Court victory. View the ruling, read what industry had to say, and uncover what this decision means for your business.
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January 26, 2012
Shell CFO Simon Henry spoke about cooperation between taxpayers and tax authorities at the latest meeting of the OECD Forum on Tax Administration.
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January 25, 2012
The Belgian Ruling Commission (RC) has given new guidance on how it goes about its work. This has implications for any multinational company seeking a ruling on cross-border transactions involving Belgium.
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January 25, 2012
President Obama yesterday used his State of the Union address to stress the need for tax reform, claiming “My message is simple...Send me those tax reforms, and I’ll sign them right away”.
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January 24, 2012
Some of the world's largest multinational companies have this week renewed calls for a lower US corporate tax rate.
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January 24, 2012
A double tax treaty signed between Russia and the UAE last month will facilitate greater investment into Russia, but only through state-owned funds.
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January 24, 2012
During 2011, the US did not enter into any new treaties or protocols. However, 2012 looks set to be very different, with negotiations aimed at new agreements expected to continue with Chile, Hungary, Luxembourg and Switzerland, among others.
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January 24, 2012
With the consultation on the future of the UK’s controlled foreign company (CFC) regime coming to an end, the planned liberalisation is already starting to pay dividends.
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January 20, 2012
Some large US multinational companies reported their annual and quarterly results this week, including details of their effective tax rates.
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January 19, 2012
India’s Supreme Court will tomorrow issue its ruling on whether Vodafone is to pay $2.5 billion in tax to the Indian government. Here is everything you need to know to prepare for the decision.
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January 19, 2012
The most senior officials from tax authorities around the world have committed their organisations to a stronger relationship with large businesses in an effort to instil good tax compliance habits.
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January 18, 2012
How to work most effectively with large businesses, how to improve the efficiency of tax administrations and offshore compliance will be on the agenda when the world’s most senior tax officials meet in Buenos Aires today and tomorrow.
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January 18, 2012
Organisations and individuals with responsibility for accounting standards in Asia got the opportunity to raise their concerns with International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) trustees at a public roundtable in Singapore on January 13.
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January 17, 2012
Insurance giant Aon has denied that tax is the reason why it is relocating its global headquarters from Chicago to London, but documents seen by International Tax Review suggest otherwise.
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January 16, 2012
Speaking to International Tax Review, Pascal Saint-Amans, the incoming head of tax policy and administration at the OECD, highlighted the goal of replacing aid with tax collection. But what will it mean for taxpayers?
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January 12, 2012
In advance of negotiations between EU member states about new economic and financial rules for the eurozone, Enda Kenny, Ireland’s Taoiseach or prime minister, has emphasised his government’s commitment to a 12.5% corporation tax rate.
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January 12, 2012
Official figures suggest that US federal tax compliance by corporations has got worse since 2001. However, that is not the whole picture.
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January 11, 2012
A study has found that US taxpayers do not always explain in their statutory disclosures what tax planning strategies they plan to use to generate taxable income to allow them make use of deferred tax assets.
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January 10, 2012
Ahead of next month’s budget, opinions are divided as to whether Singapore should reduce its corporate tax rate.
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January 10, 2012
The US tax gap has increased to $385 billion suggesting the IRS is not doing enough to enforce compliance, official statistics reveal.
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January 05, 2012
The Internal Revenue Service in the US has announced no changes are planned to Schedule M-3 forms for tax year 2012, apart from any changes that may have to take place because of the enactment of new law.
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January 04, 2012
The Romanian government provided some welcome tax accounting news for the banking sector at the end of 2011.
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January 04, 2012
New guidance on US legislation dealing with offshore tax compliance will respond to overseas concerns about implementation, the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has said.
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January 04, 2012
The implementation of IFRS in India has suffered several setbacks and is now not expected to be introduced until 2013, but tax advisers say that businesses can take some important steps before their introduction.
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January 04, 2012
The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service has said the US tax authorities want to take a more strategic approach to dealing with corporate taxpayers.
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January 04, 2012
India and Australia have signed a new protocol amending their double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) which makes a number of changes that will benefit multinationals operating in both countries.
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January 03, 2012
As the world welcomed a new year, January 1 also saw the introduction of new tax rules and legislation in various international jurisdictions.
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January 03, 2012
Over the next six months Republicans in each US state will vote for the candidate they want to represent the party in next November's presidential election. Here’s what the hopefuls have to say on corporate taxes.
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January 03, 2012
Corporate tax reform in Australia was expected in 2011, but widespread change did not materialise and the issue looks set to continue in 2012 as the government seeks input on how the system should operate.