Thomson Reuters has partnered with Orbitax to offer International Compliance Expert (ICE), a full-feature software tool that includes tax rate look-up tables, domestic and international checklists of compliance issues and all relevant tax forms, translated into English, for more than 65 countries around the world. Only ICE provides subscribers with complete information to meet the compliance obligations of multinational companies, both locally and internationally. Note: Orbitax technology is powered by the tax research of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), the world s leading research center focusing on international and cross-border taxation since 1938. ICE product features include: Display of key domestic mainstream corporate income tax rates needed for meeting compliance requirements, including surtaxes, effective tax rates, etc. Compliance checklists that provide key country tax compliance facts including filing requirements, interest and penalties on late and incorrect returns, statutes of limitations, refunds, etc. International compliance checklists with data on anti-avoidance, transfer pricing, CFC (controlled foreign corporation) rules and thin capitalization rules compliance A compare feature for comparing compliance rules across countries/jurisdictions Key tax forms for all countries, including corporate tax return forms, treaty benefit claim forms, withholding tax reporting forms, registration forms, etc. A comprehensive listing of all global tax administration sites for accessing underlying data sources directly from the source Optional links to IBFD Regional databases on Checkpoint The following countries are included in International Compliance Expert: Argentina, Australia, Austria, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Korea (Rep of), Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Note: More countries will be added at a later date. SYSTEM REQUIREMENT: To ensure total access to all of the features and functions of International Compliance Expert, please upgrade to the most current version of Adobe Reader. 2011 Thomson Reuters/RIA. All rights reserved.
You can access ICE under GO TO in the Search pane in the International practice area: You can also access ICE from the left pane of the Tools tab by selecting International Tax Tools: 2
Select Int l Compliance Expert. Then click Continue to launch ICE (under a separate URL). The ICE Home page opens, from which you can begin your search: Subscribers can access several product features in one of three ways: (1) from the blue menu tab across the top, (2) from the list of features on the right side, (3) from the drop-down menu What would you like to do today?. 3
The available features include a compliance checklist, an anti-avoidance checklist, corporate tax rates and tax return due dates, and non-u.s. tax forms translated into English. The following searches will provide examples for each of these options: Search # 1: Searching Key Tax Compliance Information for Italy 1. Click Checklist from the blue menu bar at the top of the Home page. The following screen appears: 2. Click the Choose a country drop-down to select a country. 3. Select the Italy radio button and click OK. 4. Click Search. 4
You have accessed the key tax compliance information for Italy: 5. Select IBFD Analysis (see arrow above). Checkpoint displays a source list of categories containing several documents that pertain to the country you selected (here: Italy). 6. For this exercise, select Corporate Income Tax. 5
7. Select a document to review. 8. Or return to the Tax compliance information for Italy screen and select Government Sites. 6
9. Select Ministry of Finance. 10. View the Ministry of Finance site (in Italian): Note: Where available, links are provided to official government sites in English. 7
Compare Feature: From the Compliance Checklist, you can compare information for various countries/jurisdictions: 1. For this example, place your cursor anywhere inside the Corporate tax rates (past years) section. 2. Click the Compare button that appears in the section. 3. Choose any number of countries/jurisdictions to compare with the information you have for Italy. (For this example, select Portugal and the Netherlands.) 4. Click Compare. 8
A comparison of the corporate tax rate data for your selected countries is displayed: 9
5. Click Printer Friendly to print a copy of the comparison: 6. Click Full info to see several categories of valuable information about the selected country. 10
Scroll down to view several categories of valuable information about the selected country: 11
Search # 2: Find a Summary of Key Anti-Avoidance Information for Each Country 1. Select Anti-Avoidance at the top of the Home page. 2. From the Choose a country drop-down menu, select United Kingdom and click OK. 3. Click Search to view a summary of key anti-avoidance information for the United Kingdom: 12
Compare anti-avoidance information: The same Compare function that you used with the Compliance Checklist in your first search is also available for anti-avoidance information. The following example shows a comparison of the United Kingdom s statute of limitation and penalties with that of the United States: 13
Search # 3: Look up Effective Corporate Tax Rates by Country 1. Select Rates from the blue menu bar at the top of the Home page. 2. Click a Footnotes box to view additional information. (Here, select the footnote in the Surtax Based on Taxable Income column for Chile.) 14
3. Click a Progressive Tax Rates box, where available. (Here, select the box in the Statutory Tax Rate column for Belgium. 4. View corporate tax rates and tax return due dates by country. (Here, select the Tax Return Due Date icon for Argentina. 15
Search # 4: Find Corporate Tax Returns and Withholding Tax Certificates from Various Countries, Translated into English 1. Select Forms from the blue menu bar at the top of the Home page. 2. Select China from the list of countries on the left and scroll down to find forms for a particular year. Note: ICE maintains an archive of Tax Forms and will continue to maintain archives going forward. 3. For this exercise, select the first form shown for 2007. 16
Available forms are displayed as a PDF (translated into English): To translate a document into a different language, select the Translate icon. 17
Select a language and click OK to get the translated form. Click Compare to compare one document with another: Browse and select two documents. Click OK to see the two documents. 18
Click Translate to translate any PDF file (electronic or scanned): Browse and select a PDF that you would like to translate. Click OK. 19
From the drop-down menu, select the language used in the PDF to translate from (default) and the language you want to translate into: Click OK to see the translation of the PDF (here, from English on the left to Japanese on the right): 20