Posted by admin on March 3, 2010 under Hwuason News | 
Hwuason Lawyers is pleased to team up with the Australian, British and Israeli Chambers of Commerce in Beijing for a forum on mergers and acquisitions in China.
The seminar will be held on 16 March 2010 at the Sofitel Wanda. Matthew McKee, co-director of Hwuason’s International Taxation Services team, will deliver a presentation on the tax issues in respect of China M&A transactions.
Topics covered will include:
- A basic overview of China’s new M&A rules
- Discussion of trends in inbound M&A in China, including analysis of the impact of laws introduced in recent years, increased scrutiny into new deals and the consequences of high-profile events impacting Sino-foreign commercial relations in the past year.
- Outline of the tax issues commonly found in China M&A deals, including an explanation of Circular 698, issued by the State Administration of Taxation in December 2009, which seeks to impose Chinese tax on off-shore equity transactions.
Co-presenters are Geraldine Putra-Johns, the director of Putra-Johns Limited, a China focused M&A legal consultancy based in London and Alex Clar, a Senior Foreign Legal Counsel with Grandal Legal Group
Whether it is to access the China markets, form alliances, invest into or acquire China companies/technologies, this seminar will provide you with an overview of the M&A landscape and information on the opportunities and risks in China in 2010.
The Beijing Austcham website has more information, including regarding registration.
About Hwuason. Hwuason Lawyers was the first specialist tax law firm in China. A commitment to combining tax and legal services distinguishes Hwuason from other tax advisors. The firm offer clients an alternative to the ‘big 4′ accounting firms, both in terms of costs and the breadth of services provided, which includes M&A, tax controversy, cross-border and general tax.
For more information about Hwuason: www.hwuason.com
Posted by admin on March 2, 2010 under Hwuason News |
Hwuason Lawyers, China’s first specialist tax firm, continues to be the firm that the Chinese media consults to provide an opinion on tax reform and developments. On 26 February 2010 Liu Tianyong, Hwuason’s Managing Partner, was asked by the People’s Daily newspaper to provide his thoughts on a request by China’s State Administration for Taxation (SAT) that 10 foreign invested companies engage in tax self-examination for 2009 financial year. Tax self-examination is a process by companies can self-assess whether their tax compliance is in order for that year and to make any necessary changes. Companies can avoid later penalties and interest by rectifying their reporting during this process.
The ten foreign companies that were asked to engage in this process were: Nokia (China) Investment Co., Ltd., Samsung (China) Investment Co., Ltd., Motorola (China) Electronics Co., Ltd., Panasonic Electric Works China Co., Ltd., Siemens (China) Co., Ltd., McDonald’s (China) Co., Ltd., HSBC Bank, Foxconn Technology Group, General Electric (China) Co., Ltd. and Wal-Mart (China) Investment Co., Ltd.
Liu Tianyong noted that this request was a win-win situation for both the SAT and the taxpayers. Tianyong was commented that “for enterprises, in undertaking self-examination, any problems identified will not be subject to penalties by the SAT.” Further, the SAT can benefit for this as the “work required to fully assess these companies is extensive and so self-examination has the potential reduce the manpower needed” Liu said. Liu also noted that once the examination enters the inspection phase, companies will face the burden of significant fines and late payment penalty.” Self-examination is just one tool required for the development of a mature and transparent tax system.
The People’s Daily, established in 1948, is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It is published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic.
About Hwuason. Hwuason Lawyers was the first specialist tax law firm in China. A commitment to combining tax and legal services distinguishes Hwuason from other tax advisors. We offer our clients an alternative to the ‘big 4′ accounting firms, both in terms of costs and the breadth of services we can provide, which includes M&A, tax controversy, cross-border and general tax.
For more information about Hwuason: www.chinataxlawyers.com.
Posted by admin on under Hwuason News |
Hwuason Lawyers is pleased to announce that it has been recognised as finalist for ALB’s Tax and Trusts Law Firm of the Year Award. This is the second consecutive year that Hwuason has been nominated as a finalist for the award. The award recognises Hwuason as one of the top 5 tax and trusts law firm’s in China.
