Tuesday 30 June 2015

Increase in demand for women technology professionals in Singapore

Based on a report published by specialist recruitment firm Robert Half on 18 June 2015, their survey found that 49% of companies have recruited more women professionals into technology related positions during the last five years.

The major contributor in appointing women professionals in technological roles are the mid-sized firms with between 150 and 499 employees, with 62% of firms increasing the number of women in technology roles. Around 44% of small organisations with around 50 to 150 employees have recruited more women professionals in positions related to technology while 40% of large companies with more than 500 workers have cited an increase in female technology professionals within their ranks.

Monday 29 June 2015

The Wolters Kluwer Malaysia GST Compliance Conference

We are just over a week away from arguably the most important conference on GST post-implementation. The Malaysia GST Compliance Conference, aptly subtitled Unraveling Post-Implementation Complexities is on the horizon!

Three months into GST, your company is probably facing real life GST challenges that you may not have thought you'd encounter pre-implementation, with many grey areas and the need to understand the differences between theory and practice. New issues continue to turn up, but are you sure the way you're tackling them is the best way?


Wednesday 24 June 2015

EU's new tax blacklist: Hong Kong's displeasure

A statement has been issued by the Government of Hong Kong on 18 June 2015 expressing disappointment on being included in the European Union’s tax blacklist. It claimed that Hong Kong has always been supportive of international efforts to enhance tax transparency and they are bewildered that the EU has regarded the territory as non-tax cooperative.

The European Commission's new Corporate Tax Reform Action Plan included the EU tax blacklist which features those territories that are included on 10 or more EU member state blacklists.

Monday 22 June 2015

Need Intelliconnect training?

How's it going, valued subscribers? It's been about a month since our Intelliconnect portal was given a stylish refresh. I'm sure most of you welcomed the new look in our efforts to have a cleaner, clearer and easier to use interface.

However, we acknowledge that even with these improvements, some of you would still appreciate some assistance in learning how to make the most out of our Intelliconnect services. It's important to us that you are able to make optimal use of Intelliconnect to fulfill your research needs and assist you in your decision-making.


While we have the online support such as those shown above, we would like to highlight that web-based training with an actual Wolters Kluwer trainer is also available not just for our new subscribers, but existing ones too. Some of you might just need a refresher, or maybe your company has hired new employees that will be using Intelliconnect significantly.

Thursday 18 June 2015

Ramadan Mubarak!

To all our Muslim customers and friends in Malaysia and Singapore, Wolters Kluwer South East Asia wishes you a blessed and sparkling Ramadan!


Friday 12 June 2015

Editor's Review – MyKira GST App

With the implementation of GST, most of us are afraid that we might be overcharged by unscrupulous traders. Fear not!  The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry is here to help! (well, sort of). The Ministry has introduced a phone app that enables consumers to check the price of goods before they purchase, the app is called MyKira and it is available in Google Play.

Here’s the low-down of the app after trying it out myself.

The home screen is pretty straightforward, you have to key in compulsory information such as product name, weight or unit numbers, price and store name. There is an option to key in the old price of the item, which is optional. There is another option for location, which automatically detects your location. Finally, there's also a mostly unnecessary map.

The app’s home screen


Malaysia Master GST Guide 2015 2nd edition hot off the press!

The eagerly anticipated second edition of the Malaysia Master GST Guide 2015 is finally here!

As one of the first books in the market to be published post-GST implementation, this book has been extensively revised and updated for the 2nd edition as a result of significant changes and developments to the law, guidelines and announcements that have occurred since the 1st edition was published.

Friday 5 June 2015

Treading the fine line between tax planning and tax avoidance

Recently in Australia, the world's biggest technology, accounting, media and mining companies – from Google, Apple and Microsoft to BHP Billiton, Glencore and News Corp – have come under fire for their tax avoidance strategies, which involved transferring revenue to offshore countries that provide more generous tax rates. It is believed the multinationals involved transferred AU$31.4 billion offshore in 2011–12 to avoid taxes, costing the Government millions of dollars in tax revenue. This has led to the Government trying to impose a tighter leash on these corporations by proposing a law that requires corporations to disclose their Effective Tax Rates using a formula based on total income derived in Australia, regardless of where it is recorded.

Now, why have these corporations been forced to face the firing squad despite engaging in legal methods to minimise their tax liability?


Monday 1 June 2015

GST in Malaysia : So How?

An article by: Dr Veerinderjeet SinghChairman of Taxand Malaysia Sdn Bhd
(Chairman for the upcoming WK Malaysia GST Compliance Conferences held in both Malaysia and Singapore)

So we saw that the introduction of the GST on 1 April 2015 was not an April Fool’s joke after all. It is here and as usual, there were some hiccups and uncertainty that some businesses faced and that was to be expected.


One month extension for SST returns and payment of tax

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) has announced a one month extension (until 31 July 2021) for the submission of SST-02 forms an...