http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?home The Global Legal Monitor is an online publication from the Law Library of Congress covering legal news and developments worldwide. It is updated frequently and draws on information from the Global Legal Information Network, official national legal publications, and reliable press sources. You can search previous news by searching the archive. en-us http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403429_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403429_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403430_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403430_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403423_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403423_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403400_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 09 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403400_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403382_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403382_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403380_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403380_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403335_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403335_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403329_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403329_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403322_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403322_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403318_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 07 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403318_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403304_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403304_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403288_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403288_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403242_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 16 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403242_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403224_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403224_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403221_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403221_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403208_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp;... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403208_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403184_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.)... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403184_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403182_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403182_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403179_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 05 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403179_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403121_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403121_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403087_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403087_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403079_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403079_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403072_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403072_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403023_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403023_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402931_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402931_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402926_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402926_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402925_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402925_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402894_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402894_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402885_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402885_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402876_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402876_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402846_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402846_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402829_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE).... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402829_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402825_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402825_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402816_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402816_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402779_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402779_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402768_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402768_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402752_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402752_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402745_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402745_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402742_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402742_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402713_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402713_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402707_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402707_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402698_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402698_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402573_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402573_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402554_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402554_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402516_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402516_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402499_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402499_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402491_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402491_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402427_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402427_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402402_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402402_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402372_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402372_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402363_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402363_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402355_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402355_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402354_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 04 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402354_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402327_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402327_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402328_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402328_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402267_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402267_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402224_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402224_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402218_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402218_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402211_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402211_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402212_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402212_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402184_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402184_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402162_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402162_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402157_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402157_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402138_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion).... