Author: SME Chamber

Double non-taxation deprives Member States of significant revenues and creates unfair competition between businesses in the Single Market. It occurs when cross-border companies escape paying taxes due to mismatches between national tax systems. Aggressive tax planners often focus on exploiting loopholes between Member States' systems specifically to avoid taxes.

 

As a first step in combating this problem, the Commission has today launched a public consultation on the double non-taxation of cross-border companies. The aim of the consultation is to gauge the full scale of the problem and see where the main weaknesses lie. On this basis, the Commission will develop the most appropriate policy response before the end of 2012. In order to encourage participation by those who may have insight into real-life exploitation of double non-taxation by companies, anonymous contributions will be accepted. The consultation is available in all official EU languages and will run until May 30 2012.

Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner for Taxation, Customs, Anti-fraud and Audit, said: "Fairness must be at the heart of our tax policies. Double non-taxation undermines fair burden sharing in taxation and allows an unjust competitive advantage to companies that seek to exploit it.  Tackling double non-taxation will not only deliver important revenues to Member States, but it will also ensure a stronger, fairer Single Market for all EU businesses."

The public consultation covers cross-border double non-taxation of companies i.e. cases where divergent national rules and/or inadequate national tax measures in two countries lead to non-taxation. For example, this may be the case if two countries define entities in a different way, resulting in income not being taxed in either state. The consultation concerns direct taxes such as corporate income taxes, non-resident income taxes, capital gains taxes, withholding taxes, inheritance taxes and gift taxes.

The Commission asks all interested parties including tax professionals in practice, in business and in academia for factual examples of double non-taxation within the EU and in relations with third countries.

Background

In the Annual Growth Survey 2012, the Commission acknowledged that Member States have to consider revenue-raising measures. Better tax coordination at the EU-level has a role to play in this context.

The European Council conclusions of 24 June 2011 asked the Commission to ensure the avoidance of harmful practices and proposals to fight tax fraud and tax evasion.  

The Commission set out in the Communication on Double Taxation in the Single Market that in a period when Member States are looking for secure and additional tax revenues, it is important for their credibility towards their taxpayers that they take the necessary measures to remove double taxation and double non-taxation.

Contributions may be sent to   no later than 30 May 2012.

For the consultation paper see :

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/common/consultations/tax/index_en.htm

The European Commission has published its second Trade and Investment Barriers Report, which describes the progress achieved in dismantling barriers to the markets of six strategic economic partners – China, India, Japan, Mercosur, Russia and the US.

The report recognises some success stories in the removal of certain trade barriers, such as in India, but also underlines the overall persistence of barriers for European business to access key markets.  Dismantling these barriers would improve and open up new export and investment opportunities for European companies and people. The report will be presented to the European Council on 1-2 March.

"With protectionism an ever present threat, we need to make sure that trade remains open in order to boost jobs and growth. Today's report shows that our enforcement strategy is paying off in fighting unfair barriers to trade and investment; yet, we need to strengthen our vigilance and double our efforts in order to make sure that openness is maintained worldwide. The EU's commitment to ensuring trade openness remains firm", stated EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

The Trade and Investment Barriers Report 2012 assesses the progress achieved on the 21 barriers which were selected in 2011 in the first edition of the report:

Two trade barriers were fully removed in India: export restrictions on cotton and security requirements for telecommunication equipments.

Progress was achieved in:

China: indigenous innovation and export restrictions on raw materials (on the latter, WTO Appellate Body report confirmed the incompatibility of the Chinese measures with WTO rules and China's WTO accession commitments IP/12/87)

India: sanitary and phytosanitary rules

Japan: government access to procurement and regulatory requirements for medical devices

USA: 100% scanning of containers and "Buy American"

-No positive movement could be seen in the following cases:

China: investment catalogue and IT security

India: equity caps

Japan: financial services

Argentina and Brazil: restrictions in maritime transport and export restrictions on raw materials

Argentina: import licensing

Brazil: 25% preference margin in government procurement.

A specific section of the report is dedicated to Russia due to the nature of the WTO accession process, which can potentially lead to the removal of the selected priority barriers (trade-related investment measures in automotive and car components sector; customs practices; Intellectual Property related issues; Sanitary and Phytosanitary issues).

The report also identifies 6 new priorities of barriers to trade and investment:

China: national security review mechanism for mergers and acquisitions involving foreign investors and export financing and subsidies

India: National Manufacturing Policy

Brazil: tax on industrial products (IPI) and import procedures for textiles and clothing

Argentina: restrictions in reinsurance services.

