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Canadian foreign affiliate rules have been compared to the US regime for their complexity. Ian Crosbie of Davies, Ward & Beck in Toronto explains the legislation and clarifies how new anti-abuse proposals could catch many taxpayers unawares

The Indian government has passed the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1999 that makes some important amendments to the Companies Act, 1956, with effect from October 31 1998. Some of the most important changes are as follows.

Gerhard Schroder, the German Chancellor, has revealed a package of tax cuts worth at least Dm 8 billion ($4.2 billion) to business. But industry figures think the Chancellor has not gone far enough.

Tax officials are concerned that the expansion of e-commerce may lead to large-scale tax evasion in China, according to the official Wenhui Daily.

New York firm Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel is advising Bermuda company Tyco on its acquisition of Raychem. Tyco is the world's biggest underwater communications firm, and Raychem designs, manufactures, and distributes electronic components. Tyco will pay $1.4billion in cash and will issue 16 million new shares based on the remainder of the Raychem shares.

The Australian government has passed a goods and services tax (GST) deal which may place an additional compliance burden on business.

In 1994, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that a UK person legally entitled to receive dividends from a Dutch company could claim reduced Dutch dividend withholding tax of 15% under the UK/Netherlands tax treaty. The case in question involved a Luxembourg company that sold Shell dividend coupons to a UK market maker at 80% of their nominal value. Since the Luxembourg company was not entitled to the benefits of a tax treaty, it would otherwise have suffered 25% dividend withholding tax on dividends it received from Shell in the Netherlands.

UK Companies and law firms have pledged to fight on after an amendment concerning the Inland Revenue's power to force companies to disclose legal correspondence fell in Parliament.

Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, in New York, is advising Connecticut chemical maker Crompton & Knowles in its merger with chemical company Witco. The deal is valued at $1 billion, plus the assumption of $1 billion worth of debt.

With effect from January 1 1999, Spain introduced new legislation (Law 41/1998) on the taxation of non-residents. This new law marked a milestone in the history of Spain's tax legislation, since for the first time non-residents obtaining taxable income in Spain are governed by a law separate from that regulating the taxation of resident taxpayers under corporate income tax and personal income tax.