Introduction. Panama has become a popular destination to immigrate in the region, due to its economic growth and socio-political stability which contrasts with other neighboring countries´ intricate conditions. Within the last decade, multiple infrastructure projects, as well as incentives favorable to establish and operate multinational companies have resulted in an increase of foreign nationals within the country, creating a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society ...
New Way of Claiming Damages for Competition Law Infringements in Croatia News Karanović & Nikolić On the 22nd of July, 2017, the Law on Actions for Damages for Competition Law Infringements came into force in Croatia (the "Law"), implementing the EU Damages Directive ...
On 19 July 2017, the South African National Treasury released the 2017 Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (“draft TLAB”) for public comment. One of the proposals contained in the draft TLAB is the deletion of the exemption for foreign employment income contained in section 10(1)(o)(ii) of the Income Tax Act, 1962 with effect from 1 March 2019 ...
The first draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2017 (the “2017 TLAB”) was released on 19 July 2017 for public comment (due by 18 August 2017).Among other things, it is proposed that the current section 22B of the Income Tax Act, 1962 (the “Act”) and paragraph 43A of the Eight Schedule to the Act, be substituted with a new section 22B and paragraph 43A ...
South Africans who think that their tax burden is going to decrease because country-by-country (“CbC”) reporting does not apply to their company should think again!In addition to the recently released draft notice requiring the submission of CbC reports, master file and local file returns, the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) has recently issued the External Business Requirements Specification (“BRS”) document, setting out CbC and Financial Data
The window period for South African residents to regularise their unauthorised foreign assets under the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme (“SVDP”) closes on 31 August 2017. The current SVDP is the latest in a series of such opportunities offered by the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank (“SARB”), beginning with the 2003 exchange control amnesty ...
BOTSWANA: Amending protocol to treaty with France signedOn 27 July 2017, Botswana and France signed an amending protocol to the Botswana/France Income Tax Treaty, 1999 in Gaborone. CAMEROON: VAT refund procedure available onlineThe Cameroonian Minister of Finance issued a communiqué on 14 June 2017, announcing that the value-added tax (“VAT”) refund procedure has been simplified and is available online as from 3 July 2017 for enterprises registered with the Large Tax Unit ...
The Mauritius Supreme Court, in a decision handed down on 9 August 2017 on the case of Emtel Ltd v The Information and Communication Technologies Authority & Ors, awarded over MUR524-million in damages under article 1382 of the Mauritius Civil Code as a result of the joint “fautes” of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (the “Authority”), Mauritius Telecom Ltd (“MT”) and Cellplus Mobile Communications Ltd (“Cellplus”) ...
Earlier this year, the President of the United Arab Emirates (the “UAE”) issued the new Tax Procedures Law (the “Law”). This Law contributes to build the UAE’s tax system, to regulate the administration and collection of taxes and most importantly, to clarify the respective rights and obligations between the Federal Tax Authority (the “FTA”) and the taxpayer ...
It has already been in the public domain for a while that VAT will be applicable in the UAE (and the GCC) from the beginning of 2018. Under the VAT regime, businesses will be collecting taxes on behalf of the government and will file tax returns accordingly. Although the tax is collected at each stage of value addition, the burden of tax falls only on the end consumer. For all the other stages, one can claim a refund. For this reason VAT is called ‘consumption tax’ ...
The Supreme Court has ruled in a landmark case that the Tax Appeals Tribunal (“TAT”) has original jurisdiction to hear tax disputes, and the High Court only has appellate jurisdiction. Until now, the long-established position was that the High Court and the TAT had concurrent jurisdiction and a litigant had discretion to lodge an application with the TAT or file the dispute in the High Court. In Uganda Revenue Authority v Rabbo Enterprises (U) Ltd and Mt ...
California defamation law continues to evolve as the courts synthesize well-settled legal principles with ever-changing technological realities. On July 21, 2017, California’s First District Court of Appeal issued a published opinion in ZL Technologies v. Does 1-7 (July 21, 2017) 2017 DJ DAR 6999 ...
