LONDON: HM Revenue & Customs has introduced a new strict liability criminal offence on both offshore tax evaders and those who help them following the UK Government’s clampdown on tax dodging in yesterday’s Budget. Under today’s new rules, tax evaders will no longer be able to plead ignorance in order… – Continue reading
International bank HSBC has declined to comment on whether they are cracking down on Isle of Man accounts held by UK residents. It was widely reported this week that the bank is contacting holders of accounts in Jersey and asking them to produce identity documents at one of the Channel… – Continue reading
A leading Swiss banker told his Lebanese counterparts that the days of banking secrecy are over, urging the lenders to prepare their clients for this inevitable outcome. “The banks which attracted tax evaders can no longer continue in this pattern because the era of banking secrecy is over and an… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India has offered a “cash reward” to a former HSBC bank employee-turned-whistleblower in exchange for any fresh information about its citizens holding illegal accounts in various tax haven countries, including in Swiss banks, as it looks to combat black money and unearth funds stashed away abroad. Sources said… – Continue reading
New Delhi: The Income Tax department will carry out closer scrutiny of those tax statements wherein an assessee has disclosed that he or she holds bank accounts or any other assets abroad before the current financial year ends on March 31. Sources said the drive has been undertaken by the… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department will carry out closer scrutiny of those tax statements wherein an assessee has disclosed that he or she holds bank accounts or any other assets abroad before the current financial year ends on March 31. Sources said the drive has been undertaken by the… – Continue reading
Tax havens have historically offered respite for individuals and companies looking to avoid high levels of taxation in their home countries. Some countries have effectively set out to create an environment in which international financial transactions come under little scrutiny so that foreign individuals and companies can safely park their… – Continue reading
Croatia and the United States have signed an agreement on the application of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) concerning accounts in foreign financial institutions, in order to improve transparency between the two countries in the area of taxes, the Croatian Finance Ministry announced in a statement on Friday…. – Continue reading
Argentina will move forward with its investigation of the HSBC offshore accounts in Switzerland, and will make public the names of those Argentine citizens and organizations that held money overseas in the financial entity, allegedly with the purpose of eluding local taxes. Swiss and French officials are also looking into… – Continue reading
Bern and Brussels have clinched a deal to exchange bank account data in an effort to tackle tax fraud. The agreement comes after a recent report exposed the global economic damage caused by offshore accounts. Switzerland and the European Union are teaming up to crack down on tax cheats, officials… – Continue reading
Papua New Guinea’s central bank has moved to stop offshore foreign banks, which don’t operate in PNG, trading in the Kina.From this month, people and companies wanting to trade in Kina and foreign currencies will only be able to use one of six authorised dealers. Since July last year, after… – Continue reading
The Israel Tax Authority and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs are using powerful technologies to close in on tax dodgers. In Britain, the mix of politics, the upcoming elections, the budget deficit and public pressure has provoked a whirlwind of controversy around the issue of tax avoidance and tax… – Continue reading
Advisers could face criminal charges under new powers for HMRC following the Budget if they fail to prevent tax evasion by inherited clients, a lawyer has warned. HMRC is consulting on a new corporate criminal offence for firms failing to prevent tax evasion, which will implicate advisers who have clients… – Continue reading
The UK Government has announced in today’s Budget that it will close the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) half a year earlier than expected in order to make room for a “tougher” disclosure facility. The LDF is an agreement between the Principality of Liechtenstein and HMRC which gives UK taxpayers with… – Continue reading
J. Safra Sarasin Holding Ltd., the Swiss private bank owned by billionaire Joseph Safra, indicated it may make further acquisitions after the purchase of Morgan Stanley’s Geneva unit. The company “is ideally positioned to pursue our growth strategy and act as a leading player in the ongoing industry consolidation” in… – Continue reading
Part of the African continent, with neighboring countries such as the Reunion Islands, Madagascar and the Seychelles, is the island republic of Mauritius. Over the centuries, Mauritius has been occupied at different times by three of the world’s greatest maritime powers. Beginning in 1578, Mauritius was a Portuguese possession and… – Continue reading
The central bank yesterday welcomed positive remarks by its Chinese counterpart last week to consider removing the daily yuan conversion limit, as demand for the Chinese currency is flourishing. Taiwan has been seeking the removal of the daily 20,000 yuan (US$3,193) conversion cap, in line with its bid to develop… – Continue reading
