The central government is stepping up its anti-graft drive by cracking down on illegal lending and money-laundering operations in a bid to prevent outbound flows of stolen assets. The Ministry of Public Security says “black banks” and illegal currency exchanges have facilitated the flights of a number of former government… – Continue reading
South Africa is allowing MTN potentially lucrative tax credits on money sent from its African operations to a letterbox company in Mauritius. Last week, amaBhungane and Finance Uncovered, a global reporting project, exposed how MTN’s African subsidiaries send billions in management fees to MTN International in Mauritius. The Mauritian entity… – Continue reading
Extensive use has been made of trusts in South Africa, both for tax planning and for the purposes of reducing (or eradicating) one’s estate duty liability upon death. As the use of offshore trusts as a estate and wealth planning vehicle increases, one needs to consider if and how offshore… – Continue reading
London will struggle to become a home for the catastrophe bond market due to higher taxes and regulatory hurdles compared with offshore regimes, a report by Britain’s department of trade and consultants Grant Thornton said on Wednesday, reports Reuters. The report pours cold water on British government plans to develop… – Continue reading
PR chief, who pocketed more than £11m from his agency last year, attacks tax system for foreign-owned companies Matthew Freud has attacked the pittance Facebook pays in UK tax after footing a bill for almost £3m last year, as he pocketed more than £11m from his PR and marketing agency… – Continue reading
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) rents office space from a Vancouver-based property developer – a company that exploits offshore tax havens in Liechtenstein, the British Virgin Islands and Channel Islands. Larco Investments Ltd. owns three buildings in Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton where they rent office space to the CRA. Larco… – Continue reading
FATCA was passed to prevent U.S. citizens from evading tax by focusing primarily on foreign financial institutions with U.S. account holders. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted as part of the 2010 Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, and its provisions became effective as of 7/1/14. FATCA… – Continue reading
To facilitate the exchange of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) data under the intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) with Australia and the U.K., the U.S. Competent Authority has signed Competent Authority Arrangements (CAAs) with the Competent Authority of each country, announced IRS officials on September 24. The CAAs are the first… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service has made progress on implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, including explaining the various requirements to the affected stakeholders, according to a new report. The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, examined FATCA, which was included as part of the HIRE Act… – Continue reading
Lawmakers on Tuesday complained of an ongoing ‘information blackout’ concerning the outflow of deposits in the midst of the 2013 banking meltdown. Politicians claim that, amid the confusion during the March 2013 haircut, companies and individuals whisked their deposits abroad, thus enabling them to avoid detection by tax authorities here,… – Continue reading
Banking jobs in Geneva slipped to the lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis amid regulatory pressures, tax scrutiny and consolidation in the Swiss finance industry, according to lobby group Geneva Financial Center. Employees at banks in the city fell 3 percent to 18,855 in the 12 months through August,… – Continue reading
Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has decried what he called the high rate of tax evasion in Nigeria, describing it as inimical for the development of the country. Emmanuel said this at the opening of the Mandatory Professional Training Programme of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CTIN)… – Continue reading
The UK Government’s pledge to introduce a criminal offence that could put unintentional offshore tax evaders behind bars has been criticised by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT). Despite supporting HM Revenue & Customs efforts to tackle tax evasion, CIOT said it is opposed to the government installing a new… – Continue reading
Chinese measures to steady its rocky markets are putting the future of the offshore yuan bond market at risk, prompting record redemptions from so-called dim-sum debt funds and choking new issuance, reports Reuters. Just a few years ago investors were lining up to buy these offshore bonds denominated in a… – Continue reading
Swiss fund manager will use new Irish Icav structure to move product from the Caribbean domicile UBS has shifted a fund of hedge funds onshore to Ireland from the Cayman Islands, delivering another blow to the reputation of the Caribbean tax haven as the domicile of choice for international hedge… – Continue reading
Authorities in China have been doubling their efforts since April to track down illicit assets exported overseas. The People’s Bank of China, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange have been working together in this operation. Chinese… – Continue reading
Foreign companies entering the U.S. market for the first time will want to consider how their operations can be structured to minimize U.S. taxes. Although sales into the U.S. can be arranged in some cases to keep profits offshore, a sufficient presence ”on the ground” can pull sales income (and… – Continue reading
