Search results for

The EU advocate general gave its opinion on the Test Claimants in the Thin Cap Group Litigation vs Commissioners of Inland Revenue case on June 29.

Judge Lewis Kaplan said on June 27 that government prosecutors had threatened the defendants' right to a fair trial by pressuring KPMG to refuse to advance their defence costs.

Bennett Jones's Toronto tax practice will hire seven lawyers by mid September, taking the total number to 14. There are four partners among the new hires. Two partners have already joined: Tom Bauer, who was at Thorsteinssons; and Geoffrey Dyer, from Torys. Cosimo Fiorenza and Bernard Morris will both join in the next few weeks from Goodman & Carr.

John Snow resigned formally as US Treasury secretary on June 30.Treasury deputy secretary Robert Kimmitt will become acting secretary until Henry Paulson, Snow's successor, is sworn in

On April 20 2006 the Mexican Congress approved the Decree modifying sundry provisions of the federal tax code, which will enter into force shortly when indicated in its publication.

Last month this column mentioned the newly-published plans for a reform of the Dutch Corporate Income Tax Act (CITA) as they have been submitted to parliament. That column discussed some of the significant issues. This column addresses another significant issue from the proposal, the participation exemption.

Previously a foreign company only qualified as a controlled foreign company (CFC) if more than 50% of its participation rights were held by South African residents. Participation rights were defined as including rights to participate in share capital, share premium and profits of the CFC. Voting control was ignored.

The government has proposed a set of changes in the various tax laws. The proposal shall be subject to parliament proceedings after the summer holidays and may be subject to a number of changes. The most important changes in the Corporate Income Tax Act and in the Tax Ordinance Act are presented below. The final shape of the tax laws for 2007 will become clear in late autumn 2006.

Under the new Company Law, profit distributions, redemptions made upon reductions in capital and reserves, as well as the acquisition of treasury stock are unitarily referred to as a "surplus distribution".

Fraudsters committing missing trader intra-community (MTIC) fraud exploit the value-added tax (VAT) rules exempting intra-community sales in the country of dispatch. They acquire the goods free of VAT in one country and then sell them with local VAT in another. However, they do not account for this VAT to the authorities, but pocket it themselves before disappearing. The goods then pass through a chain of further companies known as buffers in a series of transactions legal in themselves and, frequently, are ultimately reacquired by the original seller. At least some of the buffers may be innocent of fraudulent intent, which raises the question – particularly for wholesalers and trading houses of repute – of a VAT risk from buying goods in good faith from dishonest partners.