The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) wants to enhance the implementation of international standards on transparency, and enable the exchange of beneficial ownership information. But the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) commissioner has declared beneficial ownership registers could be “a waste of time”.
The TMF Group’s Financial Complexity Index (FCI) 2017 has found Turkey, Brazil and Italy to be the most complex jurisdictions when it comes to tax. What does this mean for foreign and domestic businesses operating in these countries?
France has delayed the implementation of its withholding tax regime for employment taxes – a welcome move for many businesses that have not yet adapted their internal payroll systems, but employer concerns remain.
The signing ceremony of the OECD multilateral instrument (MLI) is a big step towards implementing tax treaty-related BEPS recommendations, but the potential for governments to ‘cherry-pick’ treaty amendments risks long-term problems.
Governments have six months to prepare before peer reviews begin on how they meet the minimum standards of the BEPS project, including Action 6 on treaty shopping. But tax authorities could face some difficulties in meeting their targets.
The US budget proposes simplifying the tax code and removing most of the special interest tax breaks to improve business competitiveness and economic growth, but businesses are sceptical about the real impact of the plans.