An independent panel appointed by Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. recommended that a former chairman and chief executive officer both return bonuses after the lender agreed to pay a fine to U.S. authorities in a tax probe. An insurer for the former bank officials will pay an additional $92 million. Leumi,… – Continue reading
The US Internal Revenue Service has begun receiving data from foreign banks about US expats’ overseas bank accounts and is now sharing data with certain foreign tax authorities to also support their tax enforcement efforts. The first tax information exchanges on September 30, 2015, were facilitated by a platform put… – Continue reading
EBENE, Mauritius, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Mauritius plans to launch a trading platform to hedge African currencies against the U.S. dollar, part of a bid to expand its role as a financial hub for the continent, the financial services minister said. The Indian Ocean island is also in talks to… – Continue reading
At a recent tax conference a senior Justice Department official reaffirmed the commitment of the U.S. Department of Justice to continue offshore enforcement efforts. As is widely reported the official stated: “We are well beyond Switzerland at this point,” she said, citing enforcement announcements concerning India, Israel, Liechtenstein, Panama, the… – Continue reading
Historically, unlike UK residents who are generally liable to CGT on disposals of UK residential property (other than their principal residence), non-residents have been able to dispose of such property potentially free from UK CGT. The UK government sought to address this inconsistency by introducing a CGT charge in the… – Continue reading
A former head of Australia’s anti-money-laundering agency wants tough rules introduced to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for foreign corrupt funds. Despite credible warnings that large volumes of illicit money leaving China are being laundered in Australia, an investigation by ABC programme Four Corners has found no… – Continue reading
(Ferenstein Wire) – Big tech companies are safeguarding billions of dollars in offshore tax havens, according to a new study. Apple alone, the biggest offender, is stashing $181 billion in revenue with an estimated tax burden of $59.2 billion. In other words, Apple’s taxes could pay for nearly the entirety… – Continue reading
To solve the problem of the haze afflicting Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, extraterritorial action is needed to quench the forest fires in Indonesia that are generating the haze. A cross-border solution is a necessary answer even if it raises questions of national sovereignty. The Singapore Government should implement laws that… – Continue reading
The Government has expressed a commitment to improving levels of UK corporate transparency but a recent Private Eye article [1], documenting the extent of ownership of British Land through offshore entities, shows just how far there is to go. By far the most common reason for owning UK property through… – Continue reading
Oct. 7 — The IRS offered two-pronged guidance on the effective dates of agreements for entities that apply on or after April 1 to be withholding foreign partnerships or withholding foreign trusts under the Foreign Account Compliance Act. In general, the Internal Revenue Service said Oct. 7, entities that apply… – Continue reading
On October 2, 2015, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the exchange of financial account information with certain foreign tax administrations in compliance with their obligations under various intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) put in place to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). IRS Commissioner John Koskinen stated that… – Continue reading
Dozens of banks signed amnesty agreements disclosing tactics, providing prosecutors with valuable information At a rate of one or two a week, Swiss banks are doing what was once unthinkable: revealing to the world how they helped wealthy Americans cheat on their taxes. Once bastions of secrecy, 41 Swiss banks… – Continue reading
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne suggested he’ll announce measures next month to enshrine in U.K. law an international plan to crack down on tax dodging. Osborne said Friday the so-called base-erosion and profit-shifting plan will be implemented by Britain at the “next fiscal event,” indicating it will form part… – Continue reading
DBS Bank’s Chinese unit has been chosen to be among the first group of banks to test a new international payment system that promises faster transactions for businesses using the yuan. The Cross-border International Payment System (CIPS), launched yesterday, is seen as a big step towards making the yuan a… – Continue reading
The Department of Justice announced today that Schaffhauser Kantonalbank (SHKB) has reached a resolution under the department’s Swiss Bank Program. The Swiss Bank Program, which was announced on Aug. 29, 2013, provides a path for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States. Swiss banks eligible to… – Continue reading
The UK Government has released details of its plans to abolish the permanency of non-domicile status through the introduction of a “deemed domicile rule.”, reports Tax News. In his Summer Budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to abolish the permanent non-dom tax status, meaning that anyone resident in the UK… – Continue reading
