Int'l Tax News

French President Emmanuel Macron's rapportwith German Chancellor Angela Merkel fails to hide frustrationwith slow progress on economic issues. The latest issue to expose deep divisions is an EU initiative, backed by France, to impose a revenue-based tax on big Internet companies.

A European Union court ruled on Thursday that a Spanish scheme to give a tax advantage to companies investing in foreign businesseswas illegal state aid that had to be repaid. Spain introduced a law in 2001 that allowed goodwill to be deducted from tax in the form of an amortisation for holdings in foreign companies of at least five percent if held for one year.

The Swiss Government has announced that, in preparation for a major overhaul of the tax system, existing practices on the taxation of principal companies and finance brancheswill not be applied to new companies as of 2019.

The OECD has provided a progress update on implementation of the BEPS multilateral instrument (BEPS MLI),whichwill become effective from January 1, 2019, and released advice for states on how to prepare guidance on the interpretation of changes to tax treaties.

Nigerian revenue authority leader Tunde Fowler has emphasized the importance of coming upwith a digital taxation solution thatworks for both developing and developed countries, aswell as the business community.

In a joint motion filed in a U.S. district court, Santander Holdings USA Inc. and the government asked to continue a status conference, stating that they have reached an agreement regarding foreign tax credits, deductions, penalties, and a refund related to Santander's participation in a structured trust advantaged repackaged securities transaction.

The General Court of the European Union in Deutsche Telekom AG v. European Commission, T-207/10 (GCEU 2018), upheld a European Commission decision (C(2009) 8107 final corr. of October 28, 2009) that Spanish tax provisions allowing for the amortization of financial goodwill of foreign acquisitions constituted illegal state aid, according to a GCEU release.

Developing countries should sign onto the OECD's multilateral instrument but adopt await-and-see approach to its more controversial provisions like mandatory binding arbitration, according to the Center for Global Development.

Effective January 1, Switzerland's Federal Tax Administrationwill no longer apply "federal practices" concerning principal companies and Swiss finance branches to new companies, the Federal Council said November 15.

The Austrian presidency of the EU Councilwill propose three different options for the rollout of the proposed digital services tax (DST).

In an effort to treat zero-tax jurisdictions and preferential tax regimes consistently, the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices (FHTP)will begin reviewing both under the "substantial activities" factor previously applied only to preferential regimes.

The dispute in Altera overwhether evidence from arm's-length transactions may be used to neutralize one of the transfer pricing regulations' specific requirements could soon spread beyond treatment of stock-based compensation in cost-sharing arrangements.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday told the European Parliament that a European digital tax should only be introduced if broader global efforts fail.

Canadian taxpayers can't claim attorney-client privilege for advice on the tax implications of an acquisition, a Canadian court ruled.

Amazon.com Inc. and other e-commerce companies could face penalties in India after missing a deadline to complywith complex new rules requiring them to collect tax at the point of sale.

Lawmakers from across the political aisle are ratcheting up pressure on Dutch State Secretary for Finance Menno Snel to implement tougher rules to combat tax avoidance and curb the country's vast letterbox industry.

Robert Carroll, James Mackie III, and Brandon Pizzola of EY's Quantitative Economics and Statistics group discuss the significant shift in recent years of the Fortune Global 500 headquarters locations and how that shiftwas driven in part by corporate tax rates.

The IRS is close to releasing a proposal thatwould narrow the U.S. tax benefits for offshore hedge funds. The proposed regulationswill address a change in the 2017 tax overhaul that limited the benefits for offshore insurers associatedwith hedge funds to conduct investment activities.

Practitioners can look forward to significantly more detail on the ordering rules for determining earnings and profits in final transition tax regs scheduled for release by the end of the year.

Britain and the EU have finalized a draft Brexit dealwith a backstop to avoid a hard customs border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, aswell as a commitment to continue implementing OECD tax standards.

The five US tech companieswith the largest cash piles took advantage of President Trump's tax reforms to spend more than $115bn in the first three quarters on buying back their own stock.

The European Parliament is expected Nov. 14 to vote overwhelmingly in favor of requiring large internet companies to help finance the bloc's multi-annual budget covering the next seven years. Facedwith a Brexit budget hole estimated at 11 billion euros ($11.2 billion), EU lawmakerswill call on revenue from the pending digital services taxto helpwith EU spending.

Lawmakers are "very close" to releasing legislation thatwill fix errors in the tax law, including a mistake that makes renovations for retailers and restaurants more expensive, Houseways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said.

