Insights

As most of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan is made up of best practice recommendations rather than ‘red line’ requirements, it was always going to be applied electively and in different ways from country to country.

In the push to become transparent, businesses are disclosing vast swathes of information about themselves – yet many are becoming more opaque as a result.

Business leaders around the world report a strong increase in optimism heading into 2017. The findings, from Grant Thornton’s most recent quarterly global survey of 2,600 businesses in 37 economies, suggest that business leaders are putting a period of uncertainty around many major issues behind them.

Both IAS 1 ‘Presentation of Financial Statements’ and IAS 10 ‘Events after the Reporting Period’ suggest that a departure from the going concern basis is required when specified circumstances exist. Neither Standard however provides any details of an alternative basis of preparation and how it may differ from the going concern basis.

On International Women’s Day, a new report based on Grant Thornton’s annual survey of 5,500 businesses in 36 economies reveals that the proportion of senior business roles held by women in APAC has risen from 23% in 2016 to 25% in 2017. In Singapore, the number is 30%, moving from 26% last year.

Singapore Budget 2017 observations and analysis: Moving Forward Together seminar, hosted on Wednesday 8 March 2017.

As of next year, beginning 1 January 2018 a non-established of services not solely subject to the place of recipient principle in Switzerland and Liechtenstein has to register for VAT, unless the non-established business can prove that its worldwide annual revenue from supplies is less than CHF 100,000. This revenue threshold was previously limited to the territory of Switzerland and Liechtenstein and is newly extended to worldwide scope.

Finance Minister, Mr Heng Swee Keat delivered the 2017 Singapore Budget yesterday afternoon. We’ve attached a Budget Summary to help you understand the initiatives that have been announced and how we believe it will impact businesses and individuals.

Emerging markets are at the forefront of the global shift from direct to indirect taxation. Reduced corporate tax rates in many countries and new or enhanced value-added-tax (VAT) or goods-and-services-tax (GST) are causing the shift.

Business leaders across the Asia Pacific region report a split in optimism heading into 2017. The findings, from Grant Thornton’s most recent quarterly global survey of 2,600 businesses in 37 economies, reveal that emerging and developed Asia Pacific economies are travelling in different directions when it comes to their outlook for the New Year. Globally, the research finds that the majority of business leaders start 2017 in a positive frame of mind.

Across a number of countries, the way internationally mobile employees are taxed is being shaken-up. This follows the G20/OECD-led Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan recommendations set out over a year ago.

A lack of awareness is fuelling the surge in cyber crime but there are pragmatic steps that organisations can take.

Graham Stirling, audit manager at Grant Thornton in Singapore, talks about how attracting and developing the right people has been key to the rapid growth of the firm

Competition for students in increasing, as traditional countries targeted for students grow their domestic capability and US HEIs ramp up their recruitment drive. Understanding the underlying factors driving students’ choices will help HEIs align their recruitment activities and attract the top students.

The developed economies of the Asia Pacific region are driving the region’s export plans, while emerging economies have reported a dip in expectations over the same period, according to Grant Thornton’s International Business Report, a quarterly global business survey of 37 economies.

Asia Pacific is the engine room of the global economy. GDP growth across the region outstrips the West; while the vast majority of European and North American economies are forecast to grow by less than 2% in 2016, many of those in Asia Pacific are looking for at least 3% growth and in some cases more. And while the Chinese economy cools, increasing economic co-operation between its neighbours has the potential to offset this.