Luxembourg has been a prime destination for Canadians looking for a tax haven. Secretive. Discreet. Accommodating. These features were so attractive that Canadian companies, including a federal pension fund, sent $36 billion there in 2013. But new Statistics Canada data shows that more than $5 billion got pulled out of… – Continue reading
“We will have a black money discussion (with finance minister Arun Jaitley) to solve and clarify (the issue),” said Swiss economic affairs minister. Amid India enacting a law to deal with the menace of black money stashed abroad, Switzerland on Friday said that it is considering amendments in its domestic… – Continue reading
Taipei, May 16 (CNA) Chinese yuan-dominated deposits held by banks operating in Taiwan hit a new high as of the end of April, according to the Central Bank of the Republic of China. Market analysts said that the increase in the balance of Taiwanese banks’ yuan deposits largely resulted from… – Continue reading
The big miners were sprung for their Singapore profits sling, and the United States tech giants shown up for their Byzantine tax structures, but there was little time left to spend on other sectors where multinational tax chicanery was rife. When the Senate Inquiry into Corporate Tax Avoidance reconvened to… – Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG – A R2.6bn merger deal between telecoms firm Telkom and IT services company Business Connexion Group (BCX) has been approved with conditions. The Competition Commission (CompCom) on Thursday announced that it recommended to the Competition Tribunal that the merger be approved with conditions. “These are technical conditions relating to… – Continue reading
The minimum alternate tax row has damaged the credibility of government promises to enforce an investor-friendly tax regime and made the Indian stock market Asia’s worst performer this year New Delhi/Mumbai: Castleton Investment Ltd, a unit of GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK), in 2012 asked an arm of the Indian finance ministry… – Continue reading
Last night, the Federal Treasurer, Joe Hockey MP, released the 2015-16 Federal Budget. After public self-evaluation of its last budget as over-reaching, the Government has gone back to basics whilst still focussing on repairing the budget deficit in the medium to long term. The budget deficit is projected to be… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) – Finter Bank Zurich AG has agreed to pay $5.4 million in a deal with the Justice Department to resolve tax-related offenses, becoming the third Swiss private bank this year to reach a settlement to avoid U.S. prosecution over helping Americans evade taxes. Finter, a small… – Continue reading
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) were among the first Congressional leaders to welcome the May 7th signing of the U.S.-Armenia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), a longstanding policy priority for the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). Chairman… – Continue reading
Westfield Corp looks to sever ties with Australia Westfield Corp’s pending move to list offshore would be positive as long as the stock was included in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, according to brokers. On Wednesday, at the group’s first annual general meeting after its restructure last year, Westfield’s… – Continue reading
KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 ― 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) must publicly prove its ability to repay its RM3.6 billion loan with a Deutsche Bank-led consortium instead of using “banking confidentiality” as an excuse to avoid addressing the matter, DAP’s Tony Pua said today. The Petaling Jaya Utara MP pointed out… – Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG – There is considerable scope to collect more revenue by addressing tax leakage due to transfer pricing. Speaking at a forum event hosted by the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs), Judge Dennis Davis, chair of the Tax Committee that was tasked with a comprehensive review of South Africa’s… – Continue reading
FATCA—the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act—is America’s global tax law, called an American tax nightmare by the New York Times. That is an apt description. It was quietly enacted in 2010, and after a four-year ramp up, it’s finally in effect. Never before has an American tax law attempted such… – Continue reading
Even as the action plan to address Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) is being worked out, multinationals are bracing for some turbulent times in India. For some time now, transfer pricing – the price of goods and services determined by a company when two of its subsidiaries transact –… – Continue reading
President Truong Tan Sang arrived at Heydar Aliyev international airport in Baku on May 13 afternoon for a three-day official visit to Azerbaijan. The President was welcomed at the airport by Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Eyyubov Yaqub, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalaf Aly Oglu Khalafov, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Vietnam… – Continue reading
The Bahamas Ministry of Financial Services released draft copies of the FATCA Legislation and the FATCA Guidance Notes to meet the International Tax Compliance Requirements of the Model 1 FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the Bahamas and the United States of America (US). The new FATCA Bill was drafted in… – Continue reading
The worldwide transfer pricing landscape is in a state of flux and the need for sound and reliable dispute resolution mechanisms has never been more important for multinational enterprises. In particular, where aggressive tax administrations such as India are concerned, double taxation is a key concern for businesses. Mutual agreement… – Continue reading
