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Another 6 Countries Have Joined the BEPS Multilateral Convention

Published: 31.01.2018 |

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On January 24, 2018, another six states signed the Multilateral Convention for the Implementation of Activities under the BEPS Plan (MLI Convention). In this regard, the countries were able to amend promptly their agreements on avoidance of double taxation, taking into account the recommendations developed by the OECD in the framework of the plan of action to counteract the base erosion and withdrawal of profits from taxation. Barbados, Côte d'Ivoire, Jamaica, Malaysia, Panama and Tunisia joined the MLI Convention, after which the total number of signers reached 78. It is also worth noting that Algeria, Kazakhstan, Oman and Swaziland have announced their intention to sign the Convention in the near future. In addition, other jurisdictions are actively working on signing the agreement in June this year, as the press service of the OECD reports. To date, four jurisdictions - Austria, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Poland - have ratified the Convention, which will enter into force three months after the fifth part of jurisdictions transfers the instruments of ratification to storage. The Convention, developed as part of large-scale negotiations involving more than 100 countries and...

NBU Has Mitigated Conditions for Business for Selling Foreign Currency

Published: 29.01.2018 | news

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#NBU

The National Bank of Ukraine has simplified the conditions for the sale of foreign currency by the clients of the banks in the interbank foreign exchange market. The amendments to the legislation are enshrined in the NBU Resolution No.7 of January 25, 2018 “On Amending certain normative legal acts of the National Bank of Ukraine” and entered into force on January 27, 2018. The innovations provide mainly the following: Clear definition of the client’s right to apply for the sale of foreign currency to any authorized bank by his choice (regardless of the availability of a current account in foreign currency in this bank). Clarification of the terms of sale of foreign currency of the clients by the bank. We remind that an authorized bank is required by proxy of the client to sell its own funds in foreign currency no later than 5 banking days, starting from the day of writing off these funds from the client’s current account. The NBU clarified that in case of transfer of funds for sale by the client from another authorized bank, the sale of this currency is carried out within 5 days from the date of transfer of these funds to the correspondent account of the authorized...

Since January 1, 2018, Amount of Official Payments Has Been Increased in the BVI

Published: 25.01.2018 |

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#Legislation #Offshores

In connection with the entry into force of amendments to the Law on Commercial Companies of 2004 (as amended in 2005), since January 1, 2018, the official fees have been increased in the BVI, levied from business companies in the Register of Corporate Affairs. These changes were adopted and published by the Government of the British Virgin Islands at the end of 2016. Initially, it was assumed that the amount of official payments will be increased from July 1, 2017, but in March of last year, the entry into force of the changes was postponed until January 1, 2018. The increase in the amount of following payments is among the most notable changes: Accordingly, the fines for late payment of annual fees have also been increased, since they are set as a percentage of the annual fee. The amount of payment for the restoration of the company in the Register has also been significantly increased. Some new duties have been introduced, including: for the primary registration of a copy of the register of company participants; for registration of changes in the register of participants; for registration of an application for consent to use a limited in the use word or a phrase in the...

south-korea-announced-about-introduction-of-24-tax-for-cryptocurrency-exchanges

Published: 25.01.2018 |

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#South Korea #Taxation

According to the IA Yonhap, South Korean authorities announced about the introduction of income tax for local cryptocurrency exchanges in the total amount of 24.2%. This rate consists of 22% of corporate and 2.2% of local income tax. This is how the income of all South Korean companies is taxed, if it exceeds 20 billion won, which equals $18.7 million. Now this requirement extends to cryptocurrency exchanges. According to an official from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance of South Korea, the exchanges will be obliged to pay taxes by March-April. So, one of the largest exchanges of the country Bithumb, which last year’s revenues might exceed 317 billion won ($297 million), will have to pay a tax of about 60 billion won ($56.3 million). According to Coinmarketcap, the daily trading volume on this exchange is about $3.2 billion. The decision to impose a tax on stock exchanges was made a few days after it became known that the income of South Korean banks with commissions for cryptocurrency trading had increased in 36 times - up to 2.2 billion won ($2 million). We remind that in December 2017, it has become known that the government of South Korea plans to take measures to limit...

The European Union Excluded 8 Countries and Territories from the “Black List” of Offshore Zones

Published: 24.01.2018 |

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#Black list #Grenada #Macau #Offshores #Panama #UAE

The European Union excluded 8 countries and territories from the “black list” of offshore zones, as it was reported on the official website of the Council of the European Union on January 23. The following countries were removed from the list: Barbados, Grenada, the Republic of Korea, Macau, Mongolia, Panama, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. As it was noted in the message, the exсlusion was justified taking into account the expert assessment of the obligations undertaken by these jurisdictions to eliminate the shortcomings identified by the European Union. In each case, the commitments were backed up by the letters signed at a high political level. At the same time, the above countries and territories belong to a separate category now, subject to close monitoring. We remind that on December 5, 2017 the EU announced its intention to exclude 17 jurisdictions from the “black list” of offshore zones that do not take appropriate measures to ensure financial transparency and combat tax crimes. Thus, 9 of the planned 17 countries and territories remained on the list, namely American Samoa, Bahrain, Guam, Marshall Islands, Namibia, Palau, Saint Lucia, Samoa and Trinidad and...

