Acquiring investment property This alert is intended to highlight certain VAT issues relating to the purchase and management of property which is subject to a lease(s). In general VAT should not be chargeable on the sale of such property. Depending on the circumstances this VAT free treatment is based on exemption from VAT and/or “transfer of business” relief applying. VAT free treatment does not apply in all situations but exceptions are few ...
The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Memorandum Circular No. 1, s. 2013 dated 7 January 2013, requiring the incorporation of the tax identification number (TIN) of foreign investors in all forms papers and documents filed with the SEC ...
1. Interest on Equity and Dividends: the Brazilian Perspective Brazilian companies have two main instruments for remunerating shareholders for the capital invested in companies: dividends and interest on net equity (“Juros sobre o capital própio”, referred to as “IoNE” in this article). Both instruments can be used at the same time, but their tax treatment will depend on the particular characteristics of each case ...
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), an employer that employs an average of at least 50 full-time and full-time equivalent employees (a “Large Employer”) during 2013 may be subject to a penalty in 2014 if the Large Employer fails to offer “minimum essential coverage” to all but 5 percent (or, if greater, five) of its full-time employees (“No Coverage Penalty”) ...
The decision Mrs X v. Rothschild, rendered on 26 September 2012 by the French Cour de cassation1. called into question the practice of asymmetrical jurisdiction clauses, frequently included in international financial contracts ...
On January 14, 2013 the United States and Spain signed a new protocol (the “Protocol”) amending the existing income tax treaty between the United States and Spain that was signed on February 22, 1990 (the “Treaty”). The Protocol modernizes the Treaty to conform with the existing treaty policies of both the United States and Spain. Key provisions of the Protocol include: Exclusive residence-state taxation (i.e ...
The long awaited Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Regulation amendments (the “Changes”) to incorporate the changes made by Health Information Technologyfor Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and by the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”) were recently released ...
The wait is over. On January 17, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services’ ("HHS’") Office for Civil Rights ("OCR") released its long-anticipated megarule ("Omnibus Rule") amending the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Breach Notification and Enforcement Rules. These amendments implement and expand on the requirements of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health ("HITECH") Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 ...
On January 17, 2013, the Treasury Department ("Treasury") and the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") issued final regulations with respect to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ("FATCA"). The legislation applies to payments to foreign financial institutions ("FFIs") and nonfinancial foreign entities ("NFFEs"). In general, FATCA requires certain persons making payments to FFIs and NFFEs to withhold 30 percent of any payment (a "Withholdable Payment") consisting of either (1) U.S ...
On January 6, 2013, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision announced that it was relaxing the liquidity rules that will be applied to banks beginning in 2015. The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (“GHOS”), the oversight body of the Basel Committee, then unanimously adopted the last changes made by the Basel Committee to the liquidity coverage ratio (“LCR”), which were presented in the version published in December 2010 ...
In 2007, companies completed more than 12,000 M&A deals globally, with values totaling over $3.5 trillion.1 Butthose volume and dollar records have since been buried under years of bad news. Dykema’s 2012 Mergers &Acquisitions Outlook Survey indicates that the mortgage meltdown, the recession, the European debt crisis, theaftereffects of the presidential election and now the “fiscal cliff” have pushed expectations for 2013 to a near recordlow ...
The Finance Bill 2013 makes changes to the rules applying entrepreneurs' relief (ER) to the disposal by an employee or officer of a company, on or after 6 April 2013, of shares meeting the requirements of the enterprise management incentive (EMI) scheme. Details ER enables shareholders of companies to sell their shares at a capital gains tax rate of only 10% for lifetime gains of up to £10m ...
Key principles approved by the Polish Council of Ministers - On 16 October 2012, the Polish Council of Ministers approved key assumptions for the long-awaited shale gas production and taxation legislation. The assumptions, which impact both conventional and unconventional oil and gas production, have in particular, been awaited by the developing shale gas sector and investors interested in joining this brand new market. ...
After all of the sand had run out of the hourglass, Congress finally passed (and the President signed) a compromise tax bill to avoid very substantial income tax increases on taxpayers with income under $400,000 ($450,000 for joint filers). The good news for our estate planning clients is the “permanent” extension of the current estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions, and a slight increase in the tax rate from 35% to 40% ...
This is an important year on the taxation front. New rules restrict interest deductions and increase the transfer tax related to the sale of shares in housing and real estate. Additionally, two tax incentives support research and development activities, as well as innovation and growth. Restriction on interest deductionThe Finnish legislature has restricted interest deductions applied in taxation starting in the 2014 taxation year ...
Earlier this year, I wrote an article entitled “Why you should choose the BVI for your next Fund.” Since then new regulations ushering in an “Approved Managers” regime have been published and as of December 10, 2012 are now in force. The effect of these new regulations is to make the BVI an attractive option for setting up as an investment manager ...
It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 active companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and that more than half of those companies are used in China, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia. While, traditionally, many of these companies have been used as asset holding vehicles, the robust Chinese economy has led to the increased use of BVI companies in China and Hong Kong as hedge funds and other types of investment vehicles. This is no surprise ...
With regard to our In Fact and In Law Express newsletter of July 2012, entitled ‘‘AMF Investigations: The duty to answer an investigator and his jurisdiction to rule on objections’’, please be informed that, on December 20, 2012, the Supreme Court dismissed Fournier’s application for leave1 to appeal a Court of Appeal decision2, which convicted Fournier of an offence under section 195(4) SA because of his refusal to testify whereas lower courts acquitted him ...
End users will be relieved to know that compliance dates for business conduct and documentation rules related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), which had been driving the request by swap dealers and major swap participants for end users to enter into the ISDA August 2012 DF Protocol or otherwise amend their swap documents by the end of the year, have now been delayed until May 1, 2013 ...
The 2013 Federal Revenue Law was published yesterday and its Transitional Article 3 includes an amnesty covering payment of federal taxes and related government charges, as follows: a) 80% forgiveness of tax assessment consisting of federal taxes, antidumping duties, and fines for failure to comply with federal tax obligations, other than payment obligations, arising prior to January 1, 2007 ...
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia recently overturned the United States Patent & Trademark Office ("USPTO") interpretation of the patent term adjustment ("PTA") statute in Exelixis, Inc. v. Kappos. Similar to Wyeth v. Kappos, where a previous USPTO interpretation of the PTA statute was overturned, the Exelixis decision promises to add months and even years to the patent term of many patents ...
Narrow Construction of Food & Drug Act Undermines FDA Regulation, Class Actions A divided panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York overturned on First Amendment grounds the conviction of a pharmaceutical sales representative for conspiracy to introduce a misbranded drug into interstate commerce, an offense more commonly referred to as off-label marketing. The decision, United States v. Caronia, No. 09-5006-cr (2d Cir. Dec ...
You are general counsel of a publicly traded medical device company that has begun the diligence process on your company’s target, a publicly held x-ray and CT scan component manufacturer. The target is a Delaware corporation based in California, with additional manufacturing facilities in Utah and Kentucky; within the past three years, it has sold two mothballed manufacturing facilities ...
On November 20 and 27, 2012, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (“ISDA”) filed two letters with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) requesting an extension of compliance dates for certain new business conduct, portfolio reconciliation and swap trading relationship documentation requirements issued by the CFTC pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) ...
In a recent decision1, the Superior Court ruled in favour of GE, Commercial Distribution Finance Canada ("GE") in a dispute against the national Bank of Canada ("NBC"). Both institutions had a common client, New World Zanotti Transblock Inc. ("Zanotti"), which had granted each of them a hypothec specifically charging its receivables. NBC had agreed to grant GE's hypothec a prior rant to its own ...
