Introduction COVID-19 poses great challenges, especially for cross-border M&A transactions and capital market deals. In the last five years or so, the M&A sector has seen a strong seller's market in which sellers have been able to generate high selling prices and enforce contractual arrangements in their favour. This will likely change rapidly now ...
On March 17, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced a new tax plan to stimulate the economy during the COVID-19 crisis. Under the new plan, individuals and corporations can defer $1 million, and $10 million, respectively, in tax payments for 90 days. Importantly, individual and corporate taxpayers can take advantage of the new plan without incurring any interest or penalties ...
The Corona virus has dramatic consequences for most Austrian enterprises. But could it even have an impact on their 2019 financial statements (provided they were not resolved and filed yet)? Will it be possible to use the crises negative effects for claiming deductions in the 2019 tax return? Will it reduce the capacity of an entity that was profitable 2019 to distribute dividends? We limit this short overview on the most common forms of Austrian entities, i.e ...
I. RISK TO COMPANIES FROM THE IMPACTS OF THE CORONA PANDEMIC The corona pandemic leads to a decline in sales revenues worldwide. Demand is plummeting. At the same time, supply chains in the globally networked economy are no longer reliable. Obligations to pay compensation for the inability to supply are impending, particularly in cases of no-fault supply guarantees. The liquidity and therefore the continued existence of many companies are at risk ...
The GST Council in its 39th meeting held on 14 March 2020 has made the following recommendations: Movement in Tax Rate Goods Increase in GST rates on mobile phones and specified parts to 18% from 12% Handmade and other than handmade matches rates rationalised to 12 %, thereby solving the HSN classification issue: Increase in handmade matches from 5% to 12 % Decrease in other matches from 18% to 12% Services Reduction in GST rates on maintenance, re
ESMA DECISION The European Securities and Markets Authority („ESMA“) announced today the decision to lower the initial reporting threshold for net short positions under the EU Short Selling Regulation to 0.1 percent (the „ESMA Decision“). The ESMA Decision has entered into force immediately after its publication on ESMA’s website. INITIAL REPORTING THRESHOLD NOW 0.1 PERCENT (PRIOR: 0 ...
In terms of the spread of coronavirus COVID-19, there has been quite a lot of talk aboutforce majeureand the resulting non-performance of one’s contractual obligations. In addition toforce majeure, contract law recognises also the concept of alteration of the balance of contractual obligations (§ 97 of the Law of Obligations Act) ...
On March 15, 2020, Governor Whitmer issued an Executive Order, effective 9 a.m. March 16, 2020, through April 13, 2020, imposing two restrictions aimed at preventing price gouging during the COVID-19 emergency. These restrictions, issued pursuant to her powers after declaring a State of Emergency on March 10, 2020, apply to offers or sales of products in Michigan. The first restriction applies only to resales of products acquired from retailers ...
On top of the multiple challenges hitting retail and leisure landlords and occupiers arising from COVID-19, the news that Intu has had to write down the value of its shopping centre portfolio by nearly £2 billion came as further bad news. Intu owns multiple high-profile retail and leisure locations across the UK (including The Trafford Centre in Manchester and the Lakeside complex in Essex) and on 12 March was widely reported as being at risk of insolvency ...
Many organizations may be parties to contracts where the counterparty is seeking to cancel its obligations because of COVID-19. This situation is arising in relation to various commercial relationships, including supply agreements, events planning contracts, and numerous other types of agreements ...
During the press conference of 13 March 2020, Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager made a statement regarding the enforcement of EU State aid in connection with measures adopted by Member States to combat the negative repercussions of COVID-19 on the economy ...
As the number of novel coronavirus infections (“Covid-19” or “Coronavirus”) and fatalities continue to rise, on 11 March 2020 the Italian Prime Minister issued a decree to impose new emergency measures to contain and manage the spread of the virus (the “11 March Decree”). Always on 11 March, the World Health Organisation has declared that Covid ...
This is an update with regard to the recent order issued by NCLT, Mumbai in the miscellaneous application of Videocon Group vs CGST Department in the matter of State Bank of India vs Videocon Industries Limited, wherein section 14 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (‘IBC’) has been invoked prohibiting initiation or continuation of any proceedings by any authority against the debtor during the moratorium period ...
This Tax Alert summarizes a recent ruling of the Karnataka Appellate Authority for Advance Rulings[1] which upheld that ‘Pre-sale and Marketing Services’ rendered by an Indian subsidiary (‘service provider’/ ‘supplier’) to its foreign parent entity ( (‘service recipient’) qualify as intermediary services, thereby subject to GST ...
This Tax Alert summarizes a recent ruling of the Gujarat High Court[1] which discussed the issue that whether a taxpayer is entitled to refund of the IGST paid on import of capital goods under Export Promotion Capital Goods (‘EPCG’) Scheme for the interim period between 1 July 2017 i.e ...
The COVID-19 virus (commonly known as the “coronavirus”) is affecting companies’ commercial activities around the world, with particular impact on supply chains and employment and insurance law. There is also a question around the measures the competent authorities may impose to prevent or contain the spread of the coronavirus. A ...
The State Taxation Administration (STA) released several announcements in the beginning of February which established preferential tax policies for facilitating the prevention and control of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and supporting enterprises to resume their business operations. Certain preferential tax treatments are specifically offered to enterprises and individuals that are directly involved in the prevention and control of the outbreak of COVID-19 ...
Introduction The supply chain effects from the global spread of the novel coronavirus have been building for nearly two months, and are expected to reach a peak in the near future (if not necessarily then to recede).[1] The effects have centered on China to date, but the epidemic has spread to other centers of production and the duration of its threat to public health and of the governmental and social measures taken to address its spread remains unknown ...
The outbreak of COVID-19 comes on the back of an already tumultuous two years for the global economy, markets and trade where the US-China "trade war" and other trade tensions and macroeconomic factors have created uncertainty, commercial losses and subdued growth prospects ...
This is a question being asked by many companies. Is the severity of this event such that it enables companies to temporarily (or permanently) be excused from performance of their contractual obligations? As is often the case with legal questions, it depends. The term “force majeure” does not have a recognised meaning under English law ...
The Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman envisages a holistic vision of healthcare that translates into wellness of the citizen ...
1. Changes in rules relating to determination of ‘residence’ in IndiaThe scope of income of a person liable to tax in India depends upon his residential status in a particular financial year. Indian Income Tax Act 1961 (the Act) recognizes three statuses, namely, Resident and Ordinarily resident’ (ROR), ‘Resident but not ordinarily resident’ (RNOR), and Non-resident (NR) ...
Union Budget 2020- Changes in provisions relating to Educational Institutions, Hospitals, Trusts, etc. engaged in Public Charitable or Research activities Current Position:Currently, the income of public charitable trusts and not-for-profit organisations, engaged in public charitable activities and registered with Income Tax department under Sections 12A or 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (the Act), is exempt if the same is applied to the objects of the trust or accumulated for doing so ...
In the recent Appeal Court case of Airtel Uganda Limited v. Uganda Revenue Authority, the provisions of section 15 of Uganda’s Tax Appeals Tribunal Act (TAT Act) and their wider implications came under scrutiny. In the case at hand, Airtel Uganda Limited (Airtel), a telecommunication company, lodged an objection to an assessment raised by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) on 25 February 2004 with the Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT) ...
Given the difference between the effective rate of tax on capital gains and the highest marginal rate of tax imposed on income, in particular for individuals, it is important to determine whether the proceeds from the disposal of an asset are subject to capital gains tax or to income tax. In the Pick ‘n Pay case, the proceeds from the sale of certain shares were found to be capital in nature ...