Frank Lowy’s Westfield Corporation intends to take another step in cutting ties with Australia by shifting its head office overseas, once an offshore stock market listing is finalised. The company is entirely focused on shopping malls in the United States, Britain and Europe, with all Westfield-branded centres in Australia and… – Continue reading
May 13 — The hiring of an outside law firm in a sharply contested audit of Microsoft’s transfer pricing “appears to violate federal law and the express will of the Congress,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) said in a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Hatch, in… – Continue reading
Head of forum’s tax policy will push for reform to cut down on avoidance. The OECD has attacked the “extremely aggressive” tax planning of companies such as Google, Amazon and Apple as it pushes for reform of global tax rules to cut down on avoidance. Pascal Saint-Amans, who heads up… – Continue reading
The Swiss cabinet plans on addressing the issue of stolen data with regard to banking information requests from other countries. This comes as Switzerland is under close scrutiny for compliance with international standards. In its meeting on Wednesday, the cabinet discussed the thorny issue of stolen data. Switzerland currently does… – Continue reading
BANKS are unable to directly recover the huge sums of money stolen from their customers via online transactions if the cash is stashed in offshore accounts, its association said yesterday. The Kenya Bankers Association chief executive officer Habil Olaka said most countries like Mauritius or Switzerland where fraudsters hide the… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Special Investigation Team on black money informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that 339 accounts in HSBC bank held by Indians had a net amount of Rs 6,400 crore on which the income tax department has raised a demand of Rs 4,520 crore. “Amount of Rs 237… – Continue reading
After a decade of “offshoring,” financial executives are making the decision to bring some work home. Cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore being replaced with more familiar names like Syracuse and Jacksonville as more companies bring finance jobs back to the states after a decade of “offshoring.” Mid-size U.S. cities are… – Continue reading
HSBC Holdings’s Geneva private bank is no longer a place where wealthy people go to hide untaxed assets, according to Franco Morra, chief executive officer for HSBC in Switzerland. “Today, a new client in the first meeting will tell you he is tax compliant and even bring the files with… – Continue reading
Glencore is under audit by the Australian Taxation Office for the low level of taxes it pays, claiming billions in “losses” overseas and resorting to low-tax or no-tax nations such as Bermuda, Singapore and the Cayman Islands. The Swiss-based mining giant revealed it was being investigated by the ATO in… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank today made a case for more clarity on taxing the sunshine e-commerce sector, which has been seeing high valuations and frenetic activities, saying doing so will help bolster their finances. “Taxing the burgeoning e-commerce space could bolster states’ own revenues, provided there is greater clarity around… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s banks will benefit from the global crackdown on tax avoidance, the president of the country’s association of foreign banks and head of HSBC’s (HSBA.L) Swiss private banking arm said on Tuesday, reports Reuters. The Alpine nation famed for its banking secrecy is bowing to international pressure by committing to… – Continue reading
A complaint has been lodged with the ASX alleging an announcement about Australia’s biggest coal development contained misleading information about the project’s economic potential. In December last year Downer EDI Limited announced to the ASX its partnership with Adani Mining, to provide services for the controversial Carmichael mine in central… – Continue reading
The Federal Reserve barred Markus Walder, the former head of North America offshore banking at Credit Suisse Group AG, and four other previously indicted ex-bankers at the company from employment in the banking industry. The five were indicted for conspiracy to defraud the U.S government by assisting U.S. citizens’ evasion… – Continue reading
The financial plight of the debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) is set to deepen, as jittery lenders of a $975 million syndicated loan led by Deutsche Bank plan to ask the troubled state-owned firm to pay up before the loan falls due in less than four months, the Business Times… – Continue reading
On May 11th 2015, the Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (“DITC”) announced that Notifications may now be submitted on or before Thursday, 21 May 2015; and that returns may be reported on or before Friday, 12 June 2015. There will be no penalties or enforcement measures once there… – Continue reading
Grant Wardell-Johnson, KPMG Tax Partner, has said that while it would have been better for Australia to await the outcome of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting Action Plan, the international tax measures proposed recently by Treasurer Joe Hockey “have the benefit of being highly targeted.” On May 11,… – Continue reading
Introduction The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum) decided in mid-March 2015 that Switzerland should enter Phase 2 of the Peer Review. This decision represents a clear statement by the OECD that Switzerland’s legal and regulatory framework for information exchange complies with internationally… – Continue reading