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402138_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402135_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402135_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402122_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402122_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402104_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402104_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402070_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402070_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402066_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402066_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402044_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402044_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402009_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 25 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402009_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401997_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 21 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401997_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401983_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 19 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401983_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401916_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401916_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401904_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401904_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401903_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401903_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401902_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401902_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401900_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401900_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401898_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401898_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401878_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401878_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401875_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows:... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401875_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401849_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401849_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401843_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401843_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401835_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401835_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401833_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401833_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401825_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401825_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401822_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401822_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401818_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401818_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401813_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401813_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401812_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401812_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401810_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401810_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401791_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401791_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401775_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401775_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401773_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401773_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401767_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401767_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401754_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401754_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401755_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401755_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401747_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401747_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401744_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401744_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401742_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401742_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401722_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401722_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401724_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401724_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401725_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401725_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401717_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401717_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401711_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401711_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401713_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401713_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401708_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401708_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401709_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401709_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401695_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401695_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401673_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401673_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401660_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401660_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401639_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401639_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401615_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401615_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401600_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401600_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401580_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401580_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401548_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401548_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401460_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401460_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401381_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401381_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401217_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401217_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401207_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401207_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401159_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.]... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401159_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401008_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401008_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540959_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540959_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540774_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540774_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540767_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540767_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540664_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540664_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540648_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540648_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540589_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540589_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540463_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new, On March 26, 2008, Switzerland promulgated amendments to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Act that enhance enforcement of the user fees imposed on heavy passenger cars and trucks and to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Regulation (Bundesgesetz, Oct.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 02 May 2008 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540463_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540387_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new, On March 26, 2008, Switzerland promulgated amendments to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Act that enhance enforcement of the user fees imposed on heavy passenger cars and trucks and to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Regulation (Bundesgesetz, Oct. On March 10, 2008, an amendment to Taiwan's Value-Added Business Tax and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Law was promulgated. The new article 9-1 stipulates that "to meet special circumstances of the economy," the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) may... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540387_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540388_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new, On March 26, 2008, Switzerland promulgated amendments to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Act that enhance enforcement of the user fees imposed on heavy passenger cars and trucks and to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Regulation (Bundesgesetz, Oct. On March 10, 2008, an amendment to Taiwan's Value-Added Business Tax and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Law was promulgated. The new article 9-1 stipulates that "to meet special circumstances of the economy," the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) may The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam approved the country's first Personal Income Tax Law on November 21, 2007 (Law No. 04/2007/QH12). It was promulgated by Decree No. 13/2007/L-CTN on December 5, 2007, and... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540388_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540318_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new, On March 26, 2008, Switzerland promulgated amendments to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Act that enhance enforcement of the user fees imposed on heavy passenger cars and trucks and to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Regulation (Bundesgesetz, Oct. On March 10, 2008, an amendment to Taiwan's Value-Added Business Tax and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Law was promulgated. The new article 9-1 stipulates that "to meet special circumstances of the economy," the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) may The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam approved the country's first Personal Income Tax Law on November 21, 2007 (Law No. 04/2007/QH12). It was promulgated by Decree No. 13/2007/L-CTN on December 5, 2007, and The Tel Aviv Yafo district court rejected an appeal against a decision by the Income Tax Authority of Israel not to recognize as a legitimate expense bribes paid to foreign officials to facilitate a business transaction... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540318_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540317_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new, On March 26, 2008, Switzerland promulgated amendments to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Act that enhance enforcement of the user fees imposed on heavy passenger cars and trucks and to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Regulation (Bundesgesetz, Oct. On March 10, 2008, an amendment to Taiwan's Value-Added Business Tax and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Law was promulgated. The new article 9-1 stipulates that "to meet special circumstances of the economy," the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) may The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam approved the country's first Personal Income Tax Law on November 21, 2007 (Law No. 04/2007/QH12). It was promulgated by Decree No. 13/2007/L-CTN on December 5, 2007, and The Tel Aviv Yafo district court rejected an appeal against a decision by the Income Tax Authority of Israel not to recognize as a legitimate expense bribes paid to foreign officials to facilitate a business transaction Tax credits offered by the federal and provincial governments have attracted many North American filmmakers to Canada. An issue respecting the federal credits has now arisen. In its lengthy bill to amend the Income Tax Act,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540317_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540253_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new, On March 26, 2008, Switzerland promulgated amendments to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Act that enhance enforcement of the user fees imposed on heavy passenger cars and trucks and to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Regulation (Bundesgesetz, Oct. On March 10, 2008, an amendment to Taiwan's Value-Added Business Tax and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Law was promulgated. The new article 9-1 stipulates that "to meet special circumstances of the economy," the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) may The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam approved the country's first Personal Income Tax Law on November 21, 2007 (Law No. 04/2007/QH12). It was promulgated by Decree No. 13/2007/L-CTN on December 5, 2007, and The Tel Aviv Yafo district court rejected an appeal against a decision by the Income Tax Authority of Israel not to recognize as a legitimate expense bribes paid to foreign officials to facilitate a business transaction Tax credits offered by the federal and provincial governments have attracted many North American filmmakers to Canada. An issue respecting the federal credits has now arisen. In its lengthy bill to amend the Income Tax Act, In 1974, at the time of the first "oil shock," Japan's Diet (parliament) passed a law to amend the Tax Special Measures Law (Law No. 26 of 1957, as amended by Law No. 17 of 1974).... