Article Posted date
01 September 2023
5 min read
Tax developments or tax-related items reported this week include the following.
Africa
- Africa: A monthly KPMG report includes updates on the implementation of the Pillar Two global minimum tax in Africa and a 2023 tax guide for Nigeria.
- Nigeria: The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) issued a notice announcing the effective date of the changes to various pieces of tax legislation introduced by the Finance Act 2023, following an executive order generally extending the effective date of the Finance Act 2023 from 28 May 2023 to 1 September 2023.
Read TaxNewsFlash-Africa
Americas
- Costa Rica: Guidance was provided regarding the requirement that taxpayers have at least one employee hired and registered at the Costa Rican Social Security Fund in order to have their capital income taxed under the corporate income tax provisions.
Asia Pacific
- New Zealand: The government introduced in parliament a bill implementing a digital services tax (DST) on multinational businesses that earn over €750 million a year from global digital services and over NZD$3.5 million a year from digital services provided to New Zealand users social media platforms, internet search engines, and online marketplaces.
- Australia: The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government announced that it will be introducing a temporary payroll tax exemption on general practice medical centers.
Europe
- Cyprus: The tax authority announced that company income statements and self-employed with accounts declarations are now available for submission through the TAXISnet system, and the deadline to submit the declarations is 31 March 2024.
- Czech Republic: The government agreed on amendments to the bill containing proposed direct and indirect tax changes announced in May and expected to apply beginning 1 January 2024.
- EU: The Central Electronic System of Payment Information (CESOP) will enable enhanced enforcement of the EU value added tax (VAT) rules on non-resident digital economy businesses.
- EU: Certain measures adopted as part of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) are being challenged before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
- Germany: The Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) published a draft bill for a law on the financing of future-proofing investments that includes tax measures aimed at facilitating employee share ownership.
- Ireland: The VAT that applies to certain goods and services—mainly in the tourism and hospitality sector—will increase from 9% back to 13.5%, with effect from 1 September 2023.
- Italy: The government published legislation that would introduce a temporary solidarity contribution (“windfall profits tax”) on banks.
- Latvia: The Ministry of Finance released a report on tax policy options the budget for 2024, including a temporary solidarity contribution (“windfall profits tax”) on banks.
- Luxembourg: The Administrative Court of Luxembourg held that Luxembourg-based company owned by a Canadian group was not the beneficial owner of a U.S. trademark.
- Poland: Recent tax-related decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court concern application of the general anti-abuse rule, taxation of restricted stock, and taxation of a company conversion.
- Poland: The deadline to remit personal income tax on income from unrealized gains was extended by another 2 years, and the Minister of Finance published a draft decree on the method of collecting and reimbursing capital duty.
- Spain: The Spanish Supreme Court held that the burden of proof for denying the withholding tax exemption under the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive (PSD) lies with the tax authority.
- UK: HMRC issued a policy paper on reporting obligations for digital platform operators (DAC7).
Read TaxNewsFlash-Europe
Transfer Pricing
- Finland: The Finnish Ministry of Finance launched a consultation on a draft bill to implement the Pillar Two global minimum tax.
- Netherlands: The Dutch House of Representatives adopted legislation to implement public country-by-country (CbC) reporting.
- OECD: KPMG tax professionals submitted a memo with comments on the OECD’s public consultation document on Amount B under Pillar One following release of the agreed outcome statement on BEPS 2.0.
- Portugal: Decree-Law n. 73/2023 transposing EU Directive 2021/201 on public CbC reporting was approved.
- Seychelles: Various changes to the transfer pricing laws were introduced effective January 2023, including incorporation of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines. Transfer pricing reporting and documentation requirements are also expected to be announced in the official gazette.
FATCA / IGA / CRS
- Anguilla: The government announced that Anguilla will suspend tax information exchange with Russia and Belarus in solidarity with the government of the United Kingdom, effective 3 August 2023.
- Channel Islands: The government of Jersey released an email circular announcing the closure of its automatic exchange of financial information (AEOI) portal for FATCA and common reporting standard (CRS) reporting purposes until 2 October 2023.
United States
- The U.S. Treasury Department and IRS released proposed regulations regarding the rules relating to qualifying for increased credit or deduction amounts available for taxpayers satisfying prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship (PWA) requirements established by H.R. 5376 (commonly called the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” (IRA)).
- Notice 2023-56 provides guidance on the federal income tax consequences of refunds of state or local taxes and certain other payments made by state or local governments to individuals.
- Taxpayers in Alaska affected by flooding now have until 31 October 2023 to file various individual and business tax returns and to make tax payments.
- Taxpayers Florida affected by Hurricane Idalia now have until 15 February 2024 to file various individual and business tax returns and to make tax payments.
- A KPMG report discusses the proposed regulations on digital asset tax information reporting requirements.
State and local tax
- The Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals denied a taxpayer’s peremptory exception of no cause of action (i.e., motion to dismiss on the grounds that the plaintiff cannot prove any set of facts which would entitle it to relief) in a case in which the Louisiana Department of Revenue alleged that the taxpayer owed sales and use tax on complimentary hotel rooms and poolside cabanas provided to patrons of the taxpayer’s casino.
- The governor of New Jersey signed into law Assembly Bill 5323, which made significant revisions to New Jersey’s corporation business tax laws, including further refinements to the state’s combined reporting provisions.
The items described above are also reported as editions of TaxNewsFlash:
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