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Gerry Thornton Ireland has reduced the tax compliance requirements for Irish funds marketed to international investors in a move which underlines the commitment of the Irish authorities to Ireland's status as a leading funds domicile.

Orestis Livadas Sophie Stylianou After clarifications provided in December 2009 about the term "directly invested", the Moscow Department of the Russian Federal Tax Service and the Russian Ministry of Finance moved a step forward and provided further explanations concerning the definition of permanent establishment (PE), the treatment of liquidation proceeds and the recharacterised interest (to dividends) for the application of the double tax treaty (DTT) between Cyprus and the Russian Federation. These changes seem to reveal the Russian intention for the application of the DTT in place between Cyprus and Russia especially in the treatment of PE as well as interest payments.

Simeon Grigorov Rossitza Koleva Usually amendments and supplements to tax acts and regulations are stipulated annually with the aim to introduce certain policies, to take new rules from EU legislation, to illustrate the undertaken engagements before European partners, including regarding penal procedures, and to upgrade the legislation structure and correction of any inaccuracies that have been located in the process of the real application of the acts.

With an ever-increasing tax litigation backlog, India last year introduced its new dispute resolution panels to reduce the workload. But with the first round of orders being issued imminently, Rajesh Kapadia of GM Kapadia & Co questions the effectiveness of this new option.

Over the past 12 months the Chinese government has been keeping taxpayers busy with the release of a number of significant anti-avoidance tax circulars. Yongjun Peter Ni, Hao Jiang and Jiang Bian of White & Case in China explain how these circulars affect double tax agreements.

Taxpayers have been eagerly anticipating the release of new IRS guidance on FATCA since Congress enacted the new reporting regime in March. Erin Kelechava speaks with tax professionals and learns that for some taxpayers the guidance will raise more questions than answers.

Stefan Ditsch A German investment fund loaned a sum to a US fund in return for a share in the profits. The tax office saw the interest as equivalent to a dividend and sought to tax it as such in Germany with a credit for the US tax actually borne. The Supreme Tax Court, though, has now held the income to be exempt in Germany under the general rule in the treaty that exempts income taxable in the country of source from further taxation in the country of receipt, unless the treaty specifically provides otherwise. This, in the view of the court, it does not do. The dividend article has a sub-clause allowing the country of source to tax income from profit sharing loans as dividends and the avoidance of double taxation article substitutes the credit method for the exemption method for dividends. However, the latter article does not refer to "income taxed as dividends" but only to "dividends". Profit-based interest is not a dividend in the general sense of the term and therefore not subject to the substitution. The court saw this result as unsatisfactory, but did not feel able to depart from the wording of the treaty.

Philippe Durand Jean-Marc Priol Since March 1 2010, French taxpayers involved in legal proceedings before a court have had the option to plead that a statutory provision infringes the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the country's constitution. Such a plea may be put forward in disputes between taxpayers and the French tax authorities at any stage of the proceedings and before both administrative and civil courts in France. In the absence of a separate plea submission and reasoned documents, the plea will be inadmissible. Whether the question was raised in ordinary or appeal court, the QPC (la question prioritaire de constitutionnalite) has to go through the Conseil d'Etat or the Cour de Cassation (depending on the case) which then submits it to the Conseil Constitutionnel when the three following conditions are met:

Janne Juusela On May 25 2010, Finland and China signed a new double tax treaty and protocol in Beijing. The governmental bill was sent to the Finnish Parliament for approval on July 16 2010. Once in force, the new treaty will replace the Finland-China income tax treaty of May 12 1986 as amended by the 1995 protocol. Although the new treaty generally follows the 2008 OECD Model Convention, some provisions of the new treaty could have effect on structuring business activities between Finland and China.

Josefina Casals César Agliati Recently enacted Law No. 20.448 (MK3 or Stock Market Law 3) introduced amendments to certain laws in order to improve the liquidity, financial innovation, and integration of the Chilean stock market. One of the most relevant changes in this regard was made to Decree Law No. 1.328 (Mutual Funds Law) and to Decree Law No. 824 (Chilean Income Tax Law), by means of incorporating a new financial instrument in Chile, the exchange-traded funds or ETF, which are widely in use around the world.