UK tax authority HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced a change of view on the interpretation of the company residence articles in 16 double taxation agreements (DTAs). The change was prompted by an agreement with Jersey on the interpretation of the company residence tie-breaker article in their 1952 DTA…. – Continue reading
As Common Reporting Standard (CRS) comes into operation. OHANNESBURG – South Africans with undeclared offshore funds may only have a few months to get their affairs in order or risk facing significant penalties and even criminal prosecution as revenue authorities start the automatic exchange of information. The Common Reporting Standard… – Continue reading
On the day he took office as Greece’s shipping minister in June 2012, Kostis Moussouroulis received a visit from a 90-year-old shipowner. He still remembers the older man’s words: “Don’t forget, the best minister of shipping and maritime affairs is the minister who is doing nothing for the shipping industry…. – Continue reading
BERLIN (AP) — Germany has shared some 10,000 records on possible Greek tax cheats with Athens. Authorities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia say the records concern Greek individuals and companies who had almost 4 billion Swiss francs stashed in Swiss bank accounts. Bank secrecy rules in Switzerland long… – Continue reading
2nd Symposium of CR for transfer pricing The 2nd Symposium Transfer Pricing organized by EY Greece, exactly one year after the successful organization of the 1st Symposium was intended as the developments in transfer pricing in Greece and international tax developments, focusing on the recently finalized OECD Actions tackling Erosion… – Continue reading
Antalya, Nov. 16: The Group of 20 nations today pledged to adopt sound macroeconomic policies to achieve strong, sustainable balanced growth. The near-term objective would be to support growth, create jobs and put debt as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) on a sustainable path. Data show that several… – Continue reading
Early last week, Greece’s financial prosecutors sent a long letter to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, urging him to appoint more inspectors and expert staff to boost their efforts to raise much-needed revenue from tax evasion, Kathimerini understands. The 26-page letter, the second to be sent to Tsipras this year, was… – Continue reading
Two decades after Ken Dart renounced his U.S. citizenship and took his tax attorney with him to the Caribbean, the billionaire bond investor and local kingpin is reinventing himself as the Cayman Islands’ biggest real estate owner. In a rare glimpse into Dart’s holdings, Mark VanDevelde, chief executive of the… – Continue reading
Millions more Greeks need to start paying taxes says OECD boss, as Athens likely to fall short in bid to secure €2bn cash injection this week Greece is battling to secure the release of €2bn in bail-out cash as one of the world’s foremost tax chiefs has warned the country… – Continue reading
No member state of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ranks among the top 20 jurisdictions worldwide for financial secrecy. The United States of America (at number 3), Germany (8), Japan (12) and Britain (15), all rate as bigger tax havens than any CARICOM jurisdiction, according to the Tax Justice Network (TJN),… – Continue reading
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Friday November 6, 2015 – No member state of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ranks among the top 20 jurisdictions worldwide for financial secrecy. The United States of America (at number 3), Germany (8), Japan (12) and Britain (15), all rate as bigger tax havens than any CARICOM… – Continue reading
The blacklisting of Hong Kong by the European Union is over for the moment with Spain explaining to the EU it didn’t have HK on its list. In the course of investigation, Harbour Times receives a quick response from the Latvian embassy in Beijing to clarify their stance on Hong… – Continue reading
New Zealand still has some work to do to stop the country being used as a safe haven for illicit funds, a new survey shows. The 2015 Financial Secrecy Index has been released, which ranks countries on their ability to promote fiscal transparency. The index is produced by the Tax… – Continue reading
As the 2016 Presidential campaign heats up with debates and public appearances replete with the candidate’s opinions on the economy, ISIS, and education, among others, few candidates have mentioned the issue of corporate tax reform, especially as it relates to a level playing field between the U.S. and foreign markets,… – Continue reading
The Greek shipping community has sent a clear message to the Athens government: it is paramount a shipping community is competitive and enjoys a stable environment in which to operate. This is not the case today and hence there is so much talk about shipowners in particular, but not only… – Continue reading
The Greek Government has tabled the nation’s 2016 Budget, which includes measures agreed as part of the recently negotiated third bailout. A statement released by the Finance Ministry was vague about the measures proposed. However, it said that authorities will reform the VAT code, amend social security rates, raise corporate… – Continue reading
The government intends to crack down on tax evasion by adopting best practices from other countries, Greek Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiadis said in Parliament on Tuesday, during the debate on the government’s policy statements. Among others, he announced plans to follow the German model for tax inspections, in which… – Continue reading
