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On June 22, 2017 the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) issued a press release to announce that the 2017 version of the brochure “The Swiss Tax System” had been released by the Information Committee of the Swiss Tax Conference. The brochure explains the functioning of the Swiss tax system and also mentions the most recent changes on the federal and cantonal levels.

This is the first time the brochure is published in the English version. According to the FTA, the English version particularly addresses taxpayers of foreign nationalities that are unfamiliar with the Swiss tax system. In addition to an overview of the taxes levied by the Confederation, the cantons and communes, it also goes into detail concerning cantonal specialties.

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On June the 22, 2017 the Belgian Ministry of Finance issued a press release announcing that the Belgian council of ministers approved proposals for draft bills containing anti money laundering measures.

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On June 22, 2017 the UK HM Revenue & Customs issued a press release announcing that on June 13, 2017 the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic signed an Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital Gains (Hereafter: the DTA).

Although the DTA has been signed, it has not entered into force yet. For the DTA to enter into force, the respective ratification procedures have to have been finalized in both countries.

 

Below we will discuss a selection of provisions included in the DTA of which we think they might interest our readers.

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Yesterday we already reported that the Singaporean Ministry of Finance announced that Singapore had signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of Country-by-Country Reports (CbC MCAA).

According to the overview of Signatories of the CbC MCAA as available on the website of the OECD we understand that as per June 22, 2017 the total number of signatories of the CbC MCAA went up to 64.

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On June 22, 2017 the Platform for Collaboration on Tax released a toolkit for addressing difficulties in accessing comparables data for transfer pricing analyses, including a supplementary report on addressing the information gaps on prices of minerals sold in an intermediate form. The toolkit has been updated following comments on a consultation draft which was made public in January 2017. According to the OECD, the toolkit will soon also be available in French and Spanish.

The toolkit specifically addresses the ways developing countries can overcome a lack of data needed to implement transfer pricing rules. This data is needed to determine whether the prices the enterprise uses accord with those which would be expected between independent parties. The guidance will also help countries set rules and practices that are more predictable for business.

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On June 22, 2017 the OECD released a public discussion draft on additional guidance revised guidance on profit splits (BEPS Actions 8-10). The consultation period runs until September 15, 2017.

The discussion draft deals with the clarification and strengthening of the guidance on the transactional profit split method, as set out in the BEPS Actions 8-10, 2015 Final Report.

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On June 22, 2017 the OECD released a public discussion draft on additional guidance on attribution of profits to permanent establishments (Action 7 of the BEPS Action Plan (Preventing the Artificial Avoidance of Permanent Establishment Status)). The consultation period runs until September 15, 2017. Furthermore the OECD intends to hold a public consultation on the matter in November 2017.

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On June 22, 2017 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judged in Case C-20/16, Wolfram Bechtel and Marie-Laure Bechtel versus Finanzamt Offenburg (ECLI:EU:C:2017:488).

This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 45 TFEU.

 

The request has been made in proceedings between Mr Wolfram Bechtel and Mrs Marie-Laure Bechtel, and the Finanzamt Offenburg (Offenburg tax office, Germany) concerning the inclusion of pension and health insurance contributions, paid by Mrs Bechtel in France, in the calculation of their taxable income and the special tax rate to be applied to their taxable income for the years 2005 and 2006.

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On June 21, 2017 the Singaporean Ministry of Finance issued a press release announcing that on that same date Singapore would both sign the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA) as well as the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of Country-by-Country Reports (CbC MCAA).

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On June 21, 2017 the European Commission came with a proposal introducing new transparency rules for intermediaries - such as tax advisors, accountants, banks and lawyers - who design and promote tax planning schemes for their clients. The new transparency rules are laid down in a proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements. The European Commission intends the new reporting requirements to apply from January 1, 2019.

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On June 21, 2017 the Australian Parliament adopted a bill introducing a so-called vendor collection model to collect GST from low value imported goods. The law will require overseas suppliers and online marketplaces with an Australian GST turnover of $75,000 or more to account for GST on sales of low value goods to consumers in Australia from July 1, 2018.

