Funds Discovered in Kolomoyskyi’s Cyprus Kitty Investigative reporters have discovered that IMF bailout funds intended for Ukraine have mysteriously found their way to a Cyprus bank account controlled by notorious Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi. A huge chunk of the $17 billion in bailout money the IMF granted to Ukraine in… – Continue reading
The former chief executive of Nudie Juice, Andrew Binetter, is being sued by the Australian Taxation Office following allegations he oversaw a tax scam involving millions of dollars. The case, which is due to be heard in the Federal Court before Justice Gleeson today in Sydney, follows investigations by the… – Continue reading
Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova delivered a scathing final statement in a Baku courtroom on August 31, calling Azerbaijan’s government a “repression machine” and dismissing her trial as a “scam” aimed to silence her. Before she was cut off without finishing her remarks, Ismayilova told the court that her reporting proved… – Continue reading
Navigating the murky waters of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) can be tricky. U.S businesses and individuals transacting in Latin America need to adhere to the requirements and regulations imposed by the fact. Here are four things every U.S business and individual needs to know about FATCA. Tax… – Continue reading
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires, in essence, that U.S. citizens who reside outside the U.S. disclose to the IRS all of their foreign banking assets including retirement plans, savings accounts, etc. It also requires foreign banks to assist the IRS in applying the disclosure rules or else… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service loses billions of dollars annually because of offshore tax evasion. For years, a number of American taxpayers have evaded federal income taxes by channeling income into secret foreign or offshore bank accounts in some 70 countries. An award-winning investigative series by the Tribune-Review, $hadow Economy ,… – Continue reading
Departing deputy social security minister Pavlos Chaikalis leaves his seat while admitting that he owned a company in Cyprus that he has failed to declare to tax authorities. Chaikalis, MP of junior coalition partner ANEL, was forced to answer questions under parliamentary scrutiny after the insistence of New Democracy lawmaker… – Continue reading
Introduction Transfer pricing methods and tested parties Troubling trend Tools for taxpayers Introduction In some recent transfer pricing audits the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has ‘flipped the tested party’ after examining transactions between related US and foreign companies. Typically, this practice results in the attribution of a larger portion of… – Continue reading
The Bank of Israel asked Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. to set up an independent committee to examine management performance and bonuses after the lender agreed in December to pay a fine to U.S. authorities in a tax probe. Leumi, Israel’s second-largest lender, agreed the $400 million fine after a seven-year… – Continue reading
Three-member AP Shah Committee has recommended extending minimum alternate tax (MAT) relief to foreign companies which do not have permanent establishment or public business in India. In an earlier version, the committee had sought to restrict MAT to foreign institutional investors and foreign portfolio investors. The committee had also not… – Continue reading
Tax authority alerts police amid suspicion that foreign companies have defrauded its system over past three years Denmark’s tax authority said on Wednesday that it had alerted police after foreign companies appeared to have drained more than 800m euros from the system in what would be the country’s biggest tax… – Continue reading
Three-member AP Shah Committee has recommended extending minimum alternate tax (MAT) relief to foreign companies which do not have permanent establishment or public business in India. In an earlier version, the committee had sought to restrict MAT to foreign institutional investors and foreign portfolio investors. The committee had also not… – Continue reading
This Annual Conference Provides Global Tax Compliance Experts With Insight on Adopting an Internationally Accepted Standard of Tax Transparency and Compliance NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwired – August 25, 2015) – marcus evans, the world’s largest event management group, will host the 4th FATCA and Global Tax Compliance Forum on November 4-6,… – Continue reading
Greece’s Deputy Finance Minister, Trifon Alexiadis, has fired Greece’s first salvo in the fight to overcome the country’s non-compliance problems, announcing the introduction of a comprehensive scheme of asset registration for all taxpayers. The new “Asset Declaration” measure will apply from the beginning of 2016. In preparation, the tax authorities… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Regulator SEBI today asked market entities to ensure compliance with changed income tax regulations, with India becoming a signatory to FATCA as well as a global pact to check tax evasion. The latest directive comes close on the heels of the government signing FATCA with the United States… – Continue reading
Security fears; Global authorities to begin sharing sensitive data If you have a bank account somewhere overseas, that information will make its way back to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in a couple of years. In 2018, international tax authorities will begin automatically sharing financial information under the terms of… – Continue reading
