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Tax Relief

Because tax doesn’t have to be taxing. A less-than-serious look back at some of the quirkier tax stories from the past month.

October 26 2017

Spain: Tax implications of ‘malus’ and ‘clawback’ clauses in variable compensation schemes

Importance of compensation issues from the corporate governance angle has increased over recent years, as a result of which their regulation has gone from mere recommendations to positive law, applicable to the compensation paid to the executives and directors of, among others, credit institutions, investment services and insurance companies, or collective investment undertaking management companies.

October 26 2017

US Inbound: US permanent establishment issue

There has been a lot of discussion in the past few years regarding the BEPS changes and what constitutes a permanent establishment (PE) by a multinational corporation (X) based in one country (A) that has a presence or activity in another country (B).

October 26 2017

Portugal: Portuguese budget bill for 2018 brings few tax changes

The Portuguese budget bill for 2018 was presented to the Parliament on October 13 2017 and the main salient feature would be an uncharacteristic lack of any major tax amendments.

October 26 2017

South Africa: Constitutional validity of retrospective legislation

The recent High Court decision of Pienaar Brothers (Pty) Ltd v Commissioner for the South African Revenue, a highly important judgment dealing with the constitutionality of retrospective legislation, underscores the importance for taxpayers of participating in or at least being aware of the public consultation process around proposed tax amendments in order to be forewarned of pending changes.

October 26 2017

New Zealand: New Zealand to restate and reform trust law

In August 2017, the Trusts Bill was introduced in New Zealand's Parliament. The bill seeks to restate and reform New Zealand's trust law and is the first significant change in New Zealand's trust law in more than 60 years.

October 26 2017

Malta: Budget 2018

The budget for the 2018 legislature was presented to the Maltese Parliament on October 9 2017. The main theme of the budget, from a commercial perspective, was the creation of business, the incentivisation of the markets and the attraction of foreign direct investment. At the core of the budget document were a number of interesting fiscal measures and incentives for both businesses and households.

October 26 2017

Turkey: New taxes on the table

On September 27, Turkish Finance Minister Naci Ağbal announced a comprehensive package including tax increases in a meeting held for the medium-term programme of 2018-2020. Draft legislation including the tax issues that have already been sent to the Turkish Grand National Assembly for the enactment process.

October 26 2017

Switzerland: VAT rate reductions effective from 2018

The Swiss population rejected the 2020 Old-Age and Survivors Insurance reform on September 24 2017. As a result, the additional funding of disability insurance (DI) by 0.4 points of VAT will expire at the end of 2017. However, the standard and special VAT rates will increase by 0.1 point from January 1 2018 due to the draft measures to finance and develop railway infrastructure.

October 26 2017

Montenegro: Montenegro hikes VAT rate and amends excise duties

Montenegro has recently sharpened its focus on fiscal consolidation with a target to achieve budget surplus and to establish a declining trend in the level of public debt from 2019. On the revenue side, additional measures will be aimed at further harmonising the excise policy with the EU's rules. Additionally, the government is set to increase the standard VAT rate by two percentage points as of 2018, an adjustment which will not disturb the Montenegrin tax system.

October 26 2017

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