International
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September 27, 2024
US Trade Group Pushes OECD On Compliance Burden
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development needs to do more work on the safe harbor provisions of its Pillar Two 15% global corporate minimum tax plan — including potentially making it permanent — among other compliance burden concerns, the National Foreign Trade Council said Friday.
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September 27, 2024
Gov't Could Target Pension Contributions In Tax Raid
The U.K. government could introduce a new levy on employer pension contributions as a means of plugging a £22 billion ($29.5 billion) black hole in public finances, experts said Friday.
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September 26, 2024
Belgian Co. Can't Keep Using Ad Space Rent-Free, ECJ Says
The European Court of Justice on Thursday upheld a 2019 European Commission ruling that a street furniture company's owed rent for Brussels bus shelter advertising space, agreeing with the commission that allowing the company to continue using the ad displays without paying rent or taxes constituted unlawful state aid.
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September 26, 2024
Tribunal Halts $52.8M German Tax Collection Against Oil Cos.
German tax authorities shouldn't collect a windfall profits tax totaling at least €47.2 million ($52.8 million) from two oil refineries before the dispute has been litigated, a tribunal of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes said.
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September 26, 2024
Montreal Exchange Is A Qualified Exchange, IRS Says
The Montreal Exchange is a qualified board or exchange for purposes of mark-to-market contracts under Internal Revenue Code Section 1256(g)(7)(C), the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.
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September 26, 2024
Amazon Reports Paying £932M In UK Taxes In 2023
Amazon said Thursday that it paid a total of £932 million ($1.25 billion) in U.K. taxes last year, which the company said puts it among the 10 largest taxpayers in the country.
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September 26, 2024
Tariff Tax Base Too Small To Replace Income Tax, Report Says
Higher tariffs can't replace income tax revenue, as former President Donald Trump has suggested, since U.S. imports total $3 trillion annually while incomes top $20 trillion, but they would lower incomes by raising prices for U.S. consumers, a think tank reported Thursday.
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September 26, 2024
Irish Dividend Exemption Too Restrictive, Big 4 Say
The Big Four accounting firms raised concerns about wording in Ireland's planned tax exemption for foreign-sourced dividends, claiming in comments released Thursday that it would be overly restrictive to require dividends to come solely out of an offshore affiliate's profits.
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September 26, 2024
Harris' And Trump's Tax Plans Each Add To Deficit, Study Says
The U.S. federal deficit would grow by at least $2 trillion over the next decade from the tax policy plans of both major parties' candidates, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, researchers said Thursday.
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September 26, 2024
UK Cos. Claimed Nearly £1.5B In Patent Box Relief In 2022-23
While there was a slight dip in the number of U.K. companies that elected to use the country's patent box tax regime in the 2022-23 tax year compared with the prior year, the estimated value of relief claimed jumped to nearly £1.47 billion ($1.97 billion) compared with around £1.33 billion, HM Revenue & Customs said Thursday.
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September 26, 2024
UK R&D Tax Credit Claims Down, But Total Relief Up £100M
While there was an over 20% dip in research and development tax credit claims in the U.K. in the 2022-23 tax year, the total relief claimed rose to £7.5 billion ($10.1 billion), a £100 million increase, HM Revenue & Customs said Thursday.
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September 26, 2024
UK Corp. Tax Receipts Up 10% To £93.3B, HMRC Says
The U.K. generated £93.3 billion ($125 billion) in corporate tax receipts in the 2023-24 tax year, a 10% increase over the prior year, HM Revenue & Customs said Thursday, pointing mainly to the increase in the country's corporation tax rate to 25% as the reason behind the bump.
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September 26, 2024
ECJ Backs Strong Protection For Lawyer-Client Discussions
Confidentiality of lawyer-client communications has enhanced protection under European Union law, including in cross-border tax disclosures, the European Court of Justice ruled Thursday.
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September 26, 2024
OECD Publishes Streamlined Amount B Model Agreement
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published a model agreement Thursday for a simplified and streamlined approach to the Amount B portion of Pillar One, a transfer pricing plan for certain baseline marketing and distribution activities.
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September 25, 2024
IBM Urges Justices To Review NY Tax On Foreign Royalties
New York's system for taxing royalty payments would be unconstitutional if every other jurisdiction adopted it, violating an internal consistency test reaffirmed by a 2015 precedent, IBM told the U.S. Supreme Court in asking it to review and overturn New York's high court ruling that allowed the tax regime.
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September 25, 2024
Boosting Indirect Tax Revenues Can Tackle Debt, OECD Says
A number of countries should look to eliminate distortive tax expenses as well as increase their revenue from certain taxes to help manage debt sustainability and make their economies more supportive of growth, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Wednesday.
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September 25, 2024
Expect More R&D Guidance Before Regs, IRS Atty Says
The Internal Revenue Service plans to release more guidance governing the tax treatment of research and development expenses before it formally issues proposed regulations that implement the 2017 federal tax law's changes to the incentive, an agency attorney said Wednesday.
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September 25, 2024
EU States Must Unify Divergent Biz Rules, Majority Says
The European Union must double down on unifying its divergent rules for businesses in a policy proposal next year because the bloc's main competitive advantage is its single market, almost three-quarters of EU countries told the bloc's executive arm.
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September 25, 2024
Basis-Shifting Regs May Add Accounting Fixes, IRS Atty Says
The Internal Revenue Service may include in upcoming proposed regulations a solution for partnership basis-shifting for taxpayers that want to adjust accounting methods so prior transactions can be compliant with economic substance laws, an agency attorney said Wednesday.
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September 25, 2024
Wyden Calls On 2025 Tax Bill To Include Partnership Reform
Lawmakers should consider next year how to revise partnership tax laws to better collect on large businesses' income without harming smaller entities as Congress debates over how to address expiring tax provisions, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said Wednesday.
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September 25, 2024
Australia Floats Updates To Amended Tax Pro Conduct Code
After repeated pushback against changes to Australia's tax agent code of conduct, the country's Treasury proposed two further amendments Wednesday that aim to address complaints regarding corrections of false or misleading statements and disclosures of information to clients.
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September 25, 2024
Hong Kong, Turkey Reach Double-Tax Agreement
Hong Kong and Turkey agreed to a treaty to prevent double taxation, which would take effect after approval by both jurisdictions' legislatures, Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department said.
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September 25, 2024
French Finance Minister Signals Higher Taxes On Rich
The new French government is considering raising taxes on the wealthy and businesses to help reduce the country's budget deficit amid concerns over debt, according to remarks by the new finance minister.
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September 25, 2024
Puerto Rico Seeking Input On Implementing Global Min. Tax
Puerto Rico's Department of the Treasury is looking for public comments regarding possible implementation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's 15% global corporate minimum tax on large multinational entities.
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September 25, 2024
HMRC Arrests 11 Suspected Of R&D Tax Fraud
HM Revenue & Customs arrested 11 people, including tax agents, at several locations on suspicion of defrauding research and development tax relief programs, officers said.
Expert Analysis
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What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review
Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Participating In Living History Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My role as a baron in a living history group, and my work as volunteer corporate counsel for a book series fan association, has provided me several opportunities to practice in unexpected areas of law — opening doors to experiences that have nurtured invaluable personal and professional skills, says Matthew Parker at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
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Private Equity Owners Can Remedy Law Firms' Agency Issues
Nonlawyer, private-equity ownership of law firms can benefit shareholders and others vulnerable to governance issues such as disparate interests, and can in turn help resolve agency problems, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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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.