On July 25, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its decision in Québec (Commission des normes du travail) v. Asphalte Desjardins inc.1 In this ruling, which overturned a judgment by the Québec Court of Appeal,2 the Supreme Court concluded that an employer who receives notice of termination within a reasonable time period, as stipulated under article 2091 of the Civil Code of Québec3 (“C.C.Q ...
It is no hidden secret that unemployment in South Africa remains considerably high. According to the World Economic Forum Global Risk 2014 Report, structural unemployment and underemployment appears second overall in the Ten Global Risks of Highest Concern as many people in both advanced and emerging economies struggle to find jobs. The youth and minorities are especially vulnerable ...
THE FACTS Wal-Mart Canada Corporation (hereinafter “Wal-Mart”) opened its Jonquière establishment in 2001. After the United Food and Commercial Workers, local 503 (hereinafter the “Union”), was certified to represent the employees in 2004, negotiations were initiated in view of concluding a first collective agreement ...
The Parliament of the Republic of Serbia adopted Amendments to the Labour Law (the “Law”) on 18 July 2014. These amendments are long awaited and have been avidly discussed for some time due to divided public opinion. The Law will come into force 8 days after it is published in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”. Main novelties introduced by the Law are: Definite term employment The maximum duration of definite term employment has been extended to 24 months ...
Foreign investors in Australian entities may be unaware that in some circumstances the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) can assess them for Australian tax on gains made from the sale of their investment. The circumstances in which tax can arise are described in this article. In addition, law changes are proposed which (amongst other matters) would, from 1 July 2016, require purchasers to withhold 10% from the purchase price and pay that to the ATO in some circumstances ...
The Commission des relations du travail, both in its initial decision and on review, dismissed the complaints challenging the dismissal of an employee despite the absence of prior disciplinary measures. The complainant, who was hired in April 2011, held a position as an administration technician for the Human Resources Department of a CHSLD. In 2004, the complainant sought a position as staff management officer ...
According to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), commission should be taken into account when calculating holiday pay (see Lock v British Gas). At the end of July, the Employment Appeal Tribunal will consider whether voluntary and/or regular overtime and emergency call-out payments, should also be taken into account when calculating holiday pay (see Neal v Freightliner) ...
A Taxpayers’ Charter setting out the rights and obligations of taxpayers in South Africa was published for the first time during 1997. That Charter contained a statement of intent insofar as taxpayers’ rights in South Africa is concerned. On 19 October 2005 the SARS Client Service Charter was released setting out the levels of service that taxpayers could expect in their dealings with the South African Revenue Service (‘SARS’) ...
Possession, as they say, is nine tenths of the law. Generally in commercial litigation where, for example, a claim for an outstanding amount is brought against a party, such party is not required to make payment to the claimant until a court has adjudicated on the matter. However, when it comes to matters of tax, the Tax Administration Act, No ...
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has introduced a new, shorter form of the exemption application for Section 501(c)(3) status—the Form 1023-EZ. Previously, most organizations seeking federal income tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) were required to complete the full 26-page (plus attachments) Form 1023, regardless of their anticipated funding or the complexity of their activities ...
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) recently issued Revenue Ruling 2014-18 (the “Ruling”) allowing the deferral of compensation from offshore hedge funds through the use of stock options (“Options”) and stock-settled stock appreciation rights (“SARs”) without running afoul of Section 457A of the Internal Revenue Code (“Section 457A”) ...
The Budget Plan unveiled by the Quebec Government as part of the Budget Speech of last June 4 includes many initiatives to increase venture capital financing. The 2014 2015 Budget presented by the Minister of Finance, Carlos Leitão, provides for several measures to make $560 million available to finance businesses and venture capital funds, including the establishment of a $375 million fund to invest in venture capital funds ...
In terms of the current Tax Court rules published under the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962, where the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) did not comply with the prescribed time frames in respect of dispute resolution, practically, there was little that a taxpayer could do. This could change in terms of the proposed new Tax Court rules expected to come into force later this year ...
The South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) introduced a new streamlined process primarily geared towards the single registration of a taxpayer across applicable tax types. This system was implemented on 12 May 2014. Prior to this system, processes at SARS required that a taxpayer be registered at a SARS branch on several interfaces relating to each tax type ...
AFRICA TAX IN BRIEF KENYA: Chinese companies investigated by Revenue Authorities Local media reports of 30 May 2014 announce that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is investigating a number of Chinese companies suspected of evading tax. KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini said it is suspected that some Chinese-owned businesses are either under- or mis-declaring cargo ...
On 7th March 2014 the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered judgment in the as yet unreported case of Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service v Mobile Telephone Networks Holdings (Pty) Ltd, (966/2012) [2014] ZASCA 4 (7 March 2014) which dealt with the deductibility of audit fees incurred for a dual or mixed purpose and the apportionment thereof for tax purposes in the light of section 11(a) of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962, as amended (‘the Act’) read with sections 23(f)
The Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 (“Tax Administration Act”) came into effect on 1 October 2012 (save for certain provisions that are still to come into force). This important piece of legislation seeks to incorporate into one Act all those administrative provisions (except for customs and excise) that are generic to all tax Acts and that were previously duplicated across all the different tax Acts ...
A parliamentary Act of 26 December 2013 fundamentally altered the Belgian rules for dismissals. It harmonised the dismissal rule for blue-collar and white-collar workers and obliged the employer to give a reason for the dismissal. Furthermore, it removed the insecurity felt by many employers when dismissing white-collar employees ...
On 26 March 2014, the Minister of Law and Human Rights (“Minister”) issued Regulation No. 5 of 2014 on Validation of Foundations (“Regulation”). Briefly, the Regulation redefines the procedures and requirements for securing approval for the name of a foundation and its validation by the Minister ...
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia has issued Circular Letter No.2 of 2014 regarding Case Settlement in the Court of First Instance and Appeals in 4 (four) Justice Fields. The Supreme Court considers that since an electronically based management case system now exists in the courts of first instance and high courts, cases should be examined and ruled on quickly ...
