Key Points Eviction protections that were set to expire January 31 have been extended to June 30, 2021 New notice requirements took effect February 1 Landlords may not charge late fees or increase rent or fees for tenants who attest to COVID-19-related financial distress State Rental Assistance Program may pay 80 percent of a qualified tenant's rent if landlord forgives the remainder On January 29, 2021, California Senate Bill 91 became law, effective immediately ...
Operation hours of IRB Counters during Movement Control Order (“MCO”), Conditional MCO & Recovery MCO periodThe Inland Revenue Board (“IRB”) has issued a media statement on the operation hours of its counters during the MCO, Conditional MCO and Recovery MCO period. For more information, please click here ...
Angola's General State Budget for 2021 (“GSB 2021”) came into force on 1 January 2021 and was approved by Law 42/20 of 31 December. It introduced the following tax changes: Value Added Tax • Definition of the scope of application of Value Added Tax (“VAT”) Individuals or legal entities are now excluded from the scope of VAT when their turnover or import transactions are no more than Kz (AOA) 10 million ...
On 12 January 2021, the Ministry of Economy and Finance issued Prakas N0. 009 on the Reclassification of Taxpayers under the Self-Assessment Taxpayer Regime (“Prakas 009”). The purpose of Prakas 009 is to amend the previous classification of taxpayers to ensure that the collection of taxes are carried out in a transparent and equitable manner which is in line with the growth of the Cambodian economy ...
In a decision that could be a game-changer for cookie and candy manufacturers, the Third Circuit has recently denied trade dress protection for the shape of the popular Pocky cookie. The Pocky is a long, thin Japanese cookie stick that is almost completely dipped in chocolate, except for the very bottom. Ezaki Glico created the Pocky in 1966 and obtained two trade dress registrations to protect the configuration of the cookie ...
Bradley’s Government Enforcement and Investigations Practice Group is pleased to present the False Claims Act: 2020 Year in Review, our annual review of significant False Claims Act (FCA) cases, developments and trends. Despite the pandemic and the smallest recoveries for the Department of Justice in over a decade, FCA enforcement remains robust. As always, the healthcare industry remains the most frequent subject of FCA cases and investigation ...
1. LAND AND BUILDING TAX On 26th January, the Cabinet approved legislation with measures to reduce the tax on land and buildings, and land registration fees for residential housing as a means of alleviating the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 situation in Thailand. The new measures include: A 90% reduction of the land and building tax for 2021 that will be implemented through the enactment of a royal decree pursuant to Section 55 of the Land and Building Tax Act 2019 (the “Act”) ...
Some facts and figures that set out the landscape of merger control, antitrust enforcement and competition litigation in Portugal in 2020. Interim Measures The PCA ordered the Portuguese Professional Football League to suspend its decision preventing teams in the First and Second Football Leagues from signing players that have unilaterally terminated their contracts due to the COVID-19 pandemic ...
The SyCipLaw T.I.P.S. for January covers the following tax issues: 1. Can the 25% surcharge for late filing of a tax return be abated due to faulty internet connection at the taxpayer’s office on the last day of filing? 2. What are the new requirements for availing of the 15% tax sparing rate for dividends paid by a domestic corporation to a non-resident foreign corporation? 3 ...
Introduction In the recent Industrial Court Award of Harry Wong Wei Chen v Petroliam Nasional Berhad [Award No.11 of 2021] dated 4 January 2021, the Industrial Court upheld the dismissal of an employee (“the Claimant”) on account of several allegations of sexual and workplace harassment. An interesting point in the instant case was the absence of corroborative witnesses in respect of several of the complaints against the Claimant ...
Leases often include language that gives a tenant the option to purchase the leased property during or at the end of the lease term. The Michigan Supreme Court has held that these options to purchase, or “options” as they are commonly referred, are “simply a contract by which the owner of the property agrees with another that he shall have a right to buy the property at a fixed price within a specified time ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. If somebody asked me at the start of 2020 whether I could join a meeting by video, my immediate thought would have been: “no, that sounds far too difficult and I don’t think we really have the technology to do that” ...
The deduction of the VAT related to services cannot be refused due to reasons concerning the necessity thereof or to the absence/insufficiency of the explanatory documents! The tax authorities frequently deny the taxpayers’ right to deduct the VAT related to services, due to reasons related to the doubts concerning the necessity thereof or the “insufficiency” of the explanatory documents ...
It is common knowledge among many human resources professionals that religious organizations generally are protected from religious discrimination lawsuits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and most state anti-discrimination laws. For example, a Baptist organization may apply a preference for members of the Baptist Church in its hiring decisions ...
The information listed below is categorized by topic for your convenience and includes content from the previous week. Bradley is actively monitoring and engaging with relevant federal, state or local entities on issues related to the coronavirus. Please contact one of the authors if you have any questions. Click on a link below to view the full article, alert, blog, webinar recording or interview ...
An Eleventh Circuit panel has breathed new life into a long-running, $248 million False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam case, United States ex rel. Bibby v. Mortgage Investors Corp.,[1] reversing the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the defendants.[2] Materiality lay at the heart of the case, which involved allegations that the defendant finance companies misled the U.S ...
An Eleventh Circuit panel has breathed new life into a long-running, $248 million False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam case, United States ex rel. Bibby v. Mortgage Investors Corp.,[1] reversing the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the defendants.[2] Materiality lay at the heart of the case, which involved allegations that the defendant finance companies misled the U.S ...
For the first quarterly update of the year, we look back at some of the key employment law cases from the past three months and the lessons we can learn from them. Discrimination The case of Higgs v Farmors School considered whether Christian beliefs that gender cannot be fluid and that someone cannot change their biological sex or gender were protected beliefs under the Equality Act 2010. Mrs Higgs is a Christian and was employed in Farmor’s school as a pastoral administrator ...
The UK ceased to be part of the EU customs union at 23:00 GMT on 31 December 2020. The UK is now considered by the EU to be a “third country” and as such VAT treatment of UK pleasure craft in EU waters and EU pleasure craft entering UK waters will be affected. This update seeks to outline the post-Brexit position on the payment of VAT for existing pleasure boat owners in the UK, and for those looking to dip their toes in the water this season ...
Not surprisingly, COVID-19 business interruption insurance disputes dominated media headlines for most of 2020. Nonetheless, there were a number of other insurance rulings that will undoubtedly shape the coverage landscape. Policyholders enjoyed a number of significant wins including significant victories related to COVID-19 business interruption cases. The start of a new year gives us an opportunity to highlight some of 2020’s most notable coverage decisions ...
The following article is a foreword to our ‘Modernising Property Taxes’ paper, which has been produced in partnership with think tank group, Radix, and can be downloaded for free below. Following the Government’s commitment to ‘levelling up’, many would have expected 2020 to see the political football of the UK’s housing crisis tackled ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. You’d think we had it all: beautiful open plan office spaces, meeting rooms with floor to ceiling glass walls, digital collaboration platforms, virtual meetings… ...
Two federal cases in the Northern District of Ohio recently reached very different conclusions on whether the state’s COVID-19 shutdowns of restaurants permit valid claims for business interruption insurance coverage. Reviewing essentially the same facts and policy provisions, one court found for the insurer, holding no coverage to exist. The other found for the policyholder, awarding coverage. The opposite results will no doubt lead to further upcoming appellate activity in Ohio ...