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540253_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l2054043_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new, On March 26, 2008, Switzerland promulgated amendments to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Act that enhance enforcement of the user fees imposed on heavy passenger cars and trucks and to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Regulation (Bundesgesetz, Oct. On March 10, 2008, an amendment to Taiwan's Value-Added Business Tax and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Law was promulgated. The new article 9-1 stipulates that "to meet special circumstances of the economy," the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) may The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam approved the country's first Personal Income Tax Law on November 21, 2007 (Law No. 04/2007/QH12). It was promulgated by Decree No. 13/2007/L-CTN on December 5, 2007, and The Tel Aviv Yafo district court rejected an appeal against a decision by the Income Tax Authority of Israel not to recognize as a legitimate expense bribes paid to foreign officials to facilitate a business transaction Tax credits offered by the federal and provincial governments have attracted many North American filmmakers to Canada. An issue respecting the federal credits has now arisen. In its lengthy bill to amend the Income Tax Act, In 1974, at the time of the first "oil shock," Japan's Diet (parliament) passed a law to amend the Tax Special Measures Law (Law No. 26 of 1957, as amended by Law No. 17 of 1974). On December 18, 2007, the Knesset (Parliament) passed the Law for Increasing Participation in the Workforce and Minimizing Social Gaps (Negative Income Tax), 5768-2007. The Law provides special grants to a worker who has dependant children... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l2054043_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l2054042_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new, On March 26, 2008, Switzerland promulgated amendments to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Act that enhance enforcement of the user fees imposed on heavy passenger cars and trucks and to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Regulation (Bundesgesetz, Oct. On March 10, 2008, an amendment to Taiwan's Value-Added Business Tax and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Law was promulgated. The new article 9-1 stipulates that "to meet special circumstances of the economy," the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) may The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam approved the country's first Personal Income Tax Law on November 21, 2007 (Law No. 04/2007/QH12). It was promulgated by Decree No. 13/2007/L-CTN on December 5, 2007, and The Tel Aviv Yafo district court rejected an appeal against a decision by the Income Tax Authority of Israel not to recognize as a legitimate expense bribes paid to foreign officials to facilitate a business transaction Tax credits offered by the federal and provincial governments have attracted many North American filmmakers to Canada. An issue respecting the federal credits has now arisen. In its lengthy bill to amend the Income Tax Act, In 1974, at the time of the first "oil shock," Japan's Diet (parliament) passed a law to amend the Tax Special Measures Law (Law No. 26 of 1957, as amended by Law No. 17 of 1974). On December 18, 2007, the Knesset (Parliament) passed the Law for Increasing Participation in the Workforce and Minimizing Social Gaps (Negative Income Tax), 5768-2007. The Law provides special grants to a worker who has dependant children The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress adopted a decision to amend the Law on Individual Income Tax on December 29, 2007 (Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui Changwu Weiyuanhui guanyu xiugai Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Geren suode... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l2054042_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540107_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new, On March 26, 2008, Switzerland promulgated amendments to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Act that enhance enforcement of the user fees imposed on heavy passenger cars and trucks and to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Regulation (Bundesgesetz, Oct. On March 10, 2008, an amendment to Taiwan's Value-Added Business Tax and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Law was promulgated. The new article 9-1 stipulates that "to meet special circumstances of the economy," the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) may The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam approved the country's first Personal Income Tax Law on November 21, 2007 (Law No. 04/2007/QH12). It was promulgated by Decree No. 13/2007/L-CTN on December 5, 2007, and The Tel Aviv Yafo district court rejected an appeal against a decision by the Income Tax Authority of Israel not to recognize as a legitimate expense bribes paid to foreign officials to facilitate a business transaction Tax credits offered by the federal and provincial governments have attracted many North American filmmakers to Canada. An issue respecting the federal credits has now arisen. In its lengthy bill to amend the Income Tax Act, In 1974, at the time of the first "oil shock," Japan's Diet (parliament) passed a law to amend the Tax Special Measures Law (Law No. 26 of 1957, as amended by Law No. 17 of 1974). On December 18, 2007, the Knesset (Parliament) passed the Law for Increasing Participation in the Workforce and Minimizing Social Gaps (Negative Income Tax), 5768-2007. The Law provides special grants to a worker who has dependant children The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress adopted a decision to amend the Law on Individual Income Tax on December 29, 2007 (Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui Changwu Weiyuanhui guanyu xiugai Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Geren suode Xinhua News Agency, citing the CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL, reported on November 14, 2007, that the final draft of new implementing regulations for China's new Corporate Income Tax Law that will align domestic and foreign tax rates... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540107_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540184_text Taxation - Denmark's tax authority, Skat, plans to clarify rules covering working "under the table," with cash payments for odd jobs. The changes, effective as of January 2013, will On November 9, 2012, the Dominican Republic adopted a law that provides several amendments to the country's tax regime. The changes will become effective on January 1, Bringing to a close a process that began in 1999, on November 30, 2012, representatives of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) (ROC) and Thailand signed On November 4, 2012, Egypt's Ministry of Finance decided to postpone the implementation of the real property tax law (Law 196-2008 of June 23, 2008) until January The European Court of Justice decided in favor of the European Commission on October 25, 2012, in a case involving a dispute over the way Belgium has On September 26, 2012, Jamaica's Parliament approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2012. The goal of the amended law, once it is formally adopted, is to encourage The Swedish government has put forward a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate in 2013 from the current level of 26.3% to 22%, an approximately 15% reduction. It is estimated that the measure would cost Denmark's Tax Authority, Skat (Skat website (last visited Sept. 14, 2012)), established a tax amnesty program, under legislation adopted in May 2012, that runs until June 2013, but many Danes are starting to take steps It was reported on September 10, 2012, that China's State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has issued an announcement that introduces the imposition of a surcharge on electronic The President of Finland approved law proposal HE 28/2012 on August 31, 2012, which introduces a tax to finance the country's national public service broadcasting company, YLE. (Laura Pakarinen, Finland: TV Tax Adopted, A decree amending the 2001 Unilateral Decree on the Avoidance of Taxation (Besluit voorkoming dubbele belasting 2001, Bvdb 2001, hereinafter Unilateral Decree) was published in the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on August On August 7, 2012, Luxembourg issued a decree amending its VAT rules for independent groups of persons. The amended rule, published in the official gazette (Journal Officiel du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) on August 14, was adopted On July 5, 2012, Finland's Sugar Tax Working Group released an interim report, recommending extension of the tax on sugar. (Press Release No. 141/2012, Ministry of Finance, InterimReport of the Sugar Tax Working Group Completed On June 28, 2012, the European Commission published the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on Concrete Ways to Reinforce the Fight Against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Including in Relation In December 2011, draft legislation on the introduction of a bank tax in the Netherlands was released by the government. The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) of the Dutch Parliament (Staten-Generaal) adopted the draft on May 22, On June 13, 2012, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed L 173, draft legislation to amend the corporate tax law, withholding tax law, tax control law, tax administration law, and various other laws. (Katja Joo Dyppel andamp; A proposed Telecommunication Tax Bill was published in Hungary's official gazette on May 30, 2012. (Tamas Kulcsar, Hungary: Telecommunication Tax Bill Published, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation online subscription database.) The Italian tax authorities issued a circular on May 30, 2012, to clarify an additional tax on boats introduced in 2011. (Giulia Gallo, Italy: Boat Tax Clarifications, TAX NEWS SERVICE (May 31, 2012), International Bureau Under Singapore's 2012 budget, company income gained by the sale of some equity investments, as of the beginning of June 2012, will not be subject to taxation. (Daljit Kaur, Singapore: Budget 2012: Non-Taxation of Gains from On April 26, 2012, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) of the Republic of China on Taiwan approved a previously effective capital gains tax, to be reinstated as of 2013, as part of a set of proposed amendments Poland's new Law on Taxation of Extraction of Certain Metals of March 2, 2012, was published in the country's Official Gazette (DZIENNIK USTAW RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ) on April 3, 2012. The Law affects individuals, companies, and entities On March 23, 2012, the European Commission released some data and information related to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which was initially proposed through a directive issued on September 28, 2011. If the FTT is adopted, On January 2, 2012, the President of Gabon promulgated Decree No. 0001 on the Finance Law for 2012. Tax incentives under the new Law apply to cement production and to the wood industry. (Albert Atangana, In order to improve the health of its citizens by reducing their use of sugar, Denmark's government is considering taxing the product. Speaking on March 5, 2012, Pia Olsen Dyhr, the acting Minister of Health, stated The second chamber of the Dutch legislature recently approved changes to the conditions that apply to the "30% rule," whereby employees of foreign companies operating in the Netherlands are allowed to defer 30% of their salary For 2012, Denmark is raising taxes on pollution by district heating facilities to a level five times as high as those previously in force. While at one time it was estimated that the impact on heating Effective on November 1, 2011, China's revised Tentative Regulations on Resource Tax noticeably raised the resource tax levied on the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in China. The Regulations were revised by State Council On November 14, 2011, the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed an amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law, 5725-1965 (as amended). The Law imposes an obligation to pay an annual fee for possession of a television. During the G20 summit that took place in Cannes on November 3 and 4, 2011, 13 of the G20 countries signed the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol of 2010 On October 13, 2011, Latvia amended its Law on Taxes and Fees; most of the new provisions will become effective on November 9. A number of the changes affect penalties. When the new Law comes into On August 24, 2011, the Conseil d'Etat, France's Supreme Court for administrative matters, rejected the request of a Swiss subsidiary of the British bank HSBC to have the database EVAFISC set aside. EVAFISC is designed to Law 2011-1117 of September 19, 2011, on Amending the 2011 Financial Bill, was published in France's official gazette on September 20, 2011 (Loi no. 2011-1117 du 19 septembre 2011 de finances rectificative pour 2011, LEGIFRANCE). As a response to the serious economic crisis in Spain, the government decided to temporarily reinstate the wealth tax for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. (Royal Decree-Law [RDL] 13/2011 of Sept. 16, 2011, 224 BOLETandIacute;N In order to deal with the ongoing financial crisis in Greece, the Greek government has imposed a number of austerity measures in an effort to increase revenues. On September 16, 2011, an amendment was introduced in On August 15, 2011, Indonesia announced a plan to give major investors in some sectors of the economy a tax holiday. Companies considered to be pioneers in their fields and that have invested at least Rp1 On July 28, 2011, the Supreme Court of Arbitration of the Russian Federation (the country's highest judicial authority for commercial disputes) ruled that no difference in legal treatment should be accorded to private donations and research The Italian government approved an austerity package on July 15, 2011, aimed at achieving a balanced budget in 2014. It is reported to include budget cuts of 48 billion (about US$67 billion) over three years. (Emanuela On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a second preliminary ruling for the German referring court in the Meilicke case (Case No. C-262/09, ECJ website (June 30, 2011), search by case On June 30, 2011, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) adopted an amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law that raises the threshold of tax exemption for individual income from monthly wages and China's State Administration of Taxation recently published a circular ordering the tax authorities at all