美國《外國人投資不動產稅收法案》介紹
外國人（轉讓人）處置美國不動產權益應按1980 年《外國人投資不動產稅收法案》（FIRPTA）扣繳所得稅。FIRPTA授權美國政府有權對外國人處置美國不動產權益徵收稅款。
國稅局的“處置”包括但不限於出售、置換、清算、贖回、贈與、轉讓等。從外國人手中購買美國不動產權益的受讓人、指定購買者的仲介以及結算人員必須按要求扣繳15%作為預扣稅額（2016年2月17日之前處置的扣繳 10%）。
在多數情況下，受讓人/買方具有扣繳義務。如果您是受讓人/買方，則必須查明轉讓人是否為外國人。如果轉讓人是外國人，但您未能扣繳，則您可能要承擔該稅款。對於美國商業實體（如法人或合夥人）處置美國不動產權益的情況，商業實體本身就是扣繳義務人。
受讓人/買方需扣繳並抵減對外國人因處置而實現的總金額徵收的預扣稅款。扣繳率通常為15%（對 2016 年 2 月 17 日之前的處置的扣繳率為 10%）。
China Qianhai and Shekou FTZ to
Remove Access Restrictions for HK and Macao Investors
Recently, the Standing Committee of Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress officially approved and issued a new regulation on China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone Qianhai and Shekou Area of Shenzhen (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation), which will take effect from 1 October 2020.
The Regulation grants Qianhai and Shekou FTZ more rights to carry out exploratory and innovative measures. The following highlights are quite eye catching:
1. Exploring the possibilities of removing market access restrictions for Hong Kong and Macao entities that invest in Qianhai and Shekou FTZ, promoting the management of negative lists and full liberation of cross-border service trade with Hong Kong and Macao.
中國前海蛇口自貿區擬取消港澳企業投資准入限制
近日，深圳市人大常委會正式通過並發佈了《深圳經濟特區前海蛇口自由貿易試驗片區條例》（以下簡稱《條例》），自2020年10月1日起施行。
《條例》賦予了深圳前海蛇口自貿片區更多先行先試的權利，其中以下幾個亮點值得關注：
一、提出將探索取消港澳企業在前海蛇口自貿片區內投資的准入限制條件，推動對港澳跨境服務貿易負面清單管理，促進與港澳服務貿易全面自由化。
二、在外商投資准入管理模式上，除各地已有的“准入前國民待遇、負面清單管理”外，創新提出“非違規不干預”的管理模式，探索實施國際投資自由。
您的競業限制協議符合中國法律規定嗎？
競業限制協議作為企業保護其商業秘密的一種事先預防措施近年越來越常見。目前中國對競爭限制尚未單獨立法，關於競業限制的規定主要體現在《勞動合同法》第二十三條、第二十四條及第九十條。此外，2013年公佈的《最高人民法院關於審理勞動爭議案件適用法律若干問題的解釋（四）》（以下簡稱“《司法解釋四》”）也對競業限制相關問題進行了解釋和規定。為方便您瞭解中國對競業限制的相關法律規定，確保與員工簽訂的競業限制協定不會違反法律規定，啟源現對有關法律規定整理匯總如下。
一、 競業限制適用的主體有哪些？
在中國，競業限制可適用的主體範圍是有限制的，企業不應一刀切要求所有員工都簽訂競業限制協定。
中國《勞動合同法》第二十四條明確規定：“競業限制的人員限於用人單位的高級管理人員、高級技術人員和其他負有保密義務的人員。”企業與非上述人員簽訂的競業限制協定無效，對勞動者無約束力。
Does Your Non-compete Agreement Comply with the PRC Laws?
As an advance precaution for enterprises to protect their trade secrets, non-compete agreements have become more and more common in recent years. There is no separate legislation on non-competes in China so far. The non-compete regulations are mainly contained in Article 23, Article 24 and Article 90 of the Labour Contract Law of the PRC. Furthermore, the Interpretation (IV) of the Supreme People’s Court of Several Issues on the Application of Law in Trial of the Labour Dispute Cases (hereinafter referred to as the “Interpretations (IV)”) has clarified some issues related to non-compete. It is crucial to make sure your non-compete agreement comply with the PRC laws. Kaizen hereby summarizes the relevant laws and regulations as follows for your reference.
1. Who can legally be subject to non-compete obligations?
In China, non-compete restrictions shall not be applied to all employees. An employer shall not require all its employees to sign a non-compete agreement.
According to Article 24 of the Labour Contract Law of the PRC, employees who can legally be subject to non-compete restrictions are limited to the senior management, senior technicians and other personnel with a confidentiality obligation. The non-compete agreement signed between the employer and personnel not mentioned above shall be deemed as invalid and shall not be binding to the employee.