After a whistleblower leaked the details of secret Swiss accounts at global bank HSBC earlier this year, the strongest reaction came from advanced economies, where governments launched efforts to reclaim tax money hidden abroad. But a new analysis by the Financial Transparency Coalition and Christian Aid shows that the financial… – Continue reading
On 26 February 2015, the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court decided in favor of an appeal filed by WOLF THEISS for a client who received tax exempt interest income from other countries. An Austrian taxpayer received interest from Greek, Brazilian and Argentinian government bonds between 2003 and 2007. According to the… – Continue reading
Former HSBC Bank employee Hervé Falciani gave a USB stick with eight names of alleged tax evaders to the four Greek prosecutors who took his testimony at the Greek Embassy in Paris. According to information from an anonymous source at the Public Prosecutor’s office, the list of names includes two… – Continue reading
Kenneth Leung (PC,F-Accountancy) explains what he – and the government – are doing to get Hong Kong off the EU’s undeserved blacklisting as a “non-cooperative tax jurisdiction”. Why has Hong Kong been placed on this list? There are ten European countries that have named Hong Kong as a tax haven…. – Continue reading
Greece would be much better off if the government could collect the taxes owed by the self-employed. That’s the lesson from a paper released this month that uses an innovative method of capturing tax evasion. Estimating shadow economies is tough. Friedrich Schneider of the Johannes Kepler University of Linz in… – Continue reading
EU commissioner urges member states to ensure fair share of tax is paid EU economics commissioner Pierre Moscovici reiterated his commitment to re-launch the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base yesterday, urging all EU member states to ensure that companies pay their fair share of tax. Speaking following a meeting of… – Continue reading
The finance ministers of 11 euro zone countries willing to introduce a financial transactions tax (FTT) are expected to make progress on the thorny issue in a meeting on Saturday in Luxembourg, Italy’s economy minister said. Germany and France proposed the tax in 2012, in the midst of the euro… – Continue reading
Policies are urgently needed for the legalization of the underground economy,” said Representative Oh Je-se of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, who belongs to the Planning and Financial Committee of the National Assembly on Sept. 10. Rep. Oh added that Korea places sixth among OECD member countries in terms… – Continue reading
The original online payment platform, PayPal, has decided to leave the populous island of Puerto Rico next month. The commonwealth has imposed a 2 percent take on any money transmission, forcing Paypal’s hand. So what does this mean for those who need to send money from Puerto Rico? Puerto Rico… – Continue reading
The international financial sector faces a perilous future. Major challenges loom over an uncertain global economy, while a decidedly negative political climate poses an existential threat to the offshore financial community. With each passing year, thanks to demographic changes and poorly designed fiscal policies, politicians from high-tax nations will be… – Continue reading
Greece’s Alternate Finance Minister in the current caretaker government, Tryfon Alexiadis, has pushed for an overhaul of the controversial property tax ENFIA. The Single Property Ownership Tax (ENFIA) is widely seen as inequitable and has been deeply unpopular since its introduction on January 1, 2014. Earlier in 2015, the Syriza… – Continue reading
The European Commission released a report on Friday which details the losses incurred by the European Union member states due to VAT tax evasion from 2009-2013 and sheds light on the extent of the problem in Greece. During these five years, the Greek State lost a total of 37.044 billion… – Continue reading
Departing deputy social security minister Pavlos Chaikalis leaves his seat while admitting that he owned a company in Cyprus that he has failed to declare to tax authorities. Chaikalis, MP of junior coalition partner ANEL, was forced to answer questions under parliamentary scrutiny after the insistence of New Democracy lawmaker… – Continue reading
Greece’s Deputy Finance Minister, Trifon Alexiadis, has fired Greece’s first salvo in the fight to overcome the country’s non-compliance problems, announcing the introduction of a comprehensive scheme of asset registration for all taxpayers. The new “Asset Declaration” measure will apply from the beginning of 2016. In preparation, the tax authorities… – Continue reading
New investment structures are making it easier for people from outside of the European Union seeking to live in Portugal through the country’s golden visa programme, reports the Expats Forum. The initial minimum investment of €500,000 has been reduced to €350,000 for investment in properties located in districts designated for… – Continue reading
Greece has repealed a 26 percent withholding tax on business transactions with Cyprus following pressure from the European Commission. The tax, which was introduced by Greece in March, applied to transactions with Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Ireland – territories that were targeted due to their low corporate tax rates. The European… – Continue reading
