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Though we are only a few weeks into 2013, it is already clear that it will be a year in which cross-border cooperation and exchange of information reach new highs. Matthew Gilleard looks at how and why cross-border cooperation and information exchange are increasing, which jurisdictions are driving this, and what effects are already being seen.

Foley & Lardner has expanded its tax practice in Silicon Valley with the hire of new partner Fred Adam.

Michael Puls Tax expert Michael Puls has joined the Dusseldorf office of Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH – Taxand Germany. He joins Luther from Flick Gocke Schaumburg and will specialise in advising energy supply companies. Before joining Flick Gocke Schaumburg, Puls spent six years working for two of the big 4 accountancy firms in corporate and international taxation.

The IRS is unhappy with multinationals exploiting cross-border differences in treatment of debt and equity for tax gains and is throwing more resources into preventing it. But Hewlett Packard, Scottish Power and PepsiCo were all challenged in the US Tax Court over debt-equity issues last year and two of them emerged victorious. Joe Dalton explains why such structures are still a valid and beneficial option for taxpayers and how to prepare your case if the IRS comes calling.

Manel Maragall Continuing with the reforms that the Spanish government is introducing in the real estate sector, and after many years of discussions between the taxpayers and the tax authorities, finally it has decided to amend the old anti-abuse provisions in the real estate transfer tax (RETT) applicable to the transfer of shares of entities whose main assets consist of real estate. The new legislation, which has been enforced since the end of October, has changed the old regulations setting up a new regime which has a clear aim of levying taxation only in those cases in which there is a will (under the share transfer) of eluding the indirect tax that would have been applicable to the transfer of the asset.

Multinational corporations have come under fire for aggressive tax avoidance. But their defence that their activities are legal raises an important question: Is it the responsibility of companies to act within the spirit of the law, or of governments to design better legislation to tackle avoidance? Salman Shaheen finds out what delicate balance is required.

The French government has placed a new limitation on the deduction of financial expenses as part of a raft of measures introduced under the Finance Bill for 2013. This may force highly leveraged groups to reassess their financing structures.

After a couple of years of work in preparing the tax reform Bill and several months of discussion and debate in the Colombian Congress, the government approved Law No 1607 on December 26 2012. With 198 articles, the law seeks to confront tax evasion in Colombia, as one of its main objectives. Diego González-Béndiksen De Zaldívar, head of DIAN’s (Colombia’s National Tax and Customs Direction) International Audit Unit, and Andrea Medina Rojas, an international auditor in the unit, describe the law’s process and what it will mean for taxpayers.

Some recent press coverage in the UK could suggest that business spends its time doing everything it can to dodge every tax it owes. But Richard Woolhouse, of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), says the facts show how far from the truth this is.

Lachlan Wolfers and Curtis Ng of KPMG explain what impact the Chinese VAT pilot will have on the construction and real estate sectors once it is extended to them.