 

The report highlights a recent trend in emerging economies where industrial policies contain trade-restrictive elements. These often take the form of:

local content requirements (such as in investment policy and government procurement),

overly burdensome standardisation and conformity assessment requirements, which discriminates against foreign products,

measures having an equivalent effect to quantitative import restrictions,

and export restrictions particularly applied to raw materials.

Background

The Trade and Investment Barriers Report is part of a broader enforcement strategy that aims at ensuring that the EU's trade partners abide by their commitments and maintain open markets. The purpose of the report is to focus attention on efforts needed – including at the highest political level – to ensure market access for European companies in important markets outside the EU. In order to make this effort more effective, the Member States also have to share it by conveying commonly agreed messages in their bilateral contacts with these countries.

The report is a vehicle to set priorities on an annual basis among the market access barriers to 6 key trading partners (China, India, Japan, Mercosur, Russia and the US) and provides an assessment of progress achieved. These 6 countries together covered 45.7% of the EU's trade in goods in 2011 and 44.8% of EU's trade in commercial services in 2010. As far as foreign direct investment is concerned, these countries counted for 47.7% of EU's FDIs in 2010.

For further information:

Trade and Investment Barriers Report 2012
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/149143.htm

Trade and Investment Barriers Report 2011
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/147629.htm

On the Market Access Strategy

http://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/trade-topics/market-access/index_en.htm

MEUSAC together with MEPA are organising and information session on regulations that emend existing laws on waste management for end of life vehicles. These regulations are necessary so as to bring into force the amendments to the Directive of the European Union for the year 2000 on vehicles which are no longer in use (Directive 2000/53/EC). This Directive stipulates measures for the prevention of waste from vehicles and for the renewed use, recycling, and other forms of recovery of vehicles that are no longer in use, including their components, so that the waste is separated.

 

The aim of this information session is to inform the affected parties of the obligations under the amendments. This meeting should be of particular interest to importers and agents of vehicles as well as manufacturers of materials and other related to production of vehicles.

The session will be held in Maltese:

Venue: Dar L-Ewropa, 254, St Paul's Street, Valletta
Date: Monday 5th March 2012
Time: 10.00am

 Registration is required. Contact GRTU for further information.

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON DIRECTIVE

Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 September 2000 on end-of life vehicles1 (ELV) as transposed by Legal Notice 99 of 2004 aims to reduce the amount of waste from end-of-life vehicles. In particular it:

1. restricts the use of certain heavy metals in the manufacture of new vehicles;

2. requires the establishment of adequate systems for the collection of ELVs;

3. states that owners must be able to have their complete ELVs accepted by these systems free of charge, even when they have a negative value provided it still contains the essential components of a vehicle, in particular the engine and the coachwork and does not contain waste which has been added to the end-of life vehicle.

4. requires producers (vehicle manufacturers or importers) to pay ‘all or a significant part' of the costs of take back for complete ELVs with a negative or no value;

5. requires that ELVs are stored (even temporarily) and can only be treated/dismantled at authorised treatment facilities, which must meet tightened environmental treatment standards;

6. introduces a Certificate of Destruction system for the removal of a scrapped vehicle from the national register; and

7. requires that certain components are marked to aid recovery and recycling, and that the relevant information is provided to aid dismantling.

In addition, Article 4 of Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles prohibits the use of lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent Chromium in materials and components of vehicles put on the market after 1 July 2003 other than in cases listed in Annex II under the conditions specified therein. The aim is to prevent their release into the environment, make recycling easier, and avoid the need to dispose of hazardous waste, exemption/prohibition of materials and components.

Annex II of Directive 2000/53/EC has been amended a number of times by means of Commission Decisions. However, the European Commission has recently adopted Commission Directive 2011/37/EU2 which further amends this Annex II to Directive 2000/53/EC.

Commission Directive 2011/37/EU of 30 March 2011 amending Annex II to Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on end-of-life vehicles:

1. includes new exemptions to enable the repair of vehicles with parts containing heavy metals, when in certain cases it is technically impossible to repair vehicles with spare parts other than original ones

2. prolongs the expiry dates for certain materials and components containing lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent chromium until the use of the prohibited substances becomes avoidable

3. includes labelling requirements for certain materials or components in accordance with Article 4(2)(b)(iv)

4. includes temporary exemptions from prohibitions for the use of lead in automotive thermoelectric materials in applications reducing CO2 emissions by recuperation of exhaust heat since it is currently technically and scientifically unavoidable

5. continues to provide exemptions without an expiry data for certain materials and components containing lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent, since the use of such substances in the specific materials and components listed in Annex II to that Directive is still technically or scientifically unavoidable.

