International Tax - Europe & Africa Newsletter

Transcription

1 - Europe & Africa Newsletter This e-newsletter gives you an overview of international tax developments being reported globally by KPMG member firms in the Europe and Africa regions between 1 and 31. Angola Czech Republic Hungary Netherlands Poland Switzerland Austria EU Ireland Nigeria Serbia UK Belgium Germany Italy Norway Spain Zambia Croatia Gibraltar Luxembourg OECD Sweden To contact the Group in Russia and the CIS go to the Contacts section. To register for the webcasts, click here. Tax area concerned Relevant date/case reference Description of measures and publication link (Considerations in italic where necessary) Angola Tax Customs duties A legislative decree amends the rates applicable for the consumption tax and for customs duties on imports. The changes reflect increases to the rates on luxury goods and alcohol, but reflect a reduction in rates of customs duty for goods and equipment imported for domestic production activities. Austria Administrative Corporate income The Court of Justice of the European Union issued a and case-law tax judgment concluding that Austrian rules that allow, under a group taxation regime, an Austrian parent company to deduct amortization of goodwill resulting from the acquisition of a domestic subsidiary, but deny this tax benefit for participations in EU subsidiaries, are in breach of the freedom of establishment. The case is:

2 Finanzamt Linz, C-66/14. Belgium Tax Excise duties 1 November The excise tax (duty) rates that apply with respect to alcohol and alcoholic beverages increased beginning 1 November. The tax rates will increase substantially ranging from 8.5 percent for beer to more than 40 percent for ethyl alcohol. Various tax areas 1 January 2016 The Belgian government announced that it has reached an agreement on the budgets and 2016 and on the implementation of the tax shift. Most measures would be effective 1 January 2016, with the expectation that Parliament would pass these measures before the end of the year. Croatia Tax Accounting 1 January 2016 Provisions to implement an EU Directive into the Croatian law on accounting generally will be effective 1 January 2016, and will apply for legal entities required to comply with Croatia s profit tax law. Czech Republic Tax Corporate income tax/tax compliance The electronic reporting of sales was originally scheduled to be effective beginning in The electronic reporting of sales has now been postponed indefinitely. Also, the Supreme Administrative Court issued a decision that was expected to resolve a disagreement between the seventh and ninth panel of judges, relating to the application of a magic provision in the income tax law, allowing for the reclassification of expenses from non-deductible to deductible. EU Tax Anti-avoidance 12 The European Commission reported it has d the consolidated version of the lists from the EU Member States, reflecting changes in assessments of the tax

3 good governance standards of these third countries, as well as providing revisions to national lists. Customs duties 2016 The European Commission posted regulations concerning the tariff and statistical nomenclature on the common customs tariff for Tax cooperation The status of Hong Kong as a non-cooperative tax jurisdiction (as designed by the European Commission) has been revised. In, the EC d a webpage regarding non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, and removed Hong Kong from this list. Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base The European Commission has launched a public consultation to help identify the key measures for inclusion in the re-launch of the proposal for a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base. Customs duties / First sale principle The European Commission published a new draft version of the implementing regulation of the Union Customs Code, and concerning customs valuation, there are new developments on the transaction value to be used and the sunset clause. Exchange of information 6 EU finance ministers agreed to introduce provisions for the automatic exchange of information on cross-border tax rulings the latest development concerning the European Commission s initiative to address tax avoidance and harmful tax competition. Detailed provisions to be included in a directive are expected to be finalized before the end of, so the exact content of the new rules will not be known until that time. Germany Tax VAT New VAT law provisions concern the VAT treatment of: public authorities or legal entities under public law (effective for sales beginning in 2017) the reverse charge mechanism for: (1) construction work, to include the supply of goods and services to operating facilities; (2) purchases by public authorities of supplies of goods and services if purchased by the recipient for non-business activities; and (3) metal supplies

4 Corporate income tax/capital gains 16 New tax law in Germany was passed by the upper house (Bundesrat). The law is still pending final publication prior to enactment. The new law includes measures concerning, among other: extension of the group exemption provision other consideration in exchange for contributions changes to the composition of holders of a partnership owning real property alignment of the real estate transfer tax with case law installment payments of tax on gain realized on the sale of certain assets. Administrative Corporate income The federal tax court decided a case concerning the and case-law tax write-down of loan receivables due from foreign related companies. The case concerns a tax year prior to 2008 when German tax law was amended to provide that profit reductions relating to domestic and crossborder shareholder loans between corporations are no longer tax deductible and that an off-balance sheet adjustment is required. Gibraltar Tax Tax compliance There is a change to the tax rules in Gibraltar effective for accounting periods beginning in This change requires that all companies registered in Gibraltar must submit a tax return not just those companies with assessable income. Hungary Tax Various tax areas 2014 Hungary s civil code (2014) establishes a higher capital requirement for limited liability companies, and because of this, there may be concerns that supplementary payments made to satisfy this requirement may have tax implications. Tax compliance 13 The Hungarian government submitted proposals for certain tax law changes to be enacted for Among the measures proposed are changes to the rules concerning how individual taxpayers comply with their tax return filing requirements.

