The inevitable march towards automatic exchange of information (AEI) as the Organization for Economic and Cooperation’s (OECD) global standard was just one of the issues discussed at a recent international tax conference held in Liechtenstein. During his address, Head of the OECD International Cooperation and Tax Administration Division, Achim Pross,… – Continue reading
Former American Peter Dunn wants Americans living in Canada to ask themselves an important question. “Am I really an American citizen?” Dunn, 50, has recently co-founded the Isaac Brock Society, a group raising awareness about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Dunn settled permanently in Canada in 1994. FATCA,… – Continue reading
March 7 — The Internal Revenue Service released instructions for Form W-8ECI for use by foreign taxpayers in telling the agency that their income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business, updated to reflect the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Posted to the IRS’s website late March 6, the instructions followed… – Continue reading
(FINNBAY) – 10 March 2014. Finland along with other 49 countries around the world engaged with the US government to implement the information reporting and withholding tax provisions commonly known in the US as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA aims to establish a common intergovernmental approach to… – Continue reading
LONDON — If you don’t want something, giving it back is often an option. That’s precisely what some Americans, frustrated at what they see as onerous U.S. tax filing obligations for Americans living overseas, are doing with their citizenship. “I felt like I had gotten a divorce,” says Donna-Lane Nelson,… – Continue reading
London: Schroders is the latest UK group to set aside millions of pounds for potential fines arising from a US investigation into companies that helped American clients evade taxes. Schroders, the UK’s second-biggest listed fund house, has reserved £15 million (Dh92 million) for a possible penalty in connection with the… – Continue reading
Think your taxes are confusing? Ha! Try living and working abroad as a U.S. citizen. As the following guest column details, even something as seemingly ordinary as participating in a pension plan can create huge tax complications. (For less esoteric advice on preparing your 1040 for 2013 and minimizing your… – Continue reading
Bankers at Credit Suisse helped their affluent American clients hide billions in assets from the IRS, according to a Senate investigative report released Tuesday. The Swiss banking giant is currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly aiding tax evasion by its rich clients, is even accused of… – Continue reading
Bankers at Credit Suisse helped their affluent American clients hide billions in assets from the IRS, according to a Senate investigative report released Tuesday. The Swiss banking giant is currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly aiding tax evasion by its rich clients, is even accused of… – Continue reading
Cayman is continuing preparations for the implementation of the US Foreign Accounts Compliance Act (FATCA). So far the island has signed two inter-governmental agreements (IGAs), and legislation is currently being drafted to meet the requirements of the new law. Chief Compliance Officer at DMS Offshore Investment Services Don Ebanks says… – Continue reading
As Canadian snowbirds and visitors in Costa Rica were following the performance of their compatriot athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, their Finance and National Revenue Ministers announced that anintergovernmental agreement with the United States had been reached on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) of 2010. What… – Continue reading
As concerns about crumbling roads and bridges mount, one Congressman believes he has an answer. Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-CO) has introduced a bill, Partnership to Build America Act of 2014 (S. 1957), that would provide for investments and improvements in infrastructure projects. To make it more palatable, funding would… – Continue reading
Small business owners can feel a little bit like ping-pong balls when elected officials start talking about taxes. I’m a board member of the Maine Small Business Coalition, to which 3,600 Maine small business owners belong. I’m also a registered nurse and owner of a home child care center where… – Continue reading
MANILA – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is mulling over sanctions on local banks that fail to comply with a US tax evasion law. “The BSP will study what sanctions, if any, we will impose if a local bank decides it wishes to handle US persons but exposes itself… – Continue reading
The Canada-British Virgin Islands (BVI) tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) came into force on 11 March 2014. The TIEA was signed in May 2013, and the effective date provisions are set out in article 13 of the agreement. The BVI is now party to 25 TIEAs. The BVI-Canada TIEA is… – Continue reading
Russia’s Finance Ministry has received suggestions from several offshore zones on organization of negotiations on exchange of tax information, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov told a Week of Russian Business on Monday. “Lately, the finance ministry has received suggestions from the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda Islands, the Isle of… – Continue reading
A tightening noose around the necks of tax avoiders in some parts of the world saw Guernsey’s financial regulator approve 103 new investment funds in the crown dependency during 2013. There is no capital gains tax or inheritance tax in Guernsey. The corporation tax on financial firms is just 10%,… – Continue reading
