Int'l Tax News

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Hong Kong Proposes to Codify BEPS Standards, Enhance Double Tax Safeguards

To provide certainty and limit the risk of double taxation, codifying the OECD's minimum standards and transfer pricing guidance should be accompanied by an expanded foreign tax credit and statutory advance pricing agreement and dispute resolution procedures, according to new proposals issued by the government of Hong Kong.

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South Africa to hike taxes over next two years

South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said the governmentwill raise an additional $3.1 million through tax measures over the next two years,with several changes thatwill have a significant impact on domestic and foreign businesses operating in the country.

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Malta: Release of the 2017 budget

The main theme of the Malta's 2017 budget, from a commercial perspective, is to incentivise the markets, boost business creation and attract foreign direct investment. At the core of the budget document are a number of tax measures and incentives.

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Chile: Tax treatment for cloud computing services provided without a license

In June 2016, the Chilean tax authority (IRS) issued a private ruling for the first time regarding payments for the provision of cloud computing services that are not offered by granting a license.

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IKEA Handel og Eiendom loses Supreme Court of Norway tax case

  • By ITR Correspondent

IKEA has lost an important tax battle that could have implications for other multinationals deducting interest on inter-company debt.

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Build, buy or outsource: Managing withholding tax reclamation

  • By Contributed

Some investors and advisers still believe that the globalwithholding tax reclamation process is so complex and labour-intensive that it outweighs the advantages, but this is simply not true. Bill Salva, global business development manager at Goal Group looks at the options for reclaimingwithholding tax.

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MEPs welcome Commissions corporate tax proposals

  • By European Parliament

MEPswelcomed the EU Commission proposal for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) in a debatewith Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday evening.

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U.S. Companies Still at Risk of Debt-Equity Loan Recasts

U.S. multinationals aren't home freewhen it comes to having loans recast as equity under final earnings-stripping rules (T.D. 9790), despite major rollbacks, practitioners said.

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European Commission's Proposed CCCTB Seeks Common Tax Base First

To prevent its proposals for a "one-stop shop" and formulary apportionment systemwithin the EU from delaying progress on tax base harmonization, the European Commission has issued its proposals for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) in the form of two separate directives, according to a commission announcement.

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French National Assembly Approves Tax-Slashing Budget Measures

Companieswith turnover below ÔøΩ50 millionwould pay 15 percent corporate tax as of 2019, and other companieswould see their rate reduced to 28 percent by 2020 under budget proposals passed by the French National Assembly, according to local news sources. The budget also contains a 50 percent increase in the financial transaction tax (FTT) and about ÔøΩ1 billion in tax cuts for middle-income households.

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EU relaunches ambitious corporate tax reform

  • By Channel NewsAsia
The European Commission on Tuesday (Oct 25) relaunched an ambitious corporate tax reform package it sayswill boost the economy and reduce abuses after a series of high-profile tax cheating scandals sparked public uproar.

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Slashed Corporate Rate Could Push U.K. Onto EU Blacklist

The U.K. may end up on the European Union's blacklist of tax havens if it slashes its corporation tax by half the current rate to 10 percent, according to senior tax industry figures.

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Colombia: Proposal for major tax reform

  • By KPMG
The government of Colombia on 19 October 2016 presented to Congress a bill thatwould introduce tax reform changes that are intended to balance the budget and preserve the country´s BBB investment-grade credit rating.

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Apple Decision Seen as Highlighting Failures of Multiple Players

The real non-actor in the European Commission's state aid decisions is Congress, but judging from the Apple decision, none of the players seems to have done its job, according to H. David Rosenbloom of Caplin & Drysdale Chtd.

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Iceland Limits Interest Expense Deduction, Introduces CbC Reporting

The Icelandic Parliament has enacted legislation restricting the interest expense deduction and introducing country-by-country reporting requirements to bring domestic regulations in linewith actions 4 and 13 of the OECD's base erosion and profit-shifting project.

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Indian Tribunal Allows APA as Additional Evidence for Determining Arm's-Length Price

The Chennai Income Tax Appellate Tribunal allowed the admission of additional evidence in the form of an advance pricing agreement because it found that the APA has considerable bearing on the years under appeal and thus must be given due considerationwhen determining the arm's-length price of the intercompany transactions.
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The Interplay Between Subpart F and the Effectively Connected Income Rules

Lowell D. Yoder of McDermottwill & Emery examines an exclusion from Subpart F income that applies to U.S.-source income effectively connectedwith the conduct of a trade or business in the U.S. The author also describes an exception to the effectively connected income rules for foreign-source Subpart F income.