HSBC is closing all accounts on Jersey belonging to customers living in the UK. It is part of a move by UK banks carrying out checks on the identity and addresses of thousands of their customers on the Channel Islands. HSBC is among those carrying out the move, according to… – Continue reading
Switzerland has made further progress on meeting international tax compliance standards after being upgraded to phase 2 of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) tax transparency review process. However, Switzerland faces a potentially tougher examination in the coming months, particularly regarding the use of stolen bank data by… – Continue reading
The findings revealed that 76 per cent of those surveyed believe people open bank accounts in Switzerland for “underhand reasons”, and just one in 10 consider it is done for “legitimate reasons.” The UK’s The Times newspaper recently asked individuals for their thoughts as to why Britons might hold Swiss… – Continue reading
[Market Watch] Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (NYSE:RBS)(TREND ANALYSIS) is accelerating its plans to dismantle its investment banking franchise, with expectations that the firm will deliver as many as 14,000 pink slips in the group at the sprawling U.K. financial institution, according to the Financial Times report Tuesday. As… – Continue reading
State-run Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) — the main subsidiary of Hua Nan Financial Holding Co (華南金控) — aims to increase its loan book by 4.2 percent this year, driven by corporate lending, senior bank executives said yesterday. The target is lower than the 5 percent increase last year, as… – Continue reading
Yesterday, The Treasury released draft legislation that it said was intended to modernise the Commonwealth’s Offshore Banking Unit regime. The draft explanatory material states that the proposed changes would implement some of the recommendations from Mark Johnson’s ‘Australia as a Financial Centre’ report, as well as plug some integrity shortcomings… – Continue reading
Port Louis, March 12 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday assured that India would work with Mauritius to avoid the “abuse” of the double taxation avoidance agreement and added that the destinies of both nations are “linked by the currents of the Indian Ocean”. Addressing the National Parliament of… – Continue reading
AMERICANS in France are being asked to take urgent action in a bid to change harsh banking rules which an expats’ body says are “wrecking people’s lives”. AARO (Association of Americans Resident Overseas) says intrusive rules in America’s ‘FATCA’ law place such heavy reporting obligations on French banks with American… – Continue reading
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond is considering a plan to reveal the hidden financial assets of Russia President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle to embarrass them in front of their struggling citizens, The Daily Telegraph reported. The pressure to broadcast the extraordinary secret wealth of Putin and his powerful… – Continue reading
What is FATCA? The US federal income tax system relies on voluntary compliance by taxpayers to self-report their worldwide income and compute their income tax. It is estimated that billions of dollars in taxes are evaded annually by US persons holding offshore accounts. When voluntary compliance is augmented by third-party… – Continue reading
US expats are encouraged to share their opinions and experiences in the annual survey, conducted in cooperation with the American Citizens Abroad Global Foundation (ACAGF). Washington, D.C., March 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Greenback Expat Tax Services has announced that their 2015 Annual US Expat Opinion Survey is now online… – Continue reading
It is time to look at overseas options if you want stocks with good dividends. If you are particular about investing only in the banking sector, U.S. banks would give you at the most around 3% dividend yield. If this is not good enough for you, you can try investing… – Continue reading
FATCA is a law requiring every foreign bank to excessively monitor and report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the bank accounts of every American residing overseas – or risk severe punishment. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Rand Paul reintroduced S.663, a bill to repeal the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act… – Continue reading
Bosses at HSBC were yesterday accused by MPs of turning a blind eye to alleged tax evasion in its Swiss private banking arm. In an ill-tempered hearing with the Public Accounts Committee, members said they did not believe that executives in London were oblivious to what was happening. Chief executive… – Continue reading
MANHATTAN (CN) – Israel’s largest bank helped procure sham loans for clients and advised them to dodge taxes in other ways, a shareholder class action says. Michael Porat, a citizen of Israel, filed the 57-page complaint against Bank Leumi and various international subsidiaries in New York County Supreme Court. Sixty-one… – Continue reading
FATCA could have a bearing on the provisions of the proposed Indian law A new bill to deal with black money parked abroad that the government is planning to bring in the current session of Parliament is likely to be influenced by the law in the United States to check… – Continue reading
