A global economy requires multinationals to adopt a global business strategy, which invariably involves the need to transfer a firm’s most important asset – its people – in a fluid way across national borders. That is why managing the mobilization of expatriate employees in the most efficient way, including handling strategic immigration, labor and tax legal issues, is critical for the oil and gas industry.
Our tax lawyers in Ghana provide the full range of tax services that address the complex challenges of international commerce and business operations as well as managing and resolving tax disputes.
Our clients benefit from a valuable combination of global insight and knowledge of national legislation, including tax treaties that allows us to handle their complex tax issues.
Experience has included advising:
- Gold Fields Ghana Limited in the negotiation of its development agreement with the Government of Ghana which guaranteed Gold Fields certain tax (royalties, income tax, import duty, etc.) concessions.
- A major multinational US telecommunications corporation in relation to tax issues in respect of proposed transactional structures including withholding tax, corporate income tax, double taxation issues and value added tax as well as the meaning of a permanent establishment and its tax treatment under Ghanaian laws.
- A major Ghana mining company in relation to a USD1 million claim for back royalties arising against it in respect of its hedging activities and which involved an interpretation of Ghana’s tax laws to determine whether hedging activities are subject to royalty payments.
- A major Ghana mining company in relation to its investment protection provisions in response to a claim for withholding taxes.
- A major mining company as to its liability to pay the recent increase in the rate of royalty payments from the revenue obtained from mining operations.
- A company in relation to withholding tax considerations arising from a return of capital to shareholders which was treated as a dividend.
- An international commodities trader on the security and tax implications of its DES sale of petroleum products into Ghana.
- A local subsidiary of an international telecommunication company involving a USD8 million tax appeal.
Understanding Zimbabwe's relatively new transfer pricing laws is crucial to foreign investors in Zimbabwe, foreign businesses in the country, and Zimbabwean organizations doing business with offshore entities.
When setting up an investment in a foreign country, an understanding of the tax landscape is often the difference between a profitable venture and one that is not. In Kenya, the tax regime is comprised of four main tax heads: income tax, value added tax (VAT), excise duty and customs duty.
What foreign investors in Africa need to know about capital gains tax, withholding tax, permanent establishment, corporate income tax, and investment protection planning via bilateral investment treaties.
As the articles in this issue show, the world’s second largest continent may offer real opportunities to foreign investors in real estate.