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 ...
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 ...
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
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) ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 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 ...
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 ...
A recent report published by the White House Council of Economic Advisers (“CEA”) on drug pricing in the United States of America has put the cost of medicine and the access thereto by the poor, firmly back in the spotlight. And on a global scale. In the CEA report, President Donald Trump’s administration argues that the USA pays higher prices for pharmaceuticals because other developed countries have systems in place to actively force down drug pricing ...
The sudden rise in the number Covid-19 (“Coronavirus”) cases in Lombardy and other Italian Regions has prompted the relevant governmental authorities to adopt urgent measures to prevent and limit the spread of the virus, and this is starting to have an impact on the economy. In connection with these measures, on 31 January Italian government has declared a six-month state of emergency, which expires on 31 July 2020 (unless it is extended) ...
The UK Government believes that up to a fifth of the workforce may be off sick during the peak of a Coronavirus epidemic. It remains to be seen whether Coronavirus will affect that volume of people, but there are already clear signs of how it is disrupting the day-to-day operations of businesses in the UK and around the rest of the world ...
With the economy facing downward pressure, the Hong Kong Government is rolling out various supporting and funding measures to help enterprises. The $30 billion HK$ Anti-epidemic Fund The Legislative Council Finance Committee approved the $30 billion Anti-epidemic Fund on 21 February 2020, more than half of which - HK$16.9 billion - will serve as one-off cash injections to retailers, food and beverages service providers, start-ups and other businesses ...
In our geography in constant transition, resources must be shielded, which is why we must revisit as investors the macro trends as economists call it, prudence in investment matters is imposed without restraining dynamism, only taking it in a gradual and diversified way. Investing in companies or funds with a green seal is one of the strategies that have been outlined for this new year 2020 ...
In a slightly surprising, but nevertheless welcome, South African 2020 Budget Speech today, the Honourable Minister of Finance announced that there would be no significant tax increases to the major taxes for the forthcoming tax year. Widely anticipated increases to value-added tax (“VAT”), income tax, capital gains tax and estate duty did not materialise ...
BVI government welcomes announcement. Blacklist expands to include 12 jurisdictions.On 18 February 2020, EU Finance Ministers updated the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, upgrading the British Virgin Islands to whitelist status, which designates the country as a fully co-operative tax jurisdiction in line with all of the tax good-governance standards ...
Several recent reports claim that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic in China is beginning to slow down and generally under control, prompting businesses in China to resume operations. In order to minimise further spreading of the virus as employees return to work, the PRC government has issued different local rules and guidelines to ensure enterprises are adequately prepared ...