ABU DHABI // Almost nine in ten expatriates send money back to their home country but financial experts warn they are more savvy ways to keep money safe. The National’s survey questioning expatriates on remittance, among other financial habits, found 86 per cent of employed expats transfer money to their… – Continue reading
Ramakant Jha, the managing director and group chief executive of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (Gift), talks about the central business district, which is still being developed. Why is Gujarat the right destination for such a project? When people us, “why Gujarat?”, we ask them, “why not Gujarat?” Gujarat has had… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Next time, you will think twice before opening a bank account in Jersey or buying a property in London — even if the transaction is legitimate. Everyone having accounts with offshore banks, or owning properties or stocks abroad will be soon asked a string of questions by the tax… – Continue reading
Taipei, March 7 (CNA) Banks incorporated in Taiwan saw profits in their offshore banking units (OBUs) falling year-on-year in January, while earnings in their domestic banking units (DBUs) were up for the same month, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said Saturday. The FSC, the top financial regulator in Taiwan, said… – Continue reading
Planning to enjoy your retirement in a different country? Check these tax, banking and investment issues More than 400,000 Britons have retired abroad, attracted by better weather, a laid-back lifestyle and a lower cost of living. But if you want to join them, you will need to make serious adjustments… – Continue reading
Senator Rand Paul said that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act violates privacy rights of US citizens as well as has a bad effect on the American economy. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) violates privacy rights of US citizens as well as has a bad… – Continue reading
The files at the foundation of the Swiss Leaks articles are based on data secreted away by Hervé Falciani, a former HSBC employee-turned-whistleblower. He turned the data over to the French government in 2008 and its tax authority launched an investigation. The French newspaper Le Monde obtained a version of… – Continue reading
It’s early March and that means tax time for tens of millions Americans. As we become an increasingly mobile society, millions of U.S. taxpayers are wondering what forms are needed to report offshore income, assets and bank accounts. While no substitute for a good tax lawyer, CPA or enrolled agent,… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service’s Large Business & International division has opened a gateway that financial institutions and the tax authorities abroad can use to send information on financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in accordance with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. FATCA, which was included as part of the… – Continue reading
(Corrects to show the bank plans to close a representative office in Russia.) (Bloomberg) — UBS Group AG plans to scale back its wealth-management activities in Moscow that serve clients who deposit their funds offshore as Switzerland’s largest bank streamlines operations in some emerging markets, according to two people with… – Continue reading
PARIS: A continued crackdown on tax evasion could rake in two billion euros (US$2.2 billion) this year, similar to the amount raised in 2014, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said. Looking to shore up fragile state accounts, France has launched a campaign to encourage taxpayers to come clean on previously… – Continue reading
A foreign bank asks our client to provide information that the bank is not required to provide IRS under FATCA. There are two possibilities. Our client can provide the information or our client can choose not to provide the information. How should we advise our client? General Ethical Principles There… – Continue reading
The ATO has so far also ¬recouped $342 million in unpaid tax from 1900 offshore ¬accounts held by Australians and $215 million from multinationals. THE Australian Taxation Office will lead a new worldwide taskforce to crackdown on multinational tax cheats in a move it claims will yield billions of dollars… – Continue reading
An elaborate plot to oust the current chairperson of the South African Airways board, Dudu Myeni by showing that she has millions of rands stashed away in foreign bank accounts has been exposed this week, it has been learnt. The Times revealed that there has been a leak of a… – Continue reading
Income tax returns filed with the Inland Revenue by former PN MPs Michael Falzons and Ninu Zammit paint a modest picture of their earnings in the 1970s and 1980s, and, as expected, make no mention of the money in their Swiss bank accounts. The tax returns were obtained from the… – Continue reading
Many U.S taxpayers are often surprised to discover that they have a U.S. tax reporting obligation on financial accounts or assets held overseas. Once they discover their obligation, there are a number of programs through which they can become compliant with their U.S. tax reporting obligation. One option, if the… – Continue reading
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will be given more substantial access to details of international bank accounts from next year as the tax authority steps up its efforts to crack down on offshore tax evasion. HMRC will receive information of overseas bank accounts held by UK taxpayers as part of… – Continue reading
