Corporations that are in need of liquidities can, simply put, not afford to wait until the end of the fiscal year to receive payment of refundable tax credits. For this reason, some lenders offer to advance funds to eligible taxpaying corporations (hereinafter “Taxpayers”) in the form of a loan, while taking security on their future tax credits as collateral (“Advance Tax Credit Financing”) ...
It was in contravention of the Danish Act on Prohibition against Discrimination in respect of Employment to advertise for "student assistants who would like to earn some money for a year or so before starting further education". This was established by the Danish Board of Equal Treatment by its decision of 13 December 2013. The case involved a company's advertisement in a local paper in which the accounting department was seeking student assistants ...
On April 8th, 2020, it was published on the Official Gazette Ruling No.88 (issued by the Undersecretary of Treasury), required by law No.21,227 on employment protection (hereinafter, the "Law"), for purposes of accessing to the unemployment insurance benefits established in the Law ...
On February 25, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its final rule (the Final Rule) setting forth standards for health insurance issuers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the Affordable Care Act). Specifically, the Final Rule outlines exchange and issuer standards related to coverage of essential health benefits, minimum value and actuarial value ...
ENSafrica recently released Africa Regulatory Insight: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Regulatory Measures. This comprehensive report outlines the COVID-19 regulatory measures for each country across Sub-Sahara Africa, providing the sector, measure, effective date/status and key points and impact for each region. The information provided herein is intended to provide a general overview, and is not an exhaustive list of all legislatice developments across Sub-Sahara ...
DJIBOUTI: International Free Trade Zone launchedThe first phase of the Djibouti International Free Trade Zone (“DIFTZ”), expected to be the largest free trade zone in Africa, was launched on 5 July 2018. The DIFTZ will house a variety of manufacturing plants and offer investors various incentives, including tax exemptions ...
KENYA: Amnesty granted to landlordsIn terms of the new section 123C, introduced into the Income Tax Act by Finance Act 2015 (the “Act”), the Kenya Revenue Authority (“KRA”) has granted a tax amnesty to landlords with effect from 1st January 2016.The Act provides amnesty for persons who shall willingly declare their 2014 and 2015 rent, pay the implied principal tax and file returns (original or amended) between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2016 ...
COMOROS: Treaty with United Arab Emirates enters into forceThe income tax treaty between the Comoros Islands and the United Arab Emirates, recently entered into force. GHANA: VAT withholding agents appointed In an attempt to improve value-added tax (“VAT”) compliance, the Ghana Revenue Authority (“GRA”) announced the appointment of identified VAT withholding agents per industry on 17 May 2018 ...
AFRICA: African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement developments Botswana and Zambia signed the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (“ACFTA”) on 10 February 2019 at the 32nd summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa, whereas the Ethiopian Council of Ministers approved the ACFTA on 2 February 2019 and the Parliament of Senegal on 23 January 2019 ...
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 ...
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC): Refund of input VAT credit suspendedIn terms of the DRC value added tax (“VAT”) legislation, export businesses, companies ceasing their activities, oil and mining companies (during the exploration phase) and companies making significant investments are entitled to request input VAT credit refunds ...
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 ...
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 ...
AFRICA TAX IN BRIEF KENYA: Chinese companies investigated by Revenue Authorities Local media reports of 30 May 2014 announce that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is investigating a number of Chinese companies suspected of evading tax. KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini said it is suspected that some Chinese-owned businesses are either under- or mis-declaring cargo ...
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 ...
We have been in the UAE helping clients manage and survive crises for 45 years, and these are unprecedented times in our lives. We will have to work together to overcome the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we at Afridi & Angell are ready to do our part. Until the end of March, we will offer free advice on legal issues affecting companies and employers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic ...
In case you have been in a coma, major tax changes to the Internal Revenue Code were passed in December 2017. See Pub. L. 115-97 (115th Cong., 1st Sess.). Those changes make it much more attractive (from a tax perspective) to arrange one’s affairs like a business owner. Broadly speaking, the new tax law changed the landscape so that many business owners will now benefit from dramatically lower tax rates (e.g., the corporate rate has not been this low since 1939) ...
Although developments in higher education on the issue of affirmative action in admissions may not seem relevant to private employers, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision should prompt employers to reexamine their own diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) and voluntary affirmative action initiatives to ensure that employment decisions are not unlawfully based on membership in protected classifications ...
Washington’s Supreme Court disrupted the state’s agricultural industry on November 5, 2020, when it held that the agricultural overtime exemption at RCW 49.46.130(2)(g) violated the state’s constitution as applied to dairy workers. As a result, all dairy employers immediately had to start paying their workers overtime at a rate of 1.5 times their regular hourly rate. While not explicitly addressed, the Martinez-Cuevas v ...
According to the independent charity, The Age and Employment Network, the cost of age discrimination in the UK now amounts to £5.5bn in lost government tax and paid unemployment benefits and a further £30bn in lost productivity annually. These are astounding figures. It seems that many employees are currently obliged or persuaded to leave the workplace before their normal retirement age and that early exit from work for people aged over 50 tends to be permanent ...
In the workplace, youth is seen as a valuable asset. When the benefits of youth are emphasised in relation to personnel and staffing issues to the exclusion of other factors, employers may well find themselves discriminating on the basis of age. Employers may also be depriving themselves of the many benefits of an age-diverse workforce – higher retention rates; lower rates of absenteeism; greater flexibility; and a wider pool of available skills. This has a major economic impact ...
Federal Labor Court, ruling of 19 December 2018 - 7 AZR 70/17 The provision of Sec. 41 p. 3 Social Code (SGB) VI allows employers and employees to postpone the termination of the employment relationship upon reaching the regular retirement age of the employee. According to a ruling of the German Federal Labor Court (BAG) of 19 December 2018 (Ref. 7 AZR 70/17), this regulation is compatible with higher-ranking law ...
On 20 May the Government announced that it had agreed a deal between unions and employers that will see agency workers in the UK receive equal treatment after 12 weeks employment. Trade unions had been arguing strongly that agency workers should receive equal rights from day one. The CBI has calculated that because of the qualifying period up to half of all agency assignments will be unaffected ...
According to recent news reports, the Bosnian Ambassador in Podgorica, Đorđe Latinović, stated that a labour agreement between BiH and Montenegro on temporal employment is due to be signed soon. The main purpose of this agreement being to regulate the status of seasonal workers in the two countries and reduce the possibility of undeclared work ...