levels in the country to pay closer attention, in collecting individual income tax, to high-income earners. (State Administration of Taxation Amendments to the General Law on Taxation (Algemene wet inzake rijksbelastingen), and to other laws relating to taxpayer legal protection in the Netherlands, were published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE (STAATSBLAD) on June 3, 2011. The The European Union is composed at present of 27 dissimilar tax systems, in which each Member State has its own rules for computing the tax base for associated enterprises. As a result, companies seeking to start Matolcsy added that the specifics of which products would be taxed and how the revenue so raised would be used have not yet been determined. (Id.) It was reported in February, however, that the tax might It was reported on February 25, 2011, that Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) is drafting a proposed "luxury tax" bill, the draft Statute for Special Commodity and Service Tax (T'e-chung huo-wu chi lao-wu shui t'iao-li), with Sri Lanka's Cabinet recently approved a plan to tax long-term leases of land to foreigners. The proposal came from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of the country, who has been acting as the Finance Minister since 2005. Law 2010-1657 of December 29, 2010, on Finances for 2011 contains measures aimed at reducing France's public deficit from a level of 7.7% of the gross domestic product to 6%. The ultimate goal is to reduce On January 25, 2011, the Greek Ministry of Finance submitted to the legislature a new, much-anticipated tax bill, which aims, through the adoption of a number of significant initiatives, to improve and revive the ailing economy, Thailand's Cabinet on November 9, 2010, approved the issuance of a royal decree that exempts companies from the payment of corporate tax on income derived from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction Credits (CERs) and Verified A case in China's Jiangxi Province involving an American company's permanent establishment there has resulted in the company's being assessed by the tax authorities for payment of RMB12 million (about US$1.8 million). The company in the Serbia's Minister of Finance adopted a rulebook on tax residence certificate forms on October 21, 2010, that will become effective on January 1, 2011. As of that date, tax residence certificates for residents of Serbia, based The Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, ITA) issued Ministerial Circular No. 51/E on October 6, 2010, to clarify the rules on controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) found in Law No. 102/2009 and also to clarify the In September 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a new study on programs for the voluntary disclosure of offshore undisclosed income and/or assets under the tax administrations of various countries. (OECD, OFFSHORE Two circulars issued recently by the Italian Tax Authority (ITA) (Agenzia delle Entrate) seek to clarify the valued-added-tax (VAT) regime, in connection with black-listed countries. The black-listed countries are tax havens, whose rate of taxation is On October 18, 2010, the Finance Committee of the National Council (Nationalrat), the representative chamber of the Swiss bicameral Parliament, submitted a motion to the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the executive branch of the Swiss government, requesting The recent financial crisis, which unfolded in Europe and elsewhere, coupled with a variety of other emerging issues including climate change and resource efficiency which entail certain financial obligations, led the three institutions, the European Commission, On September 21, the Minister of Finance of the Netherlands presented to the Lower House of the Parliament the 2011 plan for Dutch taxes, to apply from January 1, 2011. Details of the plan affecting direct On June 9, 2010, the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) issued two decisions that describe the circumstances under which losses incurred by a permanent establishment in a foreign country can be claimed as a deduction by During a news conference on Friday, September 4, 2010, the Angolan Minister of State, Carlos Feijo, was quoted as saying that the government will soon revise the country's tax regime. According to Feijo, the revised tax On July 21, 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the constitutional guarantee of equality requires that the inheritance tax applicable to the survivors of same-sex partnerships must be as favorable as that applied to On September 1, 2010, the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat, Federal Cabinet) adopted the Regulation on Administrative Assistance Accorded to Double Taxation Conventions (Amtshilfeverordnung [Administrative Assistance Regulation], advance copy, Federal Administration of the Swiss Federation website, In June 2010 Iceland's Parliament (Alandthorn;ingi) approved several measures related to taxation. Temporary legislation approved on June 15 makes concessions available for direct investment in the country. It will remain in effect until December 31, 2013 Dmytro Shepel, an illegal immigrant originally from Ukraine but living in the United Kingdom under a false Lithuanian identity and passport, has recently been sentenced to imprisonment for three and a half years for tax fraud. Law 6009, amending Turkey's individual income tax brackets with retrospective effect from January 1, was published in the country's OFFICIAL GAZETTE on August 1,2010 (Gvergisi kanunuile bazi kanun ve kanun hukmunde kararnamelerde deand#287;iand#351;iklik yapilmasina dair kanun According to a press release issued by Finland's Ministry of Finance on July 28, 2010, the 2011 budget proposal is for 50.4 billion (about US$65.8 billion), with the budget deficit at 8.7 billion (about US$11.4 billion). Spain's Tax Forum of Big Companies, which comprises the National Tax Agency and 27 of the country's largest companies, approved a Code of Good Tax Practices on July 20, 2010. Spain is the first country to The Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) approved an update to the OECD Model Tax Convention on July 22, 2010. The last update was made in 2008. As had been anticipated in On June 28, 20210, China's State Administration of Taxation issued a ruling exempting certain proceeds from business taxation. The exempted proceeds are those earned through providing overseas, immobile telecommunications network resources, including circuits, submarine cables, and On June 23, 2010, Romania published an Emergency Ordinance designed to combat tax evasion and improve the collection of taxes (Ordinance No. 54, Official Gazette No. 421). Its provisions come into force at various times between On June 15, 2010, an amendment to Taiwan's Income Tax Act was published that reduced the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 17%. (Text of the amendment [in Chinese], 6927 TSUNG-T'UNG Fu KUNG-PAO [Gazette of Albania's Parliament adopted a law on April 22, 2010, that initiates a tax for the use of state-owned land for construction (Law No. 10270, On the Right of Privatization of Used State-Owned Land and the Tax On May 20, 2010, the New Zealand Government announced a number of changes to the tax system as part of Budget 2010, saying that the changes represent the "most significant tax reform package in New Zealand A Belgian Royal Decree of May 6, 2010, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2010, provides a list of jurisdictions deemed tax havens pursuant to article 