5 Ireland R&D 13 Ireland s budget 2016 was announced and details concerning the research and development (R&D) tax incentive known as the knowledge development box were (as was expected) provided in the budget statement. The knowledge development box would provide for a 6.25 percent corporation tax rate on profits arising to certain intellectual property assets that are the result of qualifying R&D activity that is carried out in Ireland. Italy Tax Tax rulings 2016 A new tax ruling system will apply in Italy at the start of The new system revises the timing for a taxpayer to file a tax ruling application and the time period for the tax authorities to respond. The new tax ruling system further provides rules for when a request for a tax ruling is mandatory and when a tax ruling is option. Treaties Double tax 26 An income tax treaty between Italy and Hong Kong has treaties entered into force, with the exchange of instruments of ratification. The official communication of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announcing this exchange was published in the official journal on 26. Luxembourg BEPS The Luxembourg government submitted draft legislative proposals to Parliament that, if enacted, would both implement certain provisions of the OECD s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) actions and provide for certain EU-compliant measures. The proposals also would be intended to improve the competitiveness of the Luxembourg tax system. Netherlands

6 Corporate income 16 A bill to amend the fiscal unity regime was presented tax / Fiscal unity to the Dutch Lower House. The bill provides for an amendment to Dutch tax law, in response to the findings of the Court of Justice of the European Union and subsequent judgments from the Court of Appeals, Amsterdam that held that parts of the Dutch fiscal unity regime for corporate income tax purposes were contrary to the European freedom of establishment. Administrative Individual income 9 The Advocate General of the Dutch Supreme Court on and case-law tax 9 issued an opinion concerning whether the 150-kilometer requirement for application of the 30 percent ruling is contrary to EU law. The Advocate General concluded there was no systematic and clear overcompensation to employees, and consequently no violation of EU law. Treaties Double tax treaties 1 January 2016 The Netherlands has completed its ratification procedures for the entry into force of a new income tax treaty between the Netherlands and Germany. Therefore, the treaty will be effective beginning 1 January Nigeria Administrative Corporate income The Federal High Court, Lagos, reversed a decision of and case-law tax / Permanent the Tax Appeal Tribunal in a case concerning whether establishments a corporation had a fixed base in Nigeria, and concluded that the foreign corporation did not have a fixed base in Nigeria and thus was not liable for corporate income tax. Norway Corporate income tax 7 The Norwegian conservative government published both the proposed state budget for 2016 and a white paper containing proposals for tax reform. Petroleum tax The state budget 2016 does not include any particular tax incentives for the petroleum industry, and maintains the marginal tax rate of 78 percent. The special petroleum tax increases to 53 percent (up 2 percent) which corresponds to a reduction in the general corporate income tax rate. The proposed amendments to the tax and the budget must be approved

7 by the Parliament in December. OECD BEPS 5 The OECD issued a final package of reports in connection with its action plan to address BEPS, together with a plan for follow-up work and a timetable for implementation. Poland Tax R&D 2016 Beginning in 2016, companies in Poland will have an opportunity to benefit from new tax relief measures with respect to their eligible R&D activities. Various tax areas Poland s lower house (the Sejm) in early accepted and adopted the Senate s amendments to that would amend provisions of the individual (personal) income tax law, the corporate income tax law, as well as other laws. With this approval, the is sent to the president. Serbia Tax Individual income There is a decrease, by EUR 15, in the non-taxable tax amounts of per diem reimbursements for business travel. Accordingly, employers that pay per diems to employees for foreign business travel about a threshold of EUR 15 must calculate salary tax, at a rate of 10 percent on the amount of the per diems above EUR 15. VAT 15 A new law providing changes to the value added tax (VAT) in Serbia was enacted, and the changes are effective 15. Spain

8 Tax Tax audits 12 New rules in Spain concerning tax audits, including amendments concerning the period of limitations for audit proceedings, were effective 12. VAT 2017 Taxpayers subject to a new immediate supply of information regime under Spain s VAT regulations will have to begin providing, almost immediately, certain invoice information electronically to the tax authorities, according to a draft Royal Decree. The new rules are scheduled to be effective in 2017, but taxpayers may need to take steps now to begin to implement and to be compliant with these new VAT rules. Sweden Administrative VAT The Court of Justice of the European Union issued a and case-law judgment concluding that exchanges of traditional currency for the bitcoin virtual currency (and vice versa) are exempt from VAT. The case is: Skatteverket v. Hedqvist, C Switzerland Corporate income tax Proposals for corporate tax reform referred to as Corporate Tax Reform III aim at maintaining Switzerland s attractiveness for international headquarters. Other Corporate income tax / Permanent establishment Swiss companies that send employees abroad need to be aware whether this could constitute a permanent establishment or a fixed place of business. UK Tax Various tax areas HM Revenue & Customs published a brief, setting out the tax agency s position following the UK Supreme Court s decision in a case concerning U.S. limited liability companies. The brief sets forth how HMRC intends to interpret the decision in the Anson case.

9 Various tax areas 26 The report stage and third reading of Finance Bill -16 took place on 26, followed by the bill being sent to the House of Lords (which has no authority to amend it). Accordingly, the version of the passed by the Commons will form the basis of Finance (No.2) Act. Zambia Tax Various tax areas 9 Zambia s budget for 2016 was presented 9. Concerning taxes: relief has been proposed for alternative energy generation projects the property transfer tax on land and shares would be reduced to 5 percent (from 10 percent) the excise tax (duty) on clear beer would be reduced from 60 percent to 40 percent a number of changes concern customs and excise duties in an effort to encourage local value chain creation would be proposed. For a full summary of global tax developments, visit kpmg.com/taxnewsflash. Contacts in Russia and the CIS Anna Voronkova Partner, Head of +7 (495) Alexander Tokarev Senior Manager, +7 (495) Elena Dolgova Senior Manager, +7 (495) Evgenia Wolfus Partner, +7 (495) Olga Ermolaeva Senior Manager, +7 (495) Yuriy Kulikov Manager, +7 (495) Rezida Valitova Manager, +7 (495)

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