Businesses want George Osborne, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, to make the most of tomorrow’s Budget, the first since 1997 to be the exclusive product of Conservative party ideas after its general election victory in May.
The European Commission (EC) has published in its Official Journal a notification about its investigation into whether Belgium’s excess profit tax ruling system constitutes state aid and has ordered Estonia and Poland, along with 15 other member states, to provide more information on their tax ruling practices.
The Republicans leading the US Congress’ two tax-writing committees have called on Jacob Lew, Treasury Secretary, to “remain engaged with Congress” as proposals related to the OECD base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project continue to be developed.
India’s lower house of parliament this week passed a goods and services tax (GST) Bill, gaining the two thirds majority needed despite a staged walkout from the opposition Congress party.
Danish taxpayers will have to move carefully to avoid being caught out The Danish government has introduced a Bill (L167) to implement a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) in the country for the first time, which would enable authorities to deny treaty benefits if obtaining those benefits was the sole or main purpose of an arrangement A final decision on the passage of the Bill, which was introduced March 20, will take place at the end of April.
The UK diverted profits tax (DPT) – dubbed the Google tax – has been in effect for almost a month, and Australia is looking at similar action to be included in its May 12 Budget speech, after signalling a desire to move “further and faster” than the OECD-led BEPS project. If other jurisdictions follow suit, this could drastically dilute the impact of multilateral efforts.
