Regulatory Analysis
Prime Minister Theresa May has called for an early general election on June 8, claiming it’s the only way to guarantee certainty and stability in Brexit negotiations. The Prime Minister’s Conservative Party is currently polling far ahead of the opposition Labour Party, and her clear hope is that Conservatives will gain enough seats in Parliament […]
Recently, the Cayman Islands published its version 2.0 for CRS Guidance. The Guidance is a very important document for CRS reporting as it contains important information for due diligence and reporting requirements. In particular, Cayman will require Reporting FIs to send separate reports for each of its jurisdictions where it maintains reportable accounts. Moreover, it […]
Germany’s BZSt released both FATCA schema files (XSD files are provided in the [zip file|www.bzst.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/FATCA_downloads/ELANKOM_Schema_FATCAXML2.0_230317_zip.zip?__blob=publicationFile]), and guidance ([Communications Manual Part III, version 2.0|www.bzst.de/DE/Steuern_International/FATCA/Kommunikationshandbuch/Kommunikationshandbuch_FATCA_Teil_III.pdf?__blob=publicationFile]). Both provide important information on how to properly create FATCA returns. Information about the releases can be found in the latest [Infobrief|www.bzst.de/DE/Steuern_International/FATCA/Infobrief/Aktuell/Infobrief_Aktuell.pdf?__blob=publicationFile]. In addition, Germany published guidance on notifications (“[Verarbeitungsprotokolle […]
SSA has released Draft Form W-2 and Form W-2c Specifications for TY2017 Reporting. There are a number of changes from the previous revisions of the two form specifications. Form W-2 Changes Form W-2 has a new box 12 Code FF money field, Permitted Benefits Under a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (Code […]
The Belgium Ministry of Finance recently published updated Business Rules and Example Scenarios to aid financial institutions in creating compliant CRS XML files for reporting purposes. These most recent updates include changes to important elements critical to a successful transmittal. The Business Rules, which lay out the multitude of requirements for each field in an […]
On April 4, 2017, the Pennsylvania DOR revised SUT 17 001 to more narrowly define taxable software support services, stating that training and consulting services were not included unless the services otherwise met the definition of support. Generally, support services were defined to include “identifying the source of problems affecting the usability of the property […]
West Virginia’s State Tax Department has released a new publication TSD-100, “West Virginia Business Taxes.” The publication provides guidance to Business who need to register for business tax purposes. The six page document is merely instructive and does not function as a legal document. The last time West Virginia published a similar document was November, […]
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in newly-published 2017 Guidelines for VAT/GST, has opined on how they believe VAT should be assessed on services and intangibles. Their primary recommendations are that countries adopt regimes which: 1. Tax services and intangibles at the place of consumption; 2. Tax business-to-business (B2B) transactions at the […]
The IRS has released an updated version of Publication 1281, Backup Withholding For Missing and Incorrect Name/TIN(S). There are a couple of changes from the previous revision: • Form 1099-G payments made under IRC 6041 and 3406(b)(3)(A), which include taxable grants and agricultural payments, are now subject to backup withholding o New code for […]
Alabama has recently enacted legislation that permanently changes the date of the state’s Back to School Sales Tax Holiday. The Alabama Sales Tax Holiday, which has traditionally been held during the first weekend of August, will now take place during the third weekend of July. For more information, visit the DOR’s Web site. The post […]
The Icelandic Directorate of Internal Revenue has released information about its domestic schema to be used for both FATCA and CRS reporting. There is a new section in the schema, <FatcaCrs í framtalsgögnum> (FATCA CRS tax return data), which is meant to allow for either FATCA or CRS data to be reported. Additionally, there is […]
New regulations came into effect this week for CRS in Singapore. The Minister for Finance has published Amendments the last year’s Regulations. Many of the Amendments concern due diligence procedures, including the self-certification process. Singapore is a late adopter. Financial Institutions are required to complete the due diligence procedures this year, and then report in […]
Singapore’s Inland Revenue Authority has released a paper form that Reporting Financial Institutions may use to file a nil report. Nil reports are required whenever an FI does not have any U.S. Reportable Accounts. A Singaporean FI may elect to file an electronic nil through the IDES Gateway, as it would a typical FATCA return. […]
The Paraguay Tax Administration (SET) recently informed the business community that it is initiating a project to introduce the mandatory use of electronic invoices. The project will be executed in three phases: 1) Definition of the e-Invoice model; 2) Development of the necessary regulations and the technical platform and 3) Implementation of a pilot plan […]
On April 3 the Massachusetts DOR issued Directive 17-1 establishing an economic nexus standard for out-of-state vendors. Under this new rule, starting on July 1, the existing “physical presence” standard as defined by the famous Quill v. North Dakota Supreme Court decision would be replaced with a requirement that specifies all vendors that make at […]
North Dakota recently released an updated version of Publication 28262 – “Guideline to Income Tax Withholding: Oil and gas Royalty Payments.” The Guideline provides withholding criteria regarding oil and gas related royalty payments. There is one change from the previous version of this publication involving remittance of 1099-MISC forms under the Combined Federal/State Program […]
Maine recently published updated instructions for Form 941-ME, the “Employer’s Return of Maine Income Tax Withholding.” Generally, Form 941-ME is used to report employee or payee income tax withholding to the Maine Revenue Service. The 2017 version of these instructions include a few changes, mostly related to amended returns. • Amended Returns: This section was […]
Arizona has released its 2017 Quarterly Withholding Tax Return, the A1-QRT. This form is the quarterly reconciliation and reporting form used for withholding payments made over the course of a quarter. The form has undergone extensive formatting changes, but relatively few material changes. The form now requests more detail related to business closures and […]