Democrats plan to use their control of the House to argue for raising the corporate tax rate by a few percentage points -- a long-shot change that, if enacted, could cause the Republican-championed tax cut to unravel.

Lawrence Axelrod of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius has commented on proposed regulations (REG-104390-18) on global intangible low-taxed income, addressing the application of the consolidated return rules to section 951A and seeking changes regarding some methods under the regs.

An individual has advised Treasury that the base erosion antiabuse tax should not apply to regulatory capital instruments issued by U.S. regional banks, saying federal tax rules should be applied to support the capital rules of regional banks as mandated by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Two law firms have urged Treasury to issue regulations to make clear that, for purposes of calculating the base erosion antiabuse tax in a modified coinsurance-based transaction, the base erosion payment is the cash settlement payment from the U.S. life and annuity insurance company to the reinsurer.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has submitted information on the base erosion and antiabuse tax provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97) concerning reinsurance payments by domestic life insurers to foreign affiliated reinsurers to ensure that Treasury has clarity regardingwhatwas intended by the act and the nature of the specific reinsurance payment towhich the language refers.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has published the reference for Luxembourg's application (T-516/18) to annul the European Commission's decision (C(2018) 3839 final) to order Luxembourg to recover ÔøΩ120 million in unlawful state aid granted to French fuel supplier Engie.

The Spanish company that operates Zara and other clothing stores is closing an Irish subsidiary that has been criticized for its role in allowing the group to pay less tax elsewhere in Europe.

IMF staff have recommended that Italy undertake comprehensive tax reform in lieu of its historical piecemeal approach to improve on a dire growth outlook.

Germany and France are touting their global anti-base-erosion (GLOBE) proposal,which includes a tax on base-eroding outbound payments, as a long-term approach to tax the digital economy,while OECD discussions on the subject continue.

A research firm is questioningwhether rules changing taxation of controlled foreign corporations' investment in U.S. propertywill fully resolve, in practice, consequences that limit the credit that offshore subsidiaries may provide to U.S. companies.

Regulations implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's rules targeting hybrid entities and hybrid transactions have been sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review, indicating that proposed regulations may soon be released.

France's prime minister says there'll be no U-turn in the government's policy of hiking taxes on fossil fuels to encourage the take-up of cleaner energies, despite planned protests by vehicle drivers thisweekend.

China is contemplating a secondwave of corporate tax reforms, likely to be passed next year, to combat the effects of U.S. tax cuts and tariffs.

The Treasury Department and thewhite House Office of Management and Budget agreed to fast-track rules thatwill tell companies the scope of foreign tax credits, opening the door for the guidance to come out after Thanksgiving.

Paul Forster proposes, in a letter to Financial Times, an alternative to a digital sales tax dilemmaÔøΩlegislate to ensure that all sales of such services are attributable to the countries inwhich their customers reside, and to place a cap ÔøΩ based on a percentage of revenue ÔøΩ on allowable intellectual property royalties

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday that a European Union plan to tax big internet firms such as Google and Facebookwas close to being struck, despite several EU governments having pushed back against the idea.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said he favors getting a binding deal on a European Union digital tax at a meeting of EU finance ministers in December, and that he supports the French model for the move.

The Dutch government is planning to roll out a new measure to prevent requests for advance tax rulings involving arrangements that use shell companieswithin the country's vast trust sector to reroute profits.

EU nations share a sense of urgency to agree on taxing digital companieswhile disagreeing "on how to do it in a cleverway," Danish Finance Minister Kristian Jensen said in an interview at parliament.

Changes to Britain's centuries-old trust regime are looming after the government announced a review ofwhether it could be made "simpler, fairer and more transparent". Thisweek, HM Revenue & Customs launched a consultation on trustswhichwill seek views and evidence onwhether there is a need for reform of trust taxation.

A multinational healthcare company headquartered in the United Kingdom is moving to Ireland to protect the financial benefits it accruedwhen it inverted in 2015 from the uncertainty of a post-Brexit United Kingdom.

EU member state representatives did not discuss Germany's request to delay implementation of the proposed digital services tax (DST) at a recent meeting, instead focusing on a new compromise proposal that amends several technical elements.

Treasury hopes to assuage the disparate global intangible low-taxed income tax rules,which put individual U.S. shareholders of controlled foreign corporations at a disadvantage compared to corporate shareholders, but some challenges exist.