Expats who buy a property in New Zealand and sell it within two years could face a new property tax that citizens of the country will not have to pay. The Residential Land Withholding Tax (RLWT) is part of a Bill currently going through Parliament that is set to be… – Continue reading
Current system viewed as unfair and too easy to circumvent Abolition of corporation tax is to be considered by a new cross-party group of MPs and peers who will subject ministers and business leaders to public interrogations in a bid to secure fairer and more responsible tax policies. The all-party… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance is a big issue in the United Kingdom these days. The discussion usually revolves around a large multinational company that “goes offshore” by using creative accounting methods to reduce or avoid paying British taxes on its profits. But in a small town in central Wales, local business owners… – Continue reading
The British government is facing a credibility crisis over its pledge to ensure multinational corporations pay their fair share of tax, after it was revealed that five of the world’s largest investment banks paid no corporation tax in Britain last year, despite making billions in profits. Analysis of the banks’… – Continue reading
The new plan shelves one in the works to spin off Yahoo’s vast holdings in ex-commerce giant Alibaba – which could have exposed it to a huge tax bill – but the tech firm still intends to separate out its activities under the new structure. Yahoo stated it has made… – Continue reading
Fertilizer maker CF Industries and Dutch rival OCI NV, which agreed to merge in August, said they would move the tax residency of the combined company to the Netherlands from the U.K., in a move to satisfy inversion rules put in place by the U.S. Treasury. When the deal was… – Continue reading
Indian equity markets trimmed their losses and continue to trade weak in late morning session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Sentiments remained down-beat with the repot that the Finance Ministry has cut its ambitious disinvestment revenue target by 57% to Rs 30,000 crore for the current… – Continue reading
A United States UBS bank client has failed in his bid to sue the Swiss authorities for handing his data to the US during a tax evasion row between the two countries. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said the economic interests of Switzerland outweighed his individual privacy. The… – Continue reading
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came to power with the promise of putting an end to what many called the tax ‘extortion’ regime of the previous government. The year 2015 was the first full year for the government to walk some of its talk on tax reform. Though the… – Continue reading
It’s probably not the best time in the province to announce a payroll rebate to a major offshore bank promising to create 50 jobs in Halifax. Nova Scotia Business Inc. on Tuesday announced a rebate worth a potential $840,000 over six years to the Bank of N.T. Butterfield and Son… – Continue reading
LONDON (Reuters) – Seven of the biggest investment banks operating in London paid little or no tax in Britain last year, despite reporting billions of dollars in profits, a Reuters analysis of corporate filings shows. In recent months, the seven investment and corporate banks operating in London reported figures showing… – Continue reading
Chinese banks from Hong Kong to London are selling a record amount of yuan-denominated certificates of deposit as China takes steps to curb outflows of the currency. Sales jumped to an unprecedented 66.1 billion yuan ($10.2 billion) this month, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That comes after Hong Kong’s pool… – Continue reading
It was Kerry Packer who famously told the nation’s politicians “if anybody in this country doesn’t minimise their tax they want their head read” because “as a government I can tell you you’re not spending it that well that we should be paying extra”. The words have gone down in… – Continue reading
Legal experts say court order for restaurant’s parent company based in British Virgin Islands could lead to resolution of more disputes in city Hong Kong’s top court recently gave the go-ahead for the parent company of the famous Yung Kee roast goose restaurant in Central to be wound up, despite… – Continue reading
Netflix the online movie rental service did not pay any UK corporation tax last year, despite generating an income of £200million in Britain. The world’s biggest internet movie streaming service has five million subscribers in the UK alone and has proved a hit by offering U.S. shows like House of… – Continue reading
The Department of Justice announced today that Edmond de Rothschild (Suisse) SA and Edmond de Rothschild (Lugano) SA (collectively EdR Switzerland) reached a joint resolution under the department’s Swiss Bank Program. EdR Switzerland will pay a penalty of more than $45 million. The Swiss Bank Program, which was announced on… – Continue reading
The Australian Government’s efforts to improve tax collections are more urgent amid falling revenue from weak commodity prices, the Wall Street Journal reports Malcolm Turnbull’s government took the rare step of making public the tax affairs of scores of multinationals, highlighting that many big names—including Apple Inc. and Volkswagen AG… – Continue reading
