Clifford Chance
Tax avoidance provision
24 May 2016
This briefing discusses the Act Amending the Tax Ordinance Act and Certain Other Acts, adopted by the Parliament on 19 May 2016 (the "Amendment") and introducing, inter alia, provisions concerning tax anti-avoidance (the "Provision"). The Amendment also establishes a new regulatory agency, the Tax Avoidance Board, created as an authority to issue opinions on matters of tax avoidance. In addition, the Amendment, among other things, extends the list of decisions which can be issued by the minister in charge of public finance (the "Minister of Finance") to include so-called "security opinions", which provide taxpayers with security against a relevant action being deemed an act of tax avoidance (in a form similar to current individual tax rulings).
The Amendment will come into force 30 days after publication (i.e. most likely at the end of June 2016).