美國个人資本損失抵扣
資本資產的出售一般會產生資本利得或資本損失。那麼資本損失可用來抵扣收入，以此降低賦稅嗎？下文將為您簡要介紹一下美國資本損失抵扣的規則。
首先，我們需要弄明白幾個基本概念。資本資產包含繼承的資產，或您自己擁有和使用在個人用途（如汽車或房屋）或投資用途（如股票或債券）上的資產。如果您賣出資本資產的價格比您的調整基準高，則該差價為資本利得。反之，則差價為資本損失。需要注意的是，只有出售投資用途的資產所獲得的資本損失可以用來抵扣資本利得，出售私人使用的資產如您的住家或汽車的損失，是不能用來抵扣收入的。
資本利得和損失分為長期或短期。一般而言, 如果您持有該資產的期間超過一年，您的資本利得或損失則屬於長期。如果您持有時間少於一年，您的資本利得或虧損是短期的。淨資本利得所適用的稅率比普通收入所適用的稅率要低的多。 “淨長期資本利得”指的是長期資本利得減去長期資本損失後的淨利得，其中長期資本損失還包括從以前年度結轉的，未使用的長期資本損失額。而術語“淨資本利得”指的是當前年度的淨長期資本利得減去當前年度的淨短期資本損失的金額。
如果資本損失超過了資本利得，則個人納稅人有“長期或短期的淨資本損失”。每位納稅人最多可以使用3，000美元的淨資本損失用於抵扣其他類型的收入（如通常收入等）。若夫妻聯合報稅，則二人可使用的抵扣總額為3，000美元；如果分開報稅，則夫妻二人每人可分別使用1，500美元的淨資本損失用於抵扣。
中國服務貿易擴大對外開放
2020年8月11日，中國國務院批復同意在北京、天津、上海、重慶（涪陵區等21個市轄區）、海南、大連、廈門、青島、深圳、石家莊、長春、哈爾濱、南京、蘇州、杭州、合肥、濟南、威海、武漢、廣州、成都、貴陽、昆明、西安、烏魯木齊、河北雄安新區、貴州貴安新區、陝西西鹹新區等28個省、市（區域）全面深化服務貿易創新發展試點。隨後中國商務部於8月14日正式印發了《全面深化服務貿易創新發展試點總體方案》（以下簡稱“《總體方案》”）。
《總體方案》的其中一項重要試點任務是擴大服務貿易領域的對外開放，推動取消或放寬對服務貿易的限制措施。在運輸、教育、醫療、金融、專業服務等領域，試點推出26項開放舉措，允許境外服務提供者通過跨境交付、自然人移動等方式進入中國市場，主要包括以下幾個方面的內容：
一、 針對跨境交付和境外消費，進行開放壓力測試，如推動允許外國機構獨立舉辦涉外經濟技術展會、在中國境內經營無船承運無須為中國企業法人、支持與境外機構合作開發跨境商業醫療保險產品等。
二、 探索放寬特定服務領域自然人移動模式下的服務貿易限制性措施，推動職業資格互認，便利境外專業人才來華創業，如試點允許符合條件的港澳專業人士在海南、深圳、廣州等試點地區提供工程諮詢服務，開展與港澳專業服務資質互認試點，探索整合外國人工作許可和工作類居留許可，便利外國人來華就業等。
銀行開戶
新加坡VS 香港
新加坡和香港都是全球著名的商業中心，皆以其極低的稅率以及開放的商業環境吸引著全球的投資者，而銀行帳戶則成為了投資者作出投資決策及經營的最重要必備條件之一。
新加坡和香港都是金融中心，優勢不相上下。但是全球經濟形式複雜多變，由於洗錢和詐騙等案件頻繁出現，基於對金融風險的防控及國際金融組織的有關要求，近幾年來，香港公司出現註冊容易開戶難的局面，即使成功開戶的客戶或銀行既有的老客戶，也頻頻發生無緣由的被銀行通知關閉帳戶的現象，令投資者頗感苦惱。而相比之下，在新加坡銀行開戶要相對容易，且成功率較高，令不少投資者轉移至新加坡註冊公司及開戶。
啟源特此就新加坡和香港銀行開戶做個簡要對比，以說明啟源的現有客戶及潛在客戶瞭解目前有關最新資訊以便做出準確的投資決策。
U.S. Individual Capital Loss Deduction
When a person sells a capital asset, the sale normally results in a capital gain or loss. Is capital loss deductible in the taxpayer’s income tax return? The following will give you a brief introduction to the capital loss deductions rule.
Firstly, we should figure out some basic concepts. A capital asset includes inherited property or property someone owns for personal use (e.g. cars and home) or as an investment (e.g. stocks and bonds). A capital gain or loss is the difference between the basis and the amount the seller gets when they sell an asset. The basis is usually what the seller paid for the asset. But please note that taxpayers can only deduct capital losses on the sale of investment property but cannot deduct losses on the sale of property they hold for their personal use.
Capital gains and losses are classified as long-term or short-term. Generally, if you hold the asset for more than one year before you dispose of it, your capital gain or loss is long-term. If you hold it one year or less, your capital gain or loss is short-term. If you have a net capital gain, a lower tax rate may apply to the gain than the tax rate that applies to your ordinary income. The term "net long-term capital gain" means long-term capital gains reduced by long-term capital losses including any unused long-term capital loss carried over from previous years.
The term "net capital gain" means the amount by which your net long-term capital gain for the year is more than your net short-term capital loss for the year.
If your capital losses exceed your capital gains, individual taxpayers realizing a net long-term or short-term capital loss may only recognize (deduct) a maximum of $3,000 of the loss from other types of gross income (ordinary income passive income, or portfolio income). A joint return of husband and wife is treated as one person. If the husband and wife file income tax return separately, the loss deduction is limited to half ($1,500).
Bank Account Opening
Singapore VS Hong Kong
Both Singapore and Hong Kong are world-renowned business centres, attracting global investors with their extremely low tax rates and open business environment. Bank accounts have become one of the most important prerequisites for investors to make investment decisions and operate their businesses.
As financial centres, Singapore and Hong Kong are neck and neck. But the global economic situation is complicated, such as money laundering and fraud cases occur frequently, based on the prevention and control of financial risk, and the relevant international financial organizations, in recent years, the Hong Kong companies registry is easier but harder to open an bank account, even if the account being opened successfully or bank existing customers, also frequent gratuitously notified by bank closed the phenomenon of accounts, investors were upset. By contrast, opening a bank account in Singapore is relatively easy and successful, leading many investors to move to Singapore-registered companies and open accounts.
Kaizen is hereby illustrating a brief comparison of bank account opening in Singapore and Hong Long for our potential and current clients in order for them to make accurate investment decision.
