TP Ticker – August 2018
Amendment to the Singapore-Latvia Tax Convention
On 3 August, the Internal Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS”) published information on the new, second amendment of the Tax Convention (“TC”) with Latvia and the newly concluded comprehensive TC with Nigeria. The amendment to the TC with Latvia entered into force on 3 August while the TC with Nigeria will enter in force on 3 August. Both TCs are largely consistent with the OECD Model TC and contain its transfer pricing concept in Article 9. Nevertheless, in both TCs, the wording has minor differences. In case of the amendment to the TC with Latvia, a corresponding adjustment is made dependent on the agreement of the competent authority in that country, while the TC with Nigeria prevents a corresponding adjustment in cases where the actions giving rise to the primary adjustment have led to a judicial penalty for fraud.
More information on both TCs can be found on the website of IRAS: https://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/News-and-Events/Newsroom/Media-Releases-and-Speeches/Media-Releases/2018/Tax-Agreements-with-Latvia-and-Nigeria-to-Enter-into-Force/
Withdrawn Opinion on Altera
On 7 August, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit withdrew its opinion in the case Altera Corp. v. Commissioner, Nos. 16-70496, 16-70497 (9th Cir. 24 July 2018). The withdrawn opinion deals with the validity of treasury regulations on the allocation of cost of stock compensation within the framework of a cost-sharing agreement. The specific regulations, 26 C.F.R. § 1.482-7A(d)(2), were criticizes as not complying with procedural law and therefore being invalid. Nevertheless, in the view of the majority of the court, that they complied with administrative procedure law and were valid. According to the publication document, Judge Stephen Reinhardt fully participated in the case and formally concurred in the majority opinion prior to his death on 29 March. The withdrawal is made to allow the reconstituted panel time for conferring on the appeal.
The order withdrawing the opinion and the original opinion can be found here: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/08/07/16-70496.pdf
and here: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/07/24/16-70496.pdf