Global Updates – July 2023
Global updates – a quick glance
Australia:
- Changes to the fixed rate method for claiming home office deductions, increased from 52 cents to 67 cents per hour effective from July 1, 2023.
- Australia Budget 2023; introduced changes to medicare levy thresholds.
Belgium: Record retention period under VAT increased from 7 years to 10 years effective January 1, 2023.
Brazil:
- Racial or ethnic information of the employees to be recorded in the employee records and documents.
- New Transfer Pricing Law effective from January 1, 2024.
Canada: British Columbia’s Pay Transparency Act enters into force from May 11, 2023; Introduces new obligations for the employers.
China:
- Increases R&D super deduction rate from 75% to 100% effective from January 1, 2023
- Filing Guidelines under the standard Contractual Clauses Measure for the overseas transfer of personal information released on May 30, 2023; Guidelines provide submission of standard contract and personal information protection impact assessment report.
Costa Rica: Tax rates and slabs announced for the tax year 2023 for corporates and employed individuals.
Denmark: European Union (“EU”) Directive on “Public” country by country reporting – transposed into domestic law.
European Union: EU-US Data Privacy Framework adequacy decision adopted on July 10, 2023.
France:
- Public disclosure of CbC reporting to be applied for financial years beginning after June 22, 2024.
- Legislation to obligate small and mid-size business to implement “Profit Sharing Scheme” under consideration of French Parliament.
Finland: Employer certification system introduced to simplify residence permit process.
Germany: European Union (“EU”) Directive on “Public” country by country reporting – transposed into domestic law.
Hong Kong:
- Hong Kong passed the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Child Allowance and Tax Concessions) Bill 2023 on April 19, 2023, implementing the increased basic and the additional child allowance for each child born during the tax year 2023–24.
- Offset of the severance payments (“SP”) and long-service payments (“LSP”) payable on termination/ retirement against Mandatory Provident Fund (“MPF”) benefits to be repealed effective from May 1, 2025.
India:
- Reduces aggregate turnover threshold for e-invoicing from INR 100 million to INR 50 million effective August 1, 2023.
- Tax exemption limit increased for Leave Encashment for Non-Government Salaried Employees from INR 3 Lakh to INR 25 Lakh effective from April 1, 2023.
- MCA establishes separate centre C-PACE to simplify the process of striking off of name of company from register.
Indonesia: Guidelines on prevention of sexual violence at workplace introduced.
Ireland:
- Ireland’s Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions, Act 2023 receives presidential assent, on April 4, 2023; Maternity leave can be availed by transgender men.
- European Union (“EU”) Directive on “Public” country by country reporting – transposed into domestic law.
Israel:
- New privacy protection regulations published for data transferred from the EEA in order to align Israeli law to the requirements of GDPR; implementation in phased manner staring from August 7, 2023.
- Adoption of Continuous Transaction Controls (“CTC”) system for reporting and submission of e-invoice to be effective from January 1, 2024.
Japan: several changes to labor law to take effect in 2023 and 2024; changes include digital payment of wages, obligation to disclose childcare leave, etc.
Lithuania: European Union (“EU”) Directive on “Public” country by country reporting – transposed into domestic law.
Malaysia:
- Mandatory e-invoicing scheduled to be implemented from June 2024.
- Malaysia revises Income Tax (Transfer Pricing) Rules 2023 and Income Tax (Advance Pricing Arrangement) Rules 2023 applicable for the assessment year 2023 onwards,
- scope of transfer pricing documentation expanded to cover detailed information about the group.
- arm's length range is redefined to be falling between the 37.5th percentile and the 62.5th percentile.
Netherlands:
- Senate adopts Dutch Pensions Act replacing defined benefit schemes with defined contribution schemes, transition period beginning from July 1, 2023
- Removal of threshold for intrastate reporting effective from 2023
Poland: New regulations under Labour Code Act are introduced for parental leave with effect from April 26, 2023.
Singapore: Singapore Companies Act amended to allow conduct of meetings fully virtual or hybrid effective from July 1, 2023.
Serbia: Application for Company registration to be filed online effective from May 17, 2023.
South Korea: South Korean National Assembly amends the Personal Information Protection Act effective from September 15, 2023, to strengthen data subject rights and enhance safety measures.
Spain: European Union (“EU”) Directive on “Public” country by country reporting – transposed into domestic law.
Sweden: European Union (“EU”) Directive on “Public” country by country reporting – transposed into domestic law.
Taiwan: Personal Data Protection Act amended to increase fines up to maximum of TWD 15 million in case of severe violations or failure to rectify the default.
Thailand: Thailand reduces withholding tax rates for the period from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2025, for users of e-withholding tax system.