Australian tax rules relating to cryptoassets remain in their infancy, comprising largely of antiquated rules for fiat currency transactions, with impractical attempts at guidance from revenue authorities. This practical guide summarises the Australian tax issues for some typical cryptoasset transactions. In this innovative sector, no two transactions are the same…. – Continue reading
A tax bill to counter base erosion and profit shifting by multinational companies was introduced into Parliament on December 6. The Taxation (Neutralising Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Bill contains measures to prevent multinationals from using: Artificially high interest rates on loans from related parties to shift profits out of… – Continue reading
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev has threatened companies stashing money abroad with ominous consequences unless they repatriate their funds, media reported. The president’s latest sally against the prevalent use of offshore banking accounts is, however, undermined by his own family’s predilection for salting away their riches overseas. Speaking on December 6… – Continue reading
Blacklisted nations may face sanctions. The European Union released its first-ever “blacklist” of global tax havens this week, including 17 territories, three of which are Arab countries. Deemed to fall short of EU tax standards, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, and Bahrain joined American Samoa, Barbados, Grenada, Guam, South Korea,… – Continue reading
Belgian police raided the offices of state bank Belfius as part of a probe into possible tax avoidance by companies exposed in the Panama Papers. Belgian police raided the offices of state bank Belfius on Tuesday as part of a probe into possible tax avoidance by companies exposed in the… – Continue reading
“The ceiling on taxation of capital gains reflects the national belief that speculation is a more worthwhile way to make a living than work.” – Calvin Trillin, Uncivil Liberties, 1982. Time was when both death and taxes were considered unavoidable. But in the light of the latest revelations contained in… – Continue reading
CYBERJAYA: The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) is in the midst of auditing 15 banks with offshore transactions in an effort to collect hundreds of millions of ringgit worth of taxes. IRB deputy chief executive officer (compliance) Abdul Manaf Dim said the auditing processes of the banks nationwide were among the… – Continue reading
The UK government is planning to extend the time limit to 12 years for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to investigate all offshore tax non-compliance, according to documents released as part of the Budget. A Treasury document entitled ‘Tackling tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance’ states that the government will consult… – Continue reading
A major new global transparency measure aimed at curbing cross-border tax evasion by requiring countries to share information on the wealth of each other’s nationals could be undermined by the abuse of residency- and citizenship-for-sale schemes. Tax justice campaigners say that some of these schemes are already being marketed as… – Continue reading
The Irish Revenue has announced that a new inquiry is underway to identify and pursue taxpayers engaged in offshore tax evasion and avoidance. Revenue said that the inquiry is being conducted in the context of increased and ongoing sharing of information between tax administrations, and of the changes to voluntary… – Continue reading
UK Offshore tax evaders face much higher penalties for non-compliance under new HM Revenue and Customs rules. The legislation requires those with undeclared offshore tax liabilities to disclose them to HMRC before the 30th of September next year. When the Right to Correct rules come into force, offenders can expect… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD/LONDON: The thirty-eight-page trust deed of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen’s offshore trust was signed and formalised in Geneva, Switzerland, and facilitated by HSBC Guyerzeller Trust Company Geneva – raising questions about Swiss bank accounts. During the hearing before Pakistan’s Supreme Court, Tareen was asked no questions about… – Continue reading
Plan proposes 12.5% tax rate on intellectual-property income Bills ‘upend decades of U.S. tax policy’ on tight deadline U.S. companies that make billions of dollars from patents and other intellectual property held offshore would be eligible for a special 12.5 percent tax rate on those earnings under the Senate tax… – Continue reading
Universities are always looking for new ways to increase returns on their endowments. The hunt for lucrative investments has reportedly led several institutions offshore. College endowments are typically exempt from federal taxes. However, when income is earned on an endowment outside of the core educational mission, it can be subject… – Continue reading
What more could the Indonesian tax authority do than simply pledge to investigate and verify information on taxpayers who sheltered their wealth secretly in offshore tax havens, as revealed last week through the leaked Paradise Papers. But the stated commitment is meaningless unless the government acts quickly and firmly to… – Continue reading
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (CMC) — The Cayman Islands, noting that it has had to get used to “unfair and inaccurate” reporting about its global financial sector, is distancing itself from the so-called Paradise Papers, a set of confidential documents related to offshore investment. In addition, the island has also… – Continue reading
