The so-named “American Taxpayer Relief Act,” now signed by the President after having been passed in the wee hours by the Senate on January 1, 2013, and later that day by the House, may pull the country back from a self-created fiscal/political ditch, but leaves the country at the edge of a fiscal cliff with spending cut issues, debt ceiling issues and undoubtedly more tax issues to be dealt with before March 1, 2013. Overview ...
This is an important year on the taxation front. New rules restrict interest deductions and increase the transfer tax related to the sale of shares in housing and real estate. Additionally, two tax incentives support research and development activities, as well as innovation and growth. Restriction on interest deductionThe Finnish legislature has restricted interest deductions applied in taxation starting in the 2014 taxation year ...
After all of the sand had run out of the hourglass, Congress finally passed (and the President signed) a compromise tax bill to avoid very substantial income tax increases on taxpayers with income under $400,000 ($450,000 for joint filers). The good news for our estate planning clients is the “permanent” extension of the current estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions, and a slight increase in the tax rate from 35% to 40% ...
In re: Signal Mountain Cement Company – Assessment Appeals Commission Upholds Assessor’s Use of “Value in Use” Methodology for Standard Valuation of Tangible Personal Property in Tennessee but Affirms Taxpayer Use of “Fair Market Value in Exchange” Methodology in Nonstandard Valuations ...
A small nonprofit hospice in Idaho became the first healthcare provider to settle a potential violation of the HIPAA Security Rule affecting fewer than 500 individuals. On January 2, 2013, Hospice of North Idaho agreed to a settlement in the amount of $50,000 with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) following an investigation relating to a 2010 breach involving a stolen, unencrypted laptop containing patient information ...
Key principles approved by the Polish Council of Ministers - On 16 October 2012, the Polish Council of Ministers approved key assumptions for the long-awaited shale gas production and taxation legislation. The assumptions, which impact both conventional and unconventional oil and gas production, have in particular, been awaited by the developing shale gas sector and investors interested in joining this brand new market. ...
Omnibus HIPAA Rule, Including Significant Breach Notification Rule Changes, Released by HHS - The long-awaited final rule modifying the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules (the Rule) was released on January 17, 2013 by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ...
Legislators filed bills before the official start date of the 83rd Texas Legislative Session; many of the bills already filed address healthcare issues. 1. The Budget. Texas legislative leaders recently approved a self-imposed budget cap for the 2014-2015 biennium based on a conservative estimate of growth in the state’s economy, holding lawmakers to not more than a 10 ...
The wait is over. On January 17, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services’ ("HHS’") Office for Civil Rights ("OCR") released its long-anticipated megarule ("Omnibus Rule") amending the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Breach Notification and Enforcement Rules. These amendments implement and expand on the requirements of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health ("HITECH") Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 ...
The long awaited Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Regulation amendments (the “Changes”) to incorporate the changes made by Health Information Technologyfor Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and by the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”) were recently released ...
On January 14, 2013 the United States and Spain signed a new protocol (the “Protocol”) amending the existing income tax treaty between the United States and Spain that was signed on February 22, 1990 (the “Treaty”). The Protocol modernizes the Treaty to conform with the existing treaty policies of both the United States and Spain. Key provisions of the Protocol include: Exclusive residence-state taxation (i.e ...
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), an employer that employs an average of at least 50 full-time and full-time equivalent employees (a “Large Employer”) during 2013 may be subject to a penalty in 2014 if the Large Employer fails to offer “minimum essential coverage” to all but 5 percent (or, if greater, five) of its full-time employees (“No Coverage Penalty”) ...
1. Interest on Equity and Dividends: the Brazilian Perspective Brazilian companies have two main instruments for remunerating shareholders for the capital invested in companies: dividends and interest on net equity (“Juros sobre o capital própio”, referred to as “IoNE” in this article). Both instruments can be used at the same time, but their tax treatment will depend on the particular characteristics of each case ...
The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Memorandum Circular No. 1, s. 2013 dated 7 January 2013, requiring the incorporation of the tax identification number (TIN) of foreign investors in all forms papers and documents filed with the SEC ...
