The Legal 500

Legal Developments worldwide

• Collateral creation in the UAE

  In financial transactions, the most common measure of protecting the rights of creditors is to have the transaction secured by assets or debts of the debtor or by other third party security creation methods. Taking effective security specifies that the creditor can, in the event of default of payment or on the bankruptcy of the debtor, take possession of that asset, sell it and use the proceeds to repay its debt. This strengthens the position of secured creditors over other unsecured creditors of the debtor.
  - Galadari & Associates

• THE “DECREE OF DOING”: OUTLINING SOME OF ITS PRACTICAL ASPECTS

  The " Decreto del Fare " ("Decree of Doing" - Law Decree 21 st June 2013, n. 69,  turned into Law 9 th August 2013, n. 98) contains regulations designed to simplify legal matters related to the construction industry with the purpose of helping its workers and to kick start a sector deeply affected by the economic crisis.
  - Villata, Degli Esposti, Perfetti e Associati

• Finding the Least-Worst Method of mobile app Taxation

  Published: 19 Nov 2013 at 00.00
  - LawAlliance Limited

• Tax Management amid Political Chaos

  Published: 3 Dec 2013 at 00.00
  - LawAlliance Limited

• New FSC regulations reinforces the position of Mauritius as a jurisdiction of substance

  The introduction of new substance requirements for Global Business Companies operating from Mauritius which will become effective on 1st January 2015 are part and parcel of a strategy to further boost financial services and increase its input to the country's GDP.
  - BLC Chambers

• Tax regime for severance pay

  Separate taxation at the average rate of the last year with professional activity
  - Claeys & Engels law firm

• Harmonised dismissal rules: Proposal

  The draft bill concerning the introduction of harmonised dismissal rules was introduced in the House of Representatives on 21 November 2013.
  - Claeys & Engels law firm

• New Criteria for the Good Faith Test in the Court Practice

  Presumption of good faith of the parties and their actions adopted initially in the Concept of the development of the civil legislation of the Russian Federation dated 7 October 2009, article 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter - the Civil Code), has been developed by the Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation (hereinafter - the SCC).
  - Lidings Law Firm

• Other Treaty Interpretation Mistakes in Case Law

  Further to the above issues that have a degree of uncertainty requiring court analysis and judgement, sometimes you can face fairly odious errors in tax treaty application. These include such "casualties" as the Promleasing case, where both the taxpayer and the tax authorities were drawn into an embarrassing discussion proving that a Russian LLC is a Russian enterprise because its CEO is a Russian citizen, evidently misinterpreting the term "enterprise" for treaty purposes (see Resolution No. КА-А40/6805-11 dated 08 July 2011).  Another renowned case included a court ruling that the Protocol to the Russia-Germany Double Tax Treaty expressly specifying an additional guarantee of unlimited interest cost deduction could not apply at all, because this benefit discriminates against Russian companies qualifying as Russian subsidiaries of German residents (See the Rulog case No. А40-37344/11-107-160 dated 19 November 2012). This statement is as outrageous as the suggestion that an international tax treaty is required for Russia not to discriminate its Russian companies against one another. No practical advice can be given for avoiding such an odd situation other than ensuring that development and presentation of the legal position in a tax dispute is assigned to adequate professionals. Normal 0 false false false RU ZH-CN AR-SA /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:RU; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
  - Goltsblat BLP

• Are Formalities Still Important for Tax Agents?

  The turn in the direction of denying formal approaches discussed above does not work equally in all respects. Given the above SCC position that the full amount of tax not withheld can be claimed from the tax agent, it is in the interests of Russian paying entities to invest sufficient efforts in ensuring the formal side of the matter where a double tax treaty exemption applies. The core recommendation is simple: to obtain, in a timely fashion, an adequate and duly apostilled tax residence certificate for the payee that is entitled to double tax treaty exemption. If this seems natural with independent parties, it is often an annoying routine with group companies: why bother obtaining new certificates if the parties are quite sure where the parent company is located and tax resident? Yet it is crucial to prepare all the documents beforehand, since these formalities might take a substantial time and, if you fail to present the documents during a tax audit, you might lose the case. Normal 0 false false false RU ZH-CN AR-SA /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:RU; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
  - Goltsblat BLP