The Commerce Commission says it may not be able to do much about a company that more than 100 businesses have complained about, because it appears to be based overseas. The Commission has been investigating the New Zealand Small Business Assistance Centre since October 2014. Complainants say the company told… – Continue reading
The Executive Directorate of Revenue has announced that as part of the changes in the audit and tax collection system, it will oversee the transfer prices of companies headquartered abroad. In addition to the implementation of electronic billing and other changes that aim to improve the supervision of tax collections,… – Continue reading
OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Proposed U.S. legislation aimed at preventing offshore tax avoidance by closing a tax loophole that allows offshore reinsurers to take advantage of an exception to the passive foreign investment company (PFIC) rules of the U.S. Tax Code will not lead to rating revisions over the near term, according… – Continue reading
When it comes to the topic of offshore corporations, some people immediately think of illegal tax shelters, but that is not the case. Currently, the IRS is working tirelessly to track down U.S. citizens and residents with unreported offshore income or assets and the new FATCA regulations make it virtually… – Continue reading
Mara could have set up an Australian subsidiary but instead chose to construct an elaborate network in several countries. KUALA LUMPUR: National Oversight & Whistleblowers (NOW), an NGO headed by Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, has alleged that the nature of Mara property purchases overseas was camouflaged through various offshore companies… – Continue reading
(MENAFN – The Peninsula) A former high-ranking executive of US computer chip giant Qualcomm was fined 500,000 and sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday for insider trading, US officials said. Jing Wang, 52, the former executive vice president and president of global business operations at Qualcomm pleaded guilty last… – Continue reading
Following the recent property purchase scandal by Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) in Australia, Barisan Nasional Back Benchers Club (BNBBC) chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Samad questioned whether a company was created under Mara Incorporated for the purpose of being an “offshore tax haven”. He raised the question of the approval needed… – Continue reading
PETALING JAYA: Bukit Aman is ready to help in investigations into the controversial purchase of property in Melbourne involving Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) senior officers but there has been no request from Australia yet. Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department Comm Datuk Seri Mortadza Nazarene said police were aware of the… – Continue reading
The owners of hedge fund-backed reinsurers, including one tied to John Paulson, could have to pay more taxes or shift their focus under a bill introduced by Senator Ron Wyden to counter what he called abuses by offshore companies. “For over 10 years now this loophole has allowed some hedge… – Continue reading
The ownership and use of land in Scotland has been thrust back on to the political agenda by the publication of the land reform bill, which was introduced to the Scottish parliament on Tuesday. Covering topics as diverse as tenant farming, offshore companies, deer management and common land, the bill… – Continue reading
The Russian Football Union (RFU) will discuss ending its contract with Russia’s national team coach, Fabio Capello. Simyonan confirmed at a press conference on Wednesday that Capello remains Russia’s head coach for the time being, but said that there are questions about his future with the team. The negotiations mark… – Continue reading
Introduction The UK Finance Act 2015 received royal assent on March 26 2015. This included final legislation for the introduction of a capital gains tax charge on non-residents who dispose of UK residential property. The new charge applies to such disposals made on or after April 6 2015. This update… – Continue reading
Taiwan and China might sign an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation later this year, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “Technical issues” led to a breakdown in negotiations in 2009 on such a pact, which could significantly lighten the tax burdens on companies and Taiwanese doing business across… – Continue reading
Offshore reporting carries many special rules, all of them with a raft of potential penalties. By now, most U.S. persons are familiar with the requirement to report their offshore accounts and assets. For those who are not, you must report all income and disclose the existence of accounts on tax… – Continue reading
Offshore investors in UK real estate face a range of tax obligations and charges to be managed. This briefing introduces some of the key tax aspects for investors using various offshore structures. UK tax on gains Gains realised by non-residents on the disposal of commercial (non-residential) UK real estate are… – Continue reading
Companies registering their intellectual property in Israel will be charged only 5% tax on dividends. The committee considering changes in the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, headed by former Ministry of Finance director general Yael Andorn, is recommending extension of the tax break granted under the law to… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Taxing overseas properties bought by Indians who stashed away money in Swiss banks and tax havens is tricky terrain in the framing of black money rules. Compared to extracting tax and penalties on funds lying with offshore banks, there is no easy way to decide the tax amount on… – Continue reading
