Contents* Limited Partners: a Closer Look at Your Liability * Voluntary Disclosure: Is It Still a Worthwhile Option for Repenting Taxpayers? * The Court of Appeal Recognizes the Right to Claim Legal Fees from a Defaulting Debtor * The Superior Court’s Decision in Chambre des notaires du Québec v ...
If the generation-skipping transfer tax (“GST tax”) provisions of the proposed Tax Bill from December 9 remain unchanged, the most significant year-end tax planning opportunity is the ability to make gifts to trusts for grandchildren and great-grandchildren without imposition of the GST tax and without utilizing any of your GST tax exemption ...
Here are the most significant estate, gift, and generation-skipping tax features of the Tax Bill introduced in the Senate yesterday: The estate of an individual who died in 2010 can elect the 2011 rules ($5,000,000 exemption and top estate tax rate of 35%) or the "repeal" provisions (no estate tax but special rules for limited increase in the income tax basis of the assets of the decedent) ...
Effective as of July 21, 2011, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) repeals a key exemption from investment adviser registration currently relied upon by many private fund managers and replaces it with several much more limited exemptions from registration ...
Following is a list of year-end administrative issues for Texas limited partnerships and limited liability companies (“LP/LLC”): Ensure that the LP/LLC’s activities, transactions, capital infusions (capital contributions or loan proceeds), and distributions are accurately reflected in the entity’s records; Avoid causing the LP/LLC to make any distributions not in compliance with the terms of its LP/LLC agreement or applicable law; for example, an LP/LLC should not make disproportion
Those who have filed – or at least reviewed – the “new” Form 990 since it was revised in 2008 are well aware of its comprehensive nature. For everyone else, suffice it to say that the form requires substantially more information than its predecessor and can compel an organization to implement additional record-keeping or information-gathering procedures ...
KSB partner Martin Šolc, who specializes in advisory on transactions in the field of mergers and acquisitions, has also been performing professional activities for a long time with the International Bar Association (IBA), a leading organization of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies, bringing together more than forty thousand attorneys and one hundred and ninety-seven chambers of attorneys on all continents ...
First, the good news: No estate tax on individuals who die during 2010; No generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax on “transfers” during 2010; Tax rate on gifts during 2010 is 35% (rather than 45%); and Congress appears less likely to take any action to retroactively change these rules ...
On April 28, 2005, the Chambre des notaires du Québec filed a petition to declare unconstitutional and of no force and effect requirements issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) under sections 231.2 and 231.7 as well as subsection 5 of section 232(1) of the Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.) (ITA) to obtain documents or information prima facie protected by professional secrecy ...
Last March, we informed you that the Business Corporations Act (Quebec) (the “Bill”) had been adopted by Quebec’s National Assembly and summarily described certain features of this new legislation, which will replace the Companies Act (Quebec) (the “CAQ”). In this special edition of Ratio, we provide an overview of certain aspects of the Bill that are of interest to professionals in the areas of accounting, management and finance ...
In response to the current state of the economy, Congress has passed some tax legislation amending the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). Although it is up for debate, some would say that Congress has not been busy enough. As we near the end of the year, many taxpayers and their advisers are going through their usual year-end tax planning checklist ...
Recent Federal Circuit Decision on Section viii Carve Outs and Inducement By C. Kyle Musgrove, Partner On November 1, 2010, a divided 2-1 panel of the Federal Circuit issued a decision in AstraZeneca LP v. Apotex, Inc. that addresses inducement of infringement in the context of a Section viii "carve out" under 21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(2)(A)(viii) and 21 C.F.R. § 314.92(a)(1) ...
As part of the ongoing rulemaking initiatives contemplated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently released a proposed rule defining “family offices” for purposes of an exemption from registration under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) ...
Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") simplifies the approval process for foreign investments in sales projects using the Internet or vending machines Since 2004, following MOFCOM's release of the "Measures for the Administration of Foreign Investment in the Commercial Sector" the distribution industry has been opened to foreign investment ...
* New Developments Concerning Insider Reporting Requirements. * Revenu Québec Bares its Teeth at Restaurant Owners* Planning for the Unavoidable: The Usefulness of Reviewing a Shareholder Agreement's Redemption Provisions in Case of Death* Speech is Silver, Silence is Golden.. ...
"When it comes to customs, time is money", the Director of Minter Ellison’s International Trade Group, Iain Sandford, told a major customs law meeting in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Mr Sandford was a guest of the World Customs Law Academy, the Brazilian Association of Customs Studies and the Inter-American Institute for Borders and Customs ...
The recently enacted Securities and Investment Business Act, 2010 (“SIBA”) of the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) will come into effect on 17 May 2010 ...
The People's Republic of China, a party to the Kyoto Protocol (2005), has been actively promulgating "greener" policies to improve China' environment and reduce carbon emissions. These green steps are creating potential new investment opportunities for foreign investors as China seeks to become more energy efficient ...
Spotlight on Corporate Governance One of the impacts of the global financial crisis on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been an increased spotlight on corporate governance standards in the UAE. The Ministry of Economy published Ministerial Resolution No. 518 of 2009 (MR 518) which provides for enhanced corporate governance rules and discipline standards for UAE Public Joint Stock Companies (PJSC) ...
If you are a U.S. business with international operations, here are four questions you should consider: Does your company have more than two foreign subsidiaries, at least one of which is profitable? Do you have a profitable foreign subsidiary that guarantees any U.S. debt? Are you considering the purchase of a company located outside the U.S.? Does your U.S ...
On 23 March 2010, Indonesia and Hong Kong signed a new agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income (“Tax Treaty”). To date, the Tax Treaty has not yet been ratified by either country. It is expected that the Tax Treaty will come into force in early 2011 following its ratification ...
Professional trade in securities under the case law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court… Under the Swiss Federal Supreme Court’s prior case law, capital gains derived from the sale of assets – in particular real estate, securities, precious metals and foreign currencies – are subject to federal income tax if such activity, taken as a whole, qualifies as self-e
Most patent applicants can now accelerate the examination of a select number of patent applications in exchange for abandoning an equal number of unexamined, pending applications, according to an announcement issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) on June 24, 2010 ...
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) is seeking public comment on a proposed three-track patent examination initiative that would provide applicants with greater control over the speed at which their applications are examined. The proposed initiative aims to reduce overall pendency of patent applications by providing applicants with alternative timing systems for the examination of their patent applications ...
I once heard that Chinese architects have a curious, but effective, way of designing public squares. First, they will sow seeds over the surface of the square and wait till the grass grows. Then, they will let people walk around the square for a period of time. Finally, the stepped areas will help the architects decide which paths across the square to pave ...
