The International Chamber of Commerce has warned that micro-, small-, and medium-sized businesses' growth prospects are being stymied by complex indirect tax regimes. It has released an issues brief that is intended to contribute towards international reform talks being led by the World Trade Organization.
On September 23, 2019, the French Government outlined a number of measures that will be included in the 2020 Finance Law to ensure the payment of value-added tax on items bought by French residents from online marketplaces.
The United States may impose additional duties of up to 100 percent on certain French products in retaliation for France's digital services tax, which a newly published report by the US Trade Representative has concluded discriminates against certain US companies.
On January 6, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that an on-the-record but off-camera public hearing would be held on January 7 on proposed action against France's digital services tax (DST).
On January 9, 2019, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced the launch of a new Gig Economy Tax Center, which is intended to help taxpayers meet their tax obligations through more streamlined information.
The Turkish tax authority has published a draft communique on the application of the digital sales tax, which is set to come into effect on March 1, 2020.
France's Directorate General of Public Finance confirmed in a statement issued on February 10, 2020, that companies liable for the country's digital services tax can delay payment of upcoming installments of the tax until December 2020.
The finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy, and Spain have put their names to a statement calling for countries to reach an agreement on solving the tax challenges of the digital economy by the end of 2020.
Malta's Minister for Finance, Edward Scicluna, recently announced the launch of a number of fiscal incentives, which are intended to boost the take-up of voluntary private pensions.
Malta has enacted rules removing the bias in favor of debt financing by creating a notional interest deduction for equity financing.
A new report has been issued following an audit into how taxes in Malta are administered.
Greens/EFA members of the European Parliament have called on the EU Code of Conduct Group to be more transparent about the criteria it used to create the EU's new blacklist of non-cooperative territories and how it will manage it going forward.
The European Commission has sent letters of formal notice to Cyprus, Greece, and Malta for not levying the correct amount of value-added tax on yachts.
The number of advance pricing agreements between EU member states and companies rose by 64 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to research by Eurodad.
On February 20, 2020, Malta's Commissioner for Revenue said tax payments by bank draft or check issued by foreign banks will no longer be accepted.
On May 2, 2019, Belgium's finance ministry confirmed that the Tax-on-web portal has been opened for personal and corporate income tax returns for the 2019 fiscal year.
Tax agencies from 31 countries discussed the ways they are using data analysis tools to improve tax enforcement and administration, at the first meeting of the IOTA Forum on Tax Debt Management, held in Prague, Czech Republic, On October 1-3, 2019.
Nine EU member states have called on the European Commission to draw up proposals for an EU-wide aviation tax.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has presented a final proposal for a European Union financial transactions tax to the 10 member states participating in the initiative.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has said he is confident that an agreement can be reached on a European Union financial transactions tax.
On January 24, 2020, the European Commission issued formal notices to numerous European Union member states with regards to lapses in the implementation of various EU anti-tax avoidance directives.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has said that Austria does not agree with new German proposals for a European financial transactions tax.
On February 19, 2020, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz issued a statement to say that he remains "committed" to the introduction of a financial transactions tax at European Union level along the same lines as that proposed by the German Government last month, despite opposition from within the EU, notably from Austria.
On April 3, 2020, the Belgian tax authority announced an increase in the credit available for timely advance tax payments to provide businesses and the self-employed a liquidity boost amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Hong Kong has newly signed an agreement with France to automatically exchange country-by-country reports filed by multinationals.
The International Monetary Fund has urged Hong Kong to consider tax reform options to boost revenues while maintaining the economy's competitiveness and flexibility.
Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department on March 5 launched its new Country-by-Country Reporting Portal.
On June 14, 2018, Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department released guidance on the tax obligations of landlords.
Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department has released new guidance notes on the deduction of foreign taxes.
Hong Kong's 2020 Budget includes plans for a one-off reduction of profits tax, salaries tax, and tax under personal assessment.
Hong Kong has updated its guidance on advance rulings, to reflect changes to Hong Kong's practices as a result of its efforts to comply with the OECD's minimum standards proposed as part of the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) Action Plan.
The Swiss Government has published guidance on the legislation that brings into force the recommendations made by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.
According to French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, France and the United States will in the next two weeks attempt to reach a compromise over their ongoing dispute regarding France's new digital services tax.
On January 22, 2020, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire confirmed that France will suspend collection of its digital services tax this year to prevent the United States from applying retaliatory tariffs on a range of French goods.
The Swiss Government has announced that it will waive interest on late payments of tax, to allow companies to delay their tax payments.
The OECD Global Forum has released eight peer review reports, for Brunei, Macau, Switzerland, Barbados, the Seychelles, Liberia, Peru, and Tunisia, on the jurisdictions' efforts to adopt and comply with international tax standards on transparency and the exchange of tax-related information on request.
The OECD's Global Forum has found Switzerland largely compliant with the international standards on transparency and the exchange of information upon request.
The UAE's Federal Tax Authority has newly launched a number of VAT compliance tools and further confirmed how the value-added tax regime, introduced at the start of the year, should operate.
Businesses registered for the United Arab Emirates's value-added tax need to complete a four-step online procedure to file their tax returns, the Federal Tax Authority has said.
The European Commission is to take steps to ensure that EU external development and investment funds cannot be channelled or transited through entities in countries included on the EU's "blacklist" of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.
The United Arab Emirates' Federal Tax Authority has issued guidance on obtaining refunds of value-added tax on new homes.
The UAE has recently passed legislation to introduce new country-by-country reporting requirements and new economic substance requirements.
Citizens from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will newly be able to claim refunds for the VAT they incur when building their own home.
In an e-brief issued on December 12, 2017, the Irish tax agency announced that maximum withholding tax rates on cross-border passive income have been lowered under the Ireland-Chile double tax agreement.
The US Internal Revenue Services has released its annual report on the number of advance pricing agreements and applications and made during the 2017 calendar year.
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