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UK Chancellor Gordon Brown's pre-budget speech amounts to almost a £5 billion ($7.2 billion) give-away.

The UK Finance Act 2000 contained significant reforms to the way that double tax relief is to be given to UK companies. The provisions were amended many times during the passage of the Finance Bill, resulting in a number of matters still requiring final resolution. This has been recognized by the UK Inland Revenue and the following amendments, as announced in the UK's Pre-Budget Report on November 8 2000, should be put through in the next Finance Bill.

A tax ruling issued by the Singapore tax authorities affects businesses distributing digitized products via the internet to Singapore customers. The ruling, entitled Income Tax Guide on E-Commerce, issued on August 31 2000, states that payments made to non-residents for the use of digitized products are subject to Singapore withholding tax, even though the selling company has no physical business activities carried out in Singapore. While the desire to protect the tax base from erosion is understandable, the August ruling did not address the fundamental distinction between a sale of copyrighted goods and a license of intellectual property. This was partially addressed when the government announced on November 11 2000 that payments for "shrink-wrap" software will be exempt from withholding tax with effect from January 1 2001. It is, however, unclear whether the proposed exemption extends to shrink-wrap software distributed via the internet.

New measures designed to maintain the Netherlands' position as a key location for investment activities include changes to tax ruling practice, and codification of the arm's-length principle. Eduard Sporken and Iwan Hoo of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Amsterdam report

A court decision overturning German regulations on the deduction of input tax from travel expenses could spell good news for businesses. By Stefan Lutz, Mazars Revision & Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, Frankfurt discusses the implications of the ruling

Argentina's government recently announced a new tax plan designed to stimulate economic growth in the country. The key provisions are as follows.

Tax partner Andrzej Debiec is among six partners poached from Cameron McKenna to join Lovells' Warsaw office. He will set up and lead the tax practice in Warsaw, which will also include one senior and two junior lawyers.

Australian firm Freehills has scooped four tax lawyers from Blake Dawson Waldron for its Melbourne office. John Morgan joined as partner in November, while partner Tim Neilson joins in February 2001. Two associates are joining them in the national revenue team.

The EU has asked the WTO to approve trade sanctions, worth approximately $4 billion a year, against the US. The sanctions are retaliation for the US foreign sales corporation (FSC) export legislation which grants US exporters a subsidy that the EU believes gives US companies an unfair advantage.

Payments for shrink-wrap software made to non-residents will be exempt from Singapore withholding tax from January 1 2001, Singapore's Commissioner of the Inland Revenue has announced.