Tax-news.com News Headlines

France's Lagarde Rules Out Abolition Of Tax Shield, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 17 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
French Minister for the Economy Christine Lagarde has firmly ruled out a proposal to abolish France’s highly controversial tax shield or “bouclier fiscal” in order to reduce public debt. [ FULL STORY ]

European Council Adopts Measures Against Tax Evasion, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 17 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
The European Council has adopted a directive intended to strengthen measures against the evasion of value-added tax on imports. [ FULL STORY ]

Kirk And Uribe Discuss US Colombia FTA, by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington Last updated 17 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe (pictured) met in Washington on June 29 to discuss the US-Colombia FTA, which remains unratified by the US more than two-and-a-half years after it was signed. [ FULL STORY ]

Italian Economics Minister Explains The Latest Tax Incentives, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 17 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
The government’s latest anti-crisis package, announced last week, is part economic stimulus, part cost reductions and part increased collection from the underground economy, so explained Giulio Tremonti, Italy’s Minister of Economics and Finance, during the course of a press conference. [ FULL STORY ]

Liechtenstein Parliament Ratifies TIEA With US, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 16 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
Approved unanimously by Liechtenstein’s Parliament, the country’s Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the US, signed in December 2008, is due to enter into force on January 1, 2010. [ FULL STORY ]

Hungary Passes Last-Minute Tax Bill To Obtain IMF Loan, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 16 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
The Hungarian Parliament has approved a tax bill for 2010, part of the government’s efforts to boost the country’s competitiveness and balance its books. As a result, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given Hungary the green light to draw down the next tranche of the USD15.7bn loan granted last October. [ FULL STORY ]

Italian Revenue Agency Continues Campaign Against Underground Economy, by Paul Richardson, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 16 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
The Director of the Italian Revenue Agency praised the successes of the additional effort made by the Agency to increase tax collections from the hitherto “underground economy”, in his evidence to the Senate’s Finance And Treasury Commission. [ FULL STORY ]

Obama Administration Completes Annual GSP Review, by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York Last updated 16 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
US Trade Representative Ron Kirk (pictured) has announced that the Generalized System of Preferences program facilitated USD31.7bn in imports of nearly 5,000 types of products from 131 developing countries in 2008. [ FULL STORY ]

Netherlands, Cayman Islands Agree To TIEA Text, by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London Last updated 16 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
Technical negotiating teams from the Cayman Islands and the Netherlands have finalised the terms of an agreement and protocol for the exchange of information with respect to tax matters. [ FULL STORY ]

New Jersey Tries To Legalize Online Sportsbetting, by Leroy James, Tax-News.com, New York Last updated 16 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
New Jersey governor Jon Corzine is expected to join with New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak in a lawsuit claiming that the 1992 federal sports betting ban is unconstitutional and violates states' rights. [ FULL STORY ]

Jersey Responds To IOM Automatic Exchange Announcement, by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London Last updated 16 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
Jersey's Deputy Chief Minister Philip Ozouf has confirmed the island's continued support for the automatic exchange of information, following the Isle of Man 's announcement this week that it would move to automatic exchange from July 1, 2011. [ FULL STORY ]

EC Questions 9 Member States' Auditing And Accounting Compliance,
by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 16 hours ago | Thursday, July 02, 2009

The European Commission has decided to refer Austria, Ireland, Italy and Spain to the European Court of Justice over non-implementation into national law of the Statutory Audit Directive. The Commission has also decided to send formal requests to Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Luxembourg, Poland and Portugal as they have failed to fully implement into their national laws the latest Directive in the field of accounting within the prescribed deadline. [ FULL STORY ]

BDO Establishes Office At DIFC, by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus Last updated 16 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
BDO International, the fifth largest global accountancy network, on June 23 announced the opening of a new corporate finance office in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). [ FULL STORY ]

Germany's Merkel Reprimands Tax Rebels, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 23 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
Determined to present a united front this week, as her party, the Christian Democratic Union, finally unveils its election programme, German Chancellor Angela Merkel successfully managed to silence remaining tax rebels ahead of the ratification meeting. [ FULL STORY ]

Banks' Tax Avoidance Targeted By UK Government, by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London Last updated 23 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
The UK government has published a consultation document on a code of practice on tax for banks. [ FULL STORY ]

Austrian Finance Minister Rules Out New Taxes, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 23 hours ago \| Thursday, July 02, 2009
Despite a rising budget deficit, and spiralling state debt, Austria’s Finance Minister Josef Pröll has, nevertheless, firmly ruled out the idea of introducing new taxes. [ FULL STORY ]

