Sustainability challenges have become critical business imperatives in recent years. Regulators, stakeholders, investors, employees, customers - all expect a much higher degree of compliance and transparency. Businesses have got used to their performance in these areas being monitored and to...

Taxation has a key role for medium and large multinational companies in the process of developing a sustainable business model. Disclosure of complex tax information and transparency on profit allocation to group entities is key to this transformation process and...

Companies established in a country of the European Union may undertake occasional and temporary activities in Luxembourg. Though such activities do not constitute a permanent establishment in Luxembourg, there are still certain formalities that need to be complied with such...

Tax control frameworks (TCFs) are increasingly seen as an essential tax management and compliance tool for businesses of all sizes. Around the world, tax authorities are taking a stricter approach to taxation matters. At the same time, organisations like the...

The Italian Budget Law (Law issued on 30.12.2023, No. 213 – “Legge di Bilancio 2024”) established that Italian-source capital gains realised on disposal by EU or EEA resident entities without an Italian PE, where the disposal is of a substantial...

With jurisdictions still in the process of enacting local tax law to introduce Pillar 2 Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) rules, groups in scope of the new regulations could be forgiven for taking a watch-and-wait approach. However, a general lack of...

As the working environment adapts to offer more flexibility with remote working options, understanding the tax nuances of cross-border remote working is becoming increasingly crucial. More than ever, employers are offering their teams the opportunity  to work abroad for limited...

Initiated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the Pillar 2 GloBE rules aim to stop tax competition between countries and to limit the shifting of profits to low-tax jurisdictions. As a result, large multinational groups (MNEs) with...

This article analyses the impact of ESG on MNE tax management with a special focus on transfer pricing and business restructuring. Tax Management and ESG As stated by the UN, environmental social and corporate governance (ESG) is not only an...

A landmark decision on beneficial ownership could significantly impact the French tax authorities’ approach to tax audits concerning royalties. In its decision on French company Sté Planet dated 20 May 2022, the French Administrative Supreme Court (Conseil d’État) ruled for...

Providing information on taxation in 22 Central and Eastern European (CEE) states, the latest Mazars CEE tax guide analyses long-term taxation trends and fundamental tax regime changes in each country, both now and in previous years.

The Diverted Profits Tax (DPT), or what the media have dubbed the Google tax, was introduced in 2015 to dissuade and counteract contrived arrangements used by large multinational groups that divert profits from the UK and erode the UK tax base.

On 14 March 2022, the OECD published a comprehensive commentary and illustrative examples of how implementing the Global Anti-Base Erosion Model Rules (GloBE rules) could look. In this blog, we discuss the GloBE rules and examine how the rules apply...

In a decision “Air Liquide” dated 15 November 2021, the French Administrative Supreme Court (Conseil d’Etat) ruled for the first time that French resident companies realising capital gains upon the alienation of eligible participation (titres de participation – generally presumed...

On 22 December 2021, the European Commission published a number of Directives impacting a wide variety of corporate structures and taxpayers. One of these Directives is “laying down rules to prevent the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes and...

As of January 1, 2022, significant changes concerning the Polish tax system called the Polish New Deal came into force. These amendments also include Corporate Income Tax (CIT). Changes in withholding tax The major changes concern: Implementation of pay and refund mechanism (mechanism...

The OECD two-pillar approach In October 2021, the OECD’s 137 Inclusive Framework members agreed to adopt a two-pillar approach to address the tax challenges of the digital economy. Pillar I provides for new profit allocation and nexus rules for MNEs...

ATAD II is the EU translation of BEPS Action 2, the part which is focused on the ability of taxpayers to design situations of double non-taxation or heavily reduced taxation by exploiting hybrid mismatches. They apply to mismatches between the...

Key milestones are being reached in the digital economy in 2021. In this post, we review the most recent legislation and provide insight on how to keep up with the tax aspects of this fast-developing topic. Digital commerce is increasing...

