In terms of paragraph 2(1) of the Fourth Schedule to the Income Tax Act, 1962 (the “Act”), every employer, who is a resident of South Africa, or representative employer in the case of any employer who is not a resident, (whether or not registered as an employer under paragraph 15) who pays or is liable to pay any amount by way of remuneration to any employee shall, unless the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) has granted authority
In order to create a more uniform system for the administration of taxes in South Africa, section 191 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (the “TAA”) has effectively replaced various refund and set-off provisions which appeared in respective tax acts. Section 191 of the TAA now provides that all tax debts that are due must be set-off against refunds, including the interest thereon, due by the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) to that taxpayer ...
On 2 June 2017, the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) published a draft public notice requiring the submission of country-by-country (“CbC”), master file and local file returns. This marks an important step towards the finalisation of South Africa’s transfer pricing documentation requirements ...
On 7 June 2017, South Africa was one of more than 70 countries that signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“MLI”). The MLI is the result of certain of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s action points aimed at preventing base erosion and profit shifting (“BEPS”) ...
The Israeli Tax Authority (the "ITA") has recently published a tax circular (the "Circular") on the tax treatment of holdback payments and of the reverse vesting mechanism in the context of merger and acquisition transactions. According to the Circular, subject to certain conditions, that will be detailed below, the sale of shares to which holdback payments and reverse vesting mechanisms apply would be subject to a capital gains tax rate of 25% (30% in case of controlling shareholders) ...
RMO 8-2017 amends Revenue Memorandum Order No. (“RMO 72-2010”) by providing for new procedures in claiming preferential tax treaty benefits on dividend, interest, and royalty income of nonresidents, following a system of self-assessment and automatic withholding of taxes subject to post-reporting validation. In lieu of obtaining a tax treaty relief application (“TTRA”) ruling under RMO 72-2010 ...
A unanimous Supreme Court held on June 5, 2017, that the SEC’s ability to recover funds through disgorgement is subject to a five-year statute of limitations. The SEC routinely seeks disgorgement as an equitable remedy in actions alleging securities law violations and asserted that disgorgement was not a penalty subject to the five year statute of limitations under 28 U.S.C. § 2462 ...
Amongst the numerous topics covered by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has decided to provide further guidance on the requirements regarding product governance through its guidelines dated 2 June 2017 which focus on the target market assessment by manufacturers and distributors of financial products ...
As expected, Luxembourg has adopted a restrictive approach of the provisions provided for under the MLI and has sought to limit the scope and impacts of this new layer of international legislation to the minimum standards required. However, the new PPT and the impact on structures and the application of tax treaties need to be carefully monitored in the furture for new and existing structures ...
The May 2017 issue of theInternational Financial Law Review (IFLR) includes an international briefing article by SyCipLaw partner Melyjane G. Bertillo-Ancheta entitled "Philippines: Amendments to the FX Regulations". The article discusses the circulars, issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the central monetary authority of the Philippines), amending the country's foreign exchange regulations ...
The French market has been known to be restrictive due to the banking monopoly, which classically restricted the origination of loans and the acquisition of unmatured receivables to credit institutions and financing companies, with small exceptions. Due to the overregulation of credit institutions and financing companies, many transactions were structured abroad ...
I OVERVIEW The private equity industry has continued to develop in Chile but at rates lower than in previous years. Growth rates of 2.1 per cent for the year ended 31 December 2015 and an expected rate of 1.6 per cent for the year ended 31 December 2016 have certainly affected the investment activity generally. Chile continues to offer, however, an attractive business environment and a stable legal framework ...
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, We would like to inform you that the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation issued a clarification dated March 02, 2017 regarding taxation on the division of matrimonial property after the divorce of the spouses ...
Blockchain, a type of distributed ledger technology, has garnered heightened interest as a secure method to conduct transactions. In this article, we provide an introduction to blockchain and its uses. In later articles, we will explore how this technology is being implemented to transform the financial services industry ...
The Department of State (“DOS”) published in the Federal Register a Notice to implement the presidential initiative for extreme vetting of visa applicants. Emergency review of the DOS proposal has been requested from the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”). The DOS has requested approval. If granted, the emergency approval would be valid for 180 days, although permanent approval could still be sought ...
The Davis Tax Committee (“DTC”) issued a media statement on 25 April 2017, calling for written submissions on the introduction of a possible wealth tax in South Africa. This proposal comes two months after an increase in the top income tax bracket for individuals by 4% to 45%, resulting in an effective capital gains tax (“CGT”) rate for individuals of 18%. This should be seen on the back of the increase the CGT rate by nearly 5% from 13 ...
BENIN: Public Procurement Holders to Benefit from a Tax Regime Derogating from Indirect Taxation The 2017 budget law introduced a derogatory tax regime from which certain public procurement holders may benefit by the Benin tax authorities, assuming indirect taxation. This includes customs duties, internal taxes on turnover (mainly value-added tax ("VAT")) on prices and values of goods and supplies acquired or incorporated into the realisation of the contract ...
In terms of paragraph 19(1)(b) of the Fourth Schedule to the Income Tax Act, 5, 1962 (the "Fourth Schedule"), every company that is a provisional taxpayer shall, during every period within which provisional tax is or may be payable by it as provided in terms of the Fourth Schedule, submit to the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service ("SARS", a return of an estimate of the total taxable income which will be derived by the company in respect of the year of assessment i
It seems absurd that South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”) should be called on to decide what the word “between” means. But that’s exactly what happened in the recent patent case of Orica Mining Services v Elbroc Mining Products. In the process, the SCA very clearly opted for a purposive interpretation of patent claims. The two parties involved, Orica and Elbroc, supply goods to the mining industry ...
The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico recently filed a voluntary petition for relief on behalf of Puerto Rico in federal court there. The filing required the Chief Justice of the United States to designate a district court judge to conduct the case. In recent months Chief Justice Roberts appointed District Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York ...
The question of the scope of the cost-sharing VAT exemption, also referred to in the Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 as amended ("EU VAT Directive") as "Independent Groups of Persons" or "IGPs", is currently being debated at the Court of Justice of the EU ("CJEU") in several cases. Last Thursday marked the first milestone regarding this specific VAT exemption since the CJEU released its judgment in the case Commission v Luxembourg (C-274/15) ...
A recent article in the Financial Times caused some raised eyebrows in the fund finance market by implying that subscription line facilities create substantial risks to banks and investors. The article references a memo on Oaktree Capital’s website by Howard Marks, Oaktree’s co-chairman and founder, in which he discusses some of the perceived costs and risks associated with such facilities. If readers dig into the memo, they will find that Mr ...
The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") has issued an update to Publication 5146 (Employment Tax Returns: Examinations and Appeal Rights) which outlines the procedures used to conduct employment tax examinations and employers' rights and responsibilities during and after the examination process ...
Created in 2007 with a view to provide French law with a security agent regime in syndicated loans as competitive as the Anglo-saxon security trustee, the provisions of Article 2328-1 of the French Civil Code have been subject to criticism because of the legal uncertainty related to the nature of the security agent''s powers and its too limited scope ...
