BENIN: Public Procurement Holders to Benefit from a Tax Regime Derogating from Indirect Taxation The 2017 budget law introduced a derogatory tax regime from which certain public procurement holders may benefit by the Benin tax authorities, assuming indirect taxation. This includes customs duties, internal taxes on turnover (mainly value-added tax ("VAT")) on prices and values of goods and supplies acquired or incorporated into the realisation of the contract ...
In terms of paragraph 19(1)(b) of the Fourth Schedule to the Income Tax Act, 5, 1962 (the "Fourth Schedule"), every company that is a provisional taxpayer shall, during every period within which provisional tax is or may be payable by it as provided in terms of the Fourth Schedule, submit to the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service ("SARS", a return of an estimate of the total taxable income which will be derived by the company in respect of the year of assessment i
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, We would like to inform you that the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation issued a clarification dated March 02, 2017 regarding taxation on the division of matrimonial property after the divorce of the spouses ...
As expected, Luxembourg has adopted a restrictive approach of the provisions provided for under the MLI and has sought to limit the scope and impacts of this new layer of international legislation to the minimum standards required. However, the new PPT and the impact on structures and the application of tax treaties need to be carefully monitored in the furture for new and existing structures ...
RMO 8-2017 amends Revenue Memorandum Order No. (“RMO 72-2010”) by providing for new procedures in claiming preferential tax treaty benefits on dividend, interest, and royalty income of nonresidents, following a system of self-assessment and automatic withholding of taxes subject to post-reporting validation. In lieu of obtaining a tax treaty relief application (“TTRA”) ruling under RMO 72-2010 ...
The Israeli Tax Authority (the "ITA") has recently published a tax circular (the "Circular") on the tax treatment of holdback payments and of the reverse vesting mechanism in the context of merger and acquisition transactions. According to the Circular, subject to certain conditions, that will be detailed below, the sale of shares to which holdback payments and reverse vesting mechanisms apply would be subject to a capital gains tax rate of 25% (30% in case of controlling shareholders) ...
ANGOLA: Working group for negotiation of investment protection agreements and tax treaties created The Ministry of Economics and Finances and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued Joint Order No.205/17 on 27 April 2017, creating a technical working group to coordinate the negotiation of investment protection and double tax agreements. The working group will be responsible for guiding negotiations and reporting to relevant ministers ...
In terms of paragraph 2(1) of the Fourth Schedule to the Income Tax Act, 1962 (the “Act”), every employer, who is a resident of South Africa, or representative employer in the case of any employer who is not a resident, (whether or not registered as an employer under paragraph 15) who pays or is liable to pay any amount by way of remuneration to any employee shall, unless the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) has granted authority
In order to create a more uniform system for the administration of taxes in South Africa, section 191 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (the “TAA”) has effectively replaced various refund and set-off provisions which appeared in respective tax acts. Section 191 of the TAA now provides that all tax debts that are due must be set-off against refunds, including the interest thereon, due by the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) to that taxpayer ...
On 2 June 2017, the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) published a draft public notice requiring the submission of country-by-country (“CbC”), master file and local file returns. This marks an important step towards the finalisation of South Africa’s transfer pricing documentation requirements ...
On 7 June 2017, South Africa was one of more than 70 countries that signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“MLI”). The MLI is the result of certain of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s action points aimed at preventing base erosion and profit shifting (“BEPS”) ...
Prior to imposing, extending, or increasing any tax, a public agency must submit the tax to a vote of the electorate. However, public agencies need no such approval to impose certain types of fees. In Jacks v. City of Santa Barbara, the Supreme Court considered whether and when municipal franchise fees—fees charged to utilities and others for the use of public rights of way—constitute taxes requiring voter approval ...
We write to inform you about a precedent-setting ruling by a District Court in Israel in a case between Gteko, a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation, and the Israel Tax Authority ("ITA") regarding a transaction for the sale and purchase of intellectual property assets and its valuation.In 2006, Microsoft acquired the entire share capital of Gteko for $90 million (pursuant to a "Share Agreement") ...
2017 is a year of opportunity and challenge for the Australian food and agribusiness sector. We anticipate an uplift in food and agribusiness M&A activity, and have identified 6 key themes that are likely to play out in the remainder of 2017. Opportunities and Challenges – 6 key themes Three Key Opportunities 1 ...
Brazil has a very small Muslim community. In any event, this is a country which, despite economic and/or political crises, foreign investors are always looking at. At this moment, one can see foreign investors acquiring assets in Brazil because of their low prices ...
A successful appeal against a remediation notice has highlighted the difficulties faced by local authorities when trying to secure the remediation of contaminated land. The appeal is only the second appeal to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (SoS) since the contaminated land regime in Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 was implemented in 2000 ...
Former Secretary of Finance Cesar Purisima issued Revenue Regulation ("RR") No. 3-2016 prescribing the policies and guidelines on the adoption of credit, debit, and prepaid cards as an additional mode of payment for internal revenue taxes. Credit, debit, and prepaid cards were made available as an additional mode of payment in order to ease the burden to taxpayers in the payment of their taxes ...
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 ...
GHANA: Customs duty on spare parts abolished On 14 June 2017, pursuant to the measures proposed in the 2017 Budget, Parliament passed the Customs Amendment Bill, 2017, which amends the Customs Act, 2015 by abolishing customs duties on the importation of vehicular (including motorcycles and bicycles) spare parts. GHANA: VAT Flat Rate Scheme practice note issued The Ghana Revenue Authority published Practice Note No ...
One of the main action items identified by South Africa’s National Treasury in its summary of the country’s position on the G20/Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) action plan on base erosion and profit shifting (“BEPS”), is the requirement for the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) to update the Transfer Pricing Practice Note in line with the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines to include new guidance on the ar
On 6 June 2017, the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) issued binding private ruling 274 (“BPR 274”). BPR 274 deals with a venture capital company (“VCC”) investing in a company providing and expanding plants for the generation of solar electricity. This brings the number of binding private rulings that SARS has issued in respect of venture capital companies to four ...
On 29 May 2017, Judge Fabricius delivered judgment in the Gauteng High Court in the case of Pienaar Brothers (Pty) Ltd vs Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service and the Minister of Finance, in a case dealing with the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2007 (the “Amending Act”) which inserted section 44(9A) into the Income Tax Act, 1962 (the “Act”) ...
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 ...
Bunge argues that the section 7805(b) limitation on retroactive regulations was meant to apply to all regulations issued after July 30, 1996, regardless of when the underlying statute was enacted. A. Retroactive Treasury Regulations Generally Many legal systems discourage or disallow retroactive laws in various contexts.1 The U.S ...
