This article examines the intricacies surrounding the concept of a ‘place of effective management’ in determining tax residency for foreign corporate entities in Zambia. While Zambia’s Income Tax Act incorporated the concept of a ‘place of effective management’ to align with international practice, the undefined concept creates uncertainty that leaves the concept open to various interpretations. This article further critiques the inadequacy of the guidance provided by Zambia’s tax authority on the concept and compares the concept of a place of effective management with the alternative concept of a ‘head or main office’ in achieving certainty in the determination of the tax residence of corporate bodies.
Released on Jan 8, 2025
This article provides a high-level overview of the taxation landscape for entities seeking to establish their business or invest in the United Republic of Tanzania. The current landscape provides for taxes payable or which entities are liable to collect and remit to the tax authorities in the United Republic of Tanzania. The article also discusses the potential tax consequences should an entity seek to exit the country. In this regard, the article examines both voluntary and compulsory exit situations.
Released on Jan 8, 2025
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has historically been known as a tax-friendly jurisdiction, attracting multinational corporations, family offices, investors and individuals to the country. However, in response to evolving global tax policies and a strategic shift away from the reliance on hydrocarbon revenues, the UAE has undertaken significant tax reforms, including the introduction of corporate tax at the federal level in 2023. This article explores the UAE’s evolving corporate tax environment, examining key corporate tax considerations and recent developments that impact businesses operating within the UAE.
Released on Jan 8, 2025
The Kingdom of Bahrain is undergoing a significant economic transformation as it moves away from its historical reliance on oil and gas reserves. In this respect, Bahrain has strategically diversified its economy, emerging as a prominent business hub within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This transformation is marked by recent tax reforms, including the introduction of value-added tax (VAT) and a domestic minimum top-up tax, reflecting Bahrain’s aim to establish its long-term economic stability. This article examines the tax environment in Bahrain and the implications for businesses aiming to establish or expand their presence in Bahrain.
Released on Jan 8, 2025
One of the current trends within the Israeli tech startup environment is that startups are increasingly considering restructuring their corporate structures by placing a non-Israeli company at the top of their holding structure, often referred to as a ‘flip’. While this can involve various non-Israeli jurisdictions, it is particularly common for the resulting parent company to be based in the US. The reasons behind this trend include tax incentives, investor preferences and regulatory advantages. The typical process of a flip involves the transfer of rights by rightsholders in the Israeli company to a newly formed foreign parent company, often creating immediate tax implications for Israeli stakeholders. However, the Israel Tax Authority has the ability to offer a favourable tax decision in this regard that can exempt Israeli rightsholders from tax, provided certain conditions are met. This decision by the regulator may also have a potential impact on the company’s future exit strategies and tax obligations. The implications of flips should, therefore, be carefully considered by startups and investors.
Released on Jan 8, 2025
Kenya, an East African country, was recently ranked the top African country for expatriates and ninth in the world in this regard. As businesses and people move to Kenya, it is crucial that they understand Kenya’s tax landscape, including the applicable tax laws and incentives meant to attract investors. This article provides a general overview of the local taxation rules, some of the incentives and the key consequences for businesses and individuals moving to or from Kenya.
Released on Jan 8, 2025
Oman, a Gulf nation, has emerged as an attractive destination for foreign investment. With a stable political and economic environment, coupled with favourable government policies and incentives, Oman offers significant opportunities for businesses. The government’s pro-business initiatives, including tax exemptions and incentives, have further enhanced Oman’s appeal. While corporate income tax is levied at a moderate rate, the absence of personal income tax and the recent suspension of withholding tax on dividends and interest make Oman an even more attractive proposition. Additionally, the country’s robust infrastructure, the ease of doing business, and the growing focus on diversification contribute to the overall investment climate.
Released on Jan 8, 2025
This article provides an overview of the provisions relevant to taxation in Mauritius and discusses key recent developments in this area.
Released on Jan 8, 2025
This article is intended for the attention of businesses planning to expand their activities in Iraq, as it describes the current legal framework regarding the taxation of income, be it generated by a local corporation, a foreign investor or an individual. The article discusses the applicable provisions and provides insight into the current and expected approach of the local tax authorities.
Released on Jan 8, 2025
As France faces significant economic challenges characterised by mounting public debt and a record-high deficit, the draft Finance Bill for 2025 is currently being discussed before the French Parliament. The Bill seeks to reduce the public deficit from seven per cent to five per cent of gross domestic product through a €19bn revenue increase, introducing new taxes targeted at high-income individuals and large corporations. The legislative process is complicated by a hung parliament and social crises. Despite the government’s efforts to address all the issues at stake, ongoing political instability raises questions about the efficacy and stability of France’s economic policies.
Released on Nov 25, 2024
Various changes were made to the Turkish tax system via Act No 7524, which was published in the Official Gazette on 2 August 2024. This article describes some of the important changes resulting from the Act.
Released on Nov 22, 2024
This article provides an overview of the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI) established by Law 27742 in Argentina, which offers a comprehensive framework of tax, customs and foreign exchange incentives aimed at promoting significant investments in key business sectors. This article explores the main features, eligibility requirements and benefits of the RIGI, highlighting its potential to attract substantial foreign and domestic investments in Argentina.
Released on Nov 21, 2024
Legislative Decree No 1623, enacted on 4 August 2024, has introduced significant changes to Peru’s framework on value-added tax, extending its application to digital services and intangible goods acquired by Peruvian consumers from foreign providers. This reform addresses the expanding digital economy, imposing new tax obligations on non-resident providers and payment intermediaries, particularly financial institutions.
