P Chidambaram, India’s finance minister, has appointed Parthasarathi Shome as chairman of the Tax Reform Administration Commission (TARC), which the minister said he would set up in his budget speech last March.
Data published this week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that bonus payments paid in the whole UK economy were £1.7 billion ($2.6 billion) higher in April 2013 than in April 2012. This shifting of the bonus season – to avoid employees being hit by the higher rate of income tax – is a sign that at least some companies are shunning perceived reputational concerns about bonus deferral.
While it may be true that, globally, the eyes of the tax world are firmly on direct taxation, transfer pricing, profit shifting and so on, in Australia the carbon tax continues to hold centre-stage when it comes to tax policy.
Australia’s high corporate tax rate is being called into question once again, as an election looms with international discussions about base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and a report from the Business Council of Australia (BCA) all casting the spotlight back onto a rate that has stood at 30% since 2001.
Companies operating in Argentina face high levels of tax and uncertainty because of treaty changes, meaning low foreign investment figures are unlikely to change anytime soon.
HMRC is consulting on further measures to tackle aggressive tax avoidance, including proposals to fine promoters of tax avoidance schemes up to £1 million ($1.5 million), leaving some tax advisers at risk.