Acquiring investment property This alert is intended to highlight certain VAT issues relating to the purchase and management of property which is subject to a lease(s). In general VAT should not be chargeable on the sale of such property. Depending on the circumstances this VAT free treatment is based on exemption from VAT and/or “transfer of business” relief applying. VAT free treatment does not apply in all situations but exceptions are few ...
During the years of the recent property and development boom in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), stamp duty on the real estate transactions became a substantial contributor to Government coffers. All real estate transactions in TCI are subject to stamp duty at varying rates depending on the size of the transaction and on the island on which the real estate is situate. In most cases, stamp duty is charged at the rate of 9.75% of the consideration passing ...
A new program taking effect in March provides hospitals with a new option to secure funds for financing acquisitions and refinancing debt. On February 5, 2013, the Office of Hospital Facilities published a new rule that will enable qualifying hospitals to finance their acquisitions and/or refinance their existing debt with FHA insurance even if the hospitals do not have FHA-insured mortgages ...
Sixteen years since the enactment of Law No. 7 of 1996 regarding Food (“the 1996 Food Law”), the Government issued the new Food Law (ie Law No. 18 of 2012) (“Food Law”) on 18 October 2012, two days after World Food Day. The Food Law replaces The 1996 Food Law. The Food Law covers three significant areas which were not governed by the 1996 Food Law, ie imports of food; the halal requirement; and the establishment of a new non-ministerial agency in-charge of food matters ...
The rules for the application for the tax amnesty program that were published on February 19, 2013 in the Federal Official Gazette provide that taxpayers wishing to benefit from the program must file an application online with the Tax Administration Service (“SAT” for its Spanish acronym) not later than May 31, 2013, through the SAT web page, although the Federal Revenue Law does not provide for an specific date for its application ...
It took thirteen years, four months, and five days of heated debates and passionate protests before the country’s first reproductive health law was passed. Four days shy of Christmas last year, President Aquino finally signed the 24-page bill into law. It is now Republic Act No. 10354 or The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (RH Law). The passing of the RH Law, however, does by no means close this chapter of Philippine history ...
A federal court jury in Illinois found that nursing home operator Momence Meadows fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid for “worthless services” and falsely certified compliance with health care laws and regulations, resulting in $28 million in damages to the government. United States ex rel. Absher v. Momence Meadows Nursing Ctr., Inc., No. 2:04-cv-02289 (C.D. Ill. Feb. 8, 2013) ...
Historically there has been relatively little enforcement focus on the typical physician-ownership model used by many ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). A qui tam lawsuit filed recently against an ambulatory surgery center company based in Nashville, however, indicates that qui tam relators are leaving no stone unturned as they look for cases. Although the federal government has declined to intervene in U.S. ex. rel Thomas Reed Simmons v. Meridian Surgical Partners, et ...
With the ink now dry on The Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (passed in early 2013) which, among other things, raised the capital gains tax rate from 15% to 20% and the top income tax bracket of “high income” Americans from 35% to 39.6%, Senate Democrats have now proposed the “American Family Economic Protection Act” which defers the sequestration for the remainder of 2013 by (i) raising the income tax on millionaires ($55 billion over 10 years), (ii) increasing future military cuts ($27 ...
Contents Part XII.2 Tax Applicable to Trusts: a Potentially Expensive Tax Which Is Often Overlooked Application of the Anti-avoidance Rule in Subsection 83(2.1): Caution Is Required in the Context of the Acquisition of a Private Corporation Revenu Québec to Scrutinize Trusts Directors’ Liability for the Debts of a Corporation Payable to Employees for Services Rendered During the Directors’ Term of Office PART XII ...
A March 7, 2013 piece on Morning Edition, the morning news program from National Public Radio, raised a lot of questions. “In A Grain Of Golden Rice, A World Of Controversy Over GMO Foods” told the story of golden rice, a beautiful yellow rice enhanced with beta-carotene, or Vitamin A. This rice was ostensibly developed to be grown in developing countries, where foods high in Vitamin A either are uncommon or are expensive ...