The company known for the ‘double Irish’ scheme is moving its subsidiaries’ tax residency. A set of leaked documents from offshore law firm Appleby has revealed that Apple stashed $250 billion in Jersey, a tiny island off the coast of France known for being a tax haven. The tech titan… – Continue reading
Appleby, the offshore law firm, has spoken out against recent media coverage, which implies but does not allege that there is wrongdoing in the papers recently exposed that include information on its clients’ tax affairs – the so-called Paradise Papers. In its latest statement, the firm said: “Recent media coverage,… – Continue reading
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has released a database of around 13.4 million documents revealing over 25,000 companies owned by the world’s rich and influential individuals. The ICIJ coordinated the Panama Papers investigation into offshore companies. The latest files have disclosed the financial details of politicians, corporations, and… – Continue reading
LABUAN: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Governor Tan Sri Muhammad Ibrahim says the time has come for a review of Labuan’s current tax framework. He said the review is not only to ensure alignment with international best practices but also confirm the continued relevance of such incentives in catalysing new growth… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: The NAB is presently examining all cases of offshore companies, including those unearthed by the Panama Papers to ensure across-the-board accountability. NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal told The News here on Monday that he was presently studying the cases of offshore companies to see what wrong had been… – Continue reading
Three companies are ultimately owned in the Cayman and British Virgin islands, raising questions about the tax implications of profits generated by solar assets Adani has spread its use of offshore tax havens to its Australian solar projects, providing another avenue that could allow the wealthy Indian family behind the… – Continue reading
General Electric, Boston Scientific and other major Massachusetts-based companies are accused of keeping billions of dollars in offshore accounts to avoid taxation in 2016, according to a new report. In fact, the practice extends to 366 of the companies on the Fortune 500 list, according to the Massachusetts Public Interest… – Continue reading
Exemptions make the mandatory disclosure regime a joke, says MEP Matt Carthy The Revenue Commissioners have received just 11 reports of potentially abusive tax-avoidance schemes since Ireland made it mandatory in early 2011 for transactions giving “aggressive” tax advantages to be disclosed to authorities. The disclosure by Minister for Finance… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Inclusion of consultancy services under Construction PEs, foreign firms engaged in construction activities in the country, is likely to impact the real estate sector, says a PwC report. PE (Permanent Establishment) is a fixed place of business which generally gives rise to income or value-added tax liability in… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Since last month, Indians with overseas bank accounts are receiving letters from offshore financial institutions, asking them to disclose ‘tax residency status’ before Christmas. If they don’t, banks holding these accounts would share whatever information they have on such account holders with the Indian government. Many account holders are… – Continue reading
European Union finance ministers gave formal approval to legislation designed to dramatically reduce the 900-plus unresolved company cross-border double taxation disputes. The Oct. 10 approval for the EU Double Taxation Dispute Resolution Directivecomes amid skepticism from tax professionals that it has the resources to be effective. It includes mandatory binding… – Continue reading
Cisco Korea may have to share its key financial information starting next year as the government aggressively pushes to tackle the lack of transparency and tax-dodging practices by foreign enterprises, according to industry sources, Tuesday. “Though there still is much to be seen about the application of the revision, it… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked on Wednesday that the motive behind hiding an offshore company is to hide wealth. He made the observation while hearing a disqualification petition against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jehangir Tareen. A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and… – Continue reading
On 30 September 2017, the Criminal Finances Act came into force. The Act, billed as the British response to the Panama Papers cyber breach scandal, aims to take the profit out of tax evasion. Under the Act, your business could be criminally liable for the actions of your employees. The… – Continue reading
The Federal Tax Service (FTS) removes the British Virgin Islands (BVI) from the black list of ‘tax havens’. This change will affect the interests of Russian owners of the local companies. Leaving BVI for another offshore may help them keep their secrets, but not forever. Removal of the BVI from… – Continue reading
GOP Leadership’s Proposal for a “Territorial Tax System” Would Encourage Corporations to Send Jobs Offshore and Avoid Paying Taxes. WASHINGTON – Today, 100 organizations sent a letter urging members of Congress to reject a proposal that would allow U.S. multinational corporations to pay little to nothing on their offshore profits…. – Continue reading
Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Godfrey Statia warned Guyanese businessmen against offshore tax evasion, saying that global systems are being increasingly networked to weed out tax cheats and report them to their home-countries. Addressing a luncheon organised by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) at the Georgetown… – Continue reading
