http://www.pwcias.com PwC International Assignments Services in Asia News en-en 2007-2012 PricewaterhouseCoopers http://www.pwcias.com/webmedia/634342554775622417_pwc_logo.jpg http://www.pwcias.com http://bit.ly/UYdSaU Dec 2012 http://bit.ly/UYdSaU Wed, 9 Jan 2012 19:30:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/13u4kIA Dec 2012 http://bit.ly/13u4kIA Wed, 9 Jan 2012 19:30:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/Swtoh9 Jan 2013 http://bit.ly/Swtoh9 Wed, 9 Jan 2012 19:30:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/VVwcDa Dec 2012 http://bit.ly/VVwcDa Wed, 9 Jan 2012 19:30:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/XHQwtG The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has announced changes to the Personalised Employment Pass (PEP) eligibility criteria which will be effective from 1 Dec 2012. Foreigners will be required to meet more stringent criteria to obtain a PEP. In addition, the validity of the PEP has also been reduced from the current 5 years to 3 years. The move is aligned with the MOM’s overall objective of attracting top calibre global talent to work in Singapore. http://bit.ly/XHQwtG Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:14:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/TMEnkl Company-provided housing is a popular form of employee benefit in Japan, and when properly structured provides favourable tax treatment. However, company-provided housing programmes are coming under closer scrutiny from Japanese tax auditors, especially if they believe these benefits are being provided in lieu of cash compensation. Get the recent audit activity by the tax authorities and a better awareness and understanding of the potential challenges to the company-provided housing programmes. Companies should review their programmes and make any necessary changes and improvements. http://bit.ly/TMEnkl Wed, 7 Nov 2012 12:14:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/TxaSR8 Under the 2012 tax reform, new reporting requirements were introduced for resident employees or directors of a Japanese subsidiary or Japanese branch of a foreign company who receive certain share or company performance based compensation. Specifically, new reporting requirements apply if such compensation is pursuant to rights granted by an agreement with a foreign parent company. Share and company performance based compensation includes, for example, stock options, restricted stock, restricted units, employee stock ownership plans, phantom stock, share appreciation rights, performance shares and performance units, and other company performance based compensation. The amendment is effective for compensation received on or after 1 January 2012. http://bit.ly/TxaSR8 Wed, 7 Nov 2012 12:14:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/Xm6Eks The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore ("IRAS") has recently updated its guidance on the taxation of insurance coverage provided by employers to staff. Depending on the structure and features of the policy, the new rules may alter the tax treatment of the premiums paid by companies for group insurance plans on employees. Employers may therefore need to review their insurance policies to ensure the premiums (and any payouts) are captured appropriately in year-end compensation reporting. http://bit.ly/Xm6Eks Wed, 7 Nov 2012 12:14:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/OXAfhO The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore ("IRAS") has initiated an Assurance Program to ensure that employers are familiar with the reporting positions for employment income, particularly for expatriate assignees. Under this program, employers are being issued a questionnaire seeking confirmation that they are aware of the appropriate reporting positions for various forms of compensation, and also to describe the systems that are in place to capture all taxable payments and benefits-in-kind. To prepare for this initiative, companies may be well advised to take proactive steps to review their information collation processes and previous tax reporting positions. If the internal due diligence review finds any errors or income omissions for previous years, a voluntary disclosure should be considered in order to make any necessary corrections and qualify for reduced penalties. http://bit.ly/OXAfhO Thu, 4 Oct 2012 12:14:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/VXVNfE Get the personal income tax exemption in Thailand for foreign actors, income from sale of securities listed on ASEAN member’s stock exchanges, and dividend income. http://bit.ly/VXVNfE Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:14:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/QuIXlJ Get our highlights on a number of immigration regulatory updates across the Asia Pacific region including Australia, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. http://bit.ly/QuIXlJ Wed, 19 Sep 2012 16:19:00 +0800 http://pwc.to/NdVIwh On 27 Jun 2012, the State Council officially released its approval, under a notice Guohan[2012] No.58, of the preferential policies and tax incentives granted to support the development of Qianhai Modern Services Industry Cooperation Zone ("Qianhai"). Get the major preferential policies and tax incentives for Qianhai and our observations for investment. http://pwc.to/NdVIwh Wed, 1 Aug 2012 19:31:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/NRP4Lt The Singapore Government continues to introduce measures to moderate the growth of the foreign population in Singapore. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has announced changes to the Training Employment Pass (TEP) scheme following a review to ensure that its objectives continue to be met. The significant change is a reduction to the TEP validity period from one year to a maximum of three months, which will cause practical difficulties for employers wanting to bring trainees to Singapore. The MOM has also announced the tightening of dependant privileges for work pass holders. Get further detail on the changes to the pass and privileges, and how this may affect employers doing business in Singapore. http://bit.ly/NRP4Lt Mon, 13 Jul 2012 12:14:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/L3a7jw The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore announced from Year of Assessment 2008 onwards, employers are only required to retain IR8As, expense receipts, payroll records etc for a period of five years (reduced from the previous seven-year record keeping requirement). Whilst this should generally help employers to reduce their administration, it also means that the window of opportunity to request tax refunds, particularly from the reassessment of "deemed gains" taxed on departure from Singapore, will be shortened as well. Get further detail on the transition to the new rules and how this may affect employers doing business in Singapore. http://bit.ly/L3a7jw Mon, 25 Jun 2012 18:55:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/NWIIAL Get our highlights on a number of immigration regulatory updates across the Asia Pacific region including Australia, Japan, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. http://bit.ly/NWIIAL Wed, 19 Jun 2012 16:19:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/KP1aHO Update on the recent development in case law that necessitates the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department to clarify its position on the taxation of payments in lieu of notice and the implications arising from this change for employers and employees. http://bit.ly/KP1aHO Wed, 6 Jun 2012 16:19:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/JYQ4vq About two years ago, PwC, together with some business chambers and professional bodies, flagged the double taxation problems being faced by Hong Kong employees working in China in certain circumstances to both the Chinese State Administration of Taxation ("SAT") and Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department through different channels. Since then, these tax authorities have taken it very seriously with the common goal to resolve these problems through consultation. The SAT has finally issued the Public Notice [2012] No.16 dated 26 Apr 2012 to address these problems in favor of the Hong Kong (and Macao) tax residents. It takes effect from 1 Jun 2012 and applies to income obtained after the effective date. Employees and their employers should revisit their employment and work arrangements as well as their current China and Hong Kong tax filing positions. http://bit.ly/JYQ4vq Wed, 23 May 2012 10:35:00 +0800 http://pwc.to/Jeyw1l Hear from our speakers via a webcast where we shared the latest human capital trends and challenges in Asia Pacific based on a report produced by Saratoga, PwC's human capital analytics arm with a dedicated regional centre in Singapore. We offered our perspectives on the key human capital issues raised, suggested how businesses might overcome them and highlighted the importance of combining a talent strategy with a mobility strategy, in response to the greater emphasis on cross-border deployment of human capital by companies in the region. http://pwc.to/Jeyw1l Tue, 15 May 2012 10:16:00 +0800 http://pwc.to/HEckMi Hear from our partners via a webcast where we will discuss the tightened foreign exchange registration requirements from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange ("SAFE") and impacts to those MNCs that have implemented various types of equity incentive plans in China. We will address the different requirements for the first tier cities versus other cities; and practical issues and recommendations in employee communication, individual income tax withholding / payment and other ongoing post SAFE registration administration. http://pwc.to/HEckMi Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:15:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/L5qZ8G The Economic Development Board has announced tightening of criteria for permanent residency applications under the Global Investor Programme. Get the key changes to the eligibility criteria. http://bit.ly/L5qZ8G Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:01:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/HzfunW The Monetary Authority of Singapore has announced that the Financial Investor Scheme will be discontinued by the end of Apr 2012. This move is intended to slow down the influx of foreign nationals coming to Singapore and reduce the upward pressure on local property prices from foreign investors. http://bit.ly/HzfunW