EU Mitigates the Rules of Taxation for Small Business

Published: 24.01.2018 |

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#EU #Taxation #VAT

The European Union announced its intention to expand the powers of Member States with respect to changing the rates of VAT and mitigating the rules of taxation for small businesses. These changes are only part of a large-scale plan on revision of the European VAT system aimed at creating a single VAT zone. We remind that the general rules of VAT in the European Union were agreed in 1992. According to the European Commission, they became obsolete and, in addition, too limited. The EU Commissioner for Taxation, Pierre Moscovici, noted: “Today we are taking another step towards the creation of a single VAT zone in the European Union with simplified rules for our Member States and, in particular, companies. These proposals will give EU countries greater freedom with regard to application of preferential VAT rates to specific products or services. At the same time, they will enable to reduce the number of bureaucratic mechanisms for small enterprises engaged in cross-border activities, thereby contributing to their growth and job creation”. The Commission proposed to give EU Member States the opportunity to introduce certain benefits, along with a standard VAT rate of at least...

Cyprus Imposes 19% VAT on Building Land

Published: 19.01.2018 |

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#Taxes #VAT

From January 2, 2018 in Cyprus, the new VAT Law has entered into force, providing for changes in the main VAT Law No.95(I)/2000. The document introduces VAT at a standard rate for the sale of building land, as well as leasing/rental of business premises on the conditions specified in the law. It also introduces the reverse charge mechanism for VAT-subject supplies of land and property under a loan restructuring/force-sale arrangement, which will mostly influence financial institutions. Imposition of VAT at the standard rate of 19% on building land The standard VAT rate of 19% will be applied in the following cases: transfer of ownership; transfer of indivisible land portion; transfer of ownership via contract or sale agreement or agreement which specifies that the ownership will be transferred in the future or leasing agreement with buyout option. The above shall apply to non-developed building land which is meant for the construction of one or more structures in the course of carrying out a business activity. More clarifications are still needed for the application of the law, such as the circumstances whereby a transfer is not considered to be a part of a person’s economic...

CMU Has Approved the Concept and Action Plan for Development of Digital Economy in Ukraine until 2020

Published: 18.01.2018 |

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#Legislation #Reforms

Yesterday, on January 17, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved an order “On the approval of the development concept of the digital economy and society of Ukraine for 2018-2020 and approval of a plan of action for its implementation”. This is reported by the IA “RBC-Ukraine”. The project is mainly aimed at implementing the initiatives of the “Digital Agenda of Ukraine-2020” in order to remove the barriers for the digital transformation of Ukraine in the most promising fields by stimulating the economy and attracting investments, as well as overcoming the digital inequality, deepening cooperation with the EU in the digital sphere and developing innovative infrastructure of the country and digital transformations. The Prime Minister of Ukraine Vladimir Groysman wrote about it on his Facebook page: “The adopted Action Plan is very ambitious and innovative - it provides for the development of Industry 4.0, smart factory, digital jobs, STEM-education and digital educational services, digital infrastructures for the Internet things, blockchain, eHealth and e-security, etc. Ukraine is obliged today to launch a large-scale digitization of all branches of the economy...

The European Union Intends to Exclude 8 Countries from the “Black List” of Offshore Zones

Published: 17.01.2018 |

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#Black list #EU #Offshores #Tax disputes #Офшори

The European Union is discussing the possible exclusion of eight countries from the “black list” of offshore zones. It is reported by the IA Reuters, referring to the documents at its disposal. According to the agency, Panama, UAE, South Korea, Barbados, Grenada, Macau, Mongolia and Tunisia can be removed from the list. Such a proposal is justified by the fact that these countries have agreed to change their tax policy. In addition, an exclusion from the list of Bahrain was discussed, but in the end, it was decided to leave it on the list. On Tuesday, January 16, the issue was discussed at the ambassadorial level. And next week the proposal will be considered by the EU finance ministers. In early December, the last ones published a “black list” of countries that did not want to cooperate with the EU in the field of tax reporting, as reported by the UNIAN. The list includes 17 countries, namely: American Samoa, Bahrain, Barbados, Grenada, Guam, Macau, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Namibia, United Arab Emirates, Palau, Panama, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and South Korea. Offshore zones are on the territory of the most part of these states. We remind that...

Singapore Has Launched Automatic Exchange of Tax Information with 61 Jurisdictions

Published: 16.01.2018 |

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#Singapore #Tax reporting #Taxation

The government of Singapore stated that the process of automatic exchange of tax information with 61 states has been launched within the framework of the program to avoid tax evasion and financial crimes in the territory of the country. Data exchange will take place in accordance with the CRS - Common Reporting Standard of the OECD for the exchange of tax information. This standard assumes that an automatic exchange of information occurs between the territories that have agreed on the exchange of data in the automatic mode. The use of appropriate mechanisms and systems for collecting information on financial accounts is regulated by the Common Reporting Standard of the OECD for the exchange of tax information (CRS Regulations), which came into effect at the beginning of this year. The process of exchange of information with most states started on January 1. The government has approved the exchange of tax and financial information with the following jurisdictions: Australia Argentina Barbados Belgium Bermuda Bulgaria Brazil United Kingdom Germany Guernsey Greece Denmark Jersey India Indonesia Ireland Iceland Spain Italy Cayman...

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