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Cyprus Imposes 19% VAT on Building Land

Published: 19.01.2018 |

Tags:

#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 |

Tags:

#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 |

Tags:

#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 |

Tags:

#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...

A Number of Agreements on Automatic Exchange of Tax Information Entered into Force in Switzerland

Published: 12.01.2018 |

Tags:

#Switzerland #Tax planning #Tax reporting #Taxation

A number of agreements on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) on taxation issues, concluded by Switzerland with other jurisdictions, entered into force on January 1, 2018. Data exchange will be carried out in accordance with the Common Reporting Standard of the OECD, which provides for the possibility of automatic exchange of information between the territories that have agreed to such an exchange. Switzerland starts to exchange tax information this year with respect to data on accounts collected for some partners under previously signed agreements, namely Australia, Canada, the European Union, Guernsey and Jersey, the Isle of Man, Iceland, Japan, Norway and South Korea . More complete list of jurisdictions with which Switzerland plans to establish automatic exchange of information since 2019 was published on the website of the State Secretariat for International Finance. In order to fulfill its obligation to exchange information automatically with these territories, Swiss financial institutions will be demanded to comply with the new requirements on information collection from January 1, 2018 for the accounts of taxpayers from such countries as Andorra, Argentina, Barbados,...

Campaign “Declaration of incomes of citizens – 2018” Has Started

Published: 11.01.2018 |

Tags:

#Tax disputes #Tax reporting

As the main office of the SFS in Kyiv reports, from January 1, 2018, the campaign of declaring incomes of citizens, received during 2017, has started which will last until May 1, 2018. We would like to note that the citizens are obliged to submit an annual Declaration on Property and Income in case if they received in 2017: separate incomes, from which income tax on natural persons was not withheld in the calculation and payment during the year 2017; income from natural persons who do not have the status of tax agents (for example, income from the provision of real estate for rent to a natural person who is not a subject of business activity); foreign incomes; other incomes, which declaration is provided by the current legislation. Such citizens are obliged to deposit the amount of such income in the total annual taxable income and submit before May 1, 2018 the annual tax declaration on the property status and income based on the results of 2017, as well as to calculate and pay a tax on such income at a rate of 18% to the budget until August 1 2018 and military duty at a rate of 1.5%. We also remind that citizens willing to exercise their right to a tax discount based on the...

Moratorium on Inspections Will Be in Force until the End of 2018

Published: 10.01.2018 |

The changes in the Law of Ukraine “On the Temporal Features of the Implementation of Measures of State Supervision (Control) in the Sphere of Economic Activity” have been published. The innovations assume the extension of the moratorium on the conduct of planned measures by the state supervision (control) authorities on the implementation of state supervision (control) in the sphere of economic activity by the end of 2018. In addition, until December 31 of this year, unplanned measures of state supervision (control) are carried out by the state supervision (control) authorities on the following grounds: in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 3 Memorandum No. 1728 (as agreed by the central executive authority implementing the state regulatory policy, policy on supervision (control) in the sphere of economic activity, licensing and permissive system in the sphere of economic activities and deregulation of economic activities); upon a written request of a business entity to the relevant body of state supervision (control) on the implementation of an event of state supervision (control) at his request; in the event of an accident or death due to an accident in connection with the...

Estonian Undertakings Will Disclose Beneficial Owners

Published: 10.01.2018 | news

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#Estonia

From 1 September 2018, all Estonian undertakings must disclose data on their beneficial owners in the commercial register. Therefore, name, date of birth, habitual residence and position occupied by the beneficial owner are subject to disclosure. The obligation to provide these data to the register lies with management board of the company. According to the law, a beneficial owner is defined as a natural person who, by using his influence, performs an operation or a transaction or who exercises control over a transaction, operation or another person in whose interests or on whose account a transaction or operation is performed. A beneficial owner is also a natural person who ultimately owns or controls more than 25% of the shares in the undertaking. In case if the company has failed to identify the beneficial owner and “all possible identification measures” have been exhausted, a member of the highest management board must be represented as the beneficial owner. In addition, there must be no doubt that such a person does not exist. Data on the beneficial owner must be submitted to the commercial register during company formation procedures. If they remain unchanged, the...

The National Bank Has Abolished a Number of Requirements for Banks Regarding the Conduct of Foreign Exchange Operations by the Сlients

Published: 29.12.2017 |

The National Bank of Ukraine has abolished some requirements for banks regarding the conduct of foreign exchange operations by the clients. As the press-service of the Regulator informs, now the banks are provided with effective tools that allow them to manage risks independently using a risk-based approach. In this connection, the strengthened control over the process of the transactions by the clients has lost its relevance by the National Bank. Mitigation of requirements also concerns the reduction of obligations of the banks with respect to the statistical information they provide. So, from January 1, 2018, the requirement for daily sending of the information file # 2C to the NBU, effective from September 2015, was canceled. Information on currency transactions of the clients will be provided by the banks to the National Bank by updated forms of statistical reporting according to the rules for the organization of statistical reporting approved by the NBU Resolution No.129 of March 1, 2016. In addition, the obligatory certification by a seal of the copies of documents provided by the clients to the bank for currency transactions is abolished. The above changes were approved by...

Concept of Cryptocurrency Has Been Introduced in the Legislation of the European Union

Published: 29.12.2017 |

Tags:

#Cryptocurrency #EU #Legislation

Over the past few years, the development of Bitcoin has been increased, which is actively discussed by the governments of different countries. In this regard, the European Union raised some concerns about funding of terrorism, money laundering and tax evasion, which might be related to cryptocurrencies. This is the reason why the European legislator has introduced the concept of cryptocurrency into the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, where Bitcoin is defined as a “monetary instrument”. As the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici notes, to date Bitcoin is not considered as an alternative currency along with dollar or euro due to volatility and much speculation. It is noteworthy that the differences between the definitions of Bitcoins in the EU Directive and in the US legislation are not significant. Details of the political discussions regarding the cryptocurrency in the European Parliament and the further legislative prospects for electronic money are still...

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