International
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October 11, 2024
Italian Police Freeze €12.3M In Textile VAT Fraud Investigation
The Italian Financial Police carried out two freezing orders totaling €12.3 million ($13.5 million) against suspects in an ongoing investigation into a value-added tax fraud involving the illegal importation of textiles from China, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said.
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October 11, 2024
Bird & Bird Adds DLA Piper Legal Director To London Office
Bird & Bird LLP has added a former DLA Piper legal director as a partner to its London tax team.
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October 11, 2024
Disputes May Loom Over Dividend Deductions For CFCs
U.S. multinational corporations are concerned that rulemakers' interpretation of a law allowing tax-free repatriation of certain overseas earnings could lead to controversy after the Internal Revenue Service published a memo indicating the break is unavailable for controlled foreign corporations.
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October 11, 2024
Fla. Businessman's Estate Faces $2.6M In FBAR Penalties
A Florida businessman's estate owes the federal government $2.6 million in penalties plus interest for his failure to report his Swiss bank account from 2013 to 2017, the government told a federal court.
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October 11, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Latham, Kirkland
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Rio Tinto agrees to acquire Arcadium Lithium for roughly $6.7 billion, Ares Management Corp. and GCP International reach a $3.7 billion deal, and Butterfly Equity announces plans to buy The Duckhorn Portfolio for $2 billion.
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October 10, 2024
Ukraine's Parliament Hikes Taxes To Fund War With Russia
Ukraine's Parliament announced that it approved several amendments to the country's tax code Thursday that will raise revenues for its war with Russia.
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October 10, 2024
Pillar 2 Carveout Should Cover Some Mobile Items, NFTC Says
The exemption for tangible investments from the global minimum tax known as Pillar Two should include certain mobile assets, such as ships and aircraft, the National Foreign Trade Council recommended.
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October 10, 2024
Ryanair To Scale Back German Flights After Tax Hike
Irish discount airline Ryanair announced plans Thursday to follow through on its threat to cut back service to Germany next summer over tax issues, saying it will cut 12% of its total capacity in the country — equal to 1.8 million seats — and close three bases of operation.
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October 10, 2024
Pfizer Lone Holdout In Senate Pharma Tax Probe, Wyden Says
Pfizer Inc. is the only company to withhold a country-by-country breakdown of its tax planning in the Senate Finance Committee's probe into how Republicans' 2017 tax package reduced the pharmaceutical industry's U.S. liabilities, according to a letter Chairman Ron Wyden released Thursday.
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October 10, 2024
UK Exit Taxes OK When Paid Over Time, Upper Tribunal Says
An exit tax on U.K. trusts leaving the country pre-Brexit interfered with their European Union right to free movement of capital, but is brought into compliance if trusts can pay the tax over at least a five-year period, the Upper Tribunal ruled.
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October 10, 2024
Switzerland Reports Info Exchanges With 108 Jurisdictions
Switzerland's Federal Tax Administration has exchanged information on roughly 3.7 million financial accounts with 108 jurisdictions so far in 2024, the government said Thursday.
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October 10, 2024
Ireland's Finance Bill Sets Out Foreign Dividend Exemption
The Irish government set out its plans for a new participation tax exemption for foreign dividends as part of a finance bill published Thursday.
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October 10, 2024
Algeria Joins OECD Tax Transparency Treaty
Algeria formally joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's global tax transparency agreement on combating tax avoidance and evasion by multinational corporations, the OECD announced Thursday.
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October 09, 2024
Australia Floats Debt Reduction Creation Rules Guidance
The Australian Taxation Office published draft guidance Wednesday for the country's new debt deduction creation rules, including the planned compliance approach and a framework for risk assessment.
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October 09, 2024
European Parliament Backs Brazil's G20 Wealth Tax Plan
A majority of the European Parliament supports a 2% minimum tax on billionaires presented by Brazil at the Group of 20 nations meeting, asking the European Union to pursue the topic at the group's November summit, according to joint statements by members of Parliament on Wednesday.