307, section 1, items 3-6, of the Income Tax Code On May 10, 2010, a bill first tabled in 2002 that prescribes cancellation of the current exemption from income tax of active military personnel and teaching professionals passed its first reading in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. If On January 1, 2010, Benin adopted a new Finance Law; it went into effect on the same day. The new provisions change the withholding tax rates on payments to individual, non-resident service providers to 25% from The Government of Liechtenstein adopted the Law on Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on March 30, 2010. This legislation will facilitate the implementation of agreements on the exchange of tax information the nation has concluded. There On March 25, 2010, Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced new measures that permit foreign firms or their branch companies that conduct warehousing or simple processing operations in Taiwan's free trade zones (FTZs) and On March 15, 2010, the Delhi High Court delivered a ruling on the issue of whether Indian companies that pay mobilization and demobilization costs to foreign parent companies must withhold a sum for taxes. The case, Member countries of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (GFTEI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recently launched a new peer review mechanism to help combat cross-border tax evasion. It was announced on March 29, 2010, that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is in the early stages of drafting a tax code of conduct for banks, a project in which six members Finland's government issued new guidelines on March 8, 2010, that affect the taxation of inheritances and gifts received after January 1, 2010. The goal in having new guidelines was to harmonize existing practice and cover On February 5, 2010, Gabon adopted a new Finance Law. It is applicable from the beginning of the year and sets individual income tax rates based on income brackets, as follows: Both direct and indirect tax regimes will be amended under the 2010/2011 budget presented by the Indian government on February 26, 2010. The direct tax amendments will become effective when ratified by the Parliament. While the Albania's tax procedures have been amended by a law that became effective on February 5, 2010. Law No. 10209 amends tax reporting, violation, and penalty provisions of the Law on Tax Procedures. There will no longer On February 19, 2010, Singapore's Inland Revenue Authority issued a tax guide in electronic form on the imposition of a stamp duty on the seller of certain residential properties. The duty is to be paid only The 2010 budget for the Ivory Coast includes a number of tax provisions. Newly incorporated companies will be given tax incentives, as will companies that resume functions or maintained operations in parts of the country affected On January 26, 2010, China's State Administration of Taxation [SAT] issued a circular to clarify the implementation of tax treaty provisions on royalties in connection with technology transfer. It amplifies an earlier circular on royalty provisions Publication of Comments on Model Tax Convention Commentary and Proposed New Article 7 In late November and early December 2009, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago has created a new property tax to replace what were commonly referred to as the "house rates" that had been collected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act (Trin. Mauritania's Finance Law for 2010, which was adopted on December 23, 2009, came into effect on January 1, 2010. It includes provisions on direct taxation, indirect taxation, and tax management.(Felix Buma, Mauritania: Finance Law for 2010 On January 28 and 29, 2010, Burkina Faso's Parliament adopted new legislation to reform the tax system in the country. The changes include introducing a corporate income tax instead of the existing schedule of taxes on The tax administration of Luxembourg issued a circular on January 12, 2010, on taxation of Islamic finance instruments. (Circular L.G.A. No. 55, cited in Ren; Offermanns, Luxembourg: Guidelines on Islamic Finance Published, IBFD TAX NEWS SERVICE, As of the first of this year, Belgian companies and the permanent establishments in Belgium of foreign companies are required to include on their tax returns information about certain payments to tax havens. The reporting threshold Recently, the governments of two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario, agreed to replace their provincial sales tax with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) to be collected by the federal government. In order for the HST On December 31, 2009, Madagascar's 2010 budget was promulgated as Ordinance No. 2009-14. It includes information on direct and indirect taxation rates. The rate for corporate income, personal income, income from movable capital, and capital gains On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the chamber representing the states in the Austrian legislature, approved the resolutions of the National Council (Nationalrat, representative chamber of the Austrian legislature) that ratified agreement-amending protocols or On November 10, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Niger announced a Finance Law 2010 bill. If approved, the new Law will come into force on January 1, 2010. The new Law establishes a Taiwan's Ministry of Finance announced on October 28, 2009, new, generally lower, withholding tax rates, to take effect on January 1, 2010, under the revised Standards of Withholding Tax Rates for Various Types of Income (first The Tax Reform Committee (TRC) of Taiwan's Executive Yuan (Cabinet) reached agreement on December 22, 2009, to maintain "for the time being" the system of tax-free capital gains for individuals and corporations. However, the TRC decided The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled in the Malaysian Parliament on December 16, 2009. The Second Finance Minister, Ahmad Husni, stated that the government expects a goods and services tax (GST) at a On December 15, 2009, the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the Parliament of the Netherlands passed a bill that will dramatically lower inheritance and gift taxes, by granting higher exemptions and lower rates. The amendments, most On November 13, 2009, Finland's President ratified a law that implements two European Council Directives on value-added taxation, 2008/8/EC of February 12, 2009, and 2008/9/EC of the same date. The Directives cover the place of supply The Parliament of Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment) (Exchange of Information) [EOI] Bill 2009 on October 19, 2009, and the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2009 on November 23, 2009. (Bill texts, Parliament of Singapore website, The Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department issued Departmental Interpretation Practice Note No. 46, Transfer Pricing Guidelines Methodologies and Related Issues, on December 4, 2009. According to HKIRD, the purpose of the Note "is to illustrate The Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China approved domestic legislation on rules and regulations governing the exchange of information on financial matters pursuant to international tax agreements, On November 11, 2009, the Principality of Liechtenstein announced that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is taking Liechtenstein off the "Grey List" of countries complying with OECD standards on the exchange of tax On November 