Dbriefs Asia Pacific Tax Webcasts

Geography Updates

Virtual Digital Assets - GST issues 

12 January, 2:00 – 3:00 PM SGT (GMT +8)

Host: Hardik Gandhi 

Presenter: Shilpy Chaturvedi

Tax authorities in India are struggling to come to grips with this dynamic nature of Virtual Digital Assets (VDA). This makes it difficult for the law makers to understand how VDAs could be included in the traditional definitions and concepts of taxes particularly for GST to be applied. The Indian Government has taken steps to bring clarity to the taxation of VDA’s (such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs) from a direct tax perspective by recognizing them as new asset class and including them in the tax framework. However, clarity is still awaited on the GST front. Through this forum, we will discuss the nuisances around the GST aspects on VDA industry in India. 

• Types of VDAs.
• Classification of VDAs under the traditional definition of goods and services.
• Tax implication in cross-border transactions.

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Geography Updates 

Investigations and Audits under GST: Strategizing and Preparing the businesses

17 January, 2:00 – 3:00 PM SGT (GMT +8)

Host: Vikram Kulkarni

Presenter: Vikram Kulkarni

The introduction of GST in 2017 brought upon a turbulent period for businesses in India. New legislation replaced most of the prevalent Indirect Tax legislations and introduced a uniform tax regime across the country. While the intent was noble, and provided clarifications, amendments and modifications in the existing legislation, it also led to different interpretations tax authorities.  This resulted in variance in tax positions and practices across the country. As the Law and its interpretation have become stabilized in due course, various Intelligence Agencies in the department of revenue swung into action and armed with specific information owing to the advanced technology tools causing businesses to be flooded with Audits, enquiries and investigations. In this webcast, we will discuss: 

• Preparing for Audits/Investigations.
• Strategizing the way forward during Audits/Investigations.
• Common issues raised by Revenue authorities.

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Geography Updates 

Union Budget 2023: India’s spectrum of opportunities

2 February, 2:00 – 3:00 PM SGT (GMT +8)

Host: Karishma Phatarphekar 

Presenters: Sanjay Kumar, Sumit Singhania, and Gulzar Didwania

India Budget 2023 will be presented in the Parliament on 1 February 2023, at a critical juncture in the global economy—when geopolitical uncertainty, rising inflation, and sluggish growth are seen to coexist.  

Calculated actions to strengthen domestic sources of growth are required to maintain the country's current trajectory of steady economic growth. The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, is expected to work out strategies to push India as a production or sourcing hub, amid recession fears in the west. Accordingly, the Budget is likely to continue to focus on capital expenditure as a growth driver and give an impetus to manufacturing while continuing with the post-pandemic fiscal consolidation.

Subject matter experts will share a short, simple, and strategic take on the India Budget 2023, covering:

• The Government's tax initiatives on reviving the industries and boosting optimism.
• Key policy announcements towards making India self-reliant.
• Analysis and impact of new tax proposals on your sectors, and the way forward.

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Transfer Pricing 

Developing an operational transfer pricing framework - practical application

9 February, 1:00 – 2:00 PM SGT (GMT +8)

Host: Mark Carlton

Presenters: Daniel Alexander Laoh and Manmeet Vij

The transfer pricing function has had to deal with a significant increase in external reporting requirements, amongst more complex demands from the business and its need for transfer pricing input. To do this effectively, a transfer pricing function will need to adopt key principles of operational transfer pricing (People, Process, Data and Technology) across more than just the application of the transfer pricing policies, as it looks for opportunities to streamline and automate work undertaken, allowing it to contribute to proactive and strategic decision making of the business. Increased data-driven controversy mitigation strategies and global reporting requirements, as well as competent authorities’ continued focus on transfer pricing governance and their own investments in tax technologies, has made digitalising operational transfer pricing processes as a strategic priority for taxpayers.  During our webcast, we will: 

• Break down the core framework we apply when operationalising tasks in the transfer pricing function.
• Provide case studies to illustrate how this works in practice.

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 Geography Updates

2023 Japan Tax Reform Proposals: International tax policy and geopolitics

14 February, 2:00 – 3:00 PM SGT (GMT +8)

Host: David Bickle

Presenters: Brian Douglas, Brian Mayer, Masaaki Miura, and Nicole Baxter

Lackluster economic growth, ensuring fairness within the tax system, and increasing geopolitical tensions are all contributing factors that shape Japan’s 2023 tax reform proposals.  These proposals reflect the Japanese government’s desire to increase domestic investment in markets, industries, and talent, and its commitment to promoting internationally agreed tax standards, such as the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework’s global minimum tax.  They also reflect the Prime Minister’s stated intention to increase Japan’s defense budget to around 2% of GDP.  Accordingly, while not scheduled for 2023, the proposals suggest that a portion of the increased budget will be funded through future tax increases.   Finally, the proposals include measures to further ease compliance with the Electronic Record Retention Law and the Japanese Consumption Tax (JCT) Qualified Invoicing System, which will come into effect on 1 October 2023. We’ll discuss:

• Revisions to Japan’s tax credit and incentive regimes.
• Status of Japan’s implementation of the global minimum tax under Pillar 2.
• Potential increase to the corporate and individual tax rates.
• Important actions to take by the end of FY23 Q1 in pursuit of readiness for the arrival of JCT qualified invoicing .

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