Dubai — The UAE ranked top in the world along with Malta and Monaco for lighter tax burdens placed on residents on both personal and corporate levels, according to a latest report. The annual report released by Henley & Partners revealed the outcomes of the Global Residence Program Index (GRPI)… – Continue reading
Copycat China is notorious . Many Western companies hesitate to enter China or to bring in technology, because of valid concerns about loss of intellectual property. This concern is even greater when it comes to innovating or conducting R&D in China. But there is encouraging news: the framework for IP… – Continue reading
Leaders of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have ended a meeting in Grenada criticising the European Union over its decision to blacklist several Caribbean countries as tax havens. In addition, the leaders of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Montserrat, St Kitts… – Continue reading
The budget deal agreed to by state lawmakers this week quietly targeted Microsoft for a $57 million tax increase over the next two years, and the Redmond software giant is apparently willing to go along with it. They haven’t advertised it, but the budget deal agreed to by state lawmakers… – Continue reading
The independent intergovernmental organization FATF or The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering), headquartered in Paris, has published a report as a guide for using digital currencies titled “Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Currencies.” It includes benefits of digital currencies as well as potential risks of money… – Continue reading
A private equity executive won his five-year legal battle with U.K. authorities to stop his fees from managing venture capital funds being taxed twice. George Anson, who has worked at Boston-based HarbourVest Partners for 25 years, faced a 67 pence levy on every pound earned from a Delaware company between… – Continue reading
Chinese banks, encouraged by Premier Li Keqiang’s “going-out” strategy, are rocketing up the international bond arranging league tables in Asia, leaving investment banking stalwarts in their wake. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s biggest lender by assets, jumped four spots from the end of last year to… – Continue reading
An eyebrow-raising disclosure in the U.S. indictment of FIFA officials is that a representative of a Caribbean bank made it easy for one allegedly illegal transaction to be done by flying to New York to personally collect a check and then returned to deposit it in an account in the… – Continue reading
British banks have fallen down world league tables for lenders so rapidly that there may soon not be a global-ranked bank in this country, the editor of the industry bible has warned, reports the Independent. “At one time several UK banks were among a handful of truly global players,” said… – Continue reading
June 30 — Taxpayers continue to wrestle with big questions a year after the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act opened for business. Acknowledging that the Internal Revenue Service is doing its best to implement a complex law, issues still remain as the reach of FATCA goes global, practitioners told Bloomberg… – Continue reading
The Dubai International Financial Centre spent the first 10 years of its existence looking to banks in the West. It’s planning to spend the next decade looking East, reports the Gulf Times. DIFC, as the tax-free business park is called, became the Middle East’s biggest financial centre by attracting the… – Continue reading
THE focus of a high-level inquiry into corporate tax avoidance will move to some of the globe’s biggest drug companies during hearings today. After revealing details of the tax minimisation strategies at Google, Apple and Microsoft, the Senate’s Standing Committee on Economics will hear from pharmaceutical executives in Sydney. Among… – Continue reading
We consider the retirement options for three top expat destinations – New Zealand, Bahrain and Singapore Retiring overseas is an aspiration for many expats, especially after they have spent much of their working life outside the UK. But while you may think you know what’s involved, there are many things… – Continue reading
NEW YORK and SHORT HILLS, N.J., June 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Marking the one-year deadline for foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to identify their preexisting entity account base for purposes of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, and Dun & Bradstreet… – Continue reading
Banks and other financial companies want the new Conservative government to cut the cost of complying with a swath of new regulation, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry, reports The Guardian. When the employers’ lobby group asked firms what the government should do to help the… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s private banks are close to ridding themselves of undeclared European accounts, a salutary process but one which has undermined efforts to grow their businesses. Following the financial crisis, cash-strapped governments chased accounts hidden at banks in Zurich, Geneva and Ticino where wealthy Europeans had taken advantage of Switzerland’s famous… – Continue reading
Transnational agrochemical and seed giant Monsanto has reiterated its desire to merge with fellow chemical-producing behemoth Syngenta, a company that has already rebuffed three previous purchase attempts by Monsanto. Announcing unexpectedly positive third quarter earnings late last week, Monsanto said that it is still seeking ways to woo Switzerland-based Syngenta… – Continue reading
