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Philip Martin: wants to roll his sleeves up Philip Martin, deputy head of tax at UK retail group Marks & Spencer, left the company to join Dorsey & Whitney's growing litigation team in London in February 2004.

The big-four accounting firm KPMG has continued the restructuring of its international tax practice with the appointment of a new head of tax for Europe, Middle East and Africa, its largest operating region. Loughlin Hickey, head of tax for KPMG in the UK, was appointed to the role on March 3 2004.

UK retailer Marks & Spencer will appoint Eileen Haughey, now a partner with Deloitte & Touche in London, as its new head of tax on June 1 2004.

Any company considering the adoption of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) will need to consider the tax implications of such a move. In the UK, the main tax area likely to be affected is financial instruments.

On February 16 2004 the federal tax administration made available to the public on their official website a draft circular letter, which reflects its interpretation of the Swiss merger law provisions.

The Italian tax authorities (ITA) have issued a new ruling (Number 2 of February 24 2004) in connection with the application of the general anti-elusive provision set forth by article 37-bis of Presidential Decree 600 of September 29 1973 (article 37) to a demerger (which is a neutral transaction for tax purposes).

The Supreme Court of India has dismissed a petition made for reviewing its earlier decision on the validity of Circular 789 issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes. The court had earlier upheld the validity of the circular by clarifying that a certificate of residence issued by the Mauritius authorities would constitute sufficient evidence for accepting the status of residence and beneficial ownership for claiming benefits under the Indo-Mauritius tax treaty.

Andreas Risi of PricewaterhouseCoopers, explains how the Swiss Federal Tax Administration deals with the taxation of derivatives

The Australian commissioner of taxation, Michael Carmody, recently penned a letter to the chairperson of all publicly listed companies, reinforcing the messages in the document that he released in June last year - the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) Large business and tax compliance booklet.

The government introduced many important changes at the end of 2002 to the programme for social integration (PIS) and, at the end of 2003, to the contribution for the financing of social security (COFINS) regulations. The new regulations increased the applicable rates for both contributions (PIS: from 0.65% to 1.65%, COFINS: from 3% to 7.6%) and eliminated their cumulative effects. To eliminate the cumulative effect of the contributions, taxpayers are now allowed to use credits arising from previous transactions (that is, PIS/COFINS applicable on inputs used in manufacturing or items acquired for resale).