Australia to fine tech tax-dodgers 100% of their avoided tax, plus profits Australia’s treasurer* Joe Hockey has revealed that he and other money ministers from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have shared plans to have online retailers charging the appropriate consumption tax on intangibles and goods bought… – Continue reading
KPMG in Saudi Arabia is hosting a seminar on taxation of US individuals and the impact of Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) at the Marriott Hotel in Riyadh on May 26. Under US tax law, US citizens and US permanent residents (green card holders) are required to file US… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — Monsanto Co.’s potential acquisition of rival agricultural-chemical maker Syngenta AG could be structured as a tax inversion under current U.S. rules despite political resistance to such deals, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence. Switzerland’s Syngenta last week rejected St. Louis-based Monsanto’s $45 billion takeover offer. Monsanto, the… – Continue reading
Global business The European Union outlined its strategy to create a digital single market. The thrust of the proposals include establishing standard rules for buying goods online, pruning cross-border regulations on telecoms and reducing the tax burden on businesses. But the plan also calls for a “comprehensive assessment” of whether… – Continue reading
The Australian government announced a world-leading crackdown on Monday on alleged tax avoidance by 30 multinational companies that will likely force them to restructure their businesses before next year, reports Reuters. “These companies are diverting profits earned in Australia away from Australia to no-tax or low-tax jurisdictions,” Treasurer Joe Hockey… – Continue reading
Ease of integration and flexibility of strategic reporting platform drive Colombia’s largest bank to expand partnership Tax reporting solution now deployed in five countries as a result of agreement AxiomSL, a leading provider of regulatory reporting and risk management solutions to the financial services industry, announced today that Bancolombia, Colombia’s… – Continue reading
Lexmark International Inc. considered moving its headquarters overseas to save money on taxes earlier this year, according to chief financial officer David Reeder. But the printing company decided to stay in its Lexington, Ky. home, after spending the bulk of its offshore cash to buy software developer Kofax Ltd.s
Bangladesh is set to enforce transfer pricing rules to curb tax evasion and overseas fund transfers by multinational and foreign firms, officials said. The National Board of Revenue will start auditing income tax files of multinational companies from next fiscal year. Last month, the tax administrator assigned seven of its… – Continue reading
Analysts at the accountancy firm found that the UK system was even more intricate than the equivalent structure in France The British property tax system is now the most “complex” in the world, endangering London’s reputation as an investment haven, according to new analysis from accountancy firm PwC. Research showed… – Continue reading
Banking multinational Standard Chartered’s renminbi Globalization Index (RGI) fell to 2,117 in March, down 1 percent from the previous month, the bank announced on Thursday. Renminbi-denominated cross-border Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) payment was the only positive contributor to the RGI in March. Foreign exchange turnover, offshore renminbi… – Continue reading
Corporations that have reclassified themselves as “foreign-owned” received approximately $1 billion in federal contracts over the last five years. These companies profit from American tax dollars despite avoiding U.S. taxes themselves. That could soon change. Two members of Congress have reintroduced legislation that would block these companies from winning lucrative… – Continue reading
Global giant Standard Chartered Bank has been allowed by regulator Sebi to offer advisory services on regulated offshore products like stocks, bonds and mutual funds in markets outside India. “… SCB can advise on regulated offshore securities and investment products, which are in the nature of marketable securities issued by… – Continue reading
There are fears the Government’s plans to prevent foreign controlled banks from slipping under the taxman’s radar, could end up hitting their New Zealand customers in the pocket. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is proposing to impose a higher tax burden on non-resident investors who get income from interest, dividends… – Continue reading
Offshore investment firm RL360° Group has acquired Scottish Widow’s offshore business Clerical Medial International. In December 2014 it was reported Scottish Widows had put the business up for sale and several parties had expressed an interest in the Isle Man-based business, which manages around £5 billion of assets and 24,000… – Continue reading
AMP has reassured shareholders at its annual general meeting that it’s not involved in tax avoidance. Wealth management giant AMP has told its shareholders that it’s not aggressively avoiding tax. The company was responding to a question at its annual general meeting during which it also released quarterly results that… – Continue reading
VietNamNet Bridge – How to deal with transfer pricing – whether to view it as an inevitable part of foreign direct investment (FDI) or take drastic measures to stop it – remains a controversial matter among Vietnamese. METRO Cash & Carry Vietnam (MCC) will have to pay VND507 billion (US$23.8… – Continue reading