6. removes existing exemptions including the removal of a general exemption from "solder in electronic circuit boards and other electric applications", to specific exemptions; the removal of the exemption for "copper in friction materials of brake linings containing more than 0.4% lead by weight; the removal of a general exemption from "electrical components which contain lead in a glass or ceramic matrix compound except glass in bulbs and glaze of spark plugs" to specific exemptions; the replacement of thick film pastes as regards to cadmium with that for batteries for electrical vehicles (cadmium).

2. NATIONAL REGULATIONS

Malta will be transposing the above listed provisions into its national regulations and would like to inform affected parties about the relevant obligations. The draft Legal Notice may be viewed on: http://www.mepa.org.mt/waste_elv.

GRTU President Paul Abela participated on behalf of GRTU to the Malta Enterprise business Delegation to South Africa. It is important for the GRTU to take part in such delegations so that we ensure Malta is marketed correctly and opportunities for members are not missed.

Other than being an immensely beautiful country South Africa has good business opportunities such as in renewable energy, agriculture, food and beverages, financial services, etc.. There are several who are seriously interested to invest in Malta. They have very good infrastructure and are very organised.

They are the major investors in Africa. They were very interested in hearing about the schemes for small businesses such as loan Guarantee and employment schemes.

Why did you become an entrepreneur? You could say I'm an accidental entrepreneur as I never had anyone in my family connected in any way with business. After 38 years in business, I'm still fascinated and thrilled when I come up with an idea and manage to sell it profitably.

 

How have you come to chose your line of business?

I suppose the creative side of me that eventually pushed me towards the printing trade. When I started, artworks were all done manual since computers were virtually non-existent. Seeing my designs come into fruition is, to say the least, exhilarating!

Where did you go on your last holiday?

A lovely Italian island called Procida. It is slightly larger than our Comino. It's about an hour's ferry drive from Naples. If ever time stood still, it is absolutely here. Anyone who remembers Gozo about 35 years ago will faintly get the picture. Tranquility, Sincerity and "the living is easy" straight out of Aretha Franklin's lyrics. I recommend it to anyone to really get away from it all.

What is your earliest memory?

A remote controlled Jaguar Car I got as a present when I was about 4 years old, given to me by my father's uncle who visited Malta after 40 years abroad. It was my pride and joy for a very long time to come. Jags are still my favourite brand and hold a special soft spot till this very day for me since then!

If you could chose to be someone famous who would you be?

Mother Theresa. Not owning anything is to own everything!

GRTU is inviting members to complete the survey on funds and schemes, which involves giving opinion and experience.The aim of this survey is for us as GRTU to be able to learn in detail what are the problems for businesses when accessing funds, schemes and other benefits. We will then work to make all those concerned aware of the results and together with them work to improve funding and schemes

 

Use link:

http://grtu.net/surveys/index.php?sid=19

for your use.

The results will be published in a conference, which is being co-organised with BOV, to which you are also invited, which will offer valuable information to you as a business on:

Government's policy

Preparing an EU Funding Proposal

Managing an EU funded project

JEREMIE: the loan facility at lower collateral and guarantees

Standing a better chance when trying to access funds

Malta Enterprise schemes for business

Venue: Corinthia Palace Hotel, Attard

Date: Friday 23rd March
Time: 13.00 – 16.30

 

To reserve a seat: Contact Liz at GRTU on 21232881/3 or

We need your help in order to be able to help you!

If you have trouble accessing the survey kindly contact GRTU.

GRTU Renewable Energy Section president Noel Gauci stated that he strongly welcomes Government's decision for the feed in tariff to be paid by Government itself instead of Enemalta. The sector expects this decision to be a positive move as it will eliminate grey areas when one has to negotiate the feed in tariffs for large scale Photovoltaic projects with the Malta Resources Authority.

A new rebate scheme for domestic and commercial photovoltaic installations is needed imminently. This would avoid job losses once the installations under the current schemes are completed. Following that, an improved feed in tariff must be discussed with all stakeholders to be better prepared for the future and preferably avoid the necessity for further rebate schemes. Such an exercise should make an installation feasible enough without the need of a grant from Government.

Mellieha Local Council recovered 80 kilos of recyclable waste per capita during the year 2011, thus the highest amount collected from the grey bag collection, bring in sites and commercial establishments.