Six Indicia of Offshore Tax Criminality United States taxpayers need to be aware that a number of danger areas around offshore foreign financial accounts can be construed as evidence that could constitute criminal offenses. Some of these may seem trivial, but all the more warrant a heads-up due to the… – Continue reading
He has distorted the facts about the nation’s current tax system. Chris Christie repeatedly has said that U.S. corporations are taxed twice on income earned abroad, claiming in one speech that IRS officials “don’t recognize the tax you paid to a foreign country.” That’s false. It’s true that the U.S…. – Continue reading
The new law on the taxation of controlled foreign companies (the ‘CFC’ law) and other anti-offshore measures effective as of 1 January 2015 have raised a number of questions for clients and advisers. A number of changes to the new laws were long anticipated and have now been passed by… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands saw a 17 percent increase in new company registrations in 2014 over the previous year, according to a report released today by offshore law and fiduciary firm Appleby. In 2014, 11,010 new companies registered in Cayman, noted the firm’s latest ‘On the Register’ report, which provides insight… – Continue reading
EU regulators today gave Poland and Estonia a month to hand over details of their tax ruling practices. It also ordered 15 other countries to provide data on individual tax bills as part of a region-wide investigation. Pressures on government budgets since the global financial crisis have spurred a crackdown… – Continue reading
New Delhi/Mumbai: India’s goal of a friendlier tax regime for global companies to help power China-beating economic growth is hitting a manpower hurdle. Fewer than 20 officials face the complex task of working with hundreds of multinational companies (MNCs) on pacts to avert tax rows, people familiar with the matter… – Continue reading
Where a foreign company renders professional services to a South African company, it is important that the foreign entity considers whether, as a result of rendering such services, the foreign company will create a permanent establishment in South Africa. The reason why this becomes important is that where a foreign… – Continue reading
A Malta-based shell company is linked to financial transactions which likely saw Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family amass hundreds of millions of euro at the expense of the country he leads and its citizens. FA Invest (Malta), whose registered address is in the Cornerstone Complex in Mosta, has… – Continue reading
A businessman caught in a money-laundering sting helped the U.S. prosecute a foreign business — and now he’s seeking $22.2 million from the government as a reward. The U.S. Tax Court ruled Tuesday in favor of the informant, allowing his claim to proceed after the Internal Revenue Service earlier denied… – Continue reading
Jersey experienced a 10% increase in new company incorporations in 2014 over the previous year, according to a report released today by Appleby, one of the world’s largest providers of offshore legal, fiduciary and administrative services. Last year also saw the total number of active companies on Jersey’s registry rise… – Continue reading
KARACHI: A district and sessions court remanded on Wednesday four more suspects in Axact-gate scandal for one day. The four – Muhammad Rizwan, Atif Hussain, Imran Ahmed Khan and Adnan Saboor – who were recently taken into custody after some leads given by the detained suspects were presented by the… – Continue reading
Bermuda experienced 4% year-on-year growth in new company registrations in 2014, with more than 1,000 companies incorporating in the jurisdiction for the second year in a row, according to a report released today [June 3] by Appleby. In total, 1,113 new companies incorporated in Bermuda in 2014, according to the… – Continue reading
Some of the first banks that streamed into Crimea after Russia wrested control of the region from Ukraine in 2014 were better known for laundering money than banking. Five of the banks have questionable histories, including ties to the US$ 20 billion money laundering scandal known as the Russian Laundromat… – Continue reading
Law360, New York (June 3, 2015, 3:24 PM ET) — Final rules released Wednesday by the Internal Revenue Service meant to deter corporate inversions retain a strict bright-line rule that subjects an inverted company to sanctions if it does not have a substantial business presence in a foreign country, despite… – Continue reading
A new report by Oxfam has revealed that international companies cheated Africa out of $11 billion in 2010. The report titled “Africa: Rising for the Few” released yesterday revealed that the loss is equivalent to more than six times the amount needed to deliver universal primary healthcare in the Ebola-affected… – Continue reading
Malaysia’s offshore financial centre of Labuan, an island designated as Special Economic Zone off the northern Borneo coast, which has seen a surge in interest in Islamic finance transactions in the last year, now aims at positioning itself as an Islamic finance hub for the Asia-Pacific region. According to its… – Continue reading
Developments in Asia over the last year have been continuous with the biggest generic development relating to the exchange of information. Asian countries have put their FATCA reporting systems in place (even though not all have yet signed an inter-governmental agreement with the US IRS), and most have now committed… – Continue reading