Whatever one thinks of Europe’s ruling class, one thing is undeniable: it has chutzpah. Like a gambler who has lost his savings on roulette and decides to bet his house in hope that his luck will turn, the EU leadership is upping the ante in the destructive pursuit of an… – Continue reading
Greek lawmakers and European Union finance ministers have signed off on a third bailout deal, including a diverse range of tax increases and commitments to curtail spending. A memorandum between the two parties, released on the blog of the former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, acknowledges that the Government has recently… – Continue reading
Revenue authorities need to be “vigilant” in monitoring the super-rich, according to research that called on many of them to improve their scrutiny of their richest taxpayers, reports the Financial Times. The study by the Paris-based OECD is a further sign of the pressure on tax departments to squeeze more… – Continue reading
LONDON (Reuters) – Greek shares rose on Tuesday after the indebted euro zone country clinched a multi-billion euro bailout agreement with its international lenders. The latest bailout deal for Greece also resulted in the country’s sovereign borrowing costs falling back. Athens’ benchmark ATG equity index rose 1.2 percent, while the… – Continue reading
FOLLOWING A PROTEST from the Ministry of International Business, Spain has removed Barbados from its tax blacklist. This latest development comes after a recent decision was taken by members of the European Union to blacklist this country for being a non-cooperative tax jurisdiction. International Business Minister, Donville Inniss, praised the… – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is likely to recommend that restrictions on interest deductibility should mainly involve a cap calculated as a percentage of EBITDA, an expert has said.07 Aug 2015 Corporate tax Tax International tax Energy Infrastructure However Heather Self of Pinsent Masons, the law firm… – Continue reading
CAPITAL flight to offshore tax havens, estimated at between US$21 trillion to US$32 trillion, poses a major challenge especially in tackling income inequality, poverty and debt issues. In total, 10 million individuals around the world hold assets offshore, with almost half of the minimum estimate of US$21 trillion to US$9.8… – Continue reading
From five-star hotels to humble tavernas, Greek tax inspectors are fixing their attention on tax evasion at summer holiday hotspots. The government served notice on Wednesday that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s promised crackdown on tax evasion is now under way, a week after sweeping increases in value-added tax were imposed…. – Continue reading
MADRID: Many of Spain’s five million unemployed dream of finding a steady job in the economic recovery vaunted by the government — but a legion of undeclared workers still scrape by cash-in-hand. “Nowadays the phrase ‘steady job’ means nothing in Spain,” said Paloma Sotillo, 43. She is one of 1.7… – Continue reading
Blatant corporate and personal tax evasion contributed to Greece’s debt crisis, but it’s dwarfed by the tax avoidance of U.S. multinationals operating in countries like Australia. There’s a popular misconception that Greece’s debt crisis was self-inflicted. ‘The Greeks are a bunch of tax evaders! They should never have been allowed… – Continue reading
Offshore bank accounts have kept their popularity among British expats with nearly half holding these accounts for their savings, The Telegraph reports. Alternatives such as offshore savings plans are held by only one in five expats while less than one in 10 chose to invest through offshore insurance bonds. These… – Continue reading
Addis Ababa, Jul 12 (AFP) Prominent economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz accused Germany today of displaying a “lack of solidarity” with debt-laden Greece that has badly undermined the vision of Europe. “What has been demonstrated is a lack of solidarity by Germany. You cannot run a eurozone without a… – Continue reading
OECD guidance needs to be clear otherwise the process could favour the bigger nations In Paris last week, as Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande discussed events in Greece, the international tax system was being discussed in an underground meeting room at OECD headquarters. For almost two days tax authority delegates… – Continue reading
The continuing speculation over Greece’s possible exit from the Eurozone and the weakening effect this might have on the shared currency in the short-term, may once again be prompting some folks to consider setting up non-resident bank accounts in non-eurozone countries. Offshore banking has a bit of a dodgy image… – Continue reading
10/07/2015 – The OECD set out a clear path for Lithuania’s accession to the Organisation, reinforcing the OECD’s commitment to further extend its global membership. On 8 July 2015 the 34 OECD Members adopted the Roadmap for the Accession of Lithuania to the OECD Convention setting out the terms, conditions… – Continue reading
Swiss Poised To Support Greek Tax Amnesty by Matthew Allen, swissinfo.ch Struggling to pay off more than €300 billion (CHF313 billion) in debts, Greece is banking on Switzerland to help it recover a treasure trove of undeclared assets that tax cheats have stashed in alpine vaults. But anti-tax haven campaigners… – Continue reading
Against a backdrop of slowing economic growth at home, Canadian companies are actively looking to expand in markets such as the United States, China and Mexico, says Simon Cooper, chief executive of global commercial banking at HSBC Bank Plc. “In Canada, from the companies I’m talking to about how they’re… – Continue reading
