“Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation on Issues Relating to Corporate Income Tax on Expenses Paid by an Enterprise to its Overseas Affiliated Party” was promulgated on 18 March 2015

The State Administration of Taxation promulgated the “Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation on Issues Relating to Corporate Income Tax on Expenses Paid by an Enterprise to its Overseas Affiliated Party” (“the Notice”) on 18 March 2015.

It is stipulated in the Notice that taxation authorities can adjust the calculation of tax payable if the payments by a Chinese enterprise to an overseas affiliate are not made in accordance with the arm’s length principle. The taxation authorities can also request enterprises to submit for record contracts or agreements entered into with affiliates to prove that relevant transactions have actually occurred and other information showing that such transactions were made in accordance with the arm’s length principle. The notice also lists out several scenarios under which payments are not made in accordance with the arm’s length principle, including where holding or financing companies are established overseas, all payments made to overseas affiliates for royalties in respect of IPO financing activities are not deductible for calculation of enterprise income tax under the Notice.
The Notice came into effect on the date of its promulgation.

The 2015 Spring Dinner took place at Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay on 13 March 2015. The theme of this year’s Spring Dinner was “Shining Bright”.

It was our great pleasure to have the honourable guests from AllBright Law Offices, including a number of senior partners who were led by Mr. Wu Mingde, to join us for the fabulous evening.

Partners, Mr. Willy Cheng, Mr. Hank Lo, Ms. Catherine Por and Mr. Eric Lui together with Mr. Wu Mingde took the opportunity to thank all staff for their endeavor and hard work throughout the year. It was a wonderful evening filled with delicious Chinese cuisine, lucky draws, fun games and performances.

Flood of rich Chinese settle in UK

The number of Chinese citizens who obtained investor visas to the UK doubled last year as more rich people emigrate. A total of 357 British “Tier 1” investor visas were issued to Chinese nationals during the 12 months up to September 2014, thus becoming the biggest group of “Tier 1” investor visa by far. Only 178 Chinese investors obtained such visas over the same period a year ago.

To obtain a “Tier 1” investor visa, applicants must invest more than £ 2 million in the debt or equity of active UK-registered companies or UK government bonds only.

Rich Chinese also have chosen countries such as the US, Australia and Portugal as their favourite destination countries. According to the statistics of such countries, there has been a huge increase in the number of applicants attempting to acquire residency abroad in the past few years.

Many rich Chinese are motivated to emigrate due to worsening pollution, food safety, inadequate health and education systems and also fear of political repression.

(Source: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/986bd08a-9b10-11e4-882d-00144feabdc0.html)

Upon invitation, SW partners Mr. Willy Cheng, Mr. Eric Lui, Ms. Heidi Chui and legal executives Mr. Stanley Hung and Mr. Man Wong attended the cocktail reception organised by China Construction Bank (Asia) (“CCBA”) held at CCB Tower, Central on 6 March 2015. At the cocktail, SW partners had exchange of ideas with senior management from various departments of CCBA including commercial banking and SME banking.

Please contact our Eric Lui for any enquiries or further information about this event.

Stevenson, Wong & Co. attended Law Society Spring Reception

On 2 March 2015, SW partners Mr. Eric Lui and Ms. Heidi Chui attended the annual Spring Reception hosted by the Law Society of Hong Kong (the “Law Society”) held at Peking Garden Restaurant, Alexandra House, Central. Members of the Law Society attended this event to celebrate the Year of the Goat and to network with fellow members.

Please contact our Eric Lui for any enquiries or further information about this event.

On 13 February 2015, SW partner Mr. Eric Lui, senior associate Ms. Freda Au, legal executives Mr. Stanley Hung, Mr. Man Wong and Ms. Anita Tong and SW China Business Development Officer (China) Ms. Connie Yeung attended a seminar at China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited (CCBA) Tsimshatsui Commercial Banking Centre and delivered a presentation on various topics.

In the first part of the seminar, Mr. Wong and Mr. Hung explained how the Stamp Duty Ordinance applies to property and share transactions in Hong Kong and discussed some of the common enquiries raised by clients.

In the second part of the seminar, Ms. Yeung explained the benefits of setting up a trust, what clients should consider in succession planning and introduced some popular options for investment immigration.

Over 30 bankers from CCBA attended the seminar.

Please contact our Eric Lui for any enquiries or further information about this event.