News

On 14 November 2013, the U.S.A. and France signed an Intergovernmental Agreement, on the basis of a Model I template, in order to improve international tax compliance and to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

Four agreements for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and on capital that Switzerland has signed with Portugal, Bulgaria, Slovenia and the Czech Republic to be applicable from 1 January 2014. The Treaties also include OECD model article on exchange of tax-related information.

On the 12th October 2013 the Accounting Records (Maintenance) Act (No. 18 of 2013) was published in the Belize Gazette.

Belarus's Lower House of Parliament endorsed a law that would ratify the DTAs the nation signed with Indonesia and Singapore on October 24, 2013.

The State Duma of Russia adopted a bill on the simplification of the small business account maintenance in the third readings.

The intergovernmental agreement between Canada and Hong Kong on the avoidance of double taxation came into force on October 29, 2013.

Ukraine has become the 121st full-fledged member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purpose created by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

EU Commission has proposed a new standard VAT return. The aim of this initiative is to ease tax compliance and make tax administrations across the Union more efficient as a commitment to the Commission's Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT) (IP/13/891). 

The FATCA agreement signed between Switzerland and the United States in February this year which allows for agreement between Swiss financial institutions and the US Internal Revenue Service to exchange information on accounts held by US taxpayers with Swiss banks, will be implemented from July 1, 2014 rather than from January 1, 2014

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Liechtenstein and Malta have signed a bilateral Double Taxation Agreement between the two countries in respect of taxes on income and on wealth.