China’s rapidly changing corporate tax regulations make ongoing tax planning an essential part of doing business in China. Effective tax planning must be commercially viable and balanced so as to generate tax efficiencies and mitigate the risk of challenge by the tax authorities. As such, tax in China is becoming highly specialized and there is greater need for lawyers have a deep understanding and intimate knowledge of China’s tax system.
Hwuason, China’s first specialist tax law firm, has recognised this need for specialist tax lawyers and is able to provide its clients with the level of expertise that only a specialist firm can provide.
Hwuason offers comprehensive taxation services including advising on the taxation aspects of all matters including:
- Mergers, takeovers, acquisitions, buy-outs and reorganizations;
- Financings, investment funds and venture capital investments;
- Personal tax planning, including family corporations, trusts and estates;
- Preparation of tax disclosures in public transactions;
- International transactions, investments and operating businesses of Chinese in other parts of the world and of foreign individuals and corporations in China;
- Pension plans, employee benefits and other compensation arrangements for foreign companies in China;
- Transfer pricing.
- Tax dispute resolution and litigation
Hwuason’s Managing Partner, Liu Tianyong, indicated that the firm “recognises the importance for multinational companies to limit their overall tax exposure and to implement transfer pricing policies in line with both corporate international strategy and in compliance with China tax regulations.” The firm was “pleased” to receive the recognition, but Tianyong noted that accolades from clients is the greatest achievement for the firm.
For more information on the China Law Awards go to http://cn.albawards.legalbusinessonline.com/Finalists/35890/details.aspx
About Hwuason. Hwuason Lawyers was the first specialist tax law firm in China. A commitment to combining tax and legal services distinguishes Hwuason from other tax advisors. The firm offer clients an alternative to the ‘big 4′ accounting firms, both in terms of costs and the breadth of services provided, which includes M&A, tax controversy, cross-border and general tax.
For more information about Hwuason: www.hwuason.com.
Posted by Matthew on February 22, 2010 under Hwuason News |
Over the last 7 days Asian Legal Business (ALB) released a 2010 China Watchlist – a list of firms that it predicts will be the big movers in 2010. I am pleased to note that Hwuason has made the 2010 list. Obviously, few lawyers do their work to achieve awards and we are more interested in pleasing our clients than receiving such recognition. However, this recognition is still pleasing for a firm like Hwuason that is not the biggest firm in China nor the most typical. Whereas the overwhelming majority of firms in China eschew specialisation, Hwuason has chosen to specialise in a very discrete and techical area – tax. This very much goes against the grain in China – there is a tendency here for firms, and lawyers themselves, to do any work that comes their way irrespective of their knowledge and ability in that particular area. This is actually one of the few frustrations I have about working in the legal field in China.
I very much admire Liu Tianyong, the Managing Partner of Hwuason, who four years ago recognised that the tendency in China of catchall firms was not appropriate for the practice of law in a more sophisticated legal environment and sought to focus his and his firms skills. Tianyong has also invested considerable recources into developing the tax law profession, Hwuason is the only specialist tax law firm in China, amongst graduates of China’s universities. For these reasons, and many others, there are days where I very much feel this firm is a pioneer and for this reason I am pleased Tianyong has received the recognition that he and the firm deserves.
Posted by admin on February 3, 2010 under Hwuason News |
In the lead up to Chinese New Year many Chinese companies and businesses take an annual work trip. In Northern China where the winter cold is still biting this usually means going to a hot springs for the weekend. These work weekends give companies an opportunity to collectively reflect upon the achievements of the previous year, set a new agenda for the coming year and to simply relax and play some games.
- Hwuason’s sporting superstars
Last weekend, Hwuason’s annual trip took place at Longmai Hotsprings in Changping County in Beijing’s northern suburbs. Hwuason’s lawyers and administrative staff assembled together at the springs for a weekend of discussion and a bit of fun.
The firm took the opportunity to review the past 12 months, which saw Hwuason grow into the leading tax law firm in China. Despite the growth of the past 12 months, the firms management believes that there is still scope for further growth, particularly in respect of the firm’s international practice.