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Ireland's 2016 Finance Bill: Impact on real estate transactions

  • By ITR Correspondent

Ireland's ongoing process of budget reform has ensured the timely publishing of the Finance Bill 2016 (the bill),which includes noteworthy tax developments for international investors in real estate transactions.

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Questions and Answers on the package of corporate tax reforms

  • By European Commission

The European Commission today released Questions and Answers on its new package of corporate tax reforms.

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EU proposes common tax rules to close avoidance loopholes

Multinational companieswould have to calculate their tax liabilities according to one set of rules across the European Union under proposals on Tuesday aimed at stopping them shifting profits to avoid taxes.

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The holy grail of tax policy

Not unlike King Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) set his sights two years ago on a highly desirable and elusive objective: corporate integration.
What is corporate integration? It's the solution to the problem of double taxation.

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Global Tax Uncertainty a Top Issue for U.S. Tax Directors

In-house tax counsel for several U.S.-based technology companies, attending an October 21 international tax director roundtable, cited seemingly interminable and rapid change in the global tax environment as a key concern for their departments.

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Earnings-Stripping Foreign Issuer Exception: Not This Year

The Treasury Departmentwill leave further consideration of the foreign issuer exception under final earnings-stripping rules to the incoming administration, International Tax Counsel Danielle Rolfes said.

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Treasury Sets High Bar for Ability to Repay in Debt-Equity Regs

One of the four documentation requirements in the final section 385 debt-equity regs (T.D. 9790 2016 TNT 199-5: IRS Final Regulations) is that the documentation establish that the issuer's financial position supports a reasonable expectation of its ability to repay the debt. How much debt does a taxpayer need thewherewithal to repay? According to Treasury, possibly all of it.

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What Apple Teaches About How Not to Reform Corporate Taxes

In this article, Kalman uses the recent Apple tax ruling by the European Commission to identify problemswith proposals for a territorial tax system in the United States. He argues that policymakers should instead focus on ending deferral, requiring public country-by-country reporting, and adopting provisions of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act.

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News Analysis: U.S. Treasury Doubles Down on Inbound Planning

By carving out debt of foreign issuers from the final section 385 regulations, Treasury effectively mooted a lot of the criticism of its proposed regulations. However, by keeping the funding rulewithout relaxing it in any meaningfulway, the government made sure the final rules strongly targeted inbound planning activities of foreign multinationals.

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Luxembourg Government proposes to formalize transfer pricing legislation

  • By PwC
The Luxembourg Government on October 12, 2016, presented a Bill (no.7050) to the Luxembourg Parliament outlining the Government's 2017 budgetary measures. One article in the Bill sets out new transfer pricing provisions, augmenting the basic arm's-length rule in force since January 1, 2015 that ÔøΩ formally adopted the OECD standard into Luxembourg law. T

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Thailand offers generous incentives for headquarters, foreign trading companies, and treasury centers

  • By PwC
Thailand has long offered tax and other incentives to companieswith a regional operating headquarters in Thailand, but it has been difficult to meet ROH regime requirements, making the incentives uncompetitivewith those offered by other Southeast Asian countries.
Thailand therefore recently revamped its incentive regimes, creating a new international headquarters company regime,with add-on benefits for treasury centers (TCs), and an international trading center (ITC) regime.

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Intel Court Boost Gives Hope to U.S. Tech Giants Battling EU

Intel Corp.'s fight to overturn a record 1.06 billion-euro ($1.17 billion) European Union antitrust fine received a boost from an adviser to the bloc's top court in a case that could have ramifications for a growing list of tax disputes and other cases involving U.S. tech giants from Google to Apple Inc.

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Some Practitioners Want More Rationale for Debt-Equity Regs

While the final section 385 debt-equity regs (T.D. 9790 2016 TNT 199-5: IRS Final Regulations)were significantly limited in scope from the proposed, the architecture of the recast ruleswas largely preserved,which has angered some tax practitionerswho are dissatisfied by the offered policy rationale for the second and third prongs of the general and funding rules.

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Oct '16Funds Escape Debt-Equity Regulation NetFor Now

Treasury's package of final and temporary regulations (T.D. 9790) under section 385 does not currently apply to debt issued by investment partnership funds, but best practices indicate that investment funds should complywith the new documentation rules as much as possible, according to an October 20 release by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

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CCCTB Proposal Already Gathering Reactions Ahead of Official Release

The European Commission is scheduled to release its new draft proposal for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) on October 26, but an unauthorized version of the proposal,whichwould provide one mandatory set of rules for calculating taxes owed by companieswith more than ÔøΩ750 million in annual turnover, is already making the rounds.

