Category: Arbitration

Bermuda: Enforcement Of Judgments 2020 – Trends And Developments

Bermuda is a self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It has a population of over 60,000 people on a land mass of just 21 square miles. The island group is located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 760 miles due east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Surrounded by coral reefs and the Gulf Stream, Bermuda remains a popular destination for tourists but its infrastructure, flexible and innovative corporate structures and strong regulatory environment have made it a leading offshore jurisdiction for company incorporations, including for a number of companies listed on the main New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges ... - Continue reading

Ukraine: Ukraine Ratifies Protocol Amending Double Taxation Treaty Between Ukraine And Switzerland

On 18 September 2019, the Parliament of Ukraine ratified a protocol (the Protocol) of amendments to the double tax treaty between Ukraine and Switzerland (the DTT) which had been signed by the states on 24 January 2019.  ... - Continue reading

Canada: Canada Ratifies The Multilateral Instrument

On June 7, 2017, Canada along with numerous other jurisdictions signed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (“OECD”) Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the “MLI” or “multilateral instrument”). The multilateral instrument is the culmination of work undertaken as part of the OECD/G20 BEPS Project to equip governments with domestic and international instruments to address tax avoidance.   ... - Continue reading

EU Approves Rules to Fix 900 Cross-Border Double-Tax Disputes

European Union finance ministers gave formal approval to legislation designed to dramatically reduce the 900-plus unresolved company cross-border double taxation disputes. The Oct. 10 approval for the EU Double Taxation Dispute Resolution Directivecomes amid skepticism from tax professionals that it has the resources to be effective. It includes mandatory binding… – Continue reading

Ireland’s Revenue releases guidelines on requesting Mutual Agreement Procedure assistance

Ireland has published guidelines for requesting Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) assistance. The guidelines, issued in early August, set out the legal basis for requesting MAP assistance as well as: the process through which taxpayers can request assistance from Ireland’s Competent Authority (the Revenue) the possible outcomes resulting from a request… – Continue reading

Cairn moves international arbitration panel against dividend freeze

Cairn Energy has petitioned an international arbitration tribunal against billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd withholding its dividend for last three years New Delhi: UK’s Cairn Energy plc has petitioned an international arbitration tribunal against billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd withholding its dividend for last three years despite tax authorities saying… – Continue reading

BEPS big bang complexity for income tax treaties – on a delayed fuse

The OECD made its end-November 2016 deadline to release the text of the multilateral treaty to give effect to the BEPS Actions which involve changes to tax treaties, see here. The 49 page treaty text, which is commonly referred to as the multilateral instrument or MLI, and 85 page explanatory… – Continue reading

Dispute resolution under the Nigerian transfer pricing regime

Background The Federal Inland Revenue Service [FIRS] has begun Transfer Pricing [TP] audits and has been requesting TP documentation and other documents from taxpayers relating to their related party transactions. These actions are in line with its powers under the Income Tax (Transfer Pricing) Regulations No. 1 of 2012 [Regulations]… – Continue reading

Nearly 100 Countries Poised to Adopt Multilateral Treaty

Ninety-eight countries are poised to formally adopt the OECD’s innovative multilateral tax treaty, which will place recommendations from the BEPS project into more than 3,000 bilateral accords, when the ad-hoc group meets later this month. The “Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty-Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting”… – Continue reading

Japan, Austria Agree MAP Arbitration

The Governments of Japan and Austria have agreed in principle to amend their double taxation avoidance agreement to further promote trade and investment between the two countries. The new agreement would enable arbitration under the mutual agreement procedure to ensure settlement of double tax disputes. The new agreement will also… – Continue reading

Apple May Face Double Tax on Profits If France Adds to Tab

Apple Inc. may face double taxation on some of its profits if the European Commission’s Aug. 30 ruling inspires France to slap its own tax adjustment on the company, practitioners said. Apple could even face “triple taxation” if it repatriates profits from the European Union to the U.S., Laurent Leclercq,… – Continue reading

Govt to disclose details of disputes under mutual agreement procedures

Disclosures under the MAP are aimed at improving dispute resolution mechanism and are part of global initiative on base erosion and profit shifting. India will soon disclose the number of disputes being negotiated under the mutual agreement procedures (MAP) of tax treaties as well as details of the time being… – Continue reading

Tax lawyers to grapple with new changes

With elements of the Liberal government’s 2016-17 budget coming to fruition, tax lawyers must stay up to date with the changes as their workload increases, according to a global firm partner. Speaking with Lawyers Weekly, DLA Piper tax partner Jock McCormack (pictured) said tax lawyers can expect to be busy… – Continue reading

African nations urged to rethink incentives

African governments should embrace meaningful bilateral investments agreements to foster sustainable economic growth on the continent. The call follows a report by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on investment policies and bilateral investment treaties by Africa, indicating a huge gap between most of signed treaties and their actual… – Continue reading

Kenyan appointed to head global tax administration program

Kenya has received global recognition from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), following the appointment of James Karanja, a career Kenyan tax administrator to lead the recently established Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) Secretariat. TIWB is a global scope initiative, that was launched mid last year at the… – Continue reading

International Tax Advisory: America’s Next Tax Model

The Treasury recently released a revised U.S. Model Income Tax Convention (the “2016 Model”), the U.S. starting point for bilateral treaty negotiation, last updated a decade ago. In May 2015, the Treasury circulated several proposed changes in draft form. Those proposals generally survive in the 2016 Model, although the Treasury… – Continue reading

ICC Chamber of Commerce : welcomes OECD plan to include developing countries in implementation of BEPS

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) welcomes the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) plan to allow all countries to participate on an equal footing with OECD and G20 countries in the implementation of the OECD/G20 Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) plan. The framework announced by the OECD early… – Continue reading

Important changes and developments in German double tax treaties

1. New double tax treaty between Germany and the Netherlands: tax authorities now bear burden of proof regarding tax- evading or tax-avoiding arrangements A new Double Tax Treaty (DTT) has been in place between Germany and the Netherlands since 01 January 2016. Art. 23 of the DTT introduces an important… – Continue reading

International Tax Disputes: A Ray of Hope

Despite the anticipated tsunami of tax disputes generated by underlying tensions in international taxation, there is reason for hope that appropriate means are being developed to address them efficiently and effectively. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) should be addressing their existing international taxation planning structures in light of coming changes in international… – Continue reading

Important Amendments to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) Business Companies Act of 2004

The BVI Business Companies Act of 2004 has been amended by the BVI Business Companies (Amendment) Act of 2015. This amendment has come into effect on the 15th January 2016. The key amendments mainly relate to the following highlighted areas: Register of Directors (ROD): In the case of a new… – Continue reading