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Greetings!
We are all aware of the recent furore regarding underpaid and overpaid PAYE contributions. Many will have gotten or will be getting a letter through the post telling them that through no fault of their own they have underpaid tax and will be expected to stump up the finds forthwith. "Tax reconciliation is a routine measure" according to HM Revenue and Customs Permanent Secretary Dave Hartnett and there is no need to apologise for such mistakes.
In our particular sphere of interest, every so often HMRC focuses on one or two specific areas of customs compliance that are in need of "reconciling." At this present time one of the most targeted areas is the area of Royalties and Licence Fees and the customs obligations that arise from them."
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How Royalties and Licence Fees Leave Your Business Exposed |
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Customs obligations relating to Royalties and Licence Fees have been comprehensively reviewed and clarified by the EU Customs Valuation Committee. As a result, HMRC is interpreting the charging clauses much wider than they previously did resulting in higher customs duty costs and retrospective post-import demands. The draft Modernised Customs Code Implementing Regulations is likely to widen the scope even further with royalties being dutiable if, amongst other things, the relevant goods cannot be sold to or purchased by the buyer without their payment. If this current draft is agreed, then this will be the legal position from 2013 onwards.
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WTO rules that EU Tariffs on certain high-tech goods are not allowed under GATT 1994 |
The WTO Dispute Settlement Body recently ruled that EU Tariffs on certain High-Tech goods were in violation of the EC's obligations under the Information Technology Agreement (ITA). The United States, Japan and Chinese Taipei claimed that the EC had signed up to allow certain information technology products duty-free access into the EU and that the imposition of import Tariff's was subsequently prohibited by the ITA.
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