If you live in Nigeria and you have a foreign bank account; you should read this.If things go as planned, the FIRS will soon have access to information on the money and other financial investments that you have in your foreign bank account. This will happen when the Common Reporting… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The tax authorities have kicked off a planned program under which they share foreign individuals’ financial-account information with the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), sources said on Saturday/ The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), issued a notification regarding the schedule for exchange of… – Continue reading
The World Bank has released French and Spanish translations of its Toolkit on the taxation of offshore indirect transfers and extended the deadline for feedback to October 20. The tax treatment of “offshore indirect transfers” (OITs) – in essence, the sale of an entity owning an asset located in one… – Continue reading
Tax inversions by US multinationals attempting to shift profits into lower tax jurisdictions could cost the US up to $12bn (£7.4bn) in lost corporate tax revenues by 2027, according to figures released by the US Congressional Budget Office There were 11 major corporate inversions from 2014-2015, although two significant inversions… – Continue reading
Letters calling for the elimination of FATCA, among other tax issues, will be presented to the White House in about two weeks’ time. A global political organisation with affiliation to the Republican Party has recently launched a petition and letter writing campaign in protest of “citizenship-based” taxation – partly in… – Continue reading
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s government has issued new regulations aimed at tracing and taxing the wealth of taxpayers who were not pardoned in the nine-month tax amnesty that ended in March. Around 972,000 taxpayers joined the amnesty programme and declared assets worth a total of 4,881 trillion rupiah (272 billion pounds)…. – Continue reading
In its latest policy paper to target the cross-border financial services sector, the UK government today unveiled proposed legislation that seeks to prevent the use of offshore trusts to avoid tax. The measure ensures that payments from an offshore trust intended for a UK-resident individual “don’t escape tax when they… – Continue reading
Multinational corporations with profits held overseas would face a mandatory one-time tax as part of the planned Republican tax legislation, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday. “There will be a ‘deemed tax’ as a one-time charge,” Mnuchin said in an interview with Fox News at the Treasury. U.S. companies have… – Continue reading
Changes to partnership taxation are to go ahead with draft legislation now published, effectively clarifying the tax treatment for partnerships to ensure that the principle of taxing the beneficiary of partnership profit applies and to prevent a double reporting burden on investment partnership This measure makes changes to the income… – Continue reading
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s state council issued guidelines on Wednesday on improving supervision to curb money laundering, terrorism financing and tax evasion. China will step up monitoring of abnormal cross-border capital movements to crackdown on cross-border financial crimes, the state council said in a statement on its website, adding that… – Continue reading
Anguilla’s ex-attorney general says UK government may fear exposing its role in Caribbean territories’ tax arrangements Aid offered by the British government to its hurricane-battered territories in the Caribbean has been dismissed as “derisory” by a former attorney general of one of the worst-hit islands. Rupert Jones, who completed a… – Continue reading
Dept starts prosecution against 5 people with Rs 5k cr of unaccounted wealth in British Virgin Islands. The income-tax (I-T) department has established charges against five persons with unaccounted foreign assets of Rs 5,000 crore in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a Caribbean tax haven. Investigations are on in more… – Continue reading
While at the beginning of the year (The Indian Express, March 16, 2017) the number of requests sent by India stood at 283 cases, it has now crossed 300. And while the number of replies received from among these 13 jurisdictions stood at 165, that figure has now crossed 240…. – Continue reading
Forced succession may come into play. In a bid to protect themselves against geopolitical and currency risks, many South Africans have been investing a growing part of their wealth offshore. Due to the different laws applicable, estate planning across multiple jurisdictions is a complicated exercise and it is advisable to… – Continue reading
Wealth managers have only days to send clients warning letters about disclosing overseas assets to the taxman, or risk a £3,000 fine. Wealth managers, advisers and fund managers have until 31 August to send an HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) approved letter to clients about holding assets abroad which warns… – Continue reading
A loophole may make it a good place for foreigners to keep cash. Some 65,000 Puerto Ricans left their bankrupt U.S. island commonwealth last year. A group of private bankers are moving the other way. They’re increasingly opening offshore banks known as International Financial Entities, which were created by a… – Continue reading
Four of the world’s largest companies have been under investigation by Australian tax authorities, amid new evidence from US executives about how Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft are shifting money to offshore tax havens. Appearing before a highly anticipated public hearing into corporate tax evasion, the executives endured questions about… – Continue reading
