Search results for

The OECD, and the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of Information, which it organises, have moved to assert their preeminence as the international bodies that discuss and decide on transparency and exchange of information standards. The OECD's Pascal Saint-Amans and Monica Bhatia have described as "very unfortunate" the publication by the EU Commission of a list of the top 30 non-cooperative jurisdictions blacklisted by EU member states.

Ghana has approved amendments to its VAT Act The Ghanaian Parliament has approved several amendments to its VAT legislation, dealing a blow to real estate developers and making several additions to the list of exempted goods and services.

The Indian government has appointed Rodrigo Oreamuno as its arbitrator in the long-running Vodafone dispute.

Tiago Cassiano Neves A new case entered the European Court of Justice (Brisal – C-18/15) dealing with the issue of compatibility of a withholding tax on gross interest paid to non-resident financial institutions, while in a domestic situation taxation is levied on a net basis without a withholding tax being levied. In general terms, Portuguese financial institutions or non-resident financial institutions with a permanent establishment in Portugal are not subject to withholding tax on interest derived from loans to Portuguese resident entities or individuals. As for outbound interest payments, Portugal continues to generally levy a 25% final withholding tax which may be reduced under a tax treaty between 10% and 15% (depending on the tax treaty). Only in very few instances may domestic exemptions apply, that is, interest payments for certain public and private debt securities and interest income paid between financial institutions.

The UK diverted profits tax (DPT) – dubbed the Google tax – has been in effect for almost a month, and Australia is looking at similar action to be included in its May 12 Budget speech, after signalling a desire to move “further and faster” than the OECD-led BEPS project. If other jurisdictions follow suit, this could drastically dilute the impact of multilateral efforts.

The OECD's base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project is well underway with proposals (at least in draft form) and consultations on all specific action points.

Francisco Lavandera As is widely known, Spain recently implemented a major tax reform, mainly focused on corporate income tax. But domestic situations are not the only ones affected by the new set of provisions. Certain rules with international tax implications have also experienced substantial changes which are likely to have an effect on the way inbound investments are structured. The most remarkable change is the extension of the existing participation exemption rules – hitherto confined exclusively to shareholdings in foreign entities – to domestic subsidiaries. Although Spanish-source dividends already enjoyed full exemption under certain conditions, the new framework allows for the tax-free treatment of capital gains arising from share disposals in a purely domestic context.

Tim Stewart

While Sweden may be seen as effectively preventing base erosion through limiting interest deductions, the effects on businesses and investments must be carefully scrutinised before being considered in other countries, argue Hussein Abdali and Tord Fredriksson of Grant Thornton.

Timothy Lyons QC and Kelly Stricklin-Coutinho of 39 Essex Chambers analyse recent transparency developments across Europe, focusing on the proposed requirement for EU member states to provide a quarterly report on all cross-border tax rulings and advance pricing arrangements.