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Koen van’t Hek, who left Ernst & Young at the beginning of July this year, has returned to the big-four firm

The EU has expressed concerns about some of the provisions in the $137 billion corporate tax bill signed by US President George Bush last month. The bill was intended to do away with a tax cut for exporters that was declared illegal by the World Trade Organization. But although the EU has promised to lift sanctions imposed on the US in response to the bill, it has also raised concerns about measures that give a grace-period of three years where the old tax cuts will still apply to many large US corporations.

The EU and Switzerland on October 26 signed the savings tax agreement they had committed to sign in May. The agreement is scheduled to take effect on July 1 2005, but must still be ratified by the Swiss parliament. The agreement commits Switzerland to a withholding tax on interest payments to EU residents. Swiss tax authorities will then share the withholding tax revenue with the EU member states.

The Frankfurt tax practice of German law firm Haarmann Hemmelrath will be strengthened in January 2005 with the arrival of Joachim Krämer and Roderic Pagel, two international tax partners

The leaders of the UK’s biggest companies have urged Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer, to take some “early action” to eliminate so-called “tax nothings” in the corporate tax system

The tax authorities have sent the Congress a tax bill including proposed legislation concerning additional interest deductibility restriction to be effected through a series of thin capitalization rules that would enter into force on January 1 2005.

Faced with pressure from the OECD and the EU, many low-tax jurisdictions have fulfilled their outstanding international tax responsibilities. Now they want everyone to know about it. Simon Briault uncovers the changing face of the international tax haven

On September 19 2004, the ruler of Dubai enacted the laws of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a recent addition to the several free-trade zones already existing in the UAE. The DIFC aims to benefit the region as a whole by acting as a catalyst for the region's economic development in the same way that similar centres in the US and Hong Kong have contributed to their respective regional development.

Dividends are generally exempt from income tax in the hands of the recipient shareholder in South Africa and there is no withholding tax on dividends. The tax authorities, however, tax dividends in another way, in the form of secondary tax on companies (STC). Subject to a number of exceptions and exemptions, STC is payable by a South African-resident company declaring dividends at the rate of 12.5% of the gross dividend declared. Secondary tax on companies is a direct tax on the company declaring the dividends, although indirectly borne by the shareholders, as they naturally get lower dividends after the STC.

At the heart of discussions within the EU about excessive transfer-pricing documentation requirements being imposed on European multinational enterprises (MNEs), in recent times there has been an increase within the member states of reporting obligations set forth for regulatory purposes, which also include information among related parties.