Thu, 5 Apr 2012 18:27:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/HcrPef Get our summary of the recent changes and current hot topics affecting personal income taxation of your internationally mobile employees across the region including the 2012/13 Hong Kong Budget; the 2012 Singapore Budget; new guidance on foreign nationals working in Vietnam; enforcement and collection of social security contributions for foreign nationals working in China; and recent highlights from the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board. http://bit.ly/HcrPef Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:15:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/GHDnUM Get our highlights on a number of immigration regulatory updates across the Asia Pacific region including Japan, Philippines and Singapore. http://bit.ly/GHDnUM Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:08:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/w5Y0EL An overview of key immigration considerations for the relevant country or territory including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. http://bit.ly/w5Y0EL Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:03:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/xQSAZg On 1 Feb 2012, the Hong Kong Financial Secretary delivered the final budget announcement of the current Administration. As far as Hong Kong salaries tax is concerned, no change in the standard tax rate, marginal tax rates and marginal tax bands has been proposed. However, numerous changes to the personal allowances and concessionary deductions for salaries tax have been proposed to help ease the pressure of inflation and uncertain economic outlook on the community. In addition, a basket of one-off relief measures similar to those mentioned in the last year have been proposed to help safeguard the people's livelihood. http://bit.ly/xQSAZg Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:01:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/xfNr66 The internal revenue service ("IRS") recently announced that it is reopening the offshore voluntary disclosure initiative ("OVDI") for non-filers of US income tax returns and foreign bank account reports. The new OVDI has the same structure as the 2011 initiative (which ended on 9 Dec 2011) with certain key differences. There is no set deadline to this programme, but the IRS has stated that they may change the terms of the programme going forward at any time. Although this new programme may provide relief to some, each taxpayer should consider their specific situation and the options available, before making a decision about how best to become compliant regarding their previously unreported offshore accounts and income. http://bit.ly/xfNr66 Tue, 7 Feb 2012 17:02:00 +0800 http://pwc.to/wiylq9 The 2012/2013 Hong Kong Budget was presented to the Legislative Council by the Financial Secretary, Mr John Tsang, on 1 February 2012. Get our Budget commentary, highlights, tax facts and figures, and tax rates card as reference, available in both English and Traditional Chinese. http://pwc.to/wiylq9 Wed, 2 Feb 2012 1:45:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/AfqJBj Highlight the salient points of Circular Renshetingfa [2011] No. 113 ("Circular 113"), titled "Notice Clarifying Certain Issues Regarding the Participation in the Social Security Scheme by Foreign Employees Working in China" issued by the Ministry of the Human Resources and Social Security on 2 December 2011. Get our observations on this important and widely discussed topic that affect many businesses and their foreign employees in China. http://bit.ly/AfqJBj Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:15:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/uVhbyf Get our summary of the recent changes and current hot topics affecting personal income taxation of your internationally mobile employees across the region including the Hong Kong Board of Review has issued a verdict for case D39/10; 2012 Malaysian Budget; additional document to be submitted to the Singapore tax authorities to claim treaty exemptions; supporting documents proving tax residency status in Vietnam; and tax treatment for income received by individual for military services or from educational organisations in Taiwan. http://bit.ly/uVhbyf Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:40:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/sQubzj An overview of personal taxation and immigration considerations that eligible foreigners may consider when evaluating whether to apply for Singapore permanent resident. http://bit.ly/sQubzj Thu, 8 Dec 2011 18:59:00 +0800 http://bit.ly/tQ3pss Get our highlights on a number of immigration regulatory updates across the Asia Pacific region including Singapore, India, New Zealand and Thailand. http://bit.ly/tQ3pss Tue, 6 Dec 2011 17:33:00 +0800 http://pwc.to/rP8WZi Hear from our tax professionals on the cross-border mobility trends in Asia, in particular, we discussed the insights on current Asian mobility patterns and assignment policies; importance of policy efficiency and cost management; and trends in linking talent management to mobility in the region. http://pwc.to/rP8WZi Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:16:00 +0800