The implementation of the beneficial ownership reporting obligations, administered by the Companies Commission of Malaysia (“CCM”), came into effect on 1 April 2024. These statutory and reporting requirements imposed the obligation on companies to notify the CCM of their beneficial owners via the dedicated e-BOS portal. The CCM provided a transition period of three months (from 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024) for companies to complete this reporting obligation.
Changes to the capital gains inclusion rate and the employee stock option deduction rate (as proposed in Budget 2024) will apply to stock options exercised and shares sold on or after 25 June 2024. The new measure reduces the stock option deduction and capital gains tax exemption from 1/2 of the taxable amount to 1/3 of the taxable amount, if an individual’s annual combined limit of CAD 250,000 has been exceeded. The individual taxpayer can choose how to allocate the preferential tax treatment between the stock option income and capital gains to the extent the combined limit has been exceeded.
The Cabinet has recently approved in principle the Draft Ministerial Regulation under the Revenue Code Regarding Revenue Tax to increase the personal tax exemption amount on severance pay for terminated employees, aligning with the new maximum rate of severance pay. This change is intended to further ease the financial burden on terminated employees.
On 19 June 2024, Resolution No. 101/2024 (“Resolution”) was published in the Official Gazette. The Resolution established that the 17.5% Tax on the Acquisition of Foreign Currency (“Tax”) no longer applies to the acquisition of foreign currency to pay for the importation of goods to be used in the projects included in the list. The Resolution will apply to the operations carried out to acquire foreign currency as of 19 June 2024.
On 20 June 2024, the US Supreme Court ruled, in a 7-to-2 decision in favor of the government, to uphold the constitutionality of the section 965 transition tax in Moore v. United States. This case has been closely watched because it informs a potential future dispute concerning the legality of a wealth tax and significant longstanding portions of the US tax regime. The original question presented was whether, under the Sixteenth Amendment, income must be realized before it can be taxed. The Court concluded that if a controlled foreign corporation realized income, then Congress could attribute that income to the corporation’s US shareholder and tax the shareholder accordingly. By applying this principle of attribution, the Court avoided the question of whether the Sixteenth Amendment includes a realization requirement, leaving that issue open for future litigation.
On 1 March 2024, New York Governor Hochul signed into law the amended LLC Transparency Act (“Act”). Enacted on 23 December 2023, the Act underwent significant revisions as a result of the agreement between the Governor and the legislators. The Act requires that all limited liability companies (LLCs) formed under the New York Limited Liability Company Act (“LLC Act”) or seeking authorization to do (or doing) business in New York State disclose information about certain of their beneficial owners, or submit a statement that the entity qualifies for an exemption from this requirement. All LLCs in existence prior to 1 January 2026 must comply with the Act before 1 January 2027.
We are pleased to present the second edition in 2024 of Ukrainian Laws in Wartime: Guide for International and Domestic Businesses, a brief overview of the key features of wartime legislation.
The Control of Items in Relation to the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Committee of Thailand agreed to enforce the licensing requirement for the export and re-export of dual-use items. The first pilot scheme will apply to heavy and nuclear equipment.
With immediate effect (from 2024), the new Growth Opportunities Act makes it more difficult to deduct interest for tax purposes for intragroup financing. The new rules apply not only to loans but also to debt-like or hybrid instruments.
On 24 May 2024, Resolution No. 126/2024 of the Agency for Access to Public Information was published in the Official Gazette. Among other things, it unifies the sanctions regime of Personal Data Protection Law No. 25,326 and National Do Not Call Registry Law No. 26,951.