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The first German tax court to address the much discussed issue of whether a computer server can constitute a permanent establishment has decided this question in the affirmative. In a case involving a German corporation with a server in Switzerland, the Tax Court of Schleswig-Holstein held in the autumn of 2001 that the server was a permanent establishment to which apparently substantial amounts of income should be attributed. Such income was exempt from German tax under the Germany-Switzerland tax treaty. The tax authorities contended that the taxpayer had no permanent establishment in Switzerland, hence its entire income was taxable in Germany. The tax court's judgment has been appealed to the Federal Tax Court.

Tax practitioners in Buenos Aires have voiced concern that the new Argentine transfer pricing regulations could deter investment into the country. ARS Regulation No 1122 was issued by the Argentine Revenue Service (ARS) in October 2001 to govern not only transfer pricing regulations, but also provisions contained in section 8 of the Income Tax Act (ITA), related to the import and export of goods between independent parties. The new regulation incorporates a number of new tax return, documentation and information requirements, including a new transfer pricing report that must be signed by an independent CPA.

The recent judgment of the ECJ in the Athinaiki case has possible implications outside its reference country of Greece. This article looks at how the decision could affect the tax systems of five other member states: the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. By Patrick Tardivy, Martin Schiessl, Axel Haelterman, Michiel Sunderman and Roger Berner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels and Amsterdam

After years of expansion it seems that the boom may be over for big five tax consultants. Several of the big five have been forced to lay of large numbers of staff in the UK. Ernst & Young started the ball rolling last October when the firm announced that 200 jobs in the UK were to go, including some in the tax department. Next up it was KPMG, which declared in early February that at least 150 tax staff across the UK have to go. And finally on February 12 Pricewaterhouse-Coopers made the decision that 200 tax members of staff in the UK tax practice are to be made redundant.

On December 16 2001, the Ministry of Finance announced tax reform measures for the financial year 2002, including the introduction of the consolidated tax return system (CTRS). The CTRS provides for the taxation of group companies on a consolidated basis. Targeted introduction of the CTRS is due to take place on or after April 2002.

UK industry is suffering from high levels of stamp duty on share sales, according to the head of Britain’s leading industry association

Canada has an aggressive new agency determined to secure its share of international trade revenue. Substantial penalties and exhaustive audits await those who do not get their affairs in order at the earliest possible opportunity. By Hendrik Swaneveld, Martin Przysuski, Venkat Nagarajan and Sam Krishna, BDO Dunwoody LLP, Toronto

Antigua and Barbuda has become the 11th jurisdiction to cooperate with the OECD and commit to addressing harmful tax practices. The Antiguan government wrote to the OECD on February 20 committing to the principles of effective exchange of information in tax matters and transparency. As a result, the country will not feature on the OECD's list of uncooperative tax havens. At the time of going to press, the OECD was only 3 days from its February 28 deadline but still had to receive commitments from the remaining blacklisted countries.

To say that Julie Corkish, the UK tax manager at South African Breweries (SAB) enjoys her job would be an understatement. She is enthusiastic to the point of excited about the work, the people and the company.

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