On 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. The martial law is in effect in Ukraine since then. As a result, special legislation has been adopted in various areas, including that directly affecting business activity. Baker McKenzie lawyers are pleased to present the fourth edition of Ukrainian Laws in Wartime: Guide for International and Domestic Businesses, a brief overview of the key features of wartime legislation.
The UK and international tax landscape has never been quiet for fund and asset managers (GPs) but a number of recent tax developments will have the potential to significantly affect how these businesses operate. Some of these developments will, however, be welcome by most GPs.
Gustavo Sanchez-Gonzalez, Armando Cabrera-Nolasco and Katia Huezo of Baker McKenzie describe the key concepts surrounding marketing intangibles and the way tax regulations and tax authorities in the region are tackling these issues.
On 6 May 2022, the OECD released a public consultation document with respect to the Regulated Financial Services Exclusion for Amount A. This latest consultation document follows four other publications on aspects of Amount A since February relating to nexus and revenue sourcing, tax base determinations, scope, and the extractives exclusion. As with earlier draft model rules, this publication is a work-in-progress and subject to changes. The OECD welcomes comments from the public before 20 May 2022, following which a more detailed commentary on a number of technical items is expected to be released.
For all current and potential investors in a country, understanding the legislation, the system, the guarantees and other nuances of local regulations is important, especially as the legal framework is constantly evolving. This is why Estudio Echecopar, member firm of Baker & McKenzie International, has put together Doing Business in Peru 2022, a handbook that offers find useful and current information related to the legal framework that every investor must take into account to operate in the country.
The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications have recently approached certain foreign companies (in particular tech companies) and issued notices requiring that the company make a registration in Japan under the Companies Act.
In this article, we comment on this issue and provide our perspectives on the Japanese Companies Act, tax and other related laws and regulations such as the Telecommunications Business Act.
On 7 April 2022, the ECJ issued its decision in the case C‑489/20 (UB vs Kauno teritorinė muitinė). UB arranged the unlawful introduction of cigarettes from Belarus to Lithuania. In September 2016, 6000 packages of cigarettes were thrown across the State border to be picked by vehicle on the other side. Lithuanian border officials managed to detain the vehicle carrying the cigarettes that same day.
The Guide to Doing Business in China provides an introduction to selected aspects relating to investment and business operations in the People’s Republic of China under current Chinese laws and policy during the COVID pandemic, including a summary of important areas of concern to all investors in China: mergers and acquisitions, data privacy issues, antitrust and competition issues, taxation, employment, intellectual property protection, trade and import and export rules, financial services, as well as anti-bribery compliance and dispute resolution issues.
On 11 March 2022, Supplementary Law #192 introduced the single-stage ICMS tax regime on transactions involving fuels. This new law aims to reduce the final customer’s tax burden on transactions involving the following fuels: gasoline, anhydrous ethanol fuel, diesel, biodiesel, liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas. Moreover, Supplementary Law #192 temporally reduces to zero the PIS and COFINS rates on transactions involving the above-mentioned fuels until 31 December 2022, without affecting the accrual of credits.
On 18 March 2022, the Brazilian Federal Revenue issued Normative Instruction No. 2,072/2022, which brought relevant changes to the import and export customs clearance.