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Paul Chambers Samantha Nonnenkamp Luxembourg has now ratified 12 exchange of information protocols as well as eight new double tax treaties. At the same time, the procedure applicable to exchange of information upon request was adopted.

Elena Kostovska On October 5 2009, FYR Macedonia and Slovakia signed a new income and capital tax treaty, which has been ratified by the Parliament in FYR Macedonia. This new treaty will replace the 1981 treaty between the former Yugoslavia and the former Czechoslovakia, which applies now. Once the new treaty enters into force, it will apply for a minimum of five years.

Rajendra Nayak Ganesh Pai The Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) in India, in the case of E*Trade Mauritius Ltd. (taxpayer) [2010- TIOL-20-ARA-IT] recently ruled on the taxability of sale of shares of an Indian company under the India-Mauritius Tax Treaty (treaty). The taxpayer, a tax resident of Mauritius (having a tax residency certificate) held shares in an Indian company which were transferred to another Mauritius company. The taxpayer claimed that gains arising on such transfer were not taxable in India but was taxable only in Mauritius, under the treaty. However, the tax authority had earlier (before the taxpayer requested a ruling from the AAR) sought to deny the capital gains tax benefit to the taxpayer and had issued a withholding tax order directing the payer to withhold taxes on the gains. Against such order, the taxpayer filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court. The court, without adjudicating on the technical merits of the case, had directed the release of the tax amount from the transaction in favor of the tax authority. Aggrieved by this, the taxpayer filed an application before the AAR seeking a ruling on the taxability of the sale of shares in such transaction.

Ireland is one of the leading jurisdictions for the domicile of investment funds and has consistently taken steps to maintain a best-in-class tax regime for funds. Ireland has been proactive by recently updating its tax code to reduce certain administrative burdens, facilitate the implementation of the undertakings for collective investments in transferrable securities (UCITS) IV regime in Ireland and expand the tax relief for fund mergers and reorganisations. These measures enhance Ireland's competitive edge as the jurisdiction for investment funds and as a location for UCITS IV management companies and are another clear signal that the Irish Government is committed to the continued development of Ireland's fund industry.

Gary Gowrea The Supreme Court on February 4 2010, in the case of P. Li Kan Fong Ha Kong (the appellant) v the director-general, Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA), rejected the contention of the appellant that he had no means to pay the 30% of the amount of income tax claimed under a notice of assessment issued to him by the MRA.

Christine Kamphaus Lars-Volkmar Weihmann The controlled foreign company (CFC) rules provide for taxation of the German shareholder of income earned by a foreign subsidiary from a passive business activity and taxed locally at less than 25%.

Eric Roose Takeo Mizutani On December 18 2009, the Japanese Ministry of Finance and the Netherlands Ministry of Finance announced that they have agreed in principle on a new tax convention for the avoidance of double taxation. The new tax treaty will replace the existing tax treaty, which was originally concluded in 1970. The announcement comes after a period of negotiation between Japan and the Netherlands spanning a number of years.

"missing trader intra-Community" VAT fraud; refusal of input tax credit claims on the basis that the traders knew or should have known that the transactions in which they were involved were or were likely to be connected with fraud; whether HMRC's refusal was within the scope of the Sixth Directive;S.55 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (VATA) which imposed a reverse charge on certain supplies;

Recent decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on tax cases came under fire at a conference held by the Academy of European Law in Madrid at the end of April.

A white paper, published last week, predicts that a global drift towards indirect taxes, which began before the recession, will become further entrenched as governments seek to negotiate their new economic positions.