Released on Nov 18, 2024
Italy’s digital services tax could undergo its most significant transformation since its introduction in 2020. Initially conceived as a tax targeted at large multinational technology companies, the 2025 Draft Italian Budget drastically broadens the tax's scope, extending its application to resident and non-resident digital enterprises irrespective of their revenue.
Released on Nov 13, 2024
Since the end of 2019, Greece has been on list of countries that have enacted favourable tax regimes, designed to attract individuals to move their tax residence to the country. These regimes are the non-dom tax regime, the foreign pensioner’s tax regime and the employee and self-employed regime, known as 5A, 5B and 5C regimes, respectively, as per the corresponding articles in the Income Tax Code, which introduced them. This article provides an overview of the most important features of each of these tax regimes, considering the most recent amendments and administrative interpretations since their enactment.
Released on Nov 13, 2024
In the view of the authors, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) persists in adopting a method for attributing profits to permanent establishments (PEs) that is misaligned with international standards. This divergence may result in foreign taxpayers encountering a tax burden in Australia that is considerably more substantial than they might have anticipated. In this article, we examine the ATO’s methodology and explain why it can often culminate in an unusually high tax imposition on PEs within Australia.
Released on Nov 13, 2024
As a measure to tackle the informal economy and tax evasion and to promote fair trade, Law No 21,713 on Compliance with Tax Obligations, enacted on 25 October 2024, incorporates relevant changes on the tax treatment applicable to the international business to consumer digital trade of goods. As a result, the responsibility for value-added tax collection on imports of low-value goods is shifted from customs authorities to the digital intermediation platforms facilitating such transactions. The specifics of these new regulations are set out in this article.
Released on Nov 13, 2024
This article discusses the current situation in regard to withholding tax in Poland and recent precedent-setting judgments by the administrative courts regarding the exemption of Luxembourg reserved alternative investment funds from withholding tax in Poland.
Released on Nov 13, 2024
The draft Finance Bill for 2025 was released on 11 October 2024 and is due to be examined by Members of the French Parliament from 21 October 2024. The merger tax regime for corporate restructurings is to be adapted (Article 17 of the draft Finance Bill) following the Ordinance 2023-393 of 24 May 2023 and Decree No 2023-430 of 2 June 2023, which transposed EU Directive 2019/2121 and reformed the legal regime in regard to company law. This article examines these developments.
Released on Nov 13, 2024
Brazil is taking significant steps towards becoming a leading country in projects related to the energy transition. The second half of 2024 saw the enactment of important laws on hydrogen and biofuels/green fuels, which delivers a clear message: Brazil is committed to playing a key role in the energy transition.
Released on Nov 13, 2024
The focus of this conference panel discussion was privilege, penalties and good faith across jurisdictions. The panel discussed a hypothetical tax enforcement lifecycle, client–attorney privilege protection, the interaction between civil and criminal law proceedings, as well as document retention rules.
Released on Aug 26, 2024
The panel discussed the role of transfer pricing (TP) in the post-Pillar Two tax world, focusing in particular on the potential impact of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Pillar Two rules on TP (section 1); recent developments at European Union level involving the proposed EU Directive on Transfer Pricing (commonly known as the ‘TP Directive’), recent intellectual property fact patterns (section 3) and the current trends in intercompany financing (section 4).
Released on Aug 26, 2024
This conference panel explored multijurisdictional trends, including the frequency of multijurisdictional audits, the use of a mutual agreement procedure, advance pricing agreement trends, the use of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s International Compliance Assurance Programme and developments related to information sharing.
Released on Aug 26, 2024
This government update explored the implementation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Two-Pillar Solution through several lenses, ranging from work currently being conducted by the OECD and the European Commission, to the country-specific perspectives of Germany, Jersey, Switzerland and the United States.
Released on Aug 26, 2024
This conference panel discussed the main hurdles faced by a non-EU based company importing and selling goods in the EU via a traditional buy-and-sell or a limited-risk distribution model.
Released on Aug 26, 2024
This conference panel discussed the complexities surrounding investment in the US through hybrid entities, providing diverse perspectives on the matter, whereby each speaker offered insights into recent developments concerning these entities in their respective jurisdictions.
Released on Aug 26, 2024
This conference panel discussed special tax regimes in various jurisdictions. The speakers presented the latest news from their home jurisdictions and addressed the tax residency criteria, changes to the tax laws and the implications for taxpayers. They also touched on treaty issues and concluded with predictions on future trends in international tax policies.
Released on Aug 26, 2024
The panel discussed how the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the UN address international taxation concerns, starting with a look at the approach adopted in the past up to the present day, recent developments concerning the OECD’s Global Minimum Corporate Tax Rate, followed by an analysis of the solutions provided by both the OECD and the UN to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy. The likelihood of cooperation between the two organisations was also discussed. The panel also presented the perspectives of India and the US on these issues.
Released on May 27, 2024
The panel discussion was focused on the critical aspects and potential impact of the OECD Pillar Two Model Rules framework on various tax and corporate structures. The first segment of the discussion was dedicated to how Pillar Two affects investment funds, certain International Financial Reporting Standards definitions and considerations, the particulars concerning joint ventures and the ramifications of Pillar Two in the context of mergers and acquisitions. The first half of the discussion highlighted the critical factors that must be taken into account for the strategic structuring of investments in accordance with Pillar Two. In the second half, attention shifted towards a comprehensive review of the recent developments in regard to US foreign tax credits, a topic of significant relevance given its potential influence on cross-border investments and the international tax landscape.
Released on Apr 8, 2024
This session focused on four topics in regard to mergers and acquisitions (M&A): (1) redomiciliations, (2) spin-offs and demergers, (3) selected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Pillar Two topics focusing on contractual clauses and (4) transfer taxes. For most of the agenda items, the local special rules and practical takeaways were highlighted.
Released on Apr 8, 2024