The spotlight draft law on enterprises income taxes will get submitted to the standing commission of national people on this Sunday (December 24). Experts expect that focus issues like unified tax rates for domestic and overseas funded enterprises, adjustment of exception items before tax and tax preference and boosting measures against tax evasion will be stressed on reviewing. (Source: China official)


The European Council meeting of 14-15 December welcomed the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU. Bulgaria and Romania will join the EU on 1 January 2007. This is EU’s fifth round of enlargement, which peacefully reunified Western and Eastern Europe. (Source: taxnews）


The government of Singapore has announced that new double taxation avoidance agreements with Germany and Brunei have now come into effect. The new agreement with Germany came into effect on 12 December, and replaces the original treaty signed by both governments on 19 February 1972. The new agreement will cover income derived on or after 1 January 2007. Meanwhile, Singapore's double tax avoidance agreement with Brunei came into effect on 16 December. It will apply to all types of income, also from 1 January, 2007. (Source: Tax-News.com)


Analysts claim China's urban fixed-asset investment (FAI) rose by around 25% in November over last year, a sharp rise on the 16.8% growth rate seen in October, AFP reported. The news came as the National Bureau of Statistics announced that FAI, a broad measure of spending on infrastructure projects, had risen 26.6% over the first 11 months of the year to US$1 trillion. At the time, it gave no figure for November alone. The rise is expected to reduce concerns that investment growth has slowed too much on the back of monetary tightening. The government's official FAI growth target for 2006 is 18%.


China said it would push ahead with "reform and opening up" of its economy at the opening session of the first US-China strategic economic dialogue in Beijing. But in taking this pledge, in which reference was made to addressing US concerns over financial reform, intellectual property rights and China's massive trade surplus, Vice-Premier Wu Yi tied tensions between the two countries to a US "misunderstanding" of China. She argued that China remains a poor developing country with considerable domestic challenges that cannot be resolved overnight. US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson welcomed the commitment to continued reforms, saying that the economic dialogue had to overcome the skeptics by producing "tangible results". (Source: Financial Times)


Ireland has the most favorable legal and tax regime for private equity, venture capital and entrepreneurship in Europe, according to a new report by European Equity and Venture Capital Association. The study examined the tax and legal environments of the 25 EU Member States, and ranked the countries according to how well they support the development of private equity and venture capital. EVCA placed Ireland at the top of the league, France - the most improved country since the last survey in 2004 when it was tenth - was second, followed by the UK. (Source: Tax-News.com)


With the development of a sophisticated mortgage market and the ratification of foreign ownership laws, Dubai’s property market has been maturing and developing further away from being an unstable emerging entity. Dubai’s property market will continue to be a great place to invest for medium to long term growth and profitability as demand will continue to exist in the emirate from professional expatriate workers and their families. Going forward the expected expansion of the tourism market in Dubai when Dubailand opens will also open up the opportunity for investors to profit from short term, high rents achieved when letting holiday villas near Dubailand to visitors. (Source: shelteroffshore）


Jersey’s finance industry is consulting with the regulator and authorities on further enhancements to its Trusts Law, which it hopes will be introduced towards the end of next year. (Source: STEP)


China's financial sector can continue to expect much faster growth than that of the national economy in the foreseeable future, say analysts. During the 10th Five-year Plan (2001-2005) period, China's gross domestic product (GDP) posted an annual growth of 8.8 percent, while insurance sector saw an annual growth rate of 35 percent, exceeding financial sector's 15.8 percent. Under the 11th Five-year Plan, China's insurance revenue is expected to exceed one trillion yuan (125 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of 2010, and insurance assets are expected to hit five trillion yuan. (Source: Xinhua)


The government of the British Virgin Islands is to introduce new legislation which will make it easier for private trust companies to be established in the territory. That will allow for firms that do not offer services to the public to apply for fast-track exemption from the Banks and Trust Companies Act. Helene Lewis, chairman of the BVI branch of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners said that would make the islands a highly attractive jurisdiction to use for the incorporation of such companies. (Source: Guernsey.com)


Australia's Senate has approved a tax bill that would give foreign investors exemption from capital gains tax on the sale of domestic assets.The government says that the Tax Laws Amendment (2006 Measures No. 4) Bill, which will excuse foreign investors from capital gains tax on the sale of assets other than land, is needed to boost investment in the Australian economy and bring the country into line with laws in other OECD countries. "The amendments will encourage more investment in Australia by aligning Australian law more consistently with international practice," stated Treasurer Peter Costello in an explanatory memorandum. (Source: TaxNews.com)


New York-based Citibank is expanding its London and Jersey-based international banking and investment services for UK expatriates and offshore investors, with a new advisory service to help customers manage their tax, and inheritance and estate planning. (Source: STEP)


According to a study by the British Institute for Public Policy Research, almost one in ten British citizens now choose to live abroad and one in four of those expatriating are young and skilled professionals. Main reasons for this are the weather, rising crime statistics, as well as high living cost and hassle communication. But IPPR points out that as British’s strong economic also lures in high numbers of international and skilled migrant, so Britain is not suffering from a brain drain nor do the very high numbers of those moving abroad or already living abroad suggest that Britain is no longer a good country to live in. (Source: STEP)


The United States Treasury Department has welcomed the entry into force of protocols to the income tax and estate tax treaties between the United States and France.


China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the Korean Patent Office held their 12th Commissioner Conference in Beijing recently. The two delegations exchanged information on recent progress made in the field of Intellectual Property (IP) in both countries. They expressed satisfaction at existing bilateral cooperation in IP information searching, and decided to expand the content of joint searching. The commissioners also agreed to enforce cooperation in compiling patent statistics and undertaking patent examinations, in order to provide better service to the public. (Source: LawAndTax-News.com)


The US Department of Commerce’s Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week announced that Jon Dudas, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, and Ajay Dua, Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry (IMCI), have signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Bilateral Cooperation between the United States and India on intellectual property issues. (Source: LawAndTax-News.com)


The economically strong Guangdong Province, in south China, has set its gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate at nine percent for 2007, down from the double-digit rates of previous years. Guangdong's GDP is expected to reach 2.58 trillion yuan (330.7 billion U.S. dollars) this year, up 14 percent from last year, according to provincial government predictions. Governor Huang Huahua said the province lowered the GDP growth rate to match the national GDP growth rate of nine percent set for the 2006-2010 period. (Source: Xinhua)


The Swiss Parliament has just approved on December 20, 2006, the last day of its winter session, the ratification by Switzerland of the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition of July 1st 1985 ("Hague Trust Convention"). In principle, if all goes smoothly, the Hague Trust Convention should become fully effective in Switzerland as early as July 2007. (Source: STEP)


Hong Kong should seek to attract more of the offshore securities investment business of mainland China insurance agencies, says Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang. “We should also quickly amend existing listing rules to enable will-established and qualified foreign enterprises from different parts of the world to list in Hong Kong. We also need to continue to enhance our regulatory regime to keep it in line with international standards,” he said. The Financial Reporting Council will come into operation early next year and will help attain world-class standards by strengthening corporate governance and investor protection, he said. (Source: Offshore Red)


The British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission statistical bulletin for the first quarter of 2006 has shown little change in the composition of the offshore banking sector, but encouraging growth in the number of professional funds and business companies incorporating in the jurisdiction.