Category: APJT Archive

This article summarises 20 cases reported in Volume 31 (Third Supplement), Volume 32, and Volume 32 (First Supplement) of the Inland Revenue Board of Review Decisions. These include five cases on profits tax and five cases on salaries tax. There are also four penalty tax cases, four cases concerning case stated, and two cases on procedural matters....

On 28 March 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) of China issued its Vision and Actions on Jointly Building the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (“Belt and Road Initiative” or the “Initiative”). The Belt and Road Initiative is a signi cant development strategy launched by the Chinese Government with the intention of promoting economic co-operation among countries along the proposed Belt and Road routes. The Initiative has been designed to enhance the orderly free flow of economic factors and the efficient allocation of resources. It is also intended to enhance market integration and create a regional economic co-operation framework....

Vietnam is located in the centre of Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China, Laos, and Cambodia. It is in an ideal position to develop its economy in general and its trade and tourism sector in particular. Vietnam has become one of the fastest growing economies in the world, achieving 6.21 per cent growth in 2016. It is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which has provided Vietnam an anchor to the global market and reinforced the domestic economic reform process....

Malaysia is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural federation of 13 states and three federal territories strategically located in the heart of Southeast Asia. Geographically, it comprises two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, separated by the South China Sea, and it is home to a sizeable ethnic Chinese population which makes up almost 20 per cent of the country’s total population. Its lush tropical rainforests, rich diversity of cuisine, and futuristic city skylines make it a popular destination for Chinese tourists and investors alike....

Thailand has seen an increasing interest in investment from China and Hong Kong. This is supported by the statistics on foreign direct investment in 2016 released by the Bank of Thailand. In 2016, China and Hong Kong were respectively the third and fourth largest foreign investors in Thailand. The combined foreign direct investment from China and Hong Kong was USD 2.13 billion in 2016 (1st Japan, and 2nd Singapore). While some of the investment from China is driven by China’s “One Belt, One Road” policy, there are other Chinese investors looking to invest in Thailand for other reasons (e.g. to avoid the anti-dumping rules in Europe and the US; as a gateway to the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) countries thanks to Thailand’s strategic geographic location; and the booming real estate markets in Thailand)....

Because of mounting public and political pressures, the G20 countries asked the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (“OECD”) to develop an action plan on base erosion and profit shifting (“BEPS”) limiting opportunities for multinational enterprises (“MNEs”) to shift profits to jurisdictions with a lower tax rate. The 15 BEPS action plans the OECD produced are broad in nature and coverage. From the transfer pricing perspective, there are four action plans, Action Plans 8, 9, 10 and 13. Action Plans 8-10 predominantly address the issue of pro t shifting by MNEs through the use of a transfer pricing policy. On the other hand, Action Plan 13 deals with transfer pricing documentation, amongst which an MNE may need to prepare and submit to the relevant tax authority a country-by-country report, a master le, and a local le if certain thresholds are met. One item that would need to be analysed and disclosed in the master file and local file deals...

Bob Dylan may have said it best: “the times they are a-changin”. This statement is particularly relevant with regard to UK residential property tax over recent years, with a multitude of changes being made by the Conservative Government, resulting in a mishmash of tax law and layers upon layers of new rules being added, often affecting several areas of taxation that have competing priorities. These changes have increased the complexity of residential property tax and made compliance much more prone to error. In addition, further changes have already been earmarked for the next few years, one of which may radically change the way taxpayers deal with HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”), the UK tax authority, for UK tax compliance on their property rental businesses. This article provides a summary of the pertinent parts of each of the changes made, with a focus on how they have or will affect non-resident owners of UK residential property....

現在中國經濟快速發展，個人收入多元化，收入水平不斷提高，與之相對的是，貧富差距也在逐步擴大， 差距的擴大不利於中國和諧社會的建設。個人所得稅是調節社會各階層財富收入的重要手段，對實現社會 公平上可以發揮積極的作用。於 2016 年，個人所得稅實現總稅收收入 10,089 億元，佔國家整體稅收約 8%， 但相比美國個人所得稅稅收佔財政收入 50%，澳大利亞個人所得稅稅收佔財政收入 55%，比重明顯偏低， 其發揮調節社會收入分配的作用仍存在較大差距。究竟問題出在哪裏?...

Hong Kong tax practitioners are accustomed to emphasising the supposed sharp distinction between Hong Kong’s territorial, source-based approach to taxation and the revenue codes of other jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, which, by contrast, are identified as taxing on the basis of residence. This apparent divergence in approaches to raising revenue has made the territorial system of taxation in Hong Kong a scal totem, to which successive Governments both before and after the 1997 handover have remained committed and would prefer to leave undisturbed. A system that worked well in the fat years of Hong Kong’s post-war economic miracle is, however, coming under strain as both the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and, in some cases, the Board of Review (the “Board”) and the lower courts have begun to extend the scope of territoriality, apparently proceeding under the assumption that certain persons should be taxable in Hong Kong....

This article examines the general trend of taxation in Hong Kong over the past 20 years, discusses the areas of the Hong Kong tax system where a review may be required to enhance its competitiveness, and considers the possible future directions of tax reform in Hong Kong. Taking into consideration the evolving domestic economic environment of Hong Kong, the measures put in place by many of its neighbouring countries to enhance their tax competitiveness, and the fast changing international tax landscape, this article identi es the following areas of the tax system in Hong Kong where either close monitoring is required or changes are recommended: (1) the sustainability of the offshore regime; (2) the competitiveness of the corporate tax rate; (3) the use of tax incentives as a tool to foster economic growth; (4) measures to enhance tax equity; (5) broadening the tax base in Hong Kong; and (6) the need for dedicated and specialised resources for tax policy setting...