The “wall of Chinese capital” hitting property markets in Sydney and Melbourne will not ease up until the government introduces its anti-money laundering legislation, says an expert in ‘flight capital’. James Tee, an ethnic Chinese property developer whose business specialises in “capital expatriation” – that is, getting money out of… – Continue reading
The U.S. Justice Department said on Friday it reached a resolution with the Swiss regional bank Ersparniskasse Schaffhausen AG (EKS) on possible tax-related criminal offenses. According to terms of the agreement, EKS will cooperate in any related criminal or civil proceedings, show implementation of controls to stop misconduct and pay… – Continue reading
Multinational drug companies are presenting a united front ahead of their appearance at the Senate’s corporate tax avoidance inquiry, insisting they are honest, ethical and pay their fair share of tax. Nine pharmaceutical companies, which between them receive billions of dollars in taxpayer-subsidised sales via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, will… – Continue reading
The UK’s Supreme Court has ruled that a KPMG scheme to enable dealer group Pendragon to recover VAT on demonstrator cars sold as used cars was “abusive” of the law. Its decision earlier this month has overturned a previous Court of Appeal ruling on the scheme, which Pendragon used on… – Continue reading
The UK’s largest bank HSBC has clung on to a place in the world’s top 10 banks, in a year which saw the global banking model under increasing threat. HSBC fell to ninth place from fifth last year with 153 billion dollars (£97 billion) of Tier 1 capital at hand,… – Continue reading
GENEVA — The FIFA corruption scandal is prompting fresh moves to stem money laundering in Switzerland, but the nation long known as a haven for hiding money may be slow to change. The Swiss government announced new measures this month following the investigation of soccer’s governing body to tighten control… – Continue reading
(MENAFN – The Peninsula) A former high-ranking executive of US computer chip giant Qualcomm was fined 500,000 and sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday for insider trading, US officials said. Jing Wang, 52, the former executive vice president and president of global business operations at Qualcomm pleaded guilty last… – Continue reading
Luxembourg, home of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, is the EU’s richest country and a notorious tax haven for multinationals including Disney, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Office Depot — among more than 300 firms who allegedly shifted profits to Luxembourg through sweetheart tax deals uncovered in last year’s ‘LuxLeaks scandal. The… – Continue reading
HMRC will not face a judicial review over its handling of HSBC-backed tax evasion after a campaign group dropped its fight to take the tax office to court. Online campaign group Avaaz initiated judicial review proceedings in May, but has ended its efforts after deciding it had little prospect of… – Continue reading
(Seychelles News Agency) – Seychelles’ Finance Minister says his ministry remains committed and on track towards complying with the widely-recognised Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s regulations on the sharing of tax information. “Seychelles is making considerable and steady progress in achieving the OECD standard in relation to the… – Continue reading
Qatar’s Emir, HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, ratified a draft agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income between Qatar and South Africa as well as its attached draft protocol, which were signed in Pretoria on March 6, 2015…. – Continue reading
SEOUL, June 25 (Yonhap) — More than half of big business groups in South Korea have set up companies in overseas tax havens, with SK Group, the nation’s third-largest conglomerate, having the most, data showed Thursday. Out of 61 business groups with combined assets of more than 5 trillion won… – Continue reading
Ansbacher whistleblower Gerry Ryan has made fresh allegations about the tax affairs of a number of former senior politicians, the Irish Independent understands. The allegations have been made in correspondence with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). But members of the PAC have been precluded from accessing the correspondence following legal… – Continue reading
The boss of discount chain B&M has been handed a huge pay rise after floating the company on the London Stock Exchange. Chief executive Simon Arora, who bought the bargain-basement bazaar now known as the ‘new Woolworths’ a decade ago, will earn a basic salary of £575,000 this year. That… – Continue reading
The biggest hurdle to stopping multinational tax evasion isn’t the companies themselves. It’s the governments behind them. As the OECD works swiftly on its plan to stop multinational tax evasion, the United States has already signalled it’s not happy with what’s being proposed. The US has always been clear on… – Continue reading
Tax Authority chief Moshe Asher: Banking secrecy is over. Another wave of arrests of Israelis with unreported overseas bank accounts and money is expected. In the coming day, Israelis who have not filled out forms sent to them by the Israel Tax Authority for declaring their assets will be summoned… – Continue reading
