The report of the Henry Review of the Australian taxation and transfer system released on 2 May 2010, entitled 'Australia's Future Tax System' (the Report) is the 'root and branch' review into the taxation and transfer system proposed by the Australian Labor Party at the election in 2007. It contains some 138 recommendations for long-term reform of the tax and transfer system ...
After becoming the object of several infringement procedures conducted by the European Commission, Spain has been forced to amend several non-resident income tax provisions to ensure those provisions comply with the principles enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ...
A recent ruling should provide some comfort for non-U.S. companies involved in U.S. trademark oppositions or cancellations. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has clarified that companies with no U.S. operations cannot easily be forced to travel to the U.S. for oral depositions. In 2007, an appeals court ruled that a foreign corporation party to a proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the USPTO can be subjected to oral deposition in the U.S ...
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has today given its decision on the question of whether or not Google AdWords are a trade mark infringement. This case had the potential to change dramatically the way we viewed the question of what constitutes ‘trade mark use’ and therefore ‘infringement’ ...
The Texas franchise tax (also known as the “margin tax”) is so expansive that it can apply to private trusts administered in Texas. Every taxable entity is subject to the franchise tax, and the term “taxable entity” generally includes trusts, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations. If the franchise tax applies to a trust, the amount of franchise tax will typically be 0.7% of the trust's federal gross income that is apportioned to Texas (i.e ...
As we navigate the waters of these tough economic times, appraisal districts faced with massive city, school and county revenue losses caused by declining property values will most likely try to stem the tide by not voluntarily lowering taxpayers’ 2010 property values to their fair market values ...
Dear Sirs, We would like to present you a brief overview of tax legislation updates concerning transfer pricing and VAT on services upon importation of goods into the territory of the Russian Federation. Draft law On Transfer Pricing We would like to pay your attention to the fact that draft law “On transfer pricing” was accepted by the State Duma in the 1st reading ...
Historically, a significant number of states had a general policy of respecting the form of a transaction chosen by a taxpayer and applied their sales tax laws based on that form of transaction ...
The Australian Taxation Office's unsuccessful attempt to freeze the bank accounts of the private equity firm Texas Pacific Group has highlighted the ATO's new focus on private equity activities in Australia. The attempted freeze followed the stock market float of the Myer Group, as the ATO sought a reported tax bill of $A452 million from TPG ...
The Foreign Investment Review Board (Board), being the Australian government body that examines proposals for foreign investment in Australia, recently announced that the monetary thresholds set for the purposes of compulsory notification to the Board of a proposed acquisition will be revised to: AUD231 million, for private business investment (up from AUD219 million); and AUD1004 million, for US investors under the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (up from AUD953 million) ...
The Russian Federation, the Kazakhstan Republic and the Belarus Republic (hereinafter also referred to as the “Member States”) have formed Customs Union in accordance with the Treaty on Creation of Unified Customs Territory and Formation of Customs Union (Dushanbe, October 6, 2007) ...
Following the recent actions taken by the Australian Taxation Office to freeze the bank accounts of the private equity firm TPG, the Commissioner of Taxation has released two draft Taxation Determinations (TDs): TD 2009/D17 Treaty Shopping - Can Part IVA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 apply to arrangements designed to alter the intended effect of Australia's International Tax Agreements network?; and TD 200
In light of the ineffectiveness of tax litigation and the increased mistrust of taxpayers in relation to tax decisions, with the decision-makers very often hiding behind mere decisions of form, it is imperative that we weigh up alternative methods for resolving tax disputes, such as mediation, conciliation, and tax arbitration itself, in order to deal with disputes accumulated and arising out of relations between the State and the taxpayer, thus reversing the fe
● New General Merchant Marine Law No ...
We would like to present you an overview of the most valuable changes in Tax legislation effective since January 1, 2010. Also we would like to point out the recently adopted Decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation significant from the tax standpoint ...
The transfer tax situation for 2010 could hardly be more confusing. A last-ditch effort in the Senate to extend the 2009 rates and exemptions was blocked by Senators who support repeal or higher exemptions and lower rates. Supporters of continuing the 2009 rules ($1 million gift tax exemption, $3 ...
The Government of the Republic of Indonesia has entered into over 60 agreements on avoidance of double taxation with other countries. These agreements normally state the scope and the parties who are entitled to avoidance of double taxation benefit. In practice, some parties may abuse the avoidance of double taxation by structuring a transaction in a certain way ...
THE CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT, CAN YOU LIVE WITHOUT IT?Patrice André [email protected] are advising a client who is selling his business. The parties have already signed a letter of intent that provides for a due diligence review to be conducted in respect of your client’s business ...
We would like to draw your attention to the upcoming valuable updates in Tax legislation. Below we have placed a short overview of the hottest issues already occurred in Russian tax environment and some to be introduced in the nearest future. Respectively, these incentives are proposed either to overcome consequences of the financial crisis, or to realize the next step of the long-term policy of stabilization and modernization of the Russian tax system ...
FINANCING AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY — MAXIMIZING FINANCING OPTIONS THROUGH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ASSETS Steve Boucratie [email protected] In recent years, lenders have demonstrated an increasing interest in intellectual property assets, which may be described as “intangible” assets. This is excellent news for businesses in the knowledge and technologies sector whose main assets are often their intellectual property rights ...
At the same time, the effective rate of tax on dividends for high earners will rise from 25% to 36%. No changes are currently proposed to the rate of capital gains tax which means it will remain at 18%. However, both main parties have now admitted that further tax increases are likely. With the gap between income tax and capital gains being a massive 32%, it seems unlikely that the current generous rate of capital gains tax will remain in place ...
When a company goes into administration, a statutory moratorium takes effect to help the administrators achieve the objectives of the administration. Amongst other things this means that no legal process can be started or continued against the company without the consent of the administrators or the court ...
Several countries have already introduced the concept of “temporary non-residents” into their tax orders, thus enabling them to lay down special rules regarding the taxation of income received by those who are habitually resident in these countries, but take up residence in another country for a certain period – which as a rule does not exceed 5 years and is very often a result of secondment - and subsequently return to their former country of residence ...
I. Introductory Note The Republic of Mozambique is rich in mineral resources, including oil, gold, mineral water, coal, natural gas, and marble, and even though exploitation of these resources is far below desired levels, the mining sector still contributes to just under 2% of the country’s GDP ...
Over the last decade, Latin American nations have put considerable effort into demonstrating their willingness to overcome the increasing amount of counterfeit activity in the region These efforts were intensified particularly after the US Trade Representative (USTR) released a warning, by inserting Argentina and Brazil in its “priority watch list” and by applying even greater restrictions to Paraguay, as subject to Section 306 of the 2003 Special 30