A tightening noose around the necks of tax avoiders in some parts of the world saw Guernsey’s financial regulator approve 103 new investment funds in the crown dependency during 2013. There is no capital gains tax or inheritance tax in Guernsey. The corporation tax on financial firms is just 10%,… – Continue reading
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) — Credit Suisse Group AG moved to blame a small number of employees after a U.S. Senate report said the Swiss lender helped clients hide as much as $10 billion of assets from tax authorities. “Some Swiss-based private bankers went to great lengths to disguise their bad… – Continue reading
American Citizens Abroad (ACA) has provided testimony to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Investigations Subcommittee following its recent hearing on offshore tax evasion, and has recommended that the United States should implement a residence-based tax (RBT) system to avoid penalizing American expatriates. The ACA, as the principal… – Continue reading
The Australian press is incandescent with rage after it discovered that the fruit themed cargo cult Apple has worked out a way of avoiding giving billions to its taxman. Apple is already in hot water for overcharging Australians for its shiny toys and now it seems that it is refusing to pay tax…. – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Amazon’s tax affairs could come under more scrutiny in Britain, tax experts said, after a judge questioned whether it really was organized in the tax efficient way it said it was. The ruling comes as big technology groups, including Amazon, face increasing scrutiny in Britain over their tax… – Continue reading
France’s 2014 Finance Act (No 2013-1278) requires that the additional amount of tax assessed by the tax authority upon the launch of a Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) must be paid in advance of an outcome. This measure was introduced by repealing Article L. 189 of the Tax Procedures Code (LPF), with effect… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON – The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which I chair, has spent several years examining the ways offshore banks have aided and encouraged U.S. taxpayers in evading their responsibility to pay what they owe. By using secret bank accounts, these taxpayers conceal their income and therefore avoid paying taxes…. – Continue reading
U.S. President Barack Obama’s call on Tuesday for an end to billions of dollars in tax breaks echoes a 979-page draft reform plan last week from Dave Camp, the top Republican tax writer in the House of Representatives. Given the gridlock in Washington, neither the Democrat Obama, who included the… – Continue reading
Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) compliance, and in particular anti-money laundering (“AML”) controls, remains a focus of regulators as evidenced by record fines levied in recent weeks. On February 7, 2014, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) suspended a former AML compliance officer at Brown Brothers Harriman (“BBH”) and assessed… – Continue reading
The Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) will, from 1 July 2014, impose an array of new reporting obligations, especially on foreign financial institutions that serve Americans, including the need to report directly to the IRS. Leading many non-resident Americans and EU based financial firms calling for change or looking… – Continue reading
Cambodia has agreed to help the United States in its global effort to crack down on tax evasion by working with local banks to hand over financial data on US residents and business interests abroad, according to tax experts and officials. Speaking yesterday at the 17th Government-Private Sector Forum held… – Continue reading
The Canadian government is bending over backwards, and bending our laws, to allow the U.S. to enforce its new tax compliance act. Canadian visitors to Washington sometimes wonder why their embassy stands at the foot of Capitol Hill. The answer? To be close to where Canada’s laws are made. Case… – Continue reading
Canada has aligned with the thinking of other countries around the world in battling against international tax avoidance. As the treaties that Canada has with other countries come up for renewal, exchange of information agreements are being added to updated treaties while exchange of information document agreements are being drawn… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India and the United States have decided to enhance cooperation for automatic exchange of information on tax evasion and detection of financial crimes, shoring up efforts to crackdown on blackmoney cases involving economic channels of the two countries. A team of the US Treasury officials recently met Indian Income… – Continue reading
When a bipartisan Senate panel last week lambasted Swiss bank Credit Suisse for helping rich Americans evade billions in taxes, some watching the high-profile hearing couldn’t help but notice an elephant in the room. That is, Sen. Rand Paul. The connection? Paul for years has single-handedly blocked an obscure U.S.-Swiss… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: As part of its strategy to curb offshore tax evasion and promote foreign investment, India has recently operationalised seven new Income Tax Overseas Units (ITOUs) in countries like Germany, USA and France. A similar Income Tax office in Cyprus has, however, not been activated as India, last year in November, classified the island nation… – Continue reading
