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Companies in South Africa won some tax relief on February 23 2005 when Trevor Manuel, the minister for finance, announced in the 2005 Budget that the corporate income tax rate would fall from 30% to 29%.

Patrick Bignon, ex-global head of EY Law and former world-wide managing partner of Andersen Legal, has launched a new legal management and tax consultancy firm in Paris.

Companies in Europe will be able to recover value-added tax (VAT) on input expenses on share issues if the European Court of Justice (ECJ) affirms an advocate general opinion rejecting most European tax authorities’ position on the issue.

The re-election of the coalition government has buoyed the business community with heightened expectation of further tax reforms, especially given its clear majority in the Senate from July 1 2005.

After years of promising such a step, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued Revenue Procedure 2005-12 revising its pre-filing agreement (PFA) programme to provide for advance rulings on whether a taxpayer has a permanent establishment (PE) or a US trade or business (USTB).

Pursuant to Council Directive 2003/48/EC of June 3 2003 each EU member state will be required to provide to the tax authorities of another member state details of payments of interest or other similar income paid by a person within its jurisdiction to an individual resident in that other member state. The jurisdictions protecting banking secrecy (that is, Belgium, Austria and Luxembourg), however, will not immediately apply such a system of exchange of information, but may instead apply - for a transitional period - a withholding tax on savings income at rates rising over time to 35%.

Last Tuesday on February 22 2005 O2, a UK mobile phone operator, released new software that separates business and personal mobile calls, helping tax directors comply with value-added tax (VAT) requirements.

Value added tax – Reduced rate of tax – Importation of works of art, collectors' items and antiques – Public auction of goods subject to temporary importation arrangements – Auctioneer's margin.

Whether a company which issues new shares, and becomes listed on a stock market for that purpose, is to be regarded as making a supply for consideration for VAT purposes; and whether, depending on the answer to that question, VAT paid on services acquired in connection with the listing and share issue may be deductible.

March 16 is the date for the UK Budget, the government announced on February 23 2005.