Yearly Archives: 2017

Swiss voters reject tax reform plan

Swiss voters decisively rejected the proposed federal bill on Corporate Tax Reform III (CTR III), which was adopted by the Federal Parliament last June, by a majority 59.1% vote in a referendum. CTR III was designed to align the Swiss corporate tax system with international standards, particularly the OECD’s base erosion and profit sharing (BEPS)…

Australia introduces legislation for new Diverted Profits Tax

The government introduced legislation into the Parliament to implement the new Diverted Profits Tax (DPT). Designed to prevent multinational companies from shifting their Australian profits to offshore-related parties in order to avoid paying Australian tax, it will commence on 1 July. By making it easier to apply Australia’s anti‑avoidance provisions and applying a 40% rate…

Switzerland consults on AEOI with 20 more countries

Switzerland’s Federal Department of Finance launched a consultation on introducing automatic exchange of information (AEOI) in tax matters with 20 additional countries. The countries under consideration are: China, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Liechtenstein, Colombia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Montserrat, Aruba, Curaçao, Belize, Costa Rica, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia,…

EU moves ahead with “blacklist” screening process

European Union member states sent letters to 92 countries to inform them that they will be “screened” with a view to inclusion on a future “blacklist” of “jurisdictions refusing to comply with good tax governance standards”. The EU is to prepare a definitive list of tax havens by the end of 2017. The EU Code…

Hong Kong and Korea sign agreement for automatic exchange

23 January 2017, Hong Kong signed a competent authority agreement (CAA) with Korea with a view to commencing the automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters (AEOI) in 2019. The two countries have been exchanging tax information upon request since 2016 when the Korea-Hong Kong tax treaty entered into force, In order to…

South Africa finalises Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme

19 January 2017, the Taxation Laws Amendment Act 2016, which confirmed the final details of the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme (SVDP), was promulgated. The SVDP provides a final window of opportunity for taxpayers to regularise their tax and exchange control affairs before automatic exchange of information under the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) gets underway…

US signs FATCA IGAs with Bahrain and Greece

18 and 19 January 2017, the US signed Model 1 intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) with Bahrain and Greece respectively US to facilitate compliance with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by financial institutions (FIs). FATCA is intended to ensure that the US Internal Revenue Service obtains information on financial accounts held at foreign financial…