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OECD Advisory Group Sets Out Framework for Digital Tax Reform
An OECD advisory committee has taken aim at unilateral actions and underscored the impossibility of ring-fencing the digital economy in a paper containing 11 recommendations for international tax measures in the digital age.
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Spain Proposes Digital Services and Financial Transaction Taxes
Spain's government has asked parliament to approve a digital services tax and a tax on financial transactions that it saidwill generate over ÔøΩ2 billion in revenue annually.
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Treatment of Interim PTEP Distributions Draws Ire
The treatment of interim distributions of non-section-965-related previously taxed earnings and profits (PTEP) that do not benefit from a gain reduction rule appears at oddswith the PTEP regime, according to practitioners.
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Transfer Pricing Regimes: Hong Kong vs Singapore
The two markets of Hong Kong and Singapore are often comparedwith each other, however,where their transfer pricing regimes are concerned there are differences. Singapore and Hong Kong have reached significant milestones in their transfer pricing regimes.what are the differences between their regimes?
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Outside Groups Get Legal Standing in Canada Carbon Tax Case
Over a dozen environmental groups, Indigenous representatives, and health advocateswill have their say in court this April in support of Canada's carbon tax. Ontario Court of Appeal Justice James MacPherson granted the groups standing Jan. 15 to participate in the case thatwill consider the constitutionality of the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act.
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Chile Seeking March Deal to Reduce Corporate Taxes
Chile's government and opposition lawmakers are negotiating terms of the government's tax proposalwith the aim of reaching a deal by March, Finance Minister Felipe Larrain said.
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Wall Street Analysts Urge Caution on Tax Cut's Boost to Earnings
The U.S. tax overhaul's boost to corporate profits could start to diminish soon as the effects of new international taxes and restrictions on interest deductions take hold, according to a research note from Morgan Stanley.
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Here's How U.S. Businesses Actually Used Their Tax Cuts
On Jan. 1, 2018, the biggest, most sweeping U.S. corporate tax cut ever enactedwent into effect. A year later,we're able to see how businesses used all that extra cash. The short answer: to buy back shares. The long answer is slightly more nuanced, but not by much.
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IRS Issues Final Regulations on Repatriation Tax
The Internal Revenue Service released final rules on the one-time tax multinationals must pay on accumulated overseas earnings and profits.
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Treasury releases final Section 965 regulations
Today, Treasury released final regulations under amended Section 965 ('the toll charge') and submitted them for publication in the Federal Register. PwC summerizes the final 965 regulations that provide guidance relating to the toll charge due upon the mandatory deemed repatriation of certain deferred foreign earnings.
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Puerto Rico Creditors Press For Sales Tax Plan Approval
Major stakeholders engulfed in Puerto Rico's bankruptcy-like proceedings urged a federal judge onwednesday to approve awatershed settlement designed to restructure nearly $18 billion in debt carried by the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Corp., or COFINA, saying it is the bestway to avert years of protracted litigation.
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The U.S. Economy and 'Neighbor Envy'
This could get awkward. Former Obama economic adviserswho claimed tax reformwouldn'twork have been miserable enoughwatching U.S. growth defy their predictions. Now they may have towatch other countries repeat the U.S. success as governments overseas consider lowering their corporate income tax rates.
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Former Fed Leaders, Economists Rally Around Carbon Tax
An all-star roster of former Federal Reserve leaders andwhite House economic advisers are signing on to a new statement in support of a carbon tax on businesses that sends the revenue to U.S. citizens.
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Goldman Sachs Stock Jumps After TCJA Recalculation
The stock market's reaction to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s fourth-quarter 2018 and year-end earnings reportswas unusually positive, thanks in part to a significant, and arguably obscured, tax benefit.
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Swiss Tax Reform Critics Claim Enough Signatures for Referendum
Opponents of Swiss tax reform legislation say they have gathered enough signatures to require a nationwide referendum on the law,whichwas enacted after EU complaints that the country's cantonal tax regime favors multinational companies.
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Swedish PM Wins Second Term With Coalition Deal for Tax Cuts
Sweden's Parliament voted in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for a second term after he secured a tenuous coalition minority government agreement involving tax cuts, ending months of uncertainty in thewake of an ambiguous election.
