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Marc De Munter, formerly a tax specialist with Freshfields joined DLA’s Brussels office last week. Joining the firm’s expanding tax practice, De Munter will work alongside Dirk Caestecker and Jeroen Gobbin. DLA is expanding their tax services and now has 95 lawyers in their Brussels office.

The big four firm has lost Richard Snowden who left to head up Henry Davis York’s tax practice. Snowden specializes in banking and financial services. Snowden cited restrictions in the US on accounting firms providing non-audit services to audit clients as one of the reasons for his move.

The US Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations last Thursday providing guidance for determining a US shareholder’s pro rata share of income for controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) under the subpart F rules. The proposed regulations provide detailed rules on distributions of earnings when a CFC has multiple classes of stock. When issued in final form the regulations will be effective for tax years beginning January 1 2005.

The use of Entidad de Tenencia de Valores Extranjeros (ETVE)s by international investors has increased dramatically in the last few years. Both Spanish and non-Spanish newspapers and other publications have reflected this by emphasizing the fact that most large multinationals already have in place an ETVE structure (see the article in Cinco Días, a Spanish economic newspaper, on April 22 2003). More recently, Cinco Días also reported on May 24 2004, that a substantial part of foreign investment coming into Spain in the last few years was made through ETVEs.

Guillermo Pérez, former national director of tax services at Pistrelli Henry Martin y Associados, Ernst & Young’s member firm in Argentina, has taken early retirement.

Mukesh Butani, Ernst & Young’s national tax director in India since June 2002, is leaving the position on August 15 2004 amid talk of turmoil at the firm. A number of partners, including Jairaj Purandare, Ernst & Young India’s chairman, and Rajiv Dimri, the head of indirect tax, have resigned from the firm in the last two-and-a-half months. Purandare became chairman on April 1 this year.

The new accounting standard for the impairment of fixed assets will go into effect for fiscal years starting on or after April 1 2005. However, since early adoption was permitted for fiscal years ending on or after March 31 2004, some companies have already adopted the new standard.

Michael Cullen, New Zealand’s minister of revenue, has announced the start date for changes to the treatment of financial services under the country’s goods and services tax

The Greek parliament on July 30 2004 passed legislation to introduce a six-month tax amnesty. The tax authorities will impose a 3% tax on repatriated money. The Greek Accounting Office estimates the tax amnesty will generate about €20 billion ($24 billion).

The Italian tax authorities on July 28 2004 released details of the country’s new advance pricing agreement (APA) programme