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Ireland's corporate tax code can only get better, says finance minister

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Whether Clinton or Trump, Multinationals Set to Win Election

Regardless ofwhich candidatewins the U.S. presidential election, domestic companies that stash the most profits overseaswill be the victors, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

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Don't Assume You're Out of Debt-Equity Rules: EY

U.S. companies aren't out of thewoods despite a range of exceptions under the government's new earnings-stripping rules, Ernst & Young LLP practitioners said.

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Foreign Issuer Exemption Not Set in Stone: Treasury

There is no guarantee a highly praised exception for foreign issuers in final earnings-stripping rules (T.D. 9790)will stay the same, a Treasury Department official cautioned.

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Officials Discuss Reserved Subjects in Final Debt-Equity Regs

Officials explained the thinking behind several aspects of the section 385 debt-equity rules thatwere reserved in the final and temporary regs (T.D. 9790 2016 TNT 199-5: IRS Final Regulations) pending study, including the rules' application to debt of foreign issuers, the affirmative use rule, expanded group treatment of brother-sister groups, and the bifurcation rules.

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Chinese APA Procedure Changes Prompted by BEPS Project, Government Says

by Ryan Finley (Tax Notes)

New guidance issued by the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) amending the procedures for China's advance pricing agreement programwas necessary not only to improve the program's effectiveness but to follow through on China's commitments to adhere to the standards set out on exchange of rulings by the action 5 report of the OECD's base erosion and profit-shifting project.

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EU Commission seeks to plug national tax loopholes for big companies

Large companies in every European Union countrywill have to pay their taxes on a common set of revenues and reductions under an EU draft law seen by Reuters and aimed at curbing tax avoidance.

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Colombian Government Proposes Broad Tax Overhaul to Congress

Colombia's government submitted a broad tax-overhaul proposal to Congress that raises taxes on ordinary Colombians and cracks down on evasion in a bid to fill a budget shortfall created by lower oil prices.

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G20/OECD BEPS Project advances tax certainty agenda with the launch of global review of MAP programmes

  • By OECD
Today the OECD released key documents, approved by the Inclusive Framework on BEPS, thatwill form the basis of the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) peer review and monitoring process under Action 14 of the BEPS Action Plan.

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Treasury Still Studying Rules Left Out of Final Debt-Equity Regs

Although the final section 385 regulations jettisoned thewidely criticized bifurcation rule contained in the proposed regulations and adopted an exemption for foreign issuers, Treasury and the IRS intend to continue studying the possible impact those rules may have and may reintroduce them in future regulations, according to Raymond Stahl, special counsel, IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel (International).

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IRS Rules on Overseas Transfers Due by Year's End

Two sets of tax rules intended to stem the tide of overseas transfers from U.S. companies are due to be completed by the end of 2016, an IRS attorney said.

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Any Changes to Foreign Issuer Exception Prospective: Treasury

Taxpayersworried about the fate of the much-welcomed "foreign to foreign" exception under new final earnings-stripping rules may glean some comfort from a Treasury officialwho clarified that any new guidance on areaswhere the government "reserved" under the regulationswill be prospective.

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Compliance Concerns Fueled Mechanical Spinoff, Debt-Equity Regs

The tax bar is struggling to come to termswith the mechanical rules -- including per se provisionswith bright-line thresholds -- in the new section 355 spinoff device regulations and section 385 debt-equity regulations,which a government official indicated are a necessary and appropriateway to police the respective statutes.

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Mexican Tax Authority Visits May Follow Pricing Agreements

Taxpayers using advance pricing agreements in Mexico to avoid any transfer pricing disputes should prepare for a personal visit from the tax authorities as a new rule goes into effect.

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OECD Seeks Business Input on Tax Certainty

The OECD has launched a survey aimed at business sector stakeholders seeking their experienceswith and opinions about tax certainty, a key element of the incoming German G-20 presidency's tax agenda.

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U.S. Tax Review

In this article, the author discusses recent U.S. international tax developments, including the OECD's recent discussion draft on branch mismatch structures and the European Commission's findings regarding Apple and state aid from Ireland.

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U.S. targets corporate tax-reduction strategy with new regulation

The Obama administration, in its latest bid to prevent American companies from minimizing U.S. taxes by rebasing abroad, issued final rules on Thursday to combat a key tax-reduction technique known as earnings stripping.
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Treasury Tries Again To Keep American Firms' Taxes In U.S.

The U.S. Treasury Department issued rules Thursday aimed at stemming the practice of "tax inversions." This is the practicewhere a company moves its legal home abroad in order to avoid or minimize U.S. taxes.

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