Company News

The Government of India is planning to propose a hike in the maximum foreign direct investment (FDI) capital allowed in broadcasting services – such as direct-to-home (DTH) and cable TV – to a uniform portion of 74 percent.

To aid tax and banking-related information exchange and prevent tax evasion, India signed a double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with Macau on January 1. The agreement will also help to generate a better investment climate for Indian businesses in Macau – a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China and well-known offshore financial center and tax haven.

On December 31, 2011, both Shenzhen and Beijing announced their new minimum wage standards for 2012. Following the adjustment, Shenzhen’s minimum wage standard will reach RMB1,500, the highest in the whole country.

Following the promulgation of a national decreeordering foreign employees’ mandatory participation in China’s social insurance system, Beijing recently issued its own implementation details in a bid to strengthen the enforcement of the new policy

The beginning of China’s pilot value-added tax (VAT) reform has aimed to make transport services and a list of modern services in pilot areas subject to VAT, instead of business tax. Recently, as a new update to the implementation details of the ongoing VAT reform, China’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) and State Administration of Taxation (SAT) clarified that some of these VATable services can enjoy zero VAT rate and VAT exemption.

The Indian government on Tuesday agreed to allow 100 percent foreign ownership in single brand retail stores, paving the way for international businesses such as Starbucks, Ikea and Adidas to operate independently in the country without having to involve local partners. Foreign single brand retailers were previously limited to 51 percent ownership.

Dezan Shira & Associates have raised USD12,000 for Care For Children China for 2011. The charity specializes in providing homes, education and medical treatment for orphans throughout the country. Web: www.careforchildren.com

Dezan Shira & Associates bid successfully for Chinesegold medal hurdler Lui Xiang’s signed 2004 Olympics Gold Medal 110 meter hurdles vest at a charity function to raise money for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake victims in  Yushu, an ethnic Tibetan village that was completely destroyed. Lui’s Olympics Gold Medal was the first for China in a […]

Interview with Chris Devonshire-Ellis Jan. 9 – Dezan Shira & Associates celebrates its 20th birthday in China during 2012, making it one of the earliest foreign investment practices operating in China. “I recall setting up in Shenzhen,” says the firm’s founder Chris Devonshire-Ellis. “It was during the very early days, and only a handful of […]

According to the old Circular guoshuifa[1998] No. 101, overseas social welfare contributions made by employers are exempted from IIT, as long as they are mandatory social insurances with legal basis and such costs are not deducted from the WFOE’s taxable income for corporate income tax (CIT) calculation purposes.