Taxation

The European Council has called for the swift enactment of Switzerland’s proposed corporate tax reform package. The recommendation was one of a number of conclusions adopted by the Council regarding the EU’s relations with the Swiss Confederation. The Council said that it welcomes the passage by the Swiss Federal Assembly…

The two houses of Switzerland’s parliament have said that they are largely in agreement on the main points of the Government’s proposed changes to the corporation tax system. On September 12, the National Council approved tax proposal 17 (TP17). The Council of States adopted a similar text on the proposals…

India is to receive bank account information from HSBC after Switzerland’s highest court ruled that the bank is obligated to provide data requested where the leaked data has not been purchased. The information was leaked in 2008 by Herve Falciani, who worked for HSBC’s Swiss private bank. The Indian authorities…

The individual who manages intellectual property rights for music groups including the Rolling Stones and U2 has denied that corporate structures were set up in the Netherlands to avoid tax in recent parliamentary testimony. On June 12, Jan Favie, a director of Promogroup B.V. and U2 Ltd, the companies which…

The Swiss Federal Council has asked the Federal Department of Finance to prepare a consultation on a draft tax reform package by September. Earlier this month, the steering body tasked with drawing up “tax proposal 17” (TP17) published its recommendations. The Council said that it largely took on board the…

Switzerland has explained how it will amend its double tax agreements after it signed the OECD’s new multilateral tax compact to implement anti-base erosion and profit shifting measures. On June 7, Switzerland was one of 76 countries and jurisdictions to sign or express their intention to sign the Multilateral Convention…

Swiss voters have rejected a plan to reform the country’s corporate tax system, sending the government back to the drawing board. Business and political circles in Switzerland had supported the plan, which was designed to prevent taxes rising sharply for foreign investors. However, 59% of voters opposed the plan in…

The revised double tax avoidance agreement between India and Cyprus will take effect from April 1, 2017, India’s Central Board of Direct Taxes has announced. According to the CBDT, both countries have now exchanged notifications informing the other of the completion of their respective ratification procedures for the revised agreement…

UK tax authority HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has said that it is aware of a new tax avoidance scheme that attempts to exploit Entrepreneurs’ Relief by turning what would be income into a capital gain. According to HMRC, individual scheme users will sell the beneficial ownership of their company…

In Germany, all entrepreneurs who are engaged and independently active in a trade, business or profession with the purpose of generating income, are liable to value-added-tax also known as the turnover tax (Umsatzsteuer). The following information on VAT is a general overview. VAT is raised regardless of citizenship, residence, main…