It is safe to say that BMW protects its trade marks fiercely. As a result, the company has done more than its fair share to shape South African trade mark law. A recent UK trade mark decision involving BMW will therefore be of considerable interest to businesses in South Africa.In a number of cases involving BMW, South African courts have made it very clear that a trade mark registration is only infringed if a third party makes unauthorised “trade mark use” of that trade mark ...
Colleagues and clients alike often comment on the varied, topical and evolving nature of my field of expertise, IP law, as evidenced from my articles over the years. IP is a field of law that’s forever growing, highly relevant, often fascinating and which deals with everyday tangible issues, brands and products that we encounter in the marketplace and media. Three recent news stories show just how much IP intersects with other worlds ...
Two unusual copyright stories are back in the news.The first is the one that involves a monkey, a selfie and a copyright dispute. British photographer David Slater visited Indonesia to photograph the endangered crested black macaque, seemingly with a view to highlighting the species’ plight. During the course of taking his photos, Slater left his camera on a tripod, apparently hoping that the macaques might take selfies. One took the bait and the image became a sensation ...
On July 26, 2017, the Knesset approved a new Design Law (the “Design Law” or the “Law”). The Law will come into force 12 months following its publication. “Designs” are defined as the visual features of products (such as cars, electrical appliances, screen displays, furniture, jewelry, fashion, etc.), which are not purely utilitarian ...
The concept of unjustified tax benefit is formalized in the Russian Tax CodeAugust 03, 2017Dear Sirsand Mesdames,We would like to inform you that the Federal Law No. 163-FZ dated July 18, 2017 (the “Law”) introduced amendments to the Russian tax legislation, codifying the concept of unjustified tax benefit, which was previously described by the Supreme Arbitration Court in 2006. The new Article 54 ...
The Luxembourg law on the exploration and use of space resources entered into force on 2 August 2017 and placed Luxembourg among the most innovative space-oriented nations in the world. The new law provides a legal framework for the “new space” activities. It aims at the further development of the constantly growing Luxembourg space industry employing already more than 700 highly skilled workers ...
It's a quiet Friday afternoon edging uneventfully toward the end of the day when a client calls: they’re interested in acquiring a U.S.-based widget maker. After your internal conflict check clears, reality hits – what do you do now? Whether your client is a foreign (non-U.S.) business targeting a U.S.-based company, or the U.S. target of a foreign purchaser, your deal may have Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) implications ...
A recent decision from the Eastern District of Kentucky doubles as a primer on the enforcement of FCA releases in settlement agreements. Courts often invalidate post-filing FCA releases—those executed after a qui tam lawsuit has already been filed—reasoning that, by statute, a relator cannot release claims that belong to the government ...
Most employers are familiar with Glassdoor, Inc.’s website, which allows current and former employees to post anonymous reviews of an employer. But Glassdoor is often a thorn in the side of employers because many negative posts are the result of disgruntled employees or competitors seeking an advantage in recruiting ...
A recent Tenth Circuit decision shines light on a new avenue to challenge cannabis businesses, even in states where medical and recreational marijuana is legal. Although the potential federal criminal threat to cannabis businesses in states that have legalized medical or recreational cannabis has been relatively well-discussed, the potential civil threat has received little attention. In Safe Streets Alliance v. Hickenlooper, 859 F.3d 865 (10th Cir ...
On 9 July the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Finance (MOF) published an update of the Value Added Tax (VAT) FAQ section of its website.Following on the awareness workshops launched by the MOF, such update provides some clarification on substantive and procedural aspects pertaining to the implication and implementation of VAT ...
What you need to know about Transfer Pricing in a 30-minute video entitled ''''Is your pricing still arms length?''''. Transfer pricing - Is your pricing still arms length? #TAX from Arendt & Medernach on Vimeo.This video was realised during our Tax seminar, held on 29 March 2017.Should you require more information, please contact our partners in Tax Law: Thierry Lesage, Alain Goebel, Jan Neugebauer and Mehdi Fernane-Jallier ...
