Laos, Vietnam Expand Free Trade Agreement

Laos and Vietnam signed an improved free trade agreement (FTA) on March 3, 2015, to replace their existing treaty dating back to 1998. Once in effect, the treaty will eliminate tariffs on more than 95 percent of goods, with 9,000 products to benefit from zero tariffs. Signed by the Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade, […]

Barbados And Cyprus To Negotiate DTA

Barbados and Cyprus have announced that they are to begin negotiating a double taxation agreement (DTA) to strengthen economic relations between the two territories. Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart noted that although diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1972, economic opportunities have yet to be fully explored. He identified financial services and […]

South Africa Planning Substantial Tax Relief

South Africa’s Ministry of Finance has launched a public consultation on proposals for a temporary reduction in employers’ and employees’ contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), while benefits will remain unchanged. The 2015 Budget contained a proposal to reduce the remuneration threshold against which unemployment contributions are calculated from the current monthly amount of […]

OECD Urges Spain To Raise Environmental Taxes

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has urged Spain to introduce higher green taxes to fund measures to boost economic growth. “Spain has visibly improved its environmental performance since the turn of the century,” OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said. “Spain must now ensure that its economic recovery does not undo that work. There […]