COVID-19: health and safety protocol - Last night the Italian Government and National representatives of employers’ associations and unions have reached an agreement over a COVID-19 health & safety protocol that employers need to implement to ensure the maximum possible protection of their employees against the COVID-19 virus. This protocol is a crucial step to allow business continuity for manufacturing companies and professional service providers ...
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 ...
We regularly work with financial institutions to navigate the challenges of implementing, maintaining, and using security procedures for commercial customers’ use of treasury management services. Security procedures are an integral part of the relationship between the financial institution and its commercial customers ...
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 ...
Already, the COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects on the global economy and particularly on the German economy as well: interrupted international supply chains, travel restrictions, or the cancelation of major events and trade shows – all of this poses considerable challenges for the manufacturing, trade, transportation, tourism, and event organizer sectors in Germany ...
Plaintiffs’ counsel in pharmaceutical product liability cases continue to pursue depositions of company sales representatives and seek to elicit testimony supporting their common theme that pharmaceutical companies disregard the health and safety of their consumers in the dogged, single-minded pursuit of sales and profits ...
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 ...
Companies, municipalities, and water systems must now report their per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) use to the federal government. A new federal law requires facilities using 100 pounds per year of a listed PFAS compound to self-report to the national Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Monitoring and reporting requirements are often prerequisites to cleanup and enforcement, and this collection of data may be a bellwether for the future regulation of PFAS ...
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 ...
On March 3, 2020, Attorney General William Barr announced the National Nursing Home Initiative—a new U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) taskforce organized to push criminal and civil enforcement action against nursing homes across the country. The initiative will help coordinate DOJ enforcement actions against nursing homes that provide “grossly substandard care ...
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 ...
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 stock market is undoubtedly one of the most important economic forces in the world. Every year, billions of dollars are moved through stock exchange operations, and year after year, in most jurisdictions, the stock market is promoted as a tool for financing or capturing capital for issuers and as an investment for thousands of participants seeking to place their funds in higher yield investments ...
On 3 February 2020, the Belgian Act of 20 December 2019 amending various legal provisions concerning shortages of medicinal products (‘Act’) was published in the Belgian State Gazette. The Act’s provisions will enter into force on 13 February 2020, with the exception of Articles 2 and 4 which entered into force on 31 January 2020 ...
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 ...
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 ...
On January 27, 2020, the Financial Market Commission (“FMC”) published, for public consultation purposes, a proposed amendment to its Updated Regulations Compendium, by means of introducing two new Chapters: Chapter 21-6, on credit risk-weighted assets determination, and Chapter 21-12, on additional basic capital ...
On February 26, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma, 589 U.S. ___ (2020) (Sulyma) that an ERISA1 plaintiff’s admitted receipt of disclosures about his retirement plan investments was insufficient to prove he had “actual knowledge” of the information therein — the effect of which would have been to trigger a shorter three-year statute of limitations period that would have barred his lawsuit altogether ...
Introduction The World Health Organization named “vaccine hesitancy” as one of the top global health threats in 2019. In the United States, widespread utilization of non-medical exemptions to mandatory vaccination laws has led to statistically significant outbreaks of measles and other vaccine-preventable illnesses, and many headlines forecast that if vaccination exemptions continue the trajectory they are on, this country may well face a public health emergency ...
