International
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June 07, 2024
Tax Discriminates Against Risky Assets, Dutch Court Says
The Netherlands must compensate investors for a tax on investment income that discriminates against riskier assets by using calculations of fictitious returns, the Dutch Supreme Court said.
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June 06, 2024
Medtronic Urges 8th Circ. To Back Its Transfer Pricing Method
Medical device maker Medtronic reiterated Thursday its bid for the Eighth Circuit to revive its method for pricing intangible property that was licensed to a Puerto Rican affiliate, arguing the government's concessions show why the company's approach is more reliable.
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June 06, 2024
Oil Cos. Stifle Bids For Tax Transparency, SEC Letters Show
At least three oil companies have stifled proposals initiated by the nonprofit Oxfam America for public country-by-country reporting of business activities, profits and taxes this year, according to letters from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained by Law360.
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June 06, 2024
Australia Seeking Feedback On Tax Returns For Biggest Cos.
The Australian Taxation Office said it is reaching out to advisory firms and other groups about plans to introduce a supplementary goods-and-services tax form for the country's biggest companies.
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June 06, 2024
Fox Rothschild Brings On Tax Pro From Atlanta Boutique
Fox Rothschild LLP has added an attorney in Atlanta from tax law boutique Wiggam Law to strengthen the firm's taxation and wealth planning department.
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June 06, 2024
EU Must Improve Country-By-Country Reporting, Group Says
While there has been an uptick in voluntary country-by-country public disclosures, the large multinational corporations that do so make up just 2% of all large companies and account for less than 5% of global revenue and profits, necessitating further improvements, an EU-funded research group said Thursday.
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June 06, 2024
Co. Did Not Abuse UK-Ireland Tax Agreement, Tribunal Affirms
The fact that an Ireland-based company benefited from the U.K.-Ireland double-taxation agreement when it acquired an £83.5 million ($106.8 million) investment doesn't mean it entered the transaction only for tax benefits, the U.K.'s Upper Tribunal said, affirming a lower court.
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June 06, 2024
Pharma Co. Should Get Hungarian Rebate, ECJ Adviser Says
Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk's mandatory payments into the Hungarian health system should reduce the company's tax base for value-added tax payments, an adviser to the European Union's highest court said Thursday.
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June 06, 2024
Switzerland, Italy Agree To Permanent Rules For Remote Work
Switzerland and Italy have established permanent rules regarding the taxation of cross-border workers, replacing a temporary arrangement that was agreed to last year, the Swiss government said Thursday.
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June 05, 2024
Nigeria Holding US Binance Exec Hostage, Lawmakers Say
The White House's hostage negotiator should begin seeking the release of a top executive at cryptocurrency exchange Binance whom the Nigerian government is holding personally liable for tax evasion charges against the company, the House Foreign Affairs Committee's chairman has said.
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June 05, 2024
German Draft Bill Would Adjust Tax Laws To EU Rules
Changes could be coming to a number of German tax laws, including some spurred by European Union law and both national and international case law, Germany's Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
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June 05, 2024
Win May Embolden IRS Use Of Economic Substance Doctrine
The IRS' successful wielding of the economic substance doctrine to characterize multinational telecommunications corporation Liberty Global's sophisticated set of intercompany deals as an abusive tax shelter could encourage the agency to apply similar analysis to even the most basic tax transactions.
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June 05, 2024
Streamers To Be Hit With 5% Charge On Canadian Revenue
Streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ soon will be required to contribute 5% of their Canadian revenues to the country's broadcasting system, which could generate CA$200 million ($146 million) a year, Canada's government said, drawing the ire of the National Foreign Trade Council.
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June 05, 2024
Gov't UK ISA Savings Proposal Gets Cold Shoulder
More financial firms on Wednesday warned that the U.K. government's plans to give consumers a new tax break for investing in U.K. companies was unworkable, adding it could conflict with the Financial Conduct Authority's consumer protection rules.
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June 05, 2024
EU Corp. Tax Proposal Delayed By Uncertainty On OECD Plan
European Union countries' negotiations on a proposal to streamline corporate taxation have been delayed because of a lack of clarity on implementation of the OECD's global minimum tax and the design of the accompanying reallocation of taxing rights, a top European Commission tax official said Wednesday.
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June 05, 2024
OECD Official Hopes Pillar 2 Ends Some 'Wasteful' Incentives
The introduction of the global minimum corporate tax known as Pillar Two should lead to the end of some "wasteful" incentives that narrow the tax base, an official from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Wednesday.
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June 05, 2024
Labour's Pension Tax Plans Backed By Fiscal Research Body
An influential economics think tank has backed plans by the Labour Party to reintroduce the lifetime allowance, arguing that there should be a cap on the tax-free accumulation of pensions wealth.
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June 04, 2024
Full DC Circ. Asked To Weigh Foreign Info Disclosure Penalties
A D.C. Circuit panel made questionable assumptions about congressional intent when it revived the IRS' authority to assess and administratively collect penalties related to undisclosed foreign corporations, a businessman said Tuesday in asking the full appellate court to hear his case.
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June 04, 2024
Australian Court Upholds Ex-Chinese Citizen's $7.7M Tax Bill
An Australian court upheld an AU$11.5 million ($7.7 million) tax bill from the Australian Taxation Office to a former Chinese citizen after determining he failed to provide enough evidence to support his alternative tax liability calculation.
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June 04, 2024
Calif. OTA Rejects Couple's Claim Of Bolivia Residency
A California couple owes additional state income tax on a retirement account distribution, the state Office of Tax Appeals said in an opinion released Tuesday, rejecting the pair's assertion that they were domiciled in Bolivia at the time.