The Republican Party has recently formally approved a petition to repeal the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – the repeal comes just 5 months before the act is set to come into effect. The main sponsor of the Republic party resolution to repeal FACTA, is Solomon Yue, who is a… – Continue reading
Gibraltar lawmakers unanimously approved new legislation that will dramatically expand Gibraltar’s network of agreements for the exchange of tax information. The legislation implements OECD’s Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in Gibraltar ahead of the March 1 deadline. The move is part of the Government of Gibraltar’s policy… – Continue reading
Luxembourg has been widely hailed as an international investment center for years. The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) provides a number of reasons underlying the country’s designation as a top fund-industry choice. Its legal and regulatory framework for investment funds is recognized for its excellence by the global… – Continue reading
Kevin E. Packman is a Partner in our Miami office While Israel welcomes immigrants, and even provides them with tax incentives, it is serious about ending any perceived notion that it is somehow complicit with taxes evaded by its foreign residents in their home country. As such, it plans to… – Continue reading
On February 20, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued additional final and temporary regulations (T.D. 9657)under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 (FATCA) as well as new regulations (T.D. 9658) that modify the international withholding, backup withholding and information reporting rules that apply outside the scope of FATCA. FATCA generally… – Continue reading
El Salvador’s tax authority (DGII) has published a new Form 982 for transfer pricing returns. The form can be downloaded from the tax authority’s website. The new Form 982 now includes section C, which requires information on supporting documentation about transactions with low-tax jurisdictions. Section B already required details regarding… – Continue reading
Feb 26 (Reuters) – A former UBS AG banker pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to defraud the United States by helping wealthy Americans evade taxes. Martin Lack, a 51-year-old Swiss resident, pleaded guilty in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to a single conspiracy count in a 2011 indictment… – Continue reading
As noted in our previous post, the recently signed Inter-Governmental Agreement between the Canada and the U.S. relating to FATCA (the IGA) will modify the FATCA reporting obligations for Canadian financial institutions. Under the IGA, the term “Financial Institution” (or “FI”) includes custodial institutions, depository institutions, investment entities and specified insurance companies. For… – Continue reading
Authorities aren’t waiting for new reporting laws to go into effect to track down Americans who they say owe money The US needs money — and it’s willing to go to the ends of the earth, including Israel, to track down deadbeats who are evading their taxes. Israel was named… – Continue reading
Banking group hits out at Credit Suisse chief executive after he tells US that alleged tax schemes were due to a few dishonest employees A group representing Swiss bankers has demanded an apology from Credit Suisse boss Brady Dougan after he said the practice of helping Americans conceal their wealth… – Continue reading
Kevin Thorn of the Thorn Law Group comments on the recent guilty plea by a United States Taxpayer with undisclosed overseas bank accounts as one in a long line of ongoing IRS and DOJ investigations into U.S. citizens with hidden overseas bank accounts. Thorn observes the U.S. government’s expanded… – Continue reading
New Democrat MP Pierre Dionne Labelle (Rivière-du-Nord) has tabled a motion in the House of Commons demanding accountability from Conservatives for their continued failure to bring an end to the billions of dollars lost through tax evasion. “Conservatives have repeatedly demonstrated their gross underestimation of the scope of this multi-billion… – Continue reading
The chickens are quietly coming home to roost. In Europe, that is. For a long time, multinational companies have created shell companies – those offices where, beyond furniture and a teapot, there is hardly any business going on – to mainly pay lower tax and move illicit funds. These opaque… – Continue reading
Switzerland must adopt a position on sharing bank client data with foreign tax authorities more quickly than originally thought and cannot hold back until all other countries have introduced the practice, its finance minister told a Swiss newspaper. So far, 42 countries have declared an interest in automatically sharing information… – Continue reading
Feb 24 (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors are widening their probe of how Swiss banks helped wealthy Americans avoid taxes to look at insurers as well, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. Insurers in Switzerland have been preparing for months for U.S. officials to investigate products known as insurance… – Continue reading
Credit Suisse Group , Switzerland’s second biggest bank, went to great lengths to assist US customers trying to open Swiss bank accounts and evade taxes, entertaining them at a Swiss-themed ball in New York and golf tournaments in Florida and opening a branch in the Zurich airport to serve Americans… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Billions of dollars in U.S. taxes are going unpaid because Americans are exploiting Swiss bank accounts, and the U.S. government has failed to aggressively pursue Switzerland’s second-largest bank, a Senate investigation has found. The bank, Credit Suisse, has provided accounts in Switzerland for more than 22,000 U.S. clients… – Continue reading
