Greece Offers 50% Reduction In Income Taxes

It is widely known that brain drain is the worst threat to a country’s prosperity. The Greek government announced legislative initiative to reverse this phenomenon, to attract foreign investment and to invite foreign nationals to settle and work in Greece. The legislative initiatives also provide for a 50% reduction in income tax for the next 7 years, either if the job is transferred to Greece or if the interested individuals settle as self-employed or even as employees in another professional employment in Greece.

It is well known that financial motivation alone is never enough to decide upon one’s return to a country or even to move to another employer.  The excellent lifestyle, the mild climate along with the working conditions (since white collar personnel can work remotely) play a vital role in such decision making. Moreover, with the crisis now behind Greece and the long-term prospects in front of the country accompanied with political stability, will eventually result in an effective state and an economy that can offer more employment opportunities. Greece is one of the safest countries in the world for the expatriate and his family.

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Jimmy Cox On Taxes In The Netherlands

According to a majority of the members of the European Parliament, the Netherlands is, just like Malta, Cyprus, Ireland and Luxembourg, a fiscal paradise and it is demanding (without any underlying jurisdiction, incidentally) that the European Commission place these five countries on its list of tax havens.  This list is, of course, is more akin to a pillory than an honor roll.

Does the Netherlands merit being designated as a tax haven?  Most inhabitants of the Netherlands would not experience this as being the case; after all, the VAT on shopping, for crying out loud, has increased by 50% this year alone, and the highest bracket in income taxation (over EUR 68,508) remains at 51.75%:  a solid deduction indeed.  It is true that taxation on company profits has decreased from 20 to 19%, but this latter figure is still considerably higher than in Ireland (12.5%) or Bulgaria (10%), for example.  Furthermore, companies making profits higher than EUR 200,000 continue to pay 25% over this threshold.

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On December 2, 2017, the Senate passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a sweeping tax reform bill that seeks to reduce tax rates for corporations and individuals following a strategy outlined in our previous Alert. A similar tax bill was passed by the House of Representatives on November 16, 2017. The White House and Congressional leadership plan to have a unified tax reform bill ready for the president to sign into law before the Christmas holiday. Read More

Monika Miles

This month we travel to the “Show Me” state of Missouri. The people of Missouri have earned their motto as the “Show Me” state for their very practical skepticism of the fads that sweep other parts of the country. This attitude manifests itself in the state government’s approach to business encouragement and regulation. So, let’s look at the state and see how their approach could help your business.

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Claire McNamara

Registration

If you intend to set up a new company in Ireland in 2017, please be aware that you must register with the Irish Revenue Authorities within thirty days of incorporation. This can be done by completing the relevant sections of a TR2 Form:

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Ephraim Moss

While the past year did not produce any monumental changes to U.S. tax law, there are a number of noteworthy changes that expats should keep in mind as we enter 2017. We also share a few highlights from President-elect Trump’s current tax plan.

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Surviving spouses receive the same standard deduction and tax rates as taxpayers who are filing Married Filing Jointly. In the year of your spouse’s death, if you do not remarry, you can file a joint return with your deceased spouse. For the following two years, you can use the Qualifying Widow/Widower with Dependent Child filing status, if you have a dependent child living with you. After two years, if you have not remarried, you must change your filing status to either Single or Head of Household, depending on your circumstances.

You can consider the Qualifying Widow(er) filing status if you are a widow(er) and:

• You could have filed a joint return with your spouse for the year your spouse died.
• Your spouse died in either of the two tax years preceding this current year. Read More

One of the fifty seven federal tax provisions that expired at the end of 2013 was 50% bonus depreciation. That has been a temporary provision for several years, primarily aimed at helping economic recovery. It’s also been a generous provision (it was even 100% for a few years). With 50% bonus depreciation, a business claims depreciation on new equipment in the year it is placed in service equal to 50% of the cost plus normal depreciation on the balance. If the company was also eligible for Section 179 expensing, it would first claim $500,000 and then take 50% of the balance and then normal depreciation on the balance.

Temporary tax provisions are often renewed well after they expire. These temporary provisions all “cost” money because they result in reduced tax collections. To be extended in a revenue neutral bill, Congress has to find “offsets” – other tax increases or spending cuts. Read More

New Jersey is one of only a few states that impose both an inheritance tax and a state estate tax. The inheritance tax applies when someone who lived in New Jersey, or owned property there, leaves property to someone who is not a close relative. The tax rate depends on how closely the inheritors and deceased person were related.

(1) How are inheritors classified?

The transfer inheritance tax is imposed, at graduated rates, on property having a total value of $00 or more that passes from a decedent to a beneficiary. New Jersey classifies inheritors into different groups, based on their family relationship to the deceased person. Read More