ARTICLES
UK Delays in Announcing Successful Applicants in 14th Licensing Round for Companies Looking for Onshore Oil and Gas
In a somewhat controversial move the UK government announced on the 28th July 2014 that it was accepting applications in its 14th Landward Licensing Round. This was the first onshore oil and gas licensing round in six years. Bids for this closed on 28th October 2014 and it is reported that there were over 95 [...]
Areas to be considered when reviewing the Russian De-offshorisation Law
In light of the new legislation which came into force in 1 January 2015, Russians with offshore considerations will need to analyse corporate structures to identify companies affected by the new CFC rules. The below is information is intended to identify areas that need to be taken into account when doing this. The first factor [...]
Victory for Expats Over Personal Allowances Review
In the March 2014 budget the British Chancellor questioned whether British expats should be exempt from benefiting for the UK’s personal income tax allowance. At present every UK taxpayer has a personal allowance, which is the amount of income that can be earned before tax needs to be paid. For 2014/2015 this is set at [...]
Russian Deoffshorisation Law
Russian Deoffshorisation Law On 24 November 2014 Russian President Putin signed the Federal Law No. 376-FZ, introducing a new law which came into force on 1 January 2015. This is commonly referred to as the Russian de-offshorisation law and concerns controlled foreign companies (‘CFC’). Russia is the last of the largest world economies to create [...]
IPSE opens Freelancer Awards 2015
A nationwide competition has been launched by the Association of Independent Professional and the Self-Employed (IPSE) in the United Kingdom to find Britain’s most talented freelancers and contractors. This is the second year that IPSE has held this competition in an effort to give self-employment in the UK a boost. This competition has two categories, the [...]
Isle of Man a favorable choice for Digital Currencies
Digital currencies have been around since the 1990’s and it is now becoming apparent that these are not temporary as some people first predicted. Indeed, on the 26th February 2015 the Bank of England commented on their belief that digital currency will revolutionize payment systems for banks. In particular the bank cited the ledger technology [...]
Luxembourg’s non-EUR Functional Currency for Tax Purposes
Luxembourg companies are already free to choose the currency in which their accounts are prepared. Therefore if you have a Luxembourg company and you expect to conduct either all or a majority of business in a currency other than EUR it is possible to take this option. This can be beneficial for a number of [...]
Technical Skills Gap
There has been a substantial problem identified in recruitment with companies unable to find suitably qualified persons for technical or IT projects. Reports have shown that the gap comes from differences in what education offers and what employers want and there have already been calls for deeper engagement between employers and education systems in order [...]
South Africa Refine Share Dealings
Arrangements whereas companies buy back their own shares immediately before issuing new shares has previously been used in South Africa causing the South African Revenue Service (SARS) concerns over payment of capital gains tax (CGT). This arrangement had proved favourable for all parties involved for a variety of reasons however in a recent clamp down [...]
Abu Dhabi Global Market
Draft legislation has been published for open market consultation with regards to Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the new international finance centre in the United Arab Emirates. This legislation has already been subject to a pre-open market consultation in which the opinions of sixteen major international financial and industry bodies were sought. This financial centre [...]
Culture Shock
Culture shock occurs due to the disorientation that is felt when moving to another country. As a contractor, who might regularly work in a variety of countries as part of their employment it is important to master culture shock. Common problems that can contribute to culture shock are the language barrier, technology gaps, skill interdependence [...]
UK Stamp Duty Land Tax ‘Slab’ Rule to be Abolished
In the Autumn statement it was announced that the ‘slab’ rule under which SDLT is currently charged on residential properties at a single percentage of the whole price will be abolished and instead it will be charged on a marginal basis similar to income tax bands. This new SDLT rate is effective from 4 December [...]
Foreign Direct Investment
Foreign Direct Investment can be either inward or outward. Inward is where the economy receives from non-resident investors and outward is where resident makes investments into external economies. Government policies are often directed at attracting Foreign Direct Investment which helps the economy and creates jobs. Areas that can attract investment are natural resources, educated/expert workforce, [...]
Coalition Failed to Simplify Tax Issues for Contractors
Despite promising to simplify taxation in its pre-election campaigning, the coalition has led to more complication not less according to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). In its report, the ACCA have stated that the new Onshore Intermediaries Rules have imposed additional burdens on the area. These rules have received quite a lot [...]
Jersey Introduces First Regulated Bitcoin Investment Fund
Jersey has recently announced the setting up of the World’s first Bitcoin investment fund. The fund, known as the Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Fund (GABI), is a regulated open ended fund and is due to be launched on 1 August 2014 by a Jersey based investment management company. This will not be open to the [...]
Tax Relief on Legitimate Expense Claims
The UK government has launched a consultation to reform the way employees get tax relief on allowable expenses. Currently employers apply to the HMRC for a dispensation, this allows the employer to pay specific expenses to their employees without having to deduct income tax and national insurance and report them to the HMRC. However due [...]
How the Swiss Labour Law and Swiss Employment Applies to Contracting
Contracting in Switzerland can be daunting if you are not familiar with the Swiss Labour Laws, however Swiss Labour Law does not impose a specific form of employment contract. Employment contracts can be either verbal or written. It is best to have a written contract based upon the Swiss Code of Obligations and Federal Law. [...]
UK Rules for Dual Contracts of Non-doms
New rules have now been set out regarding how the UK treats resident non-domiciles who receive earnings from overseas employers under dual contracts. Income from these contracts will be taxed as UK income unless this has been taxed abroad at 33.75 per cent or more. This does not apply if the non-dom has to be [...]
