Financial Times

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Published at: www.ft.com

Markets don't like Taxes

June 22, 2009

Analysis by: GLG Expert Contributor

The tax avoidance by Foreign invested companies in China is in fact something faced in equal measure by India(e.g. Vodafone) and also true for Offshore structures channeling spurious domestic investment back into the country. The lack of taxation benefits brings on real challenges to the valuations and the profit in a deal, however, the huge amounts of money involved would definitely help the starved economies in question.  Tax benefits partaken by investors thru such means are increasingly being questioned because these inflows thru relevant taxation ensure participation of the government involved and bring relief to the local economy. Increasingly, one finds that tax shelters sold by KPMG, PWC, UBS and others are being questioned fairly and squarely for the lack of oversight and their dependence on local and international corruption. each such deal only increases more misconfidence in the market because of the noise on ethical practices and such practices are no longer recommended

Offshore Holding for Foreign Invested Enterprises may now be under China Tax Rules

June 22, 2009

Analysis by: GLG Expert Contributor

The mainland tax authority has delivered grim news. In early 2009, the China State Administration of Taxation has issued a few circulars to revise the existing rules governing foreign companies earning income from China. These circulars basically cover all types of income foreign companies may earn from China. It could be a foreign company having a working place in China and earning service income or a foreign company without any place or person in China but earning passive income such as dividend, interest, royalty, rental and capital gain from China. In particular, circular No. 3 and No. 19 set out detailed compliance and disclosure requirements. They include mandatory registration, periodic reporting, final reconciliation, etc. Failure to do any step may cause trouble in remitting money out of China.