Avocado Roundup is a quick review of top tax, legal, and climate news stories. It’s written by humans.
- India will “most likely” implement the OECD’s two-pillar tax reform starting in April 2025, at which point it will eliminate its seven-year-old unilateral national digital services tax, known as the “equalization levy,” according to a report citing an unnamed Indian government official. (Financial Express)
- Hong Kong cut taxes for foreign home buyers and stock traders as part of efforts to prop up its status as a global financial market. (Associated Press)
- A senior Italian treasury official criticized his government’s surprise announcement during the summer of plans to implement a windfall tax of up to 40% on banks’ profits. (Financial Times)
Tax Increases, Rulings
- The Guyana revenue authority said it stands by its contested audit of expenses claimed by energy giant ExxonMobil for its exploration in the country’s Stabroek Block offshore oil reservoir. (Jamaica Gleaner)
- Taiwan hopes that by next year it can reach a bilateral tax agreement with the United States to resolve issues such as double taxation of personal income and corporate profits, and to attract investment, Finance Minister Chuang Tsui-yun said. (Reuters)
- A change in US tax rules on how companies account for research and development costs is hitting businesses of all sizes hard, in some cases causing layoffs. (Wall Street Journal)
Laterals, Moves, Promotions
- Law firm Eversheds Sutherland US grabbed longtime Crowell & Moring transactional tax partner Charles Hwang as senior counsel in Washington. According to Hwang’s LinkedIn profile, he’s editor of the 13th edition of the Inward Investment and International Taxation Review. (Eversheds-Sutherland.com)
- Alvarez & Marsal Tax LLP, a unit of the global professional services firm of the same name, hired Deloitte corporate tax partner Kathie Haunton as a managing director in Manchester UK. Arriving after 32 years at Deloitte, she advises clients on research & development tax relief claims. (www.alvarezandmarsal.com)