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, in power for 13 years, has been notoriously lax and often late when it comes to implementing stringent rules controlling money in order to ensure better transparency in financial movements, halt tax evasion, prevent illicit funding and disrupt money laundering activities. That… – Continue reading
Liability below the mid-point of the range in IPO prospectus TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2015 /CNW/ – Spin Master Corp. (“Spin Master” or the “Company”) (TSX: TOY) announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”), which resolves a previously disclosed transfer pricing matter arising… – Continue reading
Tax disputes are to no longer form a part of a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) signed by the government with another country, the Union Cabinet decided on Wednesday, clearing a revised model text The idea is that foreign companies finding themselves in a tax row with the government will not… – Continue reading
On December 8, there was a brief note in the media about the fact that Malta had managed to include a reference to flexibility into a European Council communiqué on taxation. You would be forgiven for overlooking it, assuming it was just a pedantic attempt to score political points. Think… – Continue reading
Tax is back in the news with the release of information of the taxes paid (or rather not paid) by some of the biggest companies operating in Australia. After much hand wringing (and a break for Christmas) politicians will return in the New Year to attempt to get back some… – Continue reading
Why raise the limit for quoting PAN in cash deals? Though the government’s one-time black money compliance window for money stashed overseas garnered a mere Rs 3,770 crore, getting rid of black money remains a focus area. While it is understandable that industry’s protests over the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR)… – Continue reading
Australian tax authorities on Thursday took the unprecedented step of publishing the records of hundreds of companies, including Google Inc (GOOGL.O) and Apple Inc APPL.O, which show they paid little or no tax on their in-country earnings. Of more than 1,500 largely foreign-owned companies which reported total earnings over A$100… – Continue reading
The European Commission has extended its investigation into a tax ruling provided by the Irish Government to Apple. The Commission has asked the Irish authorities for additional information on the case. Irish media reports that the Government does not anticipate a decision until 2016. In late November, Finance Minister Michael… – Continue reading
Why would anyone object to Uber, the user-friendly online drive-share service? Uber’s many riders obviously love it, but it seems civic officials are having conniptions. Their main complaint is that Uber drivers are unlicensed to carry passengers and might not have adequate insurance. In addition, officials are genuinely concerned that… – Continue reading
Lately, the IRS is warning offshore account holders to disclose before it’s too late. Under FATCA, banks everywhere want to know if you are compliant with the IRS. And the cost of compliance for many people is growing. The IRS updated its list of foreign banks where accounts trigger a… – Continue reading
[BEIJING] China’s central bank is on guard against a sudden attack on the yuan in offshore markets, and is ready to intervene if the gap between offshore and onshore exchange rates becomes destabilising, sources involved in policy discussions say. Though the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) wants to avoid a… – Continue reading
Coffee chain Starbucks said it paid £8 million in corporation tax last year after posting record UK profits. The UK arm of the US-based chain said pre-tax profits jumped to £34.2 million in the year to September 27, compared with less than £2 million a year ago – as it… – Continue reading
DuPont and Dow are now officially combining and Piper Jaffray analyst, Brett Wong, thinks further consolidation is coming with Monsanto (NYSE: MON) likely to renew the pursuit of Syngenta (NYSE: SYT) towards the beginning of the year. Piper thinks a renewed bid for Syngenta would be viewed negatively by investors… – Continue reading
Hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue could be up for grabs as the Tax Office announces reviews of multinationals using offshore hubs in Singapore to minimise their tax. The ATO has issued a warning to multinationals to come forward immediately to discuss their overseas hub arrangements, if they have… – Continue reading
Stricter Tax and documentation requirements for foreign transactions “Amazon, Facebook, Google and Starbucks pay little taxes …” or “Luxembourg attracts international corporations” – headlines like these have 62 states and the OECD called into action. The result was “base erosion and profit shifting” BEPS shortly. Even the German SME sector… – Continue reading
A European Union investigation into whether Apple’s bespoke tax arrangement with the Irish government amounts to illegal state aid has been delayed again, as officials in Brussels continue to gather more information. “We do not expect any decision until after the new year,” a spokesperson for the European Commission told… – Continue reading
Meg Hillier has a tough act to follow. This parliament’s Public Accounts Committee chairwoman had a ringside seat watching her predecessor, Margaret Hodge, tear into tax avoiders and the tax man. “It is very exciting – you see all the guts of Whitehall spilled out in front of you,” she… – Continue reading