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June 04, 2024
EU OKs Italian Renewable Energy Plan Funded By Levy
The European Commission said Tuesday that it approved Italy's plan to introduce a levy on the electricity bills of final consumers to fund construction of renewable energy plants, finding the benefits far outweigh any potential damage to competition and trade.
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June 04, 2024
Spain Sends Pillar 2 Bill To Legislature After EU Pressure
The Spanish government announced Tuesday it has sent a bill to its legislature that would transpose the European Union directive to implement the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's global minimum tax on large corporations following pressure from the bloc.
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June 04, 2024
New Dutch Gov't Seen Returning To Pro-Biz Positions
The incoming conservative Dutch government is expected to adopt tax policies that align with the Netherlands' long-standing reputation as a tax-friendly jurisdiction for businesses, in part by reversing a recently enacted measure that taxed companies' purchases of their own shares.
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June 04, 2024
Luxembourg Candidate Calls To End EU Tax Unanimity Rule
The leading Socialist candidate in the upcoming European parliamentary elections said the European Union should scrap the need for unanimity for all tax decisions, clashing with his home country of Luxembourg's longtime stand that's meant to protect its status as a financial center.
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June 04, 2024
Austrian Authorities Reveal Spike In Fake Companies
The number of fake companies in Austria is increasing, according to data from the Finance Ministry, which said that it hoped a new law would aid in combating the trend.
Expert Analysis
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How Taxpayers Can Prep As Justices Weigh Repatriation Tax
The U.S. Supreme Court might strike down the 2017 federal tax overhaul's corporate repatriation tax in Moore v. U.S., so taxpayers should file protective tax refund claims before the case is decided and repatriate previously taxed earnings that could become entangled in dubious potential Section 965 refunds, say Jenny Austin and Gary Wilcox at Mayer Brown.
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OFAC Designation Prosecutions Are Constitutionally Suspect
Criminal prosecutions based on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s sanctions-related listing decisions — made with nearly unfettered discretion through an opaque process — present several constitutional issues, so it is imperative that courts recognize additional rights of review, say Solomon Shinerock and Annika Conrad at Lewis Baach.
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How The OECD Global Tax Proposal Could Affect M&A
Following agreement on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Pillar Two proposal to introduce a global minimum tax, domestic implementation is expected to have a significant impact on international M&A transactions, with financial modeling, deal structuring, risk allocation and joint venture arrangements likely to be affected, say lawyers at Freshfields.
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UK Shares-Tax Proposals Offer Long-Awaited Modernization
The U.K. government's recent consultation on the introduction of a new tax on transactions in securities raises detailed legal and practical issues, but the prospect of a single digital stamp tax offering both streamlined legislation and administration will be welcomed, say Zoë Arnautov and Mark Sheiham at Simmons & Simmons.
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IRS Foreign Tax Credit Pause Is Welcome Course Correction
A recent IRS notice temporarily suspending application of 2022 foreign tax credit regulations provides wanted relief for the many U.S. multinational companies and other taxpayers that otherwise face the risk of significant double taxation in their international operations, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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IRS Criminal Probe Spells Uncertainty For Malta Pension Plans
The IRS’ recent scrutiny of Malta pension plan arrangements — and its unusual issuance of criminal administrative summonses — confirms that it views many of these plans as illegal tax evasion schemes, and the road ahead will not be smooth and steady for anyone involved, say attorneys at Kostelanetz.
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IRS Announcement Will Aid Cos. In Buyback Tax Planning
Recent IRS transitional guidance regarding current requirements for reporting and payment of the stock repurchase excise tax will help corporate taxpayers make decisions about records retention and establishing reserves for future tax payments, say Xenia Garofalo and Kyle Colonna at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Flawed Analysis Supports Common Law Tax Deficiency Ruling
The Colorado federal district court’s recent decision in Liberty Global, holding that the U.S. Department of Justice may assert a common law tax claim without the notice of tax deficiency required by the Internal Revenue Code, relies on a contorted reading of the statute and irrelevant case law, say Loren Opper and Christie Galinski at Miller Canfield.
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Review Of Repatriation Tax Sets Justices On Slippery Slope
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to review the constitutionality of the repatriation tax in Moore v. U.S. has implications for many tax rules involving unrealized amounts and could leave the court on the brink of invalidating large swaths of the Internal Revenue Code, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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What To Make Of IRS' New Advance Pricing Guidance
Recent guidance on the IRS' goals for its advance pricing agreement system provides helpful insight into review and decision-making procedures for advance pricing agreement requests, but it also raises questions about the IRS' objectives, say Richard Slowinski and Stefanie Kavanagh at Alston & Bird.
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Reserved Investor Fund Would Plug Gap In UK Finance Market
The reserved investor fund recently proposed by HM Treasury has the potential to be a welcome tax-efficient addition to the U.K.’s canon of products for real estate investments, with attractive features for companies and, in particular, large asset managers, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.
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The Reciprocal Tax Bill Is A Warning Shot At Pillar 2
A bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives to reciprocally tax countries deemed to have imposed discriminatory taxes on U.S. citizens and businesses takes aim at countries implementing the global minimum tax treaty known as Pillar Two, with which the U.S. has not complied, says Alan Cole at the Tax Foundation.
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What Tax-Exempt Orgs. Need From Energy Credit Guidance
Guidance clarifying the Inflation Reduction Act’s credit regime, expected from the U.S. Department of the Treasury this summer, should help tax-exempt organizations determine the benefits of clean energy projects and integrate alternative energy investments into their activities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.