Category: North America

Former IMF Chief Under Investigation For Money Laundering, Now Arrested

Rato’s dealings include misappropriation of funds through a Visa card totaling 6 Million Euro, income from serving on the international advisory board of a Turkish bank in violation of Spanish banking laws, and a series of shell corporation divestments. UPDATE: Spanish prosecutors have arrested Rato, charging him with fraud, money-laundering… – Continue reading

Firm run by David Cameron’s election guru Lynton Crosby lost £1 million in two years, as pressure mounts on unanswered tax questions

A British company run by the Conservative’s election guru Lynton Crosby lost more than £1 million in two years, public records show. Accounts filed by Crosby Textor Ltd reveal that the firm, owned by Mr Crosby and his business partner Mark Textor made losses of £511,000 in 2014 and £510,000… – Continue reading

Tax Traps & Retirement Planning Opportunities for American Entrepreneurs Abroad

It has never been easier for Americans to start businesses while living outside the U.S. If you are an American entrepreneur operating abroad, however, be aware of U.S. tax reporting obligations on non-U.S. businesses operated by Americans and make sure you are leveraging the value of U.S qualified retirement accounts… – Continue reading

Studies show, Congress Favors the Rich

When Hillary Clinton recently borrowed Elizabeth Warren’s talking points and claimed “the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top” (in our economic and political system) against regular working people, did she mention reforming the tax code — and then offer any solutions? The simple answer is… – Continue reading

Portal for BVI FATCA Reporting Launched

The British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (ITA) has launched its BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS). The portal was opened yesterday and is ready to accept enrolment applications from BVI Reporting Financial Institutions (FI) which are required to submit information under the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the BVI and… – Continue reading

America’s Most-Wanted Swiss Bankers Aren’t Hard to Find

At least 21 financial advisers in Switzerland charged with aiding American tax dodgers are at large With its tan marble floors and leather-clad reception desk, the staid Zurich offices of the Julius Baer Group, one of Switzerland’s largest private banks, are an unlikely place to find an alleged fugitive from… – Continue reading

Australia must break the shackles of intellectual property in FTAs

Last week some of Australia’s biggest and richest companies voluntarily fronted up to a senate inquiry on corporate tax avoidance. Bigwigs from big brands, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals, squirmed under the spotlight as they were grilled about how they (legally) shift profits offshore… – Continue reading

DOJ Announces First Non-Prosecution Agreement Under the Swiss Bank Program

On March 30, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it reached the first non-prosecution agreement under the Swiss bank program with BSI, S.A. (BSI). BSI, one of Switzerland’s ten largest banks, has agreed to pay $211 million in fines and cooperate in any related civil or criminal… – Continue reading

FATCA: Upcoming Compliance Deadlines for Non-U.S. Financial Institutions

During the multi-year build-up to FATCA,1 the primary focus was on entity classification and registration, and less attention was paid to the compliance obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. entities affected by FATCA. Withholding and information reporting responsibilities under FATCA were generally known, but with the numerous deadline postponements and references… – Continue reading

PM Discusses Effects Of The US Money Laundering Money Laundering Measures

On Tuesday we told you about what the Prime Minister said at the Summit of the America’s about the perilous state of Belize and the Region’s banking industry after draconian anti money laundering measures were enacted by the US Government. He said, quote, “there is a crisis in my own… – Continue reading

Report: Connecticut small businesses pay extra $7K in corporate taxes due to loopholes for big biz

Small businesses in Connecticut pay about $7,000 apiece in additional taxes to make up for lost state revenue due to loopholes allowing big corporations to forego paying taxes on profits earned in other countries, such as the Cayman Islands, according to a new report issued by ConnPIRG this week. “The… – Continue reading

Tax waiver issue delays contract signing

KATHMANDU, APR 16 – With the selected consultant for the Tanahu Hydropower Project demanding income tax exemption during ongoing negotiations before signing a contract, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has said that the government cannot provide the facility as the current tax law does not allow it. The NEA clarified… – Continue reading

Treasurers should provide transaction documentation according to BEPS

Corporate treasury departments will have to start complying with International tax rules and provide documentation for transactions according to recent reports. G20 leaders attempted to reform the international tax system in July 2012 by setting up the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. This task was given to the… – Continue reading

China-led bank starts with 57 members

BEIJING: A total of 57 countries have been approved as founding members of a Chinese-led infrastructure bank, Beijing said on Wednesday, and Norway is included despite frosty relations over a Chinese dissident’s Nobel prize. No nations that formally sought to become founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)… – Continue reading

16 of top 50 European hedge funds donate more than £6.5m to Tories

All of the firms have established funds based in offshore tax havens such as Cayman Islands and Jersey, analysis reveals Sixteen of the top 50 European hedge funds or their executives have donated more than £6.5m to the Conservatives, according to a new analysis of data. All of the firms… – Continue reading

Washington State Auditor Is Indicted For Tax Evasion, Stolen Property, Perjury

Washington State Auditor Troy X. Kelley has been indicted for federal income tax evasion, lying to investigators, concealing millions of dollars, and making repeated false statements. The 10-count indictment relates to Mr. Kelley’s career before becoming the state’s auditor. Not surprisingly, though, Governor Jay Inslee wants Mr. Kelley to resign…. – Continue reading

First cross-border payment for Canadian RMB Trading Hub

This week, the Royal Bank of Canada became the first bank to complete cross-border Renminbi (RMB) payment using Canada’s new RMB Trading Hub through the hub’s designated clearing bank, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (Canada). On 23 March, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), other Canadian banks and government delegates… – Continue reading

