Asia Pacific Tax Notes - Rethinking growth: pursuing a sustainable strategy

Issue 23, Jun 2010 This issue begins with our lead article on the application of the "substance over form" doctrine as a general anti-avoidance measure across the region (pdf file, 116KB). Whilst the economies in the region may be seen as among the first few to show signs of recovery from the global financial crisis, tax authorities in many of these regional jurisdictions are still on a mission to raise more tax revenue by hunting for abusive tax schemes. The article looks at the growing trend towards relying on the "substance over form" principle by tax authorities in counteracting transactions with little commercial substance but merely for the purpose of obtaining a tax benefit in a number of countries in the region, in particular for cross-border transactions or arrangements involving treaty shopping or with possible abuse of treaty benefits. Maintaining a sound and defensible structure for cross-border investments is a long-term sustainable strategy that businesses need to adopt. This issue of Asia Pacific Tax Notes also has the usual round up of tax developments in the region. These mainly focus on recent budgetary developments and measures and incentives introduced by governments to achieve a sustainable rebound from the economic meltdown. Get your copy here Read more by downloading our Asia Pacific Tax Notes, Issue 23 (pdf file, 1.75MB) for your reference. To view the excerpt for an individual section or jurisdiction, please select from the menu on the right.
				PDF extracts of this issue: - Foreword - Lead Article - Australia - Cambodia - China - Hong Kong - India - Indonesia - Japan - Korea - Laos - Macau - Malaysia - New Zealand - Papua New Guinea - Philippines - Singapore - Sri Lanka - Taiwan - Thailand - Vietnam - Contacts