Tax evasion is a real threat to the global economy, and the biggest culprits are large corporations abusing loopholes to avoid paying taxes. According to research estimates, a total of US$240 billion worth of taxes is not being paid by corporations all over the world. Such a vast sum of… – Continue reading
Ministers of G20 countries must deliver on their climate finance promises and support a second wave of attacks on corporate tax cheats if they want to be successful in their Lima meeting, Oxfam said on Wednesday. “Corporate tax dodgers deprive Latin America of half of its potential tax revenue. This… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON — The Texas and Florida Bankers Associations have requested a rehearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals (D.C. Circuit) of its August decision to dismiss their case challenging the validity of 2012 IRS regulations requiring deposit interest income to be reported and setting up an exchange agreement on U.S…. – Continue reading
New Delhi, Oct 8 (KNN) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has emphasised the need to ensure that Common Reporting Standards on Automatic Exchange of Information are implemented globally on a fully reciprocal basis as this would be a key to prevent international tax evasion and avoidance. Jaitley was speaking at 49th… – Continue reading
The court overruled the order of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal issued last year suggesting that the income tax dept has jurisdiction in this dispute Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday ruled in favour of the Indian arm of Vodafone Group Plc. in a Rs.8,500 crore transfer pricing tax dispute…. – Continue reading
Spanish prosecutors have dropped all tax fraud charges against FC Barcelona’s Argentinian star Lionel Messi, but will pursue the case against his father. Jorge Horacio Messi and the footballer were accused of defrauding Spain’s tax office by not paying €4m (£2.9m, $4.5m) due in taxes between 2007-09. If convicted, the… – Continue reading
On October 5, 2015, the OECD released its final reports relating to the OECD/G20 base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project (the Final Reports). The BEPS project began in 2013 and has received unprecedented attention from governments and the private sector. The Final Reports outline the OECD’s recommendations and the… – Continue reading
Hervé Falciani, who exposed the global offshore industry with the HSBC data leak, is facing prosecution under skewed Swiss laws for data theft and espionage. This is his story. Swiss justice hounds those who breach banking secrecy even if in doing so they expose rogue banks. In the past decade,… – Continue reading
A financial adviser and a group of film producers who set up an international scheme are facing a trial for fraud. It is alleged the scheme, which took advantage of the tax relief the UK Government offers the film industry, created the appearance of huge “paper losses”, The Times reported… – Continue reading
While the thought of going abroad to work or retire may be exciting, the months leading up to departure are likely to be highly stressful. It is vital that you pay adequate attention to financial planning. In particular, the tax consequences of leaving the UK are quite complex, so it’s… – Continue reading
TRYNESS MBALE, Lusaka IN A bid to contribute to economic growth, Stanbic Bank Zambia has disbursed over K25 million to small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in various sectors this year. Stanbic Bank chief executive officer for east and southern Africa Zweli Munyati said the bank realises that the SMEs sector… – Continue reading
For many years international tax planning for Russian inbound and outbound investments, and wealth planning for Russian resident individuals, was rather straightforward. That was primarily due to relatively simple domestic tax rules and a degree of inexperience amongst the Russian tax and other interested authorities in relation to international tax… – Continue reading
The UK Government’s consultation paper on non-domicile status is “thin on the ground” when it comes to detail and, if introduced as proposed, will fail to treat some ‘non-doms’ fairly, according to tax experts. “It feels like this new legislation is being rushed through,” said Dean Mullaly, managing director of… – Continue reading
One-quarter of corporate tax and transfer pricing directors surveyed say their companies will fail to meet the first deadline proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan. Finance ministers for the G20 countries called on the OECD to… – Continue reading
Deemed domiciled; long term residents Indefinite non-domiciled status for UK tax purposes will become a thing of the past if the proposals in the Summer Budget are enacted. These are expected to take effect from 6 April 2017. A non-UK domiciliary may elect to be taxed on the remittance basis… – Continue reading
BOSTON – Tax havens are legal, but proponents of tax reform say eight companies headquartered in Massachusetts are using them and costing the state millions of dollars in revenue. The MassPIRG Education Fund and Citizens for Tax Justice released a report on Tuesday saying 72 percent of Fortune 500 companies… – Continue reading
A financial adviser is one of the five defendants embroiled in a court battle after facing allegations of setting up a £262 million tax avoidance scheme. In a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, financial adviser Norman Leighton, chartered accountant and film producer Keith Hayley, producer Robert Bevan, Charles Savill and… – Continue reading
