Category: Activity

Ad tax to boost digital sovereignty

Google has since last year been collecting tax information related to the US earnings of Taiwanese YouTubers and withholding the share of their proceeds that they owe in taxes, complying with a US government directive. In contrast, Taipei has not been able to tax the online advertising revenue Google generates in Taiwan. ... - Continue reading

Canada: The Importance Of Tax Due Diligence When Buying A Business

Buying a business is rarely a straightforward decision. In order to get the most out of a potential deal, buyers need to be aware of key risks and pitfalls so they can incorporate mitigation strategies into their deal negotiations. The challenge for buyers is ensuring that no significant risks are missed when making their assessment. This can be difficult, particularly when buyers focus primarily on quality of earnings analyses or other non-financial and tax diligence reviews. ... - Continue reading

Ireland: Aviation Finance & Leasing 2022

Financing structures involving Irish entities often employ the use of a special-purpose vehicle ("SPV"), which is a company established specifically to hold title to the aircraft subject to the financing and to lease those aircraft to the operators. Ireland is a popular jurisdiction for the establishment of SPVs due to the numerous double-tax treaties in place between Ireland and other countries, many of which specifically refer to aviation in their text. Ireland is also attractive due to the confidence in the legal and court system (which is broadly based on English common law) and the number of aviation experts and leasing companies based in Ireland. ... - Continue reading

What is the global minimum corporate tax?

The global minimum corporate tax on MNCs was aimed at discouraging them from shifting profits to low-tax countries. But it will reduce the incentives to attract investment in developing countries ... - Continue reading

Analysis: Budget plugs a tax evasion loophole

With a stroke of pen, the federal budget for the 2022-23 fiscal also closed a much-exploited loophole through which many individuals simply avoided paying taxes in any jurisdiction, and hence lived a tax-free existence. To be considered liable to pay tax in Pakistan, one has to spend at least 120… – Continue reading

Canada: “Changing Of The GAAR”: A Background On The General Anti-Avoidance Rule, And Canada’s Attempt To Expand Its Tax Power In The 2022 Budget

The Budget purports to introduce several new financial and taxation regimes, as well as enhance several existing mechanisms. One of the existing taxation mechanisms proposed to be amended is the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (the "GAAR"). The Government initially indicated they would be amending the GAAR in the 2021 Budget. The 2022 Budget now provides some additional detail, though we are still waiting for the actual legislation. ... - Continue reading

 The Pillar Two model rules: a train wreck in the making

On December 20, 2021, the OECD issued model rules for Pillar Two—the 15% global minimum tax. It is a brutally complex 70-page package and introduces two fundamental changes to the October 2021 OECD framework: a new Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-Up tax (QDMTT) and a significant rewrite of the Undertaxed Payment Rule (UTPR). ... - Continue reading

Q&A: tax issues for private equity funds in Cayman Islands

Under current Cayman Islands law, there are no Cayman Islands taxes on income or gains of the private equity fund (PE fund) or on gains on dispositions of shares or partnership interests, and distributions made by a PE fund will not be subject to withholding tax in the Cayman Islands. ... - Continue reading

Spain’s National Court challenges the deductibility of intragroup services in the absence of a written contract

In recent years, the Spanish tax administration and Spanish courts have had a clear tendency to challenge the provision of intragroup services, denying its corporate income tax deductibility and increasing the tax burden for taxpayers carrying out these transactions in Spain. ... - Continue reading

United States: US FinCEN Proposes Expansion Of SAR Sharing Rules

The Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"), enacted in 1970 and amended most recently by the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 ("AML Act"), was in intended to provide "appropriate frameworks for information sharing" among financial institutions, government authorities and others.2 The BSA provides for the reporting of suspicious transactions, authorizes the secretary of the Treasury (the "Secretary") to issue regulations and allows the Secretary to delegate to the director of FinCEN the authority to "take all necessary and appropriate actions to implement and administer the provisions of the [BSA]."3 ... - Continue reading

Impact of Mexico’s ‘controlling beneficiary’ rules

From 2022, taxpayers are obligated to obtain, keep and provide to the Mexican tax authorities when so requested, information of individuals who are considered to be the ‘controlling beneficiaries’ of legal entities, trusts and other legal vehicles, such as name, date of birth, gender, nationality, tax residence, tax ID number and marital status. ... - Continue reading

How much capital gains tax you pay in Portugal?

Like many countries, Portugal imposes a capital gains tax on the sale of assets. It only applies to gains made on real estate and investments; personal items are not taxable and inheritances are only subject to a limited form of stamp duty. Your exposure will depend on whether you are resident, how you own the asset and, with property, whether it is your main home. ... - Continue reading

Requests for confirmation, tax treaty relief applications and tax sparing applications

IN 2021, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) 14-2021 and Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 77-2021, which streamlined the procedure for the availment of benefits under the applicable tax treaty.  ... - Continue reading