Welcome to IAPA’s Quarterly newsletter Q1, March 2017 IAPA - A global association of independent accountancy and business advisory firms >185 member firms 67 countries DISPATCHWORK IAPA’s quarterly news publication containing news and information for Members of IAPA Creating the fabric of a global society Global Support. Local Knowledge. IAPA Social
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Local Knowledge. DISPATCH...Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 23-26 October 2016 Visit the IAPA Portal for full details IAPA delighted to announce one day event ‘Brexit Forum’ Friday, 12
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Welcome to IAPA’s Quarterly newsletter
Q1, March 2017
SSeptembe20162016
2016
IAPA - A global association of independent accountancy and business advisory firms
Following the EMEA AGM in Dubai, IAPA is delighted to welcome Ozgur Demirdoven as the new EMEA Chairman and therefore the new EMEA representative on the International Board.
This year the programme was designed to encompass interests from both regions, expanding on ‘thought leadership’ and ‘practice management’ topics.
Member led presentations included ‘The
future of IAPA’ by Vice-Chairman Martin
Clapson, offering insight into how IAPA
will develop and grow over the next 12
months, incorporating feedback from the
recent Members’ Survey.
A fascinating update on ‘Doing Business in Dubai’ was given by Vipul Kothari, Kothari Auditors & Accountants, (above) IAPA’s member firm in Dubai and Uday Gandhi, from U.S Gandhi & Co, India delivered an engaging presentation on ‘Recent trends in fraud and detection techniques’(below left). As well as the usual Tax Forum (chaired by Jay Sanghrajka, Price Bailey UK and MunKit Wong, Fiduciary Asia, Hong Kong) and the Audit Forum (chaired by David Stevens, Ellacotts /UK200Group, UK, pictured above right), IAPA was delighted to welcome Martin Bissett from The Upward Spiral Partnership to talk on ‘The Secrets of superior accounting firms’ who gave delegates plenty of material to think about and implement when returning back to their firms. Having recruited 5 new firms since
Established in 2016 this firm specialises in Audit services and was set up by 2 partners with over 25 years experience each in the industry. Contact Partner: Mr Juan Landa
Established in 1975 this firm offers the usual range of services including evaluation, inventory management and control, financial analysis and feasibility. Contact Partner: Mr Muhammad Shaheedullah
Established in 2016 this firm specialises in Audit services and was set up by 2 partners with over 25 years experience each in the industry. Contact Partner: Mr Eid Al Baraki
This one day event, ‘Passport to Partnership’, for
Senior Managers and Partners was held at the
Radisson Blu Hotel in Amsterdam’s airport on 10
February 2017. Martin Bissett, founder of The Upward
Spiral Partnership, presented a very engaging and
interactive programme which focussed on the 7 key
categories or 7 ‘C’s of leadership behaviour. Each ‘C’
examines the major behaviours, characteristics and
skills sets partners require from senior managers to be
future leaders of their firm.
Patrick Riou, EMEA Board Member and Treasurer
opened the forum welcoming the group, and the
speaker, on behalf of IAPA. Martin Bissett then led the
morning sessions covering an overview of the 7Cs and
general discussion on what each delegate would like
to be remembered for. After lunch the group focussed
on all the categories in depth; Competence, Culture,
Communication, Conversion, Commitment, Challenges
and Commercial Awareness.
Delegates had plenty of opportunities to network throughout the day, and during an informal evening dinner, benefiting not only from what they learnt during the Partnership Forum but from building relationships within IAPA too.
It was a great day, full of energy, thought and participation and much to think about when returning back to the office.
IAPA NEW ‘Passport to Partnership’ Leadership
Forum. February 10, 2017.
Referrals for 2016 – we are still missing reports from 33
members, some of whom regularly receive referrals, so
we would be most grateful if those of you who have not
yet had the opportunity to respond could do so soonest.
We are often asked what as an organisation IAPA can do
to aid member firms in receiving referrals. Keeping your
profile up to date is the first step and if you require any
help with this, please let me know.
In addition, we are noticing that rarely are the
“description of work” fields completed or supplied. We
do analyse the work referrals and can see where the
workflows originate and end up by firm and by country.
However, with the new CRM we have a facility to identify
the types of work being referred and this could then act
as an instrument to alert members to opportunities that
they would otherwise not be aware of. Please do
therefore update your firm’s profile in the IAPA portal.