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October 09, 2024
Swiss Council Rejects Funding Pensions With Transaction Tax
Switzerland should not use the revenue generated by its two taxes on financial market transactions to fund the country's pension fund, nor should it create new ones for that purpose, the Swiss Federal Council said Wednesday.
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October 09, 2024
OECD Should Clarify Pillar 2 Safe Harbor Timing, CPAs Say
The OECD should clarify when exactly multinational corporations need to determine whether they qualify for a transitional safe harbor under an international minimum tax agreement, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants recommended in a letter.
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October 09, 2024
UK Gov't Greenlights Film Industry Tax Credit
U.K. film companies will be able to gain over 50% tax relief for their films' costs from a tax credit approved Wednesday by the Labour government.
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October 09, 2024
3M Tax Ruling Must Fall Post-Chevron, Chamber Tells 8th Circ.
The U.S. Supreme Court's ending of the Chevron doctrine calls for overturning a U.S. Tax Court ruling that let the IRS allocate $24 million of income to multinational conglomerate 3M from a Brazilian affiliate, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday.
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October 09, 2024
Starmer Refuses To Rule Out Payroll Tax Hike
Prime Minister Keir Starmer didn't rule out raising employers' National Insurance contributions, a payroll tax used to fund healthcare and state pensions, during Wednesday's question time.
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October 09, 2024
Election Uncertainty Hampers Companies' Tax Planning
With the November election approaching, businesses are bracing for the potential impact of two very different sets of tax policies, with the resulting uncertainty making long-term tax planning increasingly difficult.
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October 09, 2024
Australia Seeking Large Cos.'s Tax Execs For Advisory Board
The Australian Taxation Office is looking for executives in charge of taxes for the country's largest businesses to join an advisory group focused on improving the Australian taxation systems, the ATO said Wednesday.
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October 09, 2024
Final Treasury Rules Shut Off Inclusion For Repatriated IP
The U.S. Treasury Department adopted final rules Wednesday that shut off an annual income inclusion associated with intangibles for companies in certain situations that have transferred intellectual property back to the U.S. from overseas.
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October 09, 2024
Gov't Warned Over National Insurance Levy On Pensions
About half of U.K. employers would scale back the amount they pay into staff pensions to regulatory minimums if a new tax was applied to contributions, according to a survey by a trade group published Wednesday.
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October 08, 2024
Germany May Offer Tax Break For 'E-Fuel' Cars, Ministry Says
The German government will consider a motor vehicle tax exemption for cars running only on fuels manufactured with renewable energy, known as e-fuels-only vehicles, the German Ministry of Finance announced Tuesday.
Expert Analysis
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert
As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic
Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals
Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.
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Unpacking The Bill To Extend TCJA's Biz-Friendly Tax Breaks
Attorneys at Skadden examine how a bipartisan bill currently being considered by the U.S. Senate to save the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's tax breaks for research and development costs, and other expiring business-friendly provisions, would affect taxpayers.
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Deciding What Comes At The End Of WTO's Digital Tariff Ban
Companies that feel empowered by the World Trade Organization’s recent two-year extension of the ban on e-commerce tariffs should pay attention to current negotiations over what comes after the moratorium expires, as these agreements will define standards in international e-commerce for years to come, say Jan Walter, Hannes Sigurgeirsson and Kulsum Gulamhusein at Akin Gump.
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4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy
With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.
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This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener
As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.
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Cum-Ex Prosecutions Storm Shows No Sign Of Abating
The ongoing trial of Sanjay Shah in Denmark is a clear indicator that efforts remain focused on holding to account the alleged architects and beneficiaries of cum-ex trading, and with these prosecutions making their way across Europe, it is a more turbulent time now than ever, says Niall Hearty at Rahman Ravelli.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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Why Supreme Court Should Allow Repatriation Tax To Stand
If the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't reject the taxpayers' misguided claims in Moore v. U.S. that the mandatory repatriation tax is unconstitutional, it could wreak havoc on our system of taxation and result in a catastrophic loss of revenue for the government, say Christina Mason and Theresa Balducci at Herrick Feinstein.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.