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Zoe Kokoni The recent developments in Cyprus that have monopolised the media, the financial and the business sectors worldwide, have created an unprecedented number of speculations, rumours, devastation theories and much more. As a result of the banking crisis, the measures to be implemented are expected to reinforce Cyprus's banking system and make it healthier and fundamentally stronger. Despite the turmoil in the banking sector, it is important to highlight that the corporate sector in Cyprus still stands strong as nothing has changed on the benefits Cyprus offers to international businesses when it comes to corporate structuring. The Cyprus banking crisis is not a barrier to transactions and investments in or through Cyprus. The use of Cyprus companies in international structures has not been affected and their use is still highly efficient. The ambiguity created by the recent developments in the banking sector has not affected the demand for structuring projects and investments with the use of Cyprus companies. The proposed increase of corporate tax rate from 10% to 12.5%, will still place Cyprus as a low tax jurisdiction within the EU.

Jelena Zivkovic The distribution of dividends are done in accordance with the corporate law upon submission of annual financial statements, annual tax reports and payment of corporate income tax (9%) which takes place in March. Shareholders/owners of limited liability companies may be legal entities or individuals.

Sean Foley

Scott Wilkie

As was recently acknowledged by Monica Bhatia, who heads the OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information, “we are seeing a rise in tax transparency, and it’s only going in one direction: more transparency”. Mark Friezer, partner at Clayton Utz in Sydney, explores the latest disclosure requirements being imposed on taxpayers in Australia.

Laetitia Borucki of Bonn Steichen & Partners believes fund managers should review the potential tax impacts relating to residency, VAT and carried interest that are included in Luxembourg’s draft law to implement the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. The creation of a new type of partnership is also to be considered.

Cynthia Herman The tax and legal system in Myanmar is in a state of flux and there are areas of Myanmar tax law not yet in line with international practice, transfer pricing being one of them. Perhaps not surprisingly, Myanmar is not an OECD member, but in addition, there are no domestic transfer pricing regulations in place at this time. However, in spite of this, groups of companies conducting business in Myanmar should still take care when pricing related party transactions. Although no formal regulations exist, the Internal Revenue Department (IRD) will use its knowledge of market prices of similar transactions conducted between independent parties as a guideline when assessing whether a transaction between related parties is reasonable, and will use a rationale similar to the basis of the methodologies set out in the OECD guidelines. Where the IRD deems that a price charged to a related party is not at market value or at arm's-length, it has the power to reassess tax based on a price and margin that it considers to be appropriate for that transaction.

Peter Blessing has joined KPMG as head of cross-border corporate transactions in the firm's Washington National Tax Practice. He was formerly an international tax partner at Shearman & Sterling, where he practised for 25 years.

Clint O’Connell As with most difficult things in life, when dealing with tax audits in Cambodia the Latin expression, spero optimus instruo pro pessimus comes to mind – "hope for the best but prepare for the worst". Tax audits are commonplace in Cambodia, and all registered taxpayers will be subject to an audit at some point. There are several different types of audits in Cambodia, and these are carried out independently of each other. In this month's article, we discuss the various types of audits that exist in Cambodia and some common issues that arise during the course of an audit. Next month we will detail the audit procedure in more detail.

Andrés Edelstein