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Indian High Court Rules Against GE Subsidiary in PE Case
Complex contract negotiationswith customers undertaken by an Indian subsidiary of General Electric are sufficient to create a dependent-agent permanent establishment and taxable presence for other group subsidiaries resident in the United States.
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Coca-Cola Case Offers Guidance on Reliance on Closing Agreements
The U.S. Tax Court's decision in Coca-Cola's ongoing transfer pricing disputewill provide taxpayerswith guidance regarding the level of reliance they can place on past closing agreementswhen determining future transfer pricing approaches.
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Hybrid Regs Offer Some Certainty but Lots of Complexity
The plethora of examples included in the proposed hybrid regs provides a dose ofwelcome certainty for practitioners, but the proposed regs' complexitywill require extensive knowledge of company structures.
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Three Attempts to Fix GILTI
This article,which focuses on a few questions that have arisen over the global intangible low-taxed income regime, highlights the challenges taxpayers and the governmentwill continue to face in attempting to make sense of the complex, confusing, and often internally inconsistent changes the TCJA made to international tax rules.
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Learning to Love GILTI
The TCJA tax on GILTI is simultaneously a minimum tax and a separate foreign tax credit basket (section 951A). GILTI,which is a residual, presumes that extranormal foreign profits are attributable to intangibles. GILTI claws back this extra income using a subpart F mechanism, but it is technically not a subpart F inclusion. GILTI is not limited by earnings and profits.
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ABA Tax Section Recommends Modifying Proposed GILTI Regs
Eric Solomon of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation has submitted comments on proposed regulations (REG-104390-18) implementing provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that require U.S. shareholders to include global intangible low-taxed income generated by controlled foreign corporations in their gross income. The TCJA added section 951A,which requires a U.S. shareholder of any CFC to include their GILTI in their gross income. The proposed regs provide guidance on determining the GILTI inclusion amount.
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Panama Expands Scope of Special Economic Zone Benefit
A law published recently in Panama's official gazette has extended the scope of the preferential tax regime under the Panama-Pacifico special economic zone to office administration services.
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Peru Specifies Entities Subject to Beneficial Ownership Rules
A decree that took effect January 8 in Peru lists the types of entities that are subject to the ultimate beneficial ownership tax regime.
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BEPS Has Failed on Key Issues, Corporate Tax Reform Group Says
The OECD's base erosion and profit-shifting project has failed to address some of the problems that gave rise to the project, and doesn't amount to real international tax reform, according to a nongovernmental organization.
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Destination-Based Cash Flow Tax Would Increase Global Investment
Replacing a corporate income taxwith a destination-based cash flow tax (DBCFT)would yield significant macroeconomic benefits for the country making the switch and its trading partners, especially if other countries do so aswell.
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New York Governor's Budget Proposes to Codify GILTI Apportionment
New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's recently released fiscal 2020 budget proposes to codify the state tax department's recent guidance on global intangible low-taxed income.
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CJEU Clears Release of Tax Information to Customs Authorities
Customs authorities may demand disclosure of tax information related to select individuals associatedwith a company seeking status as an authorized economic operator, according to the EU's highest court.
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Danish Tax Agency Collecting Cryptocurrency Information
Denmark's Tax Agency said it has been authorized to obtain tax information from three domestic cryptocurrency exchanges and has already accessed data on Danish taxpayerswho have used a Finnish bitcoin exchange.
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EU countries support protections for tax evasion leaks
A majority of EU countries saidwednesday that protections granted towhistleblowers, includingwhen it comes to fiscal matters, should be covered by just one piece of legislation, two EU officials told POLITICO.
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Estonia Implements EU Antiavoidance Directive
Estonia's Bill on Amendments to the Income Tax Act entered into force January 1, implementing Council Directive (EU) 2016/1164 (the antiavoidance directive).
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Bill Would Exclude GILTI From Virginia Tax Base
Global intangible low-taxed incomewould be excluded from Virginia's tax base under a recently introduced state Senate bill.
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Indonesia Issues Rules Governing Taxation of E-Commerce
Indonesia's government has issued regulations requiring small to medium-size online businesses to pay tax at a rate of 0.5 percent of sales,while larger e-commerce companies must pay corporate income tax at a 25 percent rate.
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Switzerland Outlines Position on Taxation of Digital Economy
As the OECDworks on long-term solutions for taxing the digital economy, the Swiss government has published its positions on how to proceed, stressing the importance of innovation and sustainable competitionwhile safeguarding tax receipts.