Italian Government Combines Tax Relief For Industry With Tax Collection Measures,
by Paul Richardson, Tax-News.com, London Last updated 42 hours ago | Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Italy’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has divulged that his government expects official tax receipts to fall by some EUR37bn this year. Italy’s public sector deficit would be a significant 5% of GDP, which is itself forecast by the OECD to fall by 5.5%. Those figures have placed the balancing act presented by the economic stimulus package of the recent Ministerial Decree into perspective. [ FULL STORY ]

Insurance Intermediaries Saved Millions By UK High Court, by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London Last updated 42 hours ago \| Wednesday, July 01, 2009
A judgment by the High Court in London has overturned on appeal a 2008 Tax Tribunal ruling that organisers and administrators of insurance contracts were liable to charge UK insurance premium tax. [ FULL STORY ]

IRS Electronic Advisory Committee Delivers Report To Congress, by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington Last updated 42 hours ago \| Wednesday, July 01, 2009
The Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee, which provides feedback on the development and implementation of the Internal Revenue Service’s electronic tax administration strategy, has presented its 2009 annual report to Congress. [ FULL STORY ]

Amazon May Lose Californian Affiliates Over Sales Tax,
by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington Last updated 41 hours ago | Wednesday, July 01, 2009

While the National Conference of State Legislators struggles to find a workable formula for a uniform national sales tax on internet sales, several individual states are pressing ahead with their own legislation. Online retailer, Amazon, has sent a letter to the Californian State legislature, threatening to cease doing business with marketing affiliates based in the State rather than accept the responsibility for collecting and distributing the State sales tax. [ FULL STORY ]

Ireland Concludes TIEA With Gibraltar, by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London Last updated 41 hours ago \| Wednesday, July 01, 2009
The Irish Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Martin Mansergh, on June 24 signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Gibraltar, the Irish government has announced. [ FULL STORY ]

Non-Resident Indians Seek Tax Parity With Foreign Institutional Investors, by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong Last updated 41 hours ago \| Wednesday, July 01, 2009
A group of non-resident Indians led by the Hindujas has asked the government for tax parity with foreign institutional investors on short-term gains in the stock market. In a pre-budget memorandum to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the IndusInd International Federation said such benefits would enable them to make India the hub for their global activities. [ FULL STORY ]

IMF Delegation Discusses Refinements To Ukrainian Tax System, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 41 hours ago \| Wednesday, July 01, 2009
On June 24, 2009, delegates from the State Tax Administration of Ukraine and officials from the International Monetary Fund continued work on improving the efficiency of Ukraine’s tax structure and mitigating any reductions in revenues stemming from the financial crisis. [ FULL STORY ]

Zurich Expands Presence In Dubai,
by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus Last updated 41 hours ago | Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Zurich Insurance Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services Group, has been granted a new licence that will allow the company to expand its activities and conduct general insurance operations from the Dubai International Financial Centre. The number of companies that now form DIFC’s insurance cluster is 31, and includes many of the world’s largest international names. [ FULL STORY ]

Philippines Farm Group Presses For Zero Duty On Feed Wheat, by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong Last updated 41 hours ago \| Wednesday, July 01, 2009
A group of hog and poultry farmers belonging to the Philippines' Agriculture Alliance has urged the country's President to consider keeping the zero-tariff measure for feed wheat imports in place for a further six months. [ FULL STORY ]

Grassley Introduces US Small Business Tax Reduction Bill, by MIke Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington Last updated 47 hours ago \| Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Senator Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the United States Senate Committee on Finance, has introduced a bill he says will strengthen small businesses by lowering their tax burden. [ FULL STORY ]

Germany's CDU Party Approves Election Programme, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels Last updated 47 hours ago \| Wednesday, July 01, 2009
In the absence of certain tax rebels, and with a relaxed air of unity, leaders of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union party and Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union finally approved their party’s election programme during a meeting held at the beginning of the week. [ FULL STORY ]

Lords Critical Of UK Government’s Pension Tax Changes, by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London Last updated 47 hours ago \| Wednesday, July 01, 2009
A UK parliamentary committee has warned that changes to the pension tax system for high earners will likely damage the country’s reputation in the international competition for business talent. [ FULL STORY ]

Canada Signs Free Trade Agreement With Jordan, by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Stockwell Day, Canadian Minister of International Trade, has signed four new agreements to increase trade and investment between Canada and Jordan. [ FULL STORY ]

Australia To Refine Tax Agent Services Law, by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Australia's Assistant Treasurer, Senator Nick Sherry, has announced the introduction into Parliament of the Tax Agent Services (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009, another important legislative step in establishing the new national tax agent regime. [ FULL STORY ]