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On June 21, 2017 the OECD published a new list of countries and jurisdictions participating in the Inclusive Framework on BEPS. Based on this list, Viet Nam is the latest country that joined the Inclusive Framework on BEPS. Therewith the total number of jurisdictions that have joined the Inclusive Framework on BEPS comes to 100.

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On June 20, 2017 the Dutch Minister of Finance sent the Dutch House of Representatives a summary of the discussions that have been held during the EuroGroup meeting of June 15 and the ECOFIN Council of June 16, 2017. During the ECOFIN Council a.o. the topics of a reduced VAT rate for electronic publications and the possibility for Member States to apply a general reverse charge mechanism for VAT in order to combat VAT fraud were on the agenda. After the ECOFIN Council no press release were released in this respect, which might have made some people wonder what happened with respect to these topics. In his letter of June 20, 2017 provides a very high-level insight in what happened in the discussions in ECOFIN Council.

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The next OECD Tax Talks webcast is scheduled for June 26, 2017 from 16.00 to 17.00 CET.

According to the OECD topics to be discussed during the webcast include a.o.:

·   The Inclusive Framework on BEPS – including progress on transfer pricing, the Multilateral Instrument, and updated work on branch mismatch arrangements.

·   Upcoming G20 Summit in Hamburg.

·   Global Forum work on tax transparency and exchange of information.

·   The months ahead: Our work programme, and how you can be involved.

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During its meeting of 16 June 2017, the Swiss Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the introduction of the automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI) with 41 states and territories. The implementation is planned for 2018, and the first sets of data should be exchanged in 2019. In the dispatch the Swiss Federal Council asks the Nationalrat (the National Council) and the Ständerats (the Council of States) to approve the drafts of the:

-  Federal decisions on the introduction of automatic information exchange of financial account information from 2018/2019 with 41 partner countries;

-  Federal decision on the testing mechanism to ensure the standard conformity implementation of automatic information exchange of financial accounts with partner countries from 2018/2019.

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On June 15, 2017 on the website of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) the opinion of Advocate General Szpunar in the Case C-90/16, The English Bridge Union Limited versus Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (ECLI:EU:C:2017:464) was published.

From introductory remarks made by the Advocate General

‘Consider for example the proceedings that we call “games”. I mean board-games, card-games, ball-games, Olympic Games, and so on. What is common to them all?—Don’t say: “There must be something common, or they would not be called ‘games’ ”—but look and see whether there is anything common to all.—For if you look at them you will not see something that is common to all, but similarities, relationships, and a whole series of them at that. To repeat: don’t think, but look!’.

 

The present request for a preliminary ruling from the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) (United Kingdom) raises problems comparable to those faced by Wittgenstein when he attempted to find common characteristics which define an activity as a ‘game’. Today, the term to be defined is not that of ‘games’ but that of ‘sport’ in order to establish whether – for the purposes of VAT exemption – the activity of duplicate contract bridge constitutes a ‘sport’ or not.

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On June 14, 2017 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judged in Case C-26/16, Santogal M-Comércio e Reparação de Automóveis Lda versus Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (ECLI:EU:C:2017:453).

This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 138(2)(a) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax.

 

The request has been made in the course of proceedings between Santogal M-Comércio e Reparação de Automóveis Lda (‘Santogal’) and the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (Tax and Customs Authority, Portugal) in relation to that authority’s refusal to exempt a transaction from value added tax (VAT) as an intra-Community supply of a new means of transport.

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On June 14, 2017 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judged in Case C-38/16, Compass Contract Services Limited versus Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (ECLI:EU:C:2017:454).

This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of the EU law principles of equal treatment, fiscal neutrality and effectiveness.

 

The request has been made in proceedings between Compass Contract Services Limited (‘Compass’) and the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (‘the Commissioners’) concerning the latter’s refusal to repay value added tax (‘VAT’) overpaid by Compass.

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