Africa is known as the ‘paradox of plenty’. How can a continent so rich in natural resources be so poor? Economic growth is predicted to increase by 4.5% across the continent this year, despite falling oil prices and the Ebola crisis. South Africa’s economy, the second biggest in Africa is… – Continue reading
A Gold Coast businessman has been banned from the financial services industry for taking $4 million from self-managed super fund (SMSF) investors to fund his own real estate investments. The Federal Court in Brisbane banned Craig Gore permanently and five other people from carrying on any business related to superannuation… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has, during its probe into the Axact scandal, unearthed seven offshore companies that were being run by Shoaib Shaikh. According to FIA sources, the agency during the forensic inspection of the data retrieved from Axact’s computers seized by the authorities earlier has ascertained that… – Continue reading
It is not uncommon for affluent families from certain countries to maintain offshore structures to hold a portion, and often times a significant portion, of their wealth. The reasons for holding assets outside of their country of residence are many, and such assets are frequently held in foreign corporations. As… – Continue reading
Tax affairs of billionaire Bulgari heirs Nicola and Paolo in the spotlight as authorities target luxury brands When Bulgari, the luxury Italian jeweller, set out to celebrate its 130-year anniversary last year at its flagship store on Rome’s Via Condotti – where Richard Burton once bought Elizabeth Taylor a suite… – Continue reading
Former Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, who is currently Armenia’s ambassador to the United States, has filed a lawsuit against former businessman Paylak Hayrapetyan with a demand that he refute the “libelous information” spread about him and pay 1 million AMD (about $2,100) in compensation for moral damages. Sargsyan demands Hayrapetyan,… – Continue reading
France and Germany want to see common basic corporation tax rates across the EU, according to reports France and Germany are pushing plans to introduce a minimum corporation tax rate across the continent, it was reported today, in a move that could result in higher taxes on British companies. European… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD / KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday threw out a protective bail plea filed by Axact Chairman and CEO Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh in view of the ongoing investigation into the software company’s fake degrees mill. Arguing before a divisional bench of the SHC – headed by Justice… – Continue reading
Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) and foreign organizations last year topped all other economic sectors of Vietnam’s economy in social insurance debt with over VND2.13 trillion (US$97.9 million), according to a government report on the management and use of social insurance funds in 2014. This was a staggering 192.5 percent year-on-year surge,… – Continue reading
2008 hotel venture links Lord Feldman’s company with Balkan vehicle registered in offshore tax haven, with campaigners calling party chair’s secrecy ‘hypocritical’ The chairman of the Conservative party is facing questions about his former business partners in a controversial joint-venture hotel deal in crisis-stricken Macedonia. Lord Feldman, a university friend… – Continue reading
Uzbekistan has developed a draft law on amendments and additions to the Tax Code regarding the companies established by the country’s residents in offshore zones. This remark was made by Uzbekistan’s Prosecutor-General Ikhtiyor Abdullayev, who was addressing the plenary session of the Eurasian Group on combating Money laundering and financing… – Continue reading
Big pharma’s poison pill The tax commissioner wants a senate inquiry to examine tax minimisation by multinational drug companies. Analysis with Heath Aston. Pharmaceutical companies will be put under the microscope by the Senate tax avoidance inquiry which recently exposed rampant “offshoring” of profits by Google, Apple and Microsoft. Tax… – Continue reading
May 22 (Reuters) – “Non-domiciled” status lets British residents use offshore trusts to keep profits made on British businesses out of reach of the tax authority. Here are some of the non doms who have held assets offshore: South-Africa born Abe Jaffe built automobile dealership Currie Motors, which operates under… – Continue reading
May 22 (Reuters) – “Non-domiciled” status lets British residents use offshore trusts to keep profits made on British businesses out of reach of the tax authority. Here are some of the non doms who have held assets offshore: South-Africa born Abe Jaffe built automobile dealership Currie Motors, which operates under… – Continue reading
Canada’s health-care stocks are sizzling, as Concordia Healthcare Corp. and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s buy-and-streamline strategy has pushed the industry’s earnings and margins ahead of U.S. peers. The drugmakers are the two top-performing stocks in the Canadian equity benchmark this year, boosting total returns for the members of the Standard… – Continue reading
OECD, G20 team up to plug loopholes that allow companies evade taxes in jurisdictions they operate to prevent tax base erosion There is now a serious global attempt to ensure that multinationals pay taxes in the jurisdiction in which they carry out their business. The attempt is being made keeping… – Continue reading
