Rulings & Directives

Rulings & Directives is responsible for providing technical advice and assistance, issuance of rulings, directives, guidance notes and practice notes. Rulings and directives are issued based on the 4 instruments of Legislation, i.e. Income Tax, Value Added Tax, Capital Transfer Tax and Transfer Duty Acts.

RULINGS

A. What is a Ruling?

• A ruling is the Commissioner General’s opinion or interpretation of the laws

B. Examples of Rulings

            i.  Mergers and Acquisitions / Roll over relief

           ii. Exemptions: Exclusions, Variations, Donations

          iii. Zero-Rating of business sold as a going concern.

          iv. Development of Guidance / Practice Notes, Technical Notes and Directives

          v. Approvals of Training Expenditure for special deduction

          vi. Approval of applications for donor/donee status

          vii. Pension Fund approvals for tax deduction purposes

          viii. Participation in assessment of applications for Manufacturing Development

           Approval Orders

C. Types of Rulings

Public Rulings – these are general rulings issued to no specific taxpayer.

Private Rulings – these are issued to a specific taxpayer.

 DIRECTIVES

Directives are instructions or communication issued by BURS to clients on how a certain amount should be taxed. Directives may be issued upon request from clients or as the Commissioner General determines.