‘Martin was a very good presenter – an engaging style and very knowledgeable’
‘Martin did well with the course content. It was aimed at the right level and encouraged you to look at certain areas of your approach to work and clients that give a different view point to the default position’.
the unit, calculated according to the Tax Authority's
formula, up to a ceiling of NIS 1,500 per month.
6. Law for Encouragement of Capital Investments
Additional tracks were prescribed for preferred
technology enterprises that confer reduced tax
rates on profits deriving from intellectual property.
The objective is to grant reduced tax rates to an
industrial enterprise in the hi-tech industry.
Find out more about IAPA
conferences / events
Watch IAPA TV
Visit www.iapa.net
Above: Iris Stark talking at the Institute of Certified Public
Accountants, Israel
News from AAFCPAs,
Westborough/Boston/Wellesley, MA, USA
Rich O’Neil and Tiffany Wopschall, CPA have been promoted to Manager
Aileen Wilson has been promoted to Manager, Managed Accounting Solutions
Emily Donnelly, Brendan Lawrence, Matthew Robinson, and Patrick McIntyre have been promoted to Supervisor
Greg Bielski has joined the firm as Chief Financial Officer
Christopher P. Consoletti, Esq. has joined the firm as Trust, Estate & Nonprofit Tax Associate
Meghan O’Neil has joined the firm as Accountant, Managed Accounting Solutions
Steve Lanza has been promoted to Semi-Senior Accountant
Phyllis Roy has been promoted to Lead Executive Assistant, and Cheryl Melendy has joined the team as Executive Assistant and Wealth Management Client Support Specialist
Carolyn Pisani has been promoted to Office Manager
As Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president, AAFCPAs' Matt Hutt and other health policy experts share with Managed Healthcare Executive what’s next for healthcare. Read more.>>
The Government of India via Finance Bill, 2017 has proposed to introduce a new section, section 94B in the Income Tax Act, 1961 to overcome loss of revenue by way of Thin Capitalization. The same shall be applicable w.e.f AY 2018-19.
What is Thin Capitalisation?
When an entity has a high proportion of debt compared to equity, it is said to be thinly capitalized.
The introduction of Thin Capitalisation is in line with the Indian tax department’s programme of aligning Indian tax
rules with global norms (BEPS Action Plan 4)
A new section 94B proposed to be inserted to the income tax act which provides that where an Indian company or PE of a foreign company makes interest payments (or similar consideration eg. Guarantee given) to its associated enterprise, such interest shall not be deductible at the hands of the Indian company/ PE to the extent of the “Excess Interest”.
The term “excess interest” is defined as:
Amount of total interest which is in excess of 30% of earnings before interest, tax and depreciation (EBIDTA);
or
Actual amount of interest paid to the AE,
whichever is less.
Such disallowed interest shall be carried forward up to 8 assessment years.
The UAE will soon bring out a Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) law that will allow up to 100% foreign ownership in
selected sectors. The draft law, which will soon be sent
for Cabinet approval, was finalized by the UAE Ministry of
Economy after consulting all local entities related with
FDI. It will subsequently be sent to the Federal National
Council for discussion.
A high level committee will decide the sectors that shall
attract the enhanced FDI. The percentage of ownership
for foreign investors will be raised from 49% to 100%
under the new law. Priority will be accorded to the
sectors that have the potential to attract investment
where value addition is necessary such as education,
water, healthcare, renewable energy, etc.
The new FDI law is planned to support the country
against depressed oil prices, regional instability and
economic shocks like Brexit.
This forms part of UAE’s larger economic plans to increase its diversification programme aimed to permanently reduce dependency on oil as it is not expected to rise in next few years. The government targets to reduce its oil related GDP from 30% to 20%, as well as plans on FDI being 5% of its GDP by 2021. A knowledge-based economy that is underpinned by an increase in FDI and a greater number of free trade agreements is in the offing.
News from the UAE: New FDI law is proposed for cabinet’s approval
Introduction of Thin Capitalization Rules in India
The definition of ‘debt’ is wide and covers any loan, financial instruments, financial lease, financial derivative or any other arrangement giving rise to interest, discount or other financial charges. This could potentially cover debt instruments like masala bonds, NCDs, CCDs, ECBs etc.
De minimis threshold: Interest payments which are less than INR 10 million (approx. USD 150,000) are exempt from the above requirement (on a per assessment year basis).
Major Countries who implemented Thin Capitalization
Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United