Dems take another crack at inversions

Top Democrats in both the House and the Senate are bringing back legislation to crack down on offshore tax deals. Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) and five other Democratic lawmakers are proposing to ban companies that shift their legal address abroad and score a lower… – Continue reading

Tories bankrolled by hedge funds in offshore tax havens, new analysis shows

Conservative Party candidates are bankrolled by hedge fund donations siphoned to Westminster from lucrative tax havens including the Cayman Islands, new analysis suggests. Figures released on Thursday by the Electoral Commission detail donations received by Britain’s political parties since the general election campaign began. Sixteen of Europe’s 50 most prolific… – Continue reading

Stop Corporate Welfare Kings and Tax Escapees From Strip-mining America

“Tax day” comes and goes each year, but unfortunately, the systemic issues that plague American taxpayers linger on without resolution well past the mid-April deadline. The U.S. tax code has long been manipulated by corporate lobbyists and their corporate tax attorneys. (President Jimmy Carter once called the loophole-ridden tax laws… – Continue reading

Manufacturing Groups Call For Corporate Tax Overhaul

Ahead of this week’s income tax filing deadline, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation Foundation said the U.S. should exempt its companies’ foreign earnings from corporate taxes. In contrast to current tax policy, the groups’ analysis argued that exempting those earnings would allow… – Continue reading

Wall Street Fees, Swiss Banks, Clydesdale Fined: Compliance

(Bloomberg) — Wall Street banks and other financial firms should pay new fees to bankroll their own government oversight, according to a member of the top U.S. derivatives regulator. Sharon Y. Bowen, a Democrat on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said Congress should let the agency set fees on banks… – Continue reading

How more and more U.S. corporations are opting out of paying U.S. taxes

NEW YORK • When it comes to taxes, corporate America is getting a bit less corporate. And a bit less American. Fueled by a wave of inversions, a record 54 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of leading U.S. firms are now at least partially exempt from the… – Continue reading

Tax Directors Expect Their Companies to Expand

Tax directors at many organizations anticipate their companies will grow by entering into new domestic and international markets in the years ahead, according to a new survey by BDO USA. In a sign of an improving economy, 50 percent of the 100 tax directors at $1billion-plus public companies surveyed by… – Continue reading

Canada: Increasing Corporate Penalties And Risk Management (Update To “Seven Corporate Sins As A Source Of Government Revenue And Economic Stimulus”)

Introduction Soft commodity prices, divergent monetary policies across major economies, high unemployment rates and weak world trade have all conspired to slow down global economic recovery over the past seven years. Consequently, governments have had to cut spending as future revenues remain uncertain. This has led governments to look for… – Continue reading

PwC among auditors enlisted by China to probe state firms’ offshore assets

Beijing enlists seven firms, including PwC, to investigate projects and holdings this year Beijing has appointed seven audit companies, including international firm PwC, to look into the overseas assets of major state-owned enterprises as it tightens the reins on the business giants. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac)… – Continue reading

Guernsey presence felt at US estate planning conference

Guernsey’s fiduciary sector was represented at a prominent international estate planning conference in the United States. Three representatives of Trust Corporation International attended the 11th annual International Estate Planning Institute event in Times Square, New York, where the firm was also a gold sponsor. A distinguished panel of experts debated… – Continue reading

OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS COST SMALL BUSINESSES $3,244 A YEAR

Washington, D.C. – As tax day approaches, it’s important to remember that small businesses end up picking up the tab for offshore tax loopholes used by many large multinational corporations. U.S. PIRG joined Senator Bernie Sanders, Bryan McGannon of the American Sustainable Business Council, and Bob McIntyre of Citizens for… – Continue reading

Swiss banks suddenly preach transparency in U.S. tax evasion endgame

Swiss banks, for decades the bastions of secrecy, are preaching the virtue of transparency to their U.S. clients as they try to head off billions of dollars in potential fines for helping Americans evade taxes. Faced with the threat of penalties that could bankrupt some of them, almost 100 of… – Continue reading

Individual Tax Burdens Continued To Rise In 2014

Taxes on wages have risen by about one percent for the average worker in OECD countries between 2010 and 2014, even though the majority of governments did not increase statutory income tax rates, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) Taxing Wages 2015 report. According to the… – Continue reading

Ten Percent of S&P 500 Companies Avoid Paying U.S. Taxes

When it comes to taxes, corporate America is getting a bit less corporate. And a bit less American. Fueled by a wave of inversions, a record 54 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of leading U.S. firms are now at least partially exempt from the corporate income tax…. – Continue reading

Tax Directors Anticipate Domestic and Cross-Border Growth Over The Next Three Years, According To The Inaugural BDO Tax Outlook Survey

– Rising Cost of Compliance Within The Tax And Financial Regulatory Environment Creates Opportunities For Increased Efficiency – CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As the economy continues to accelerate, many organizations plan to grow by entering into new markets in the years ahead, reveals the first ever BDO USA, LLP Tax Outlook Survey. Fifty… – Continue reading

Canada: Private Client Tax, Third Edition – Chapter: Canada

1. NON-TAX ISSUES 1.1 Domestic law 1.1.1 Briefly describe your legal system and its origins Canada is a federal state, with legislative powers divided between the federal and provincial governments. The federal government has legislative jurisdiction over issues concerning Canada as a whole, including foreign affairs, international trade, banking, telecommunications,… – Continue reading