Tax Authority chief Moshe Asher: Banking secrecy is over. Another wave of arrests of Israelis with unreported overseas bank accounts and money is expected. In the coming day, Israelis who have not filled out forms sent to them by the Israel Tax Authority for declaring their assets will be summoned… – Continue reading
(Newsroom America) — Gregg R. Mulholland, a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen, has been arrested at Phoenix International Airport during a layover of his flight from Canada to Mexico on charges of securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for fraudulently manipulating the stocks of numerous U.S. publicly-traded companies and… – Continue reading
U.S. lawmakers are exploring a new corporate tax break that would benefit companies already adept at avoiding taxes. The idea — known as a patent box or innovation box — would impose a lower tax rate on income generated from patents and other intellectual property housed in the U.S. This… – Continue reading
The banks which attracted tax evaders can no longer continue in this pattern because the era of banking secrecy is over and an era of transparency has begun.” Jacque de Saussure, Chairman of Banque Pictet & Cie An increasingly complex regulatory environment combined with growing clients demands for transparency and… – Continue reading
Online retailer’s Luxembourg unit took £5.3bn sales from British internet shoppers, a rise of 14%, but Amazon.co.uk Limited recorded profit of just £34.4m Amazon’s booming UK business paid just £11.9m of tax last year, while the online retailer’s Luxembourg unit took £5.3bn of sales from British internet shoppers without being… – Continue reading
Last year at this time, more than a dozen U.S.-based corporations were threatening to move their legal residence to foreign tax havens in a paper transaction known as an inversion. Facing a wave of public opposition, some corporations abandoned these inversion attempts—notably, drugstore chain Walgreens put its plans on ice,… – Continue reading
[BEIJING] Bank of China Ltd, the Chinese lender with the most overseas assets, aims to raise US$3 billion from foreign investors on Wednesday to help finance the nation’s new Silk Road project, a person familiar with the matter said. The lender is offering notes denominated in US dollars, euros, Singapore… – Continue reading
Julius Baer Group Ltd. rose the most in four months in Zurich trading on speculation a U.S. fine for helping Americans avoid taxes will be lower than analysts had estimated. Switzerland’s third-largest wealth manager said on Tuesday it will take a provision of $350 million this month to settle the… – Continue reading
Newcomers to the United States on temporary visas may be unpleasantly surprised at the income tax consequences. A little advance planning with tax and immigration professionals can go a long way towards mitigating income taxes due. Many countries imposes taxes on income earned in that country (i.e., a territorial tax… – Continue reading
A recent report by Americans For Tax Fairness looks at how Walmart, the world’s largest corporation, uses a vast network of subsidiaries and branches in overseas tax havens with two purposes: 1.) to minimize taxes owed on its foreign operations. 2.) most importantly, to avoid United States taxes on those… – Continue reading
Glencore will make good on its promise to close down their Singapore marketing hub, but instead will pay a new entity within its global chain to market and distribute coal. Glencore regional finance chief Nick Talintyre told a senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance that Glencore would begin selling its… – Continue reading
In late May, Amazon announced it had started to pay tax on its sales in the UK rather than in Luxembourg. This came about after Amazon restructured its tax structure in Europe in response, at least in part, to the UK’s diverted profits tax (commonly known as the Google Tax)… – Continue reading
Conor Hynes and Ronan Connaughton of Deloitte Ireland explore the impending changes arising from BEPS Action 7 and the Skandia case and provide insight on the potential tax impact for the insurance industry. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is attributed with the saying, “the only thing that is constant is change”…. – Continue reading
Two more Swiss banks, Bank Linth LLB AG and Bank Sparhafen Zurich AG, have entered deferred prosecution agreements with the U.S. government. The subject is tax evasion involving American account holders. Today, banks everywhere want to know if you are compliant with the IRS. Under FATCA, the entire world is… – Continue reading
Turnover at UK and offshore investment companies has risen rapidly, with almost one in five fund managers being replaced in the past 18 months amid growing pressure to improve performance, reports the Financial Times. Figures from the Association of Investment Companies showed that 18 per cent of funds had appointed… – Continue reading
Companies registering their intellectual property in Israel will be charged only 5% tax on dividends. The committee considering changes in the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, headed by former Ministry of Finance director general Yael Andorn, is recommending extension of the tax break granted under the law to… – Continue reading
U.K. tax authorities raided nearly 19 percent more premises in the last year as a number of high-profile global tax cases sparked a crackdown on evasion. Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs carried out 593 property raids in the year through March, up from 500 in 2013-14, according to data compiled… – Continue reading
