International
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September 13, 2024
Brokers Seek Insurance Tax Cut In Budget For At-Risk Housing
A trade body for insurance brokers has urged the U.K. government to exempt policyholders in apartment buildings with flammable cladding from a tax on premiums, as it seeks to avoid a jump in the price of cover.
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September 13, 2024
Hungarian Amendment To Environment Law Shouldn't Fly
Hungarian proposals to exempt maritime and aviation fuel from an update of the European Union's energy tax directive for the next 20 years risk locking some sectors of the economy into fossil fuel dependency, a think tank has said.
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September 12, 2024
UK Says Illicit Cigarette Crackdown Halves Tobacco Tax Gap
HM Revenue & Customs said Thursday it has slashed the tax gap on cigarettes and other tobacco products by more than half since 2005.
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September 12, 2024
Wilson Sonsini Hires Tax Pro From Slaughter and May
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC has recruited a tax specialist from Slaughter and May to its office in London to boost its strengths representing U.K. and European technology and life sciences companies that are expanding in the U.S. and globally.
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September 12, 2024
IRS Lacked Way To Track CAMT Comments, TIGTA Finds
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel did not always track comments it received in response to guidance issued on the corporate alternative minimum tax and did not have detailed procedures in place for the pre-rulemaking guidance process, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported Thursday.
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September 12, 2024
EU Rejects Minimum Price Offers In Chinese EV Dispute
The European Commission has rejected offers from exporters of electric vehicles made in China to stick to minimum prices that would aim to remove an unfair competitive advantage that the commission believes Chinese state subsidies give the exporters, a commission spokesman said Thursday.
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September 12, 2024
UK Gov't Warned Over Pension Tax Changes In Budget
A trade body for actuaries said on Thursday that the government should consult widely and take time to implement any reform to pension taxation as it joins a growing number of organizations urging caution over potential tax changes ahead of the upcoming Budget.
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September 12, 2024
Treasury Floats Long-Awaited Rules For Corp. Minimum Tax
Treasury and the IRS released eagerly awaited rules Thursday on the new 15% corporate alternative minimum tax on corporations with reported profits of $1 billion or more, taking a step toward implementing a key provision of President Joe Biden's signature 2022 tax and climate law.
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September 12, 2024
Danish Pharma Co. Is Entitled To VAT Reduction
A Danish pharmaceutical company's mandatory payments for value added tax should lower the company's taxable base, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday.
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September 11, 2024
EU Struggles With Setup Of G7 Use Of Frozen Russian Assets
European Union countries are struggling to agree on a legal solution to reassure the U.S. that windfall profits from frozen and immobilized Russian state assets will be used to repay a $50 billion loan to Ukraine over the entire length of the loan.
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September 11, 2024
McCarter & English Recruits EY Tax Pro In New Jersey
McCarter & English LLP has bulked up its tax and employee benefits team in New Jersey with a longtime Ernst & Young expert at a time when the Garden State's business community is bracing for regulations on a series of corporate tax reforms.
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September 11, 2024
Dentons Adds 2 Corp. Pros In Dublin From US Rivals
Dentons has recruited two new corporate partners to its Dublin office from U.S. rivals as it looks to expand its mergers and acquisitions practice in the Irish market and capitalize on its global footprint.
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September 11, 2024
Latham Hires Senior Tax Pro From Travers Smith In London
Latham & Watkins LLP said on Wednesday that it has recruited a former head of tax at Travers Smith LLP for its office in London, a blow for the U.K. law firm, which has been hit by the departure of a series of partners.
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September 11, 2024
European Commission Urged To Review Tax Laws
The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, should analyze its tax regulations to help avoid overlap and potential over-regulation, a body representing tax professionals has said.
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September 10, 2024
Wealthiest 0.01% Had 34% Average Tax Rate, JCT Says
The income group constituting the top 0.01% wealthiest individuals had an average federal tax rate of 34% in 2019, the Joint Committee on Taxation said in a report on high-income and high-wealth taxpayers.
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September 10, 2024
UK Court OKs Nix Of Partners' Tax Deduction For Amortization
A lower court was correct in ruling that a trio of U.K. entities that formed a limited liability partnership cannot take a tax deduction for the amortization of intangible assets they contributed to the LLP against their share of the profits, the Upper Tribunal ruled.
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September 10, 2024
UK's Capital Gains Tax Should Mirror Labor Rate, Report Says
Capital gains tax changes should be a key part of the United Kingdom government's October budget statement, a leading British think tank said Tuesday, recommending that the government equalize capital gains tax with the dividend tax and income tax.
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September 10, 2024
State Pension Likely To Rise 4% Under Triple Lock
The U.K. government is likely to push through an inflation-busting increase to the state pension of approximately £460 ($600) a year from April, after official figures revealed on Tuesday a rise in average earnings.
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September 10, 2024
Apple Illegally Obtained €13B In State Aid, Top EU Court Rules
The European Union's highest court ruled on Tuesday that Ireland illegally granted Apple state aid in past tax rulings, requiring the U.S. technology giant to repay €13 billion ($14.3 billion) in back taxes as well as interest.
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September 09, 2024
Russia Says DC Circ. Ruling Erodes $5B Award To Yukos
A recent D.C. Circuit ruling that Spain must comply with $395 million in arbitration awards awarded to Yukos Oil's financing arm undermines the company's $5 billion claim against Russia because the country, unlike Spain, never ratified the international treaty on which the court relied, Russia has told a D.C. federal court.