 

This was announced during the GREEN COUNCIL AWARDS Ceremony held by Green MT under the patronage of Minister Dr. Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici yesterday evening at The Corinthia Palace Hotel in Attard. The Local Councils of Ta' Xbiex and Kirkop came second and third in this category with a recovery of 78kg and 71 kg per capita respectively.

The Local Council of TA' XBIEX placed first in the category of recovery of grey bags only, with 51kg per capita, whilst Mgarr placed second with a recovery of 49 kilos per capita, followed closely by Kirkop.

GREEN COUNCIL AWARDS has now become a yearly calendar event both for the Local Councils and also to the Scheme. During yesterdays event, the guests present including mayors, executive secretaries, contractors, and Scheme members, were provided with an overview of logistical operations for 2011. The Scheme announced a recovery of nearly 14,000 tons of recyclable material thus just over 80 % of all material received by the Materials Recovery Facility at Wasteserv in Sant Antnin. Green MT also announced that it has now surpassed 1400 members who last year placed on the market just over 20,000 tons of packaging waste.

A visual presentation of the logistical operation of Green MT was screened and a corporate jingle was launched at the event . The jingle will be used in a number of media events and is earmarked to catch on the younger generation.

Green MT Chairman Vincent Farrugia outlined that Green MT was a not for profit National Packaging Waste Compliance Scheme built with determination and drive by the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, GRTU, against all odds, which included lack of proper legislation. Mr Farrugia thanked the producers who support the Scheme daily and continued to auger more members to come on board and thus proving their corporate social responsability in tangible terms.

Mr Farrugia further insisted that Malta had for so many years accepted landfills and was only now truly wakening up to a stark reality, that of the lack of space for further landfills. As thus GRTU was the Constutued Body that took itself to task and with plenty of sacrifice established Green MT to where it stands today.

In his keynote speech, Minister Dr Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici opted to comment instead of reading out his prepared speech to those present. He was extremely satisfied with what he witnessed through the cooperation of so many stakeholders and continued to state that his Ministry is committed to continue to work harder to achieve better results within our ever growing demanding communities. Dr Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici thanked all Local Councils for being a part of this silent revolution. The waste managment strategy at Local Council level had to be implemented and further strenghtened. He insisted on further education and was pleased to note that Green MT is ever present in Schools and Colleges across Malta to further educate our growing younger generation.

Il-Kunsill Ezekkuttiv Nazzjonali tal-GRTU – Kamra Maltija tan-Negozji Zghar u Medji iltaqa' illum il-Gimgha 2 ta' Marzu 2012. Il-Kunsill Ezekkuttiv ra s-sitwazzjoni dwar id-diskussjoni li qamet fl-MCESD fuq il-qaghda tal-impjiegi f'Malta u l-mod kif id-diskussjoni interna fl-MCESD li fiha ippartecipa d-Direttur Generali tal-GRTU Vince Farrugia giet irrappurtata fil-Minuti tal-MCESD.

 

Il-Kunsill Ezekkuttiv Nazzjonali jinnota li l-minuti tal-MCESD ma jirriflettux fedelment dak li intqal u jikkundanna l-mod manipulattiv kif l-GWU ghafget u uzat dawn il-Minuti bil-hsieb car li taghmel hsara lill-GRTU u lid-Direttur Generali personalment.

Il-Kunsill Ezekkuttiv Nazzjonali tal-GRTU jikkundanna bil-qawwi l-kampanja ta' attakki bla sens li l-Media tal-GWU qed taghmel fuq il-GRTU u b'mod partikolari l-attakki personali tas-Segretarju Generali tal-GWU Tony Zarb fuq id-Direttur Generali tal-GRTU Vince Farrugia. Il-Kunsill Ezekkuttiv Nazzjonali jesprimi bla ebda riservi l-appogg shih u solidarjeta' lid-Direttur Generali Vince Farrugia u jirrisolvu li ghall-GRTU din hi kwistjoni ivvintata u immanipulata mill-GWU bil-ghan car li taghmel hsara lill-GRTU. Il-Kunsill tal-GRTU ghalhekk issostni r-rieda tad-Direttur Generali tal-GRTU li ma jhalliex lill-GWU, l-media tal-GWU u l-allejati taghhom jintimidaw lil Vince Farrugia mir-rieda tieghu li jinorja it-talbiet bla sens li qed tesigi il-GWU u li jibqa' koncentrat kif dejjem ghamel fuq ix-xoghol siewi tieghu b'sapport shih lis-self-employed, il-haddiema u s-sidien tan-Negozji Maltin.