17, 2009, the Swiss Federal Authorities gave a progress report on the processing of U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for information on the suspected tax evasion by U.S. residents who had banked with The Swedish Parliament enacted a bill on November 25, 2009, that amends and liberalizes existing law on the tax applied to individuals in cases of exchange of shares. The new rules, adopted as Prop. 2009/2010:24, will On September 10, 2009, the Netherlands (in respect of Netherlands Antilles) and Norway signed an amending protocol to their income and capital tax treaty of November 13, 1989. Information about the new provisions has just become According to PAYING TAXES 2010: THE GLOBAL PICTURE (the fifth year of the "paying taxes" series), jointly issued by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on November 20, 2009, tax payment was On October 27, 2009, Australia and the Cook Islands signed a comprehensive tax information exchange agreement in Rarotonga. The agreement provides for the exchange of information on request in both criminal and civil tax matters. The According to recent remarks made by the Treasury Secretary of Sri Lanka, the government is considering reforming the country's tax structure. The purpose of the new policy is said to be to provide relief to those Under Ministerial Circular No. 43/E of October 10, 2009, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) seek to clarify the provisions on the tax amnesty set forth in Law No. 141 (converted from Law Decree No. 103 on The French government has proposed inserting in the Finance Amendment Law 2009, scheduled for adoption by Parliament at the end of the year, several measures to reinforce its fight against tax evasion in uncooperative tax haven On August 11, 2009, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Tax Matters. The Agreement provides for the exchange of information in tax matters Law Decree No. 78, published in Italy's official gazette on July 1, 2009, covers a basket of new measures to deal with the global financial crisis, including a tightening of rules on tax havens and controlled The French Ministry of the Economy recently clarified the tax treatment of two of the main Islamic finance instruments used in France: Murabaha and Sukuk. The term Islamic finance covers all financial transactions and financial products In 2009, the Republic of Belarus joined the countries that have a flat income tax system. Previously, income tax rates for individuals as defined under the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Natural Persons' Income On June 12, 2009, France and Switzerland agreed to amend their existing bilateral tax treaty by adding a provision that allows the exchange of bank information for tax purposes, bringing the treaty up to the standard It was reported on April 8, 2009, that Iran's Taxation Department has raised the tax exemption ceiling to about five million tomans per month for civil servants, judges, and academic members of universities and institutes of On April 7, 2009, Ireland's Minister of Finance introduced a Supplemental Budget in the Dandaacute;il andEacute;ireann, or lower chamber of Parliament, that leaves Ireland's low corporate tax rates of ten percent on manufacturing and 12.5 percent As of January 1, 2009, a reform of inheritance tax legislation in Germany exempts family homes and business enterprises from taxation under certain circumstances (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz, Dec. 31, 2008, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] Taiwan's Statute for Upgrading Industries (promulgated on December 29, 1990), was amended on January 23, 2009. Article 9-2 now specifies that a newly incorporated company or a company being expanded by means of a capital increase On December 29, 2008, Israel's Knesset (Parliament) passed an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance. According to the revised law, foreign residents will be exempt from interest and foreign currency adjustment rates on stock sold in In an announcement issued on October 26, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance stated that, with State Council (Cabinet) approval, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration decided to temporarily suspend, as of October 9, On October 21, 2008, at a conference to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, representatives of 17 leading economies that are Member States of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made The House of Representatives, the lower house of Nigeria's National Assembly, has amended some financial and economic laws in an effort to stabilize the business environment. Among the laws passed are the Personal Income Tax Amendment Taiwan's Law on Tax Collection was amended on August 13, 2008. The revision adds details on the amount of tax owed that may prompt a ban on the taxpayer's leaving the country NT1 million (roughly On April 30, 2008, the Guatemalan Congress approved a reform to the Organic Law on Tax Free Zones, Zona de Libre Industria y Comercio Santo Tomandaacute;s de Castilla (Zolic) that will permit the creation of new, On March 26, 2008, Switzerland promulgated amendments to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Act that enhance enforcement of the user fees imposed on heavy passenger cars and trucks and to the Heavy Vehicle Tax Regulation (Bundesgesetz, Oct. On March 10, 2008, an amendment to Taiwan's Value-Added Business Tax and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Law was promulgated. The new article 9-1 stipulates that "to meet special circumstances of the economy," the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) may The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam approved the country's first Personal Income Tax Law on November 21, 2007 (Law No. 04/2007/QH12). It was promulgated by Decree No. 13/2007/L-CTN on December 5, 2007, and The Tel Aviv Yafo district court rejected an appeal against a decision by the Income Tax Authority of Israel not to recognize as a legitimate expense bribes paid to foreign officials to facilitate a business transaction Tax credits offered by the federal and provincial governments have attracted many North American filmmakers to Canada. An issue respecting the federal credits has now arisen. In its lengthy bill to amend the Income Tax Act, In 1974, at the time of the first "oil shock," Japan's Diet (parliament) passed a law to amend the Tax Special Measures Law (Law No. 26 of 1957, as amended by Law No. 17 of 1974). On December 18, 2007, the Knesset (Parliament) passed the Law for Increasing Participation in the Workforce and Minimizing Social Gaps (Negative Income Tax), 5768-2007. The Law provides special grants to a worker who has dependant children The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress adopted a decision to amend the Law on Individual Income Tax on December 29, 2007 (Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui Changwu Weiyuanhui guanyu xiugai Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Geren suode Xinhua News Agency, citing the CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL, reported on November 14, 2007, that the final draft of new implementing regulations for China's new Corporate Income Tax Law that will align domestic and foreign tax rates The Swiss Canton of Obwalden is in the process of introducing a flat rate tax on individual incomes, to be applied for the first time in the tax year 2008. The bill has passed the first... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l20540184_text