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Corporate Tax Rates Trending Down Over Past 20 Years, OECD Says
Although rates have fallen over the past two decades, corporate tax remains a key revenue source for government coffers, especially in developing countries, the OECD said in a new report.
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U.S. Hybrid Rules Require Extensive Knowledge of Structures
Some practitioners may need to brush up on their knowledge of company structures following the release of exceptionally extensive proposed hybrid regs.
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Transition Tax Regs Offer Limited Relief on Big-Ticket Items
Final transition tax regs offer some modifications to a few hot-button issues, but the relief sought by taxpayerswho had lobbed a multitude of critiques at the proposed regs is limited in many circumstances.
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Moscovici Introduces Qualified Majority Voting Proposal
EU Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici sought to convince member states to cede their right to veto tax measures in the EU Council by invoking annual VAT losses of ÔøΩ50 billion.
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EU Tax on Big Digital Companies Could Be Struck by March: French Minister
A European Union-wide tax on theworld's top digital companies could be reached by the end of March, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in an interview published on Sunday.
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Swiss Advisory Board Recommends WHT, Property Tax Reform
The advisory board taskedwith reporting on the state of Switzerland's financial center has recommended changes to the country'swithholding tax and property tax regimes.
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EU's majority voting proposal puts CCCTB back on the table
The common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) and digital services tax (DST) could be introduced if the EU Commission's proposal for qualified majority voting (QMV) succeeds.
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Gibraltar Introduces New Thin Capitalization Restriction
Gibraltar recently enacted the Income Tax Act 2010 (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2018,which introduced a new limitation on the deductibility of interest on debt.
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New York Quietly Updates Tax Forms With GILTI Guidance
New York corporate taxpayers now have some guidance on global intangible low-taxed income after the state's tax department quietly updated its filing instructions for business corporate franchise tax returns.
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Austria to Tax Online Advertising, Expand Online Sales Taxation
Austria has announced plans to impose a 3 percent tax on online advertising. It also plans to levy VAT on all goods sold online by third-country retailers and to strengthen reporting obligations for online platforms.
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Dutch Eye French-German Minimum Tax Proposal With Interest
The Netherlands' top finance official is touting his newwithholding tax on interest and royalties as a key anti-tax-avoidance measure, but he is also eyeing France and Germany's minimum tax proposal to possibly complement it.
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Cost of Unanimity on Tax Rules Will Only Increase, Group Says
Tax reform in the European Union needs to move faster than the unanimity requirement permits, according to a think tank that has endorsed a controversial remedy requiring unanimous approval.
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Brussels' bid to kill tax veto faces uphill battle
The European Commission's plan to eliminate the veto that EU governments hold over any of its tax initiatives faces a major obstacle: the veto.
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Tax reform isn't the foreign cash magnet that was promised - yet
Just as many U.S. multinationals are still trying to unravel the ins and outs of the complex tax reform package, foreign companies are doing the same. As a result, they're taking await-and-see attitude. In particular, there are numerous European and Chinese manufacturing companies considering U.S. investments, but for non-tax, business-related reasons. For them, the rate cut is little more than the proverbial cherry on top of the sundae. It isn't the reason to make a major move.
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A Major EU Tax Flub
The European Union's high-tax nations have tried for years to thwart tax competition from smaller states such as Ireland and Luxembourg. But do they have to ramp up that effort again right as the EU is in danger of another economic slowdown? Apparently so. The bureaucrats at the European Commission on Tuesday unveiled a new proposal to make it easier for high-tax France and Germany to steamroll low-tax members. Brusselswould do this by ending the veto that individual governments can currently exercise on tax matters, shifting to a system of "qualified majority voting" that favors larger countries. Thiswould allow 55% of member states representing at least 65% of the EU population to set important tax policies for the entire bloc.
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Mexico introduces new tax incentives to stimulate financial sector
As part of a multidisciplinary strategy by Mexico's Central Bank and Ministry of Finance and Public Credit to stimulate the nation's financial sector, a presidential decree on January 8 introduced several new tax incentives. Mexico's new tax incentives,which are effective immediately, are largely intended to incentivise Mexican entities to raise funds at a lower cost and from awider array of foreign investors, and to overall encourage private Mexican companies to become public.