ARTICLES
South Africa and Hong Kong Double Tax Treaty Enters into Force
The agreement which was signed in October 2014 has now been ratified by both parties and entered onto force on the 20th October 2015. It applies in South Africa from 1 January 2016 and in Hong Kong from 1 April 2016. This is Hong Kong’s first Double Tax Treaty with an African jurisdiction. It is [...]
New Visa Scheme to Attract High Skilled IT Workers
New Visa Scheme to Attract High Skilled IT Workers Britain came under criticism last year when its Tier 2 visa programme which was introduced by the coalition government in 2011 reached its cap meaning that businesses were unable to recruit skilled workers from non-EU countries leading to remarks that Britain had closed its doors to [...]
South African New Test for Effective Management
On the 3rd November 2015 the South African Revenue Service (SARS) issued an Interpretation Note in order to clarify the tax residence of a company based on its place of effective management (POEM). The residence of a company is a very sensitive issue as if considered resident it is not only the South African income [...]
Cloud – It’s impact on the IT world
Cloud is relatively new to IT and therefore is developing at a much faster rate than other areas. It is predicted that half of IT infrastructure and software investments will be cloud based by 2018. When contracting in the IT sector it is important to understand how this evolution in IT technology will impact IT contracting jobs. Currently [...]
Isle of Man one of the first Jurisdictions to introduce Crypto Currency Legislation
On 26 October 2015 the Isle of Man instigated initial legislation to regulate Crypto Currency making it one of the first jurisdictions in the world to do so, second only to New York whose rather disastrous attempt in August 2015 resulted in the loss of numerous Bitcoin businesses. The Isle of Man has over thirty [...]
France to Reimburse Social Contributions
In the summer budget of 2012 France introduced social contribution charges to non-residents. This was immediately met with strong opposition. However in October 2015 the French Tax Authority have now announced that it will refund these social contributions, but only to European residents. The decision to refund these charges has been made after the European [...]
Gibraltar to Introduce Private Foundations
On the 15th October 2015 Gibraltar published draft legislation for public consultation. The legislation was to introduce the Private Foundations Act 2015 and the Limited Liability Partnerships Act (Amendment) Regulations 2015. The closing date for the consultation was the 30th November 2015. This legislation is an effort by Gibraltar to remain competitive with other jurisdictions that have [...]
Concerns over Cap on German Contracts
A recent labour law reform has led to the termination of one hundred and eighty local contractors. The reform which comes into effect from January 2017 means that a cap of eighteen months has been put in place with regards to leasing temporary workers, which includes skilled contractors from abroad. Therefore after only eighteen months [...]
What Currency to be Paid In?
We have said it numerous times before that whilst the life of an international contractor offers many inviting perks, it also comes with its own unique set of problems. One of these problems occurs when a decision needs to be made regarding what currency to be paid in. Unlike regular full time work when choosing to [...]
Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority
We wrote in May of last year regarding the new Abu Dhabi Global Market (‘ADGM’), which is an international finance centre in the United Arab Emirates and is independent of the existing legal regime in Abu Dhabi. This is governed under the same law under which the Dubai International Finance Centre was established and is [...]
Nevis Improves on Its Corporation, LLC and Trust Laws
On the 1 July 2015 Nevis made a number of significant amendments to its existing Corporation, LLC and Trust laws making it a very attractive jurisdiction, especially for those whom asset protection is of primary concern. A summary of some of the more notable changes can be found below:- Corporation:- Corporations are now permitted to [...]
A Weaker Euro’s Effect on Contractors
A Weaker Euro initially sounds like a bad thing, but is that really the case. The weaker Euro was actually welcomed by financial experts due to the anticipation that this would boost the economies and promote job growth. International contractors have different concerns to think about than the average worker, this includes currencies of the countries [...]
IT Skills Tipped to be Hot for 2016
We previously blogged on the increasing need for certification to show that you have the relevant IT skills that employers are currently looking for, in this we briefly touched upon the necessity to have chosen a specific area of expertise. The world of IT is so vast and ever changing that whilst a general competence [...]
Why International Traders are choosing the UAE
In today’s global environment, businesses are not limited to domestic incorporations. Offshore incorporations are no longer just for large elite global corporations, but offer many advantages to medium and even small sized businesses and competition is high between the various jurisdictions. That said we take a look at why so many international traders are choosing the United Arab [...]
The Most Competitive Economies for 2015
Due to the evolution of IT and travel the world is no longer a small place especially when it comes to companies, who no matter the size are increasingly having a global presence. With that said and well into the new year we take a look back to assess the most competitive economies of 2015.According to a [...]
Corporate Tax Rates
When choosing to establish an offshore company a lot of emphasis is usually placed on tax. This is not always the case however. Offshore jurisdictions can offer quite a broad spectrum of advantages. This becomes clear when we look at the Corporate Tax Rates for some of the most popular jurisdictions and see that this includes not only the lowest tax [...]
Contractors Opinion on Brexit – Part 2
Further to our blog of 7 April 2016 in which we reported that professional contractors were generally leaning towards voting in favour of remaining in the EU we now review to see if the campaigns have alleviated experts concerns that many people did not fully understand the implications of leaving the EU and see if this has changed the [...]
The Evolving World of IT Certifications
Due to how quickly the world of IT is evolving this has led to an increase in the need for IT contractors, whether to update an antiquated system or whether to protect them from the ever increasing risks of cyber-crime. However with the IT world developing at a breakneck speed finding the right contractor is becoming [...]
