Tax Notes International (C) Tax Analysts 2016
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tax notes international (C) Tax Analysts 2016. All rights reserved. does not claim copyright in any public domain or third party content. Volume 82, Number 1 April 4, 2016 Tax Implications of the Trans-Pacifi c Partnership Treaty Relief for Unregulated Investment Funds? Expatriation Transfer Tax: A Reform Proposal Allocation of Income to PEs: The German Approach Puerto Rico’s Successful Tax Incentive Program The European Greens and IKEA: The €1 Billion Question For more Tax Notes International content, please visit www.taxnotes.com. (C) Tax Analysts 2016. All rights reserved. does not claim copyright in any public domain or third party content. For more Tax Notes International content, please visit www.taxnotes.com. (C) Tax Analysts 2016. All rights reserved. does not claim copyright in any public domain or third party content. FROM THE EDITOR PRACTITIONERS’ CORNER Allocation of Income to Permanent Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? 71 5 by Stuart Gibson Establishments: The German Approach by Tobias Hagemann and Elaine Long HIGHLIGHTS 75 Puerto Rico’s Tax Incentive Program: A Success Story Tax Implications of the 7 by Denisse Flores-Caldera Trans-Pacific Partnership by Mindy Herzfeld SPECIAL REPORT Treaty Relief for Unregulated 10 U.S. Tax Review Investment Funds? 81 by James P. Fuller by Lee A. Sheppard 16 Expatriation Transfer Tax: 87 CALENDAR A Reform Proposal by Ajay Gupta 69 COMING ATTRACTIONS 19 European Greens and IKEA: 91 CROSSWORD PUZZLE The €1 Billion Question by Ryan Finley ON THE COVER 27 TRANSFER PRICING ROUNDUP Tax Implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership....7 Treaty Relief for Unregulated Investment Funds? . 10 29 COUNTRY DIGEST Expatriation Transfer Tax: A Reform Proposal .....16 Allocation of Income to PEs: The German Approach. .71 TREATY WATCH 61 Puerto Rico’s Successful Tax Incentive Program . 75 The European Greens and IKEA: The €1 Billion FEATURED PERSPECTIVES Question ........................19 65 Israel’s Proposed VAT for Foreign Cover Photo: [email protected] Digital Service Providers by Yuval Navot and Tamara Tapoohi Waldman 67 Multilateral Agreement on Automatic Exchange of CbC Reports: A Mexican Perspective by Santiago Chacón and Alejandro Gordillo Rousse TAX NOTES INTERNATIONAL APRIL 4, 2016 • 3 For more Tax Notes International content, please visit www.taxnotes.com. (C) Tax Analysts 2016. All rights reserved. does not claim copyright in any public domain or third party content. NEWS AT A GLANCE AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND 29 Turnbull Seeks to Give States Authority to 43 New Zealand Gets Antiavoidance Advice Levy Income Tax From Australia, U.K. BRAZIL PHILIPPINES 30 Ex-President Calls for Tax Incentives to 44 Tax Treaty Applies to Lufthansa’s Gross Grow Economy Philippine Billings, Court Finds BULGARIA RUSSIA 31 Supreme Court Interprets Law on 44 Guidance Addresses Nonresident’s Sale of Tax Evasion Immovable Property in Russia CHINA (P.R.C.) 44 Russia Approves Updated List of Uncooperative Jurisdictions Long-Awaited VAT Pilot Rules Cover 32 Prime Minister Promises All Sectors 45 No Tax Increases Before 2018 VAT Pilot Rules a Win for Real Estate, 34 Company Performing Work Free of Charge Practitioner Says 46 Qualifies as PE, Court Holds 35 VAT Expansion May Eliminate Exemption For Overseas Banks SCOTLAND DENMARK 46 50 Percent Tax Rate Could Cost £30 Million a Year, SNP Leader Says 35 Government Submits Amendments to Dividend Tax Regime UKRAINE FRANCE 47 Guidance Addresses Nonresidents’ Interest Income From State Bonds Ex-Budget Minister’s Fraud Trial Postponed 37 Tax Treatment of Rent Payments to By Constitutional Question 47 Nonresident Clarified 37 Transparency Bill Would Create New Anti-Corruption Agency UNITED KINGDOM INDIA 48 Government Looks to Simplify Corporation Tax Computation Budget Includes Groundbreaking Proposals 38 49 Opposition Leader Urges Scrapping ‘Crass’ 40 Government Resolves Tax Legacy Issues, Capital Gains Tax Cut Plans Corporate Tax Cut 49 Soft Drink Company Shrugs Off 41 Vodafone Goes to International Court Over Sugar Tax Proposal Indian Tax Dispute 50 HMRC Issues Guidance on Irrecoverable ITALY Peer-to-Peer Loans 42 Ryanair Not Liable for Social Taxes in Italy, 50 HMRC Lays Groundwork for Companies to Court Holds Publish Tax Strategies MAURITANIA UNITED STATES New Transfer Pricing Regime Takes Effect 52 Tax Policy Becomes Uncommon Cause for 42 Rock Band MOROCCO 53 IRS Inconsistent in Denying Estate Tax 43 Government Sets New Maximum Deductible Deduction for OVDP Penalty Interest Rate on Loans 4 • APRIL 4, 2016 TAX NOTES INTERNATIONAL For more Tax Notes International content, please visit www.taxnotes.com. (C) Tax Analysts 2016. All rights reserved. does not claim copyright in any public domain or third party content. FROM THE EDITOR Who’s Afraid of the If these MNEs resist public reporting, they will be perceived as having something to hide. What seems Big Bad Wolf ? odd here is that the MNEs, many of which are pub- licly held, already report much of this information to shareholders, government