Expert Analysis

Understanding competition economics can help multinationals and national authorities restore and maintain the legal certainty of tax rulings. In the first of a two-part series of articles, Carina Lange, senior consultant at CEG Global in the Netherlands, explains the approach the Commission is taking to assess whether tax rulings or systems distort competition and how it fits into the general economic assessment of state aid cases.

India is about to embark on a landmark change to its indirect tax system by implementing a goods and services tax (GST) regime. Yvonne Beh, partner at Wong & Partners (a member firm of Baker McKenzie International) and Nishant Shah, partner at Economic Laws Practice, explore how India can learn from Malaysia’s implementation experience.

BEPS may have been first among the topics for discussion at International Tax Review’s Asia Tax Forum, but it was not the only subject on the list. As Ralph Cunningham reports, panellists and delegates were also keen to discuss issues such as anti-avoidance, dispute resolution and tax incentives in their own countries and elsewhere.

Join ITR for a free webinar on February 4 as senior tax practitioners from BDO India analyse a highly significant ruling by the Indian Supreme Court

Interview with Candy Ye Tang, tax and business advisory leader, Deloitte China

Interview with Adham Hafoudh, partner, Tax & Legal, Deloitte Czech Republic

Antonio Ruiz and Alejandra Arguedas of EY Central America, Panama and Dominican Republic explain how tax, geopolitical factors, and trade agreements shape foreign investment in Central America, offering guidance for companies navigating the region

David Hamzah Damian of DDTC Consulting examines recent procedural changes in Indonesia’s tax disputes process and the Supreme Court’s stance on tax evidence, highlighting key implications for taxpayers facing audits, objections, and appeals

Eddie Morris, Josep Serrano Torres, and Jen Breeze of Deloitte compare transfer pricing controversies in the pharmaceutical and automotive sectors, highlighting how DEMPE functions, regulation, and intangibles drive both common themes and sector-specific challenges

The ruling clarifies that Spain cannot restrict VAT exemptions for general services directly necessary to independent groups’ exempt activities, says Fernando Matesanz of Spanish VAT Services

Gabriel Caldiron Rezende of Machado Associados comments on the latest developments related to the beginning of the Brazilian consumption tax reform test phase and considers the next steps

Nils Schmid and Isabelle Berking of KPMG Sweden analyse the possibilities for sovereign wealth funds to claim refunds of Swedish withholding tax following a recent proposal referred to the Council on Legislation