British police and German investigators searched Brookfield Aviation International headquarters The Times of London reports this morning that a company that supplies Ryanair with pilots is at the centre of an international investigation for tax evasion. It is understood both British police and German investigators have searched the headquarters of… – Continue reading
Tax evasion costs the EU €1 trillion a year in lost tax revenue, according to the European Commission. The Lux leaks scandal showed that EU countries sometimes court multinationals with advantageous tax schemes. These practices were investigated by the Parliament’s special committee on tax rulings. MEPs adopted its report last… – Continue reading
On 5 October 2015 the OECD published its final package of 15 action plans designed to prevent tax base erosion and profit shifting. One of the actions, which could become relevant to Ukrainian companies in the near future, is changes to the permanent establishment (further — “PE”) concept. Why the… – Continue reading
Cash doesn’t flow directly from buyers’ pockets to Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash. Instead, the company operates through three regional sales units, centered in Ireland, Singapore and Puerto Rico. These groups control the rights to profit from Microsoft products around the world. By conducting sales from places with small populations… – Continue reading
After the LuxLeaks affair in November 2014, the European Parliament established a special committee “on tax rulings and other measures similar in nature or effect” (TAXE) in February 2015. The committee’s report was adopted in a plenary session of the European Parliament on 25 November 2015. The Conference of Presidents… – Continue reading
Outward remittances by Indians remained elevated for the third month in a row. The remittances under the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) for resident individuals grew to $457.5 million in September 2015 from $408.4 million in August. In July 2015, outflows were $380.3 million, a sharp jump from $140.7 million in… – Continue reading
The Association of Retail Trade (ACDET), which is part of Walmart, defended the decision to the chain filed a lawsuit against the government and the law 72. Considers that the law is unconstitutional and arbitrarily penalize one company. “Since April we warn the people that the measures were being discussed… – Continue reading
The Department of Justice announced today that Cornèr Banca SA (Cornèr) and Bank Coop AG (Bank Coop) reached resolutions under the department’s Swiss Bank Program. The Swiss Bank Program, which was announced on Aug. 29, 2013, provides a path for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United… – Continue reading
In 2013, the 39th G8 summit in Lough Erne committed to reform the international tax system. The G8 Lough Erne Declaration stated that such reforms would benefit developing countries. The G20 declaration in St Petersburg 2013 also stated specifically that “Developing countries should be able to reap the benefits of… – Continue reading
Settlement with German prosecutors, which involves immunity for any current for former staff, is latest embarrassment for bailed-out bank Royal Bank of Scotland is paying €23.8m (£17.3m) to German prosecutors to settle an investigation into tax evasion by part of Coutts, best known for being banker to the Queen. The… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: India has been an active participant in the Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) action plan, the final package of which was rolled out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in October. The action points, set down by the OECD, aim at closing loopholes that enable… – Continue reading
Ramos Vega asked to accept pay 2% of sales per year as a reasonable contribution Representative Luis Vega Ramos called Walmart today the company to desist from his claim against the Government of Puerto Rico by the tax increase purchases subsidiary on the island does to its parent company. The… – Continue reading
Yahoo has reportedly abandoned its plan to spin off its stake in Alibaba. Yahoo’s proposed spinoff had been driven by tax concerns. In a world without taxes, Yahoo could have simply sold its Alibaba shares and distributed the proceeds to shareholders. Yahoo will now concentrate on other strategic options, including… – Continue reading
The EU Council has adopted a new transparency directive aimed at preventing corporate tax avoidance The directive, which was proposed by the European Commission (EC), is aimed at improving transparency on tax rulings given by member states to companies about how their taxes are calculated. Under the new directive, member… – Continue reading
Tax inversions — the process of U.S. firms, merging with or buying foreign companies to shift their taxpaying headquarters abroad — have deprived the U.S. Treasury of ever-increasing billions of dollars. Although President Barack Obama promised to take punitive action against companies deliberately engaging in mergers and/or acquisitions for tax… – Continue reading
Tata Steel’s Singapore arm T S Global Holdings Pte raised $1.5 billion debt to settle outstanding loans, the company said in a statement. Tata Steel group executive director-finance and corporate Kaushik Chatterjee said, “Tata Steel actively reviews all its financing options and seeks to continuously optimise its debt based on… – Continue reading
