Since the decisions of the European Court of Justice in the so-called “Danish cases”, passive income streams are being scrutinized more than ever across Europe. This is not different in Belgium, where we have seen a substantial increase in tax audits focusing on passive income streams where withholding tax is being claimed also in the framework of business-driven structures.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled UK announces new package of sanctions against Russia and designates additional individuals/companies on 24 February 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Spanish Official State Gazette published Law 2/2023 on 20 February 2023, which transposes the EU Whistleblower Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of European Union law) into Spanish law.
On 14 February 2023, the Treasury finally published its delayed consultation on draft legislation to bring BNPL within the regulatory perimeter. The legislation follows the general approach set out by the Treasury last summer to bringing BNPL within the regulatory perimeter. There are, however, some key updates in the Treasury’s final policy position from its thinking from last summer on the scope of regulation.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled EU adopts 10th package of sanctions against Russia on 25 February 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert Webinar: Key lessons from the Russia/Ukraine crisis: Preparing for the next geopolitical event on 22 February 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Dutch government announces new EU sanctions measures against Russia and Belarus to enter into force on 24 February 2023 on 22 February 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
On 6 February 2023, the European Council published Council Regulation (EU) 2023/246 on the exchange of information in electronic registers in the Official Journal of the European Union. The (recast) regulation extends the obligation to maintain electronic registers relating to economic operators who move excise goods between Member States for commercial purposes from 13 February 2023.
A series of new rules were rolled out on 13 February 2023 which will make the taxation of alcohol, tobacco and energy products fully paperless across the EU. They are part of a wider expansion of the common excise duty provisions in the EU. The aim of this new standardized electronic system is to alleviate some of the rigorous procedures faced by energy suppliers and small producers of alcohol.
This article provides an overview of the German regime for crypto securities and of the recent and future expansion of the scope of the German Act on Electronic Securities, which will allow for more use cases. The eWpG provides a reliable regime for crypto securities. It entered into force in the summer of 2021, but its scope has recently been expanded. Under even more ambitious plans, the German government intends to expand its scope further.