Foreign asset declarations by Spanish taxpayers have totaled EUR126.3bn (USD145bn) since 2013, when such declarations became compulsory, Spain’s Ministry of Finance has said. The Ministry said that in the past three months 1,813 taxpayers declared EUR1.9bn in foreign assets under Modelo 720, which requires tax resident individuals to report assets… – Continue reading
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted in 2010 by the Government of the United States of America (USA) (Govt. of US) with a view to combat tax evasion by U.S. citizens and residents through the use of offshore accounts. FATCA requires financial institutions globally to share information about… – Continue reading
The Government has handed HM Revenue & Customs new powers to help it meet tax evasion prosecution targets. In the Summer Budget, the Treasury pledged a £750m investment in HMRC. The Chancellor said the cash would be used to pursue offshore trusts and would triple the number of evaders the… – Continue reading
Money laundering experts say there is no way for Canadians to know how much dirty money is being laundered in Vancouver real estate through Canadian lawyers. As a Province investigation revealed Monday, Canada’s financial intelligence unit Fintrac has ramped up an audit of Vancouver’s booming property market because of concerns… – Continue reading
Aug 24 (Reuters) – Switzerland expects to adopt a new law by the end of the year that will speed restitution of illicit funds stashed in the Alpine country, where thousands of ‘politically exposed persons’ are believed to hold bank accounts, a top Swiss official said on Monday. Swiss authorities… – Continue reading
Canada Life’s acquisition of Legal & General International has resulted in a combined 29% share of the offshore bond market into the UK. Managing director of Canada Life International, Sean Christian, revealed the figure in an interview with international Adviser while discussing the details of the deal and the opportunities… – Continue reading
This article is an outline of tax havens and the effects that such systems have on competition outcomes. In the quest to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), governments especially those in developing countries engage potential investors in negotiations and provide various incentives to reach development agreements. Those incentives may include… – Continue reading
A new paper shows that British banks engaged in more offshore banking than any other financial centre. Researchers examining the resilience of the world’s financial centres after the global economic crisis conclude that the future stability of the UK is perhaps the most uncertain of all. The paper concludes that… – Continue reading
Hopeful of settling disputes with 120 US companies in next 3 months NEW DELHI, AUG 23: India will, in the next three months, settle tax disputes involving 120 US companies, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das has said. This will be done under the new framework agreement on Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP)… – Continue reading
What to think about when moving your money. SANDTON – Since 2000 there has been a dramatic change in how much money South African residents are legally allowed to transfer overseas. Fifteen years ago, individuals were only entitled to a lifetime allowance of R750 000, and that required a tax… – Continue reading
Banks overseas, spooked by India’s stringent new black money law, are asking tough questions of people and entities from the country looking to open accounts with them, reports the Economic Times. That’s because it’s not just those who possess unaccounted wealth who will get punished, those found guilty of helping… – Continue reading
American residents or nationals, citizens and green card holders – persons of interest – living in Jamaica are required to file US tax returns and must, by voluntary disclosure, fill out a form to disclose ‘foreign assets’. The filing of a Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report (FBAR) is an… – Continue reading
Introduction Individuals whose domicile of origin is outside United Kingdom Non-UK individuals with UK domicile of origin Consultation and legislation New inheritance tax rules for UK residential property held within offshore corporate envelopes Comment Introduction Individuals domiciled outside the United Kingdom might have been justified in thinking that they would… – Continue reading
FOR MANY YEARS countries around the world have been engaging in the automatic exchange of information in order to tackle offshore tax evasion and other forms of non-compliance. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has been active in facilitating automatic exchange of information by creating the legal framework,… – Continue reading
Due to a little-noticed provision in the new highway appropriations bill signed into law on July 31 – the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 – the deadline for filing an FBAR (Report of Financial Bank and Financial Accounts) has been moved up from June… – Continue reading
(CS) German financial institution HSH Nordbank reportedly reached a 22-million-euro settlement with prosecutors in Cologne over setting up offshore companies through Luxembourg to hide client assets from tax authorities. Newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and broadcasters NDR