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September 09, 2024
Tax Court's Take Shouldn't Loom Over Kyocera Case, US Says
The U.S. Tax Court's opinion that allowed a company to treat a gross-up for taxes paid by its foreign subsidiaries as a dividend received goes against what Congress intended and shouldn't be applied to Kyocera's similar claims, the U.S. Department of Justice told a South Carolina federal court.
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September 09, 2024
Bradley Arant Adds Katten Partner In Dallas
Bradley Arant has hired a six-and-a-half-year veteran of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP who is joining the firm's corporate and securities practice in Dallas as a partner.
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September 09, 2024
Australia, Slovenia Reach Deal On Double-Tax Treaty
Australia and Slovenia have agreed to a treaty to prevent double taxation between the two countries, which would come into force after approval by both countries' legislatures, Australia's Treasury said Monday.
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September 09, 2024
EU Should Loosen Merger Rules To Compete, Report Says
The European Union should loosen its merger rules and reform trade policy and the energy market in order to boost EU competitiveness enough to catch up with the U.S. and China, a former European Central Bank president reported Monday.
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September 09, 2024
Tax Compliance Costs Keeps EU Firms Small, Report Says
The high cost of tax compliance and the challenges presented by differing regulatory environments encourage European companies to stay small, potentially harming the European Union's competitiveness, according to a report by a former European Central Bank head published on Monday.
Expert Analysis
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How Taxpayers Can Prep As Justices Weigh Repatriation Tax
The U.S. Supreme Court might strike down the 2017 federal tax overhaul's corporate repatriation tax in Moore v. U.S., so taxpayers should file protective tax refund claims before the case is decided and repatriate previously taxed earnings that could become entangled in dubious potential Section 965 refunds, say Jenny Austin and Gary Wilcox at Mayer Brown.
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OFAC Designation Prosecutions Are Constitutionally Suspect
Criminal prosecutions based on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s sanctions-related listing decisions — made with nearly unfettered discretion through an opaque process — present several constitutional issues, so it is imperative that courts recognize additional rights of review, say Solomon Shinerock and Annika Conrad at Lewis Baach.
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How The OECD Global Tax Proposal Could Affect M&A
Following agreement on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Pillar Two proposal to introduce a global minimum tax, domestic implementation is expected to have a significant impact on international M&A transactions, with financial modeling, deal structuring, risk allocation and joint venture arrangements likely to be affected, say lawyers at Freshfields.
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UK Shares-Tax Proposals Offer Long-Awaited Modernization
The U.K. government's recent consultation on the introduction of a new tax on transactions in securities raises detailed legal and practical issues, but the prospect of a single digital stamp tax offering both streamlined legislation and administration will be welcomed, say Zoë Arnautov and Mark Sheiham at Simmons & Simmons.
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IRS Foreign Tax Credit Pause Is Welcome Course Correction
A recent IRS notice temporarily suspending application of 2022 foreign tax credit regulations provides wanted relief for the many U.S. multinational companies and other taxpayers that otherwise face the risk of significant double taxation in their international operations, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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IRS Criminal Probe Spells Uncertainty For Malta Pension Plans
The IRS’ recent scrutiny of Malta pension plan arrangements — and its unusual issuance of criminal administrative summonses — confirms that it views many of these plans as illegal tax evasion schemes, and the road ahead will not be smooth and steady for anyone involved, say attorneys at Kostelanetz.
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IRS Announcement Will Aid Cos. In Buyback Tax Planning
Recent IRS transitional guidance regarding current requirements for reporting and payment of the stock repurchase excise tax will help corporate taxpayers make decisions about records retention and establishing reserves for future tax payments, say Xenia Garofalo and Kyle Colonna at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Flawed Analysis Supports Common Law Tax Deficiency Ruling
The Colorado federal district court’s recent decision in Liberty Global, holding that the U.S. Department of Justice may assert a common law tax claim without the notice of tax deficiency required by the Internal Revenue Code, relies on a contorted reading of the statute and irrelevant case law, say Loren Opper and Christie Galinski at Miller Canfield.
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Review Of Repatriation Tax Sets Justices On Slippery Slope
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to review the constitutionality of the repatriation tax in Moore v. U.S. has implications for many tax rules involving unrealized amounts and could leave the court on the brink of invalidating large swaths of the Internal Revenue Code, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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What To Make Of IRS' New Advance Pricing Guidance
Recent guidance on the IRS' goals for its advance pricing agreement system provides helpful insight into review and decision-making procedures for advance pricing agreement requests, but it also raises questions about the IRS' objectives, say Richard Slowinski and Stefanie Kavanagh at Alston & Bird.
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Reserved Investor Fund Would Plug Gap In UK Finance Market
The reserved investor fund recently proposed by HM Treasury has the potential to be a welcome tax-efficient addition to the U.K.’s canon of products for real estate investments, with attractive features for companies and, in particular, large asset managers, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.
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The Reciprocal Tax Bill Is A Warning Shot At Pillar 2
A bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives to reciprocally tax countries deemed to have imposed discriminatory taxes on U.S. citizens and businesses takes aim at countries implementing the global minimum tax treaty known as Pillar Two, with which the U.S. has not complied, says Alan Cole at the Tax Foundation.
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What Tax-Exempt Orgs. Need From Energy Credit Guidance
Guidance clarifying the Inflation Reduction Act’s credit regime, expected from the U.S. Department of the Treasury this summer, should help tax-exempt organizations determine the benefits of clean energy projects and integrate alternative energy investments into their activities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.