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Krzysztof Flis The new Excise Duty Act will come into force on March 1 2009. The provisions of the new Act revoked the previous law which was applied by the taxpayers only five years. The change of law is the result of adjusting Polish provisions to the EU directive 2003/96/WE in the scope of electricity taxation. In simplifying the issue the new law transfers the tax liability from producers and importers on entities which sell electricity toward end users. This change should be have been made as of January 1 2006. However the Polish legislator decided to pass a new Excise Duty Act only now.

By International Tax Review

John Brown has joined the transfer pricing practice as a vice president in the New York office. He has experience of economic analysis of transfer pricing matters in industries such as telecommunications, tool manufacturing and chemicals manufacturing.

Akio Takisaki Under existing Japanese tax rules, a foreign partner of an investment limited partnership or similar type of partnership formed in a foreign country (collectively, LPs) is treated as having a permanent establishment (PE) in Japan if a general partner of the LP executes invests business in Japan. In that case, the foreign partner is taxed on the LP's income and required to file a tax return. Also, 20% withholding tax applies on distribution of the LP's earnings. Under the proposed reforms, foreign partners will not be treated as having a PE and therefore, will not be subject to withholding tax or required to file tax returns if they are limited partners and meet certain conditions.

Marius Ionescu Lucian Barbu With a view to stimulating the real-estate sector, the Romanian government introduced in December 2008 a 5% reduced VAT rate for the sale of social dwellings as defined by the law.

Litigation has removed the need for suppliers from other EU member states to register for VAT in Germany, explain Royne Schiess and Alexander Thoma of Ernst & Young

Ian Farmer In an effort to stimulate capital expenditure and encourage business to invest, the Australian Federal Government announced on February 3 2009, an increase in the proposed investment allowance from the initial 10% to 30%.

By Catherine Snowdon

Stephen Nelson The PRC State Administration of Taxation (SAT) issued a circular on January 23 2009, regarding withholding tax treatment of dividends and interests paid by a resident enterprise to a qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII), Guo Shui Han [2009] number 47.

Phani Tillirou Cyprus is established as an international business and financial centre and has the lowest corporation tax rate in the EU of 10%. A significant number of double tax treaties have been concluded, the usage of which, has greatly prevented double taxation resulting in a reduction of the tax payable. The existence of such treaties combined with the low corporate income tax in Cyprus offer tremendous possibilities for tax planning through Cyprus.