During October 2015, as part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”)/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) Project, the OECD issued its final report in respect of Action 7 “Preventing the artificial avoidance of permanent establishment status” (“BEPS Report”) ...
In the 2016 Budget Speech delivered on 25 February 2016, the Minister of Finance announced a special voluntary disclosure programme (“Special VDP”) to encourage taxpayers to regularise violations of tax laws and exchange control regulations. This article briefly examines the benefits of the Special VDP and why potential applicants should begin preparing to submit their application in anticipation of the 1 October 2016 commencement date ...
During the first half of March, Miloš Vučković, Partner at Karanović & Nikolić, attended the two-day long Distressed Assets Forum in London, UK. The event was a good opportunity to learn about the latest developments in the field of trading non-performing loans (NPL's) on the European market, with many prominent banking, real-estate, advisory, and legal executives appearing as speakers and panellists ...
Treaties with Luxembourg and the Republic of Korea RatifiedSerbian Parliament ratified the double tax treaty with Luxembourg which was discussed in our recently published tax alert. If Luxembourg follow suit and ratifies the treaty this year it is likely that the treaty will be applicable from 1 January 2017.Parliament also ratified the double tax treaty with the Republic of Korea, signed in January this year. The treaty is based on the standard OECD Model Tax Convention ...
The Hong Kong Court of First Instance recently considered another claim by a client against a bank arising from the sale of a financial product. The Judgment in Li Kwok Heem John v Standard Chartered International (USA) Limited (formerly known as American Express Bank Limited) was handed down in early January 2016. In a lengthy Judgment, the Court considered a number of issues highly relevant to banks and other institutions engaged in selling financial products ...
The tax team at Karanović & Nikolić participated in the 13th Edition of Doing Business 2016 – Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency, a World Bank Group Flagship Report. Renowned as one of the most influential policy publications across the globe, Doing Business provides a detailed analysis on the state of health of world-wide economies ...
The October 2015 issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article by SyCipLaw partner Maria Jennifer Z. Barreto entitled “Mandatory tender offers.”Read the article online at the IFLR website ...
This month, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) traditionally presented their annual transition report at the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) at an event that was attended by Karanović & Nikolić's Banking & Finance partner, Maja Jovančević-Šetka ...
A recent decision of the Tax Court of Canada in the case of Line Durocher c ...
On November 25, 2015, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) published a White Paper for consultation. It is seeking comment on two proposals which, if approved and implemented, would change the current structure for distributing mutual funds in Canada. A “restricted practice” policy and a policy involving directed commissions are being proposed ...
Dear Clients and Colleagues, We write to inform you about amendments tothe "Angels Law" that were recently enacted with the aim ofencouraging private investment in new start-ups in the seed stage (the "Amendment").The "Angels Law" refers to theprovisions of section 20 of the 2011-2012 Economic Policy Law, which was passedas a temporary order and was in force during 2011-2015 (the "Law") ...
The South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) has published a public notice (“the Notice”) setting out reportable arrangements and excluded arrangements for purposes of sections 35(2) and 36(4) of the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 (“TAA”). The Notice was released and became effective on 3 February 2016, replacing all notices previously issued under sections 35(2) and 36(4) of the TAA ...
The Taxation Laws Amendment Act of 2015 (“Amendment Act”) was promulgated on 8 January 2016 and contains a number of legislative changes to the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962 (“the Act”). The Amendment Act contains some long awaited amendments to the provisions which regulate the interest withholding tax (“IWT”). This article examines two of the more important changes which should be borne in mind by parties affected by the IWT ...
The rules regarding the levying of interest on the late payment of value added tax (“VAT”) are often confusing, and the introduction of the Tax Administration Act, No 28 of 2011 (the “TAA”) has contributed to the uncertainty as to the rules that are applicable. Levying of interest The TAA introduced a new interest regime for the levying of interest on unpaid taxes to ensure that the levying of interest is aligned across all taxes ...
Section 99 of the Tax Administration Act, 28 of 2011 (“Tax Admin Act”), which regulates prescription in relation to tax assessments, provides that a three-year prescription period applies where the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) has had a previous opportunity to assess a taxpayer (e.g. income tax) and a five-year prescription period applies in the case of self-assessment (e.g. value added tax and employees’ tax) ...
Introduction In 2015 the Belgian banking and finance law landscape underwent certain changesand numerous modifications continue to be expected in 2016. This newsletter highlightscertain changes in EU and Belgian law in the following practice areas: financetransactions; investment funds (undertakings for collective investment); andfinancial institutions. 1 ...
For years, the South African securities lending industry has been lobbying for an exemption from securities transfer tax (“STT”) for the outright transfer of listed equity securities as collateral. On 8 January 2016, the Taxation Laws Amendment Act 25 of 2015 was promulgated, which includes the long-awaited introduction to the Securities Transfer Tax Act 25 of 2007 (the “STT Act”) of such an exemption ...
The election of a majority Liberal government last October 19 signaled that there would be numerous changes to Canadian tax policy, particularly for individuals. One of these changes which has made waves in the business community is the reform of the tax regime applicable to stock options. Under section 7 of the Income Tax Act (Canada) in its current form, the benefit realized by an employee on exercising stock options is treated as employment income ...
On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (the “Act”). The Act encourages foreign investments in REITs and ends certain tax-free REIT spin-offs. The Act also includes a largely helpful set of technical revisions to the REIT tax rules.Continue reading a summary of the more significant REIT provisions of the Act ...
As part of its effort to eliminate the risk of taxpayer-funded bail-outs of European banks, the European Union undertook a new “bail-in” regime beginning on January 1, 2016, implementing rules which require banks and some other market participants in EU member states to write-down, cancel, convert into equity or otherwise modify certain unsecured liabilities if such steps are required to recapitalize the institution.To red the full alert, click here ...
This past year has seen many changes in the community banking industry. Some of these issues we expected and some had more of an impact than maybe we would have thought. As we reflect and look forward to 2016, we asked several of our colleagues to weigh in regarding what we saw, what we expect and how to best prepare for the coming new year. Timothy R ...
For better or worse, lenders have become increasingly familiar with the strange dynamic that is the post-bankruptcy minefield created by their borrowers filing a bankruptcy petition. Immediately, lenders begin thinking about how they can minimize the write-off, how they can reduce exposure, how they can avoid violations of the automatic stay, whether they can convince a borrower to reaffirm debt, and many other questions that often must be analyzed situationally ...
Virtual currencies are once again at the forefront of discussion about top issues facing community banks and the financial industry as a whole. The Independent Community Bankers of America (“ICBA”), a trade association representing more than 6,500 community banks, recently published its list of top issues for the fourth quarter of 2015. Among them were the risks associated with virtual currencies ...
On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed H.R. 22, Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, into law. The new law reauthorizes federal highway and transit programs for five years. While most of the attention on the legislation has focused on the new funding for transportation infrastructure, the measure also includes significant policy changes related to motor vehicle safety and enforcement actions by the National Highway Transit Safety Administration (NHTSA) ...
