As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Gabon, Hungary, Indonesia, Lithuania, Malta, Mauritius and the Russian Federation have now signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for Country-by-Country Reporting (CbC MCAA), bringing the total number of signatories to 57. Lithuania and Hungary joined the Agreement in October and December 2016 respectively.
The 2015 Report on BEPS Action 4 established a common approach which directly links an entity’s net interest deductions to its level of economic activity, based on taxable EBITDA. Further work on two aspects of the common approach was completed in 2016 and this is included in this update.
Following the first meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS in Japan, on 30 June – 1 July, and recent regional meetings, more countries and jurisdictions are joining the framework. The Inclusive Framework on BEPS recently welcomed Peru bringing to 91 the total number of countries and jurisdictions participating on an equal footing in the Project.
Tax Residency is becoming an increasingly important topic. Every country has its own rules for determining who is and who is not a “tax resident” of that country. The advent of the OCED CRS (“Common Reporting Standard”) has made the determination of “tax residence” increasingly important.
As a further step to implement the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the first series of bilateral automatic exchange relationships were established among the first batch of jurisdictions committed to exchanging information automatically as of 2017.
While fiscal consolidation was the key driver of tax reforms in the years following the global economic crisis, the main emphasis of recent tax reforms has shifted back to tax measures aimed at boosting economic growth, according to a new OECD report.
An article from Stikeman Elliot includes the following:
For CRS purposes, the term ‘reportable person’ generally refers to a natural person or entity that is resident in a reportable jurisdiction (excluding Canada and the United States) under the tax laws of that jurisdiction, or an estate of an individual who was a resident of a reportable jurisdiction under the tax laws of that jurisdiction immediately before death, other than: (i) a corporation the stock of which is regularly traded on one or more established securities markets; (ii) any corporation that is a related entity of a corporation described in clause (i); (iii) a governmental entity; (iv) an international organization; (v) a central bank; or (vi) a financial institution. See definitional subsection ITA 270 (1).
A lot has been written about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act {FATCA} in the past year. As this year comes to a close and I write up this post, I wanted to give you all, my dear readers a synopsis at your finger-tips, a round-up, if you will of some major FATCA events for 2015:
1. FBAR Deadlines Changed:
On July 31, 2015 President Obama signed the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 into law, which modified the due date of several key forms for Americans with foreign income and Americans living abroad. That includes the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, or Form 114, colloquially known as the FBAR.
Any U.S. person with a financial interest in, or signatory authority over, foreign financial accounts must file the FBAR, if at any time, the aggregate value of their relevant foreign account or accounts exceeds $10,000. An account over Read More
Tax authorities worldwide distaste the word “treaty shopping” as such. In recent times, OECD has worked out guidelines for BEPS and most U.S. tax treaties have “Limitation of Benefit” clause that prevents abusive tax planning. However, there may still be some opportunities available to U.S. investors in India; one such avenue is investing via Mauritius Holdco structures.
A lot of foreign investors prefer to route their investment through Mauritius in India. Since the India- Mauritius double tax avoidance agreement offers exemption from capital gains tax to Mauritian residents. It has been the key incentive provided by the Indo-Mauritius tax treaty where by tax on capital gains is exempted for investors from Mauritius. As per the last finance bill almost 42% of the foreign direct investment into India is routed through Read More
International Tax Review / TPWeek interviewed 180 leading in-house tax professionals to discover their opinions on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project and what shape their transfer pricing strategies are taking as final BEPS guidance draws near. As the Infographic shows below, the approach of these tax executives proved to be very interesting.
Where do you and your tax organization stand on being prepared for BEPS? Are you being proactive in your approach for responding to BEPS? Are you doing nothing at all until the project is finalized?
See Infographic below: Read More
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced an amnesty of sort – a threat and upfront warnings: we do know about you, best you come forward before we make the tax audit into your affairs known.
On July 9th, 2015, SARS issued a press release, which can be read in more detail on:
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), based information obtained by French newspaper Le Monde, ranked South Africa number 31 among the countries with the largest amount of dollars ($2.3blion) in the so-called leaked Swiss Read More
With an estimated 8.7 Million expatriates living around the world, many are unaware of their U.S. tax filing obligations. For those following the issues surrounding FATCA, they are well aware that expatriates are angry and scared. For the two-thirds of the U.S. expatriates who are still unaware, we bring knowledgeable experts who will explain what is happening and get you up to date at the Internet Tax Summit scheduled September 21-25th 2015. The first day of the Internet Tax Summit, expatriates will be able to go online and learn what is happening from tax experts, get answers, and get the help they need. You can expect this historical, free online event is certain to get millions of expatriates up to speed on the only country in the world with citizen based taxation. We promise the information you learn will be STUNNING! Read More
IRS Seeks Membership Nominations For The 2025 Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council
California’s AB 2829 Digital Advertising Tax Proposal
The Tax Relief for American Families And Workers Act of 2024
IRS Issues Frequently Asked Questions Related To The Tax Treatment Of Work-Life Referral Services Provided To Employees
Spotlight Interview: Chuck Levun On Educating CPAs And Attorneys On Partnership, LLC, And S Corporation Flow-Through Planning On Four Costly Business Mistakes They Make (Part 1)
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