This new solution is expected to reallocate more than $100bn of profit annually to market jurisdictions.  However, this raises the question, to what extent emerging economies, and more specifically, African countries, will be entitled to levy taxes on profits generated...

In June 2021 Hong Kong finalised legislation codifying the Inland Revenue Department’s tax assessment practice relating to corporate amalgamations.  For qualifying companies, it is possible to elect (within one month of the amalgamation) for special tax treatment for pre-amalgamation losses,...

Choosing a business location involves many considerations, with tax being only one of them.  Nevertheless, tax is a consideration.  Below is a note commenting on the attractions of Switzerland as a business location. There may of course be other locations that...

The Asian Development Bank has forecast that developing Asia’s growth is forecast to rebound to 7.3% in 2021 and 5.3% in 2022. This compares to 4.2% and 4.4% respectively for Europe (see here) and 6.9% and 3.6% for the US (see here). Businesses already with a footprint in...

As Covid restrictions begin to lift there will inevitably be increased movement of workers across borders.  This brings back into focus a range of global mobility and tax considerations for businesses and individuals.  Examples include work permits, visas, payroll and...

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Why is a SPAC considered a ‘high flying’ concept and what tax issues need to be considered to reap the benefits and avoid the pitfalls of a SPAC transaction?  In this article,...

The new U.S. Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen, has garnered this week’s tax spotlight with her support and request for the world to support a minimum global corporate income tax.  This would apply to the largest and most profitable businesses...

On March 31, 2021, the Biden administration released The American Jobs Plan, which detailed, among other critical items, the need for infrastructure improvements to enhance America’s competitiveness and to create well-paid American jobs. For this to be successful in attracting...

As a result of a number of recent cases there are tax reclaim opportunities for non-German investors in German companies that have suffered withholding taxes (WHT), subject to meeting certain conditions.  Points to consider A complete or partial WHT relief...

Background  On January 20, 2021, the German government published a draft law for the Gesetz zur Modernisierung der Entlastung von Abzugsteuern undder Bescheinigung der Kapitalertragsteuer (Act for modernization of the relief of withholding taxes and the certification of capital gains tax, AbzStEntModG). Among other things, this draft contains a new wording proposal of the so-called “Anti-Treaty Shopping” provision in Sec. 50d (3)...

Decree of the Federal Ministry of Finance dated 11 February 2021 – Remuneration of the temporary transfer and the disposal of rights which are entered in a German public register.  Further information on German tax developments relating to intellectual property (IP) registered in Germany has been released by the German Authorities.  This helps to clarify...

The EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), contains five legally binding anti-abuse measures, which all EU member states are required to apply against common forms of aggressive tax planning. The Directive includes an exit tax, a general anti-abuse rule, controlled foreign company...

The Dutch government has provided further details concerning a potential reform of the tax loss relief rules in the corporate income tax regime. The proposed amendment will mean that losses can be set off indefinitely from 1 January 2022, but...

Following the UK’s spending review statement of 25 November, there is now greater clarity on how the UK economy will be taken forward into 2021 following the Covid-19 pandemic and exit from Brexit transition.  Despite incurring record UK government borrowing...

After the French government enacted a 3% digital services tax on gross income, it is now the French Administrative Supreme Court which rendered a landmark decision for international groups providing digital services in France by strongly extending the definition of...

EU Directive 2018/822 or DAC 6 (acronym of “Directive on Administrative cooperation”) is in the minds of many European tax practitioners. In this article we will set out its importance for the European M&A market. Beyond this mysterious acronym, the European Union is...

Governments damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic are likely to be taking a more aggressive approach in tax field audits on multinational enterprises (MNEs), at least until after their respective economy is on its way to recovering from the impacts of...

The current restrictions imposed by multiple countries to combat the Covid-19 pandemic have limited the possibilities for conducting external tax audits. However, the current pandemic and its consequences for the world economy highlight again that the number of internationally active...