securities regulators, and by Stuart Gibson others. Instead of resisting the inevitable, MNEs would be well advised to get out in front of this wave of tax epending on where you stand, public country-by- transparency, lest they be swamped by it. They could Dcountry (CbC) reporting is either the best part of publish the CbC reports along with an explanatory BEPS, or the worst BEPS nightmare. For tax adminis- narrative, glossary of terms, and set of FAQs. Public trators and NGOs, this reporting tool can shed a bright corporations do this already when they publish their light on how multinational enterprises structure their glossy annual shareholder reports. Why not with CbC business operations to achieve maximum tax efficien- reports? cies, a euphemism for profit shifting. For large MNEs and their advisers, the reports are fraught with poten- While the U.S. dithers, the rest of the world em- tial for misunderstanding by the public and abuse by braces CbC reporting. In January Mexico joined 30 organizations whose agenda may be antithetical to other countries in signing the OECD’s multilateral profit-driven enterprises, not to mention exploitation by competent authority agreement (MCAA), setting out competitors. the legal framework for automatic exchange of CbC reports. Santiago Chacón and Alejandro Gordillo Australia and Europe have taken the lead in requir- Rousse provide a Mexican perspective on the MCAA ing companies to publish their CbC reports. Australia and its implementation in that country (p. 67). acted in response to published reports about how many As countries work together to address global chal- of its largest corporations earn hundreds of millions, lenges, they are increasingly resorting to multilateral yet pay little or no income taxes. European govern- agreements, not just on taxation but also on trade. ments, stung by public criticism over leaked rulings Mindy Herzfeld reviews the tax provisions of the granting sweetheart tax deals to some MNEs, are now Trans-Pacific Partnership and discusses some of the moving swiftly to require MNEs with annual revenue pitfalls they can pose for tax administrators (p. 7). exceeding €750 million to publish their reports. The world is well aware of Puerto Rico’s looming The United States seems to be struggling just to re- fiscal and debt crisis. In a rambling, 109-page decision, quire MNEs to file reports in the first place, let alone a federal court struck down the island’s AMT as un- make them public. While Treasury expects to publish constitutional (p. 56). But the news is not all bad for final regulations before July 1, some observers expect a the territory. Denise Flores-Caldera discusses the suc- court challenge to its authority to require the reports. cess of two Puerto Rican tax incentives, one for com- Many in Congress have also expressed concerns. The panies that provide export services, and the other for business community has talked openly about not only foreign investors who relocate to Puerto Rico (p. 75). whether Treasury has the statutory authority to require Coming soon: A new look for TNI. All of the same CbC reporting, but also whether exchanging the reports great content you’ve come to expect, with a redesigned with countries that publish CbC reports will violate tax cover. confidentiality. This latter concern would appear to be a red herring, as both Europe and Australia require the corporations themselves to publish their CbC reports, ♦ Stuart Gibson is editor of Tax Notes avoiding any potential problems under section 6103. International. TAX NOTES INTERNATIONAL APRIL 4, 2016 • 5 For more Tax Notes International content, please visit www.taxnotes.com. tax notes international® (C) Tax Analysts 2016. All rights reserved. does not claim copyright in any public domain or third party content. Copyright 2016, Tax Analysts ISSN 1048-3306 President and Publisher: Christopher Bergin Deputy Publisher: David Brunori Editor in Chief: Jeremy Scott Editor in Chief: Cara Griffith Deputy Editor in Chief: Chuck O’Toole Editor: Stuart Gibson Chief Correspondent: Amanda Athanasiou Deputy Editor: Cathleen Phillips Reporters: J.P. Finet, Ryan M. Finley, William Hoke, Stephanie Soong Johnston, Alexander Lewis, Teri Sprackland Legal Editors: Laura Breech, Claire Pendergast Managing Editor: Doug Smith Copy Chief: Betsy Sherman Assistant Editor: Kristen Langsdorf Editorial Staff: Zachary Abate, Monica Anderson, Joe Aquino, Editorial Assistant: Daniel Xu Julie Brienza, Amanda Chan, Patrice Gay, Eben Halberstam, James Hebblethwaite, Mick Heller, Andrew Hellerstein, Contributing Editor: Lee A. Sheppard Sarah Karney, Jenny Nguyen, Jessica Pritchett, Kristen Rethy, Chief Economist: Martin A. Sullivan Tom Rowe, Bill Rozday, Andy Sheets, Aimee Smith, Taraneh Taghizadeh, Emily Vanderweide, Shannon Yen Contributing Editors: Ajay Gupta, Mindy Herzfeld Production Director: Stephanie Wynn Acquisitions Editor: Jasper Smith Production Manager: Paul Doster Associate Acquisitions Editor: Steph Tomlinson Production Staff: Gary Aquino, José Carrasquillo, Isabel Church, Diana Duvall, Nikki Ebert, Alice Haar, Donna Katac, Kathryn Norseth, Soledad Olivera, Worldwide Tax Daily Editor: David D.