Search results for

New figures published by the Tax Justice Network (TJN) yesterday aim to shine a light on the true scale of how much countries lose to profit shifting.

International mergers have been a topic of discussion in the tax arena lately. Astrid Schudeck and Francisca Peña of PwC Chile examine whether or not they may be done without any Chilean tax consequences.

See who has done the tax work on this month’s biggest deals

Anne Bennett On February 22, the South African Minister of Finance delivered the 2017 budget, which proposed raising an additional ZAR 28 billion ($2.2 billion) primarily by collecting ZAR 16.5 billion more in personal taxes and ZAR 6.8 billion through an immediate increase in the dividend withholding tax rate from 15% to 20%. Apart from any treaty relief, profits extracted from South African companies will now suffer an effective rate of 42.4% (up from 38.8%) once 28% corporate tax and 20% dividends tax is accounted for.

As the EU takes the first major step towards introducing public country-by-country reporting (CbCR), many are asking what the EU’s plan really means. Keith Brockman considers the vision of the latest proposal.

Maria Sarantopoulou Zoe Kokoni Cyprus adopted the "start-up visa" plan (start-up permit scheme) on February 15 2017 for third country nationals interested in residing and investing in innovative businesses in Cyprus.

Burçin Gözlüklü Ramazan Biçer Turkey introduced a new law (the law) on March 8 2017 on the restructuring of certain public receivables and amending certain laws and Cabinet Decrees.

Lopatina Irina Georgia is becoming an increasingly popular jurisdiction for investments and export – import transactions with Commonwealth of Independent State (CIS) and EU countries. Among other factors, the attractiveness is also due to the absence of strict currency control rules and the availability of free trade regimes with European and other foreign countries. Additional advantages include the absence of corruption, the transparent conditions of conducting business, the signed association agreement with the EU, the introduction of a visa-free regime with the EU, the six fixed taxes and lowered tax rates, the significantly shortened list of licenses and permits, as well as simplified administration procedures. Georgia is among the top ranked countries in the World Bank's list on the ease of doing business. In addition, Georgia has significantly succeeded in establishing a business-friendly environment and maintaining a healthy, comfortable and attractive investment climate for foreign investors. In this regard, it is specifically worth mentioning the attractive investment opportunities in the Georgian free industrial zones (FIZ) regulated by the Law of Georgia on Free Industrial Zones, which aims to promote economic growth, enhance industrial competitiveness and attract foreign direct investments.

Kathleen Penny Shavone Bazarkewich On February 22 2017, the Canadian government responded to the recommendations made in the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Finance entitled: The Canada Revenue Agency, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion: Recommended Actions (standing committee report). The response generally supported all 14 recommendations of the standing committee report and reaffirmed the government's commitment to cracking down on tax evasion and perceived "aggressive tax avoidance".

New Zealand has been active in implementing measures to address BEPS. Brendan Brown and Joshua Aird of Russell McVeagh in New Zealand explain the latest proposals that include measures to address permanent establishment avoidance, significant changes to the transfer pricing rules and an interest rate cap (among other measures) to limit related party interest deductions.