On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the Act), a sweeping bill with significant tax, energy and healthcare implications.[1] This alert focuses on two key corporate tax aspects of the Act:Continue Reading Key Corporate Tax Aspects of the New Inflation Reduction Act
Tax Law
Circular on Pilot Tax Policies for Venture Capital Firms and Individual Angel Investors
In order to promote venture capital investment and to support small to middle sized business, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation have jointly promulgated the Circular on Pilot Tax Policies for Venture Capital Firms and Individual Angel Investors (Cai Shui [2017] No. 38 ) (the “Circular“) on April 28, 2017. The tax policy will be provisional in the pilot areas of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Shanghai, Guangdong, Anhui, Sichuan, Wuhan, Xi’an, Shenyang, and Suzhou Industrial Park.
Continue Reading Circular on Pilot Tax Policies for Venture Capital Firms and Individual Angel Investors
2014—A big year for Circular 698?
This year will mark a half-decade since the release of Circular 698. The confluence of local enforcement and increased exits by off-shore investors may make 2014 its most interesting year.
Continue Reading 2014—A big year for Circular 698?
China SAT Releases Bulletin on CIT Treatment of Non-resident Enterprises’ Secondment Arrangement
By Carol Xu
China’s State Administration of Taxation (“SAT”) released Bulletin [2013] No. 19, “Announcement on Issues Concerning Levying Corporate Income Tax on Services Provided by Non-residents through Seconding Personnel to China”《关于非居民企业派遣人员在中国境内提供劳务征收企业所得税有关问题的公告》 (“Bulletin 19”) to provide guidance on the treatment of non-resident enterprises’ individual secondment arrangement from the PRC corporate income tax (“CIT”) perspective.Continue Reading China SAT Releases Bulletin on CIT Treatment of Non-resident Enterprises’ Secondment Arrangement
Big Four to Localize in China
By Amin Amirkia
Earlier this month, China’s Ministry of Finance, State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Commerce, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the Notice on Issuing the Scheme on the Localized Restructuring of Sino-Foreign Cooperative Accounting Firms (“Notice”), requiring the Big Four to “localize” their operations in China. The Notice became effective on May 10, 2012.Continue Reading Big Four to Localize in China
Regulatory Challenges for the “Big Four”
By Amin Amirkia
The “Big Four”, which dominate the Chinese market, are facing regulatory changes that could mean that only accountants with Chinese qualifications can be partners in their China-based audit practices.
At the time of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, the Big Four successfully lobbied to have an exception to China’s requirement that only Chinese certified accountants could own Chinese accounting firms. As a result, the Big Four were allowed to maintain their foreign ownership in their existing joint ventures. However, the exception only applied to the Big Four’s existing joint ventures, which have 20 year terms. As a result, the joint venture agreements signed by KPMG, Deloitte & Touche, and Ernst & Young will expire later this year, with PricewaterhouseCoopers’ to expire in 2017.Continue Reading Regulatory Challenges for the “Big Four”
China Clarifies and Expands Reporting Obligations of Foreign Enterprises on Indirect Equity Transfers
On March 28, 2011, China’s State Administration of Taxation (“SAT”) issued Announcement No. 24 regarding Several Problems of Regulation on Income Tax of Non-resident Enterprises (the “Announcement”), effective beginning April 1, 2011. The Announcement applies to all outstanding tax liabilities incurred but not paid before April 1, 2011.Continue Reading China Clarifies and Expands Reporting Obligations of Foreign Enterprises on Indirect Equity Transfers
China Ends an Era of Special Tax Treatments for Foreign Companies and Individuals
Beginning December 1, 2010, foreign-invested enterprises, foreign enterprises, and foreign individuals are now required to pay the city maintenance and construction tax as well as the education surcharge, from which these entities and individuals were formerly exempt. Prior to this regulation, the PRC levied those taxes only on Chinese-owned and funded enterprises and Chinese citizens.Continue Reading China Ends an Era of Special Tax Treatments for Foreign Companies and Individuals
Four Departments Jointly Clarify Tax Rules For Purchase Of Equipment by R&D Centers
On March 22, 2010, the Ministry of Commerce, State Administration of Taxation, General Admission of Customs and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued a circular (Shangzifa [2010] No. 93, "Circular 93") to clarify procedures for the examination and approval of tax exemptions and refunds for purchase of equipment in China made by foreign-invested R&D centers.Continue Reading Four Departments Jointly Clarify Tax Rules For Purchase Of Equipment by R&D Centers
China Issues the New Audit Regulation
China’s State Council has recently released the amended Regulations for the Implementation of the Audit Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, the “New Audit Regulation”) applicable starting May 1, 2010. Compared with the amended Audit Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, the “New Audit Law”), the New Audit Regulation sets forth the power of auditing authorities more specifically.Continue Reading China Issues the New Audit Regulation
China M&A Tax Issues – Installment 3: Mergers and Special Purpose Vehicles
Mergers
A merger involves two or more enterprises forming a single legal entity (either existing or new) through combining their assets and liabilities. In China, the two methods through which a merger can be transacted are the absorption of an existing company or the creation of a new entity. Though the former resembles an acquisition, different tax rules apply if the transaction is recognized as a merger.Continue Reading China M&A Tax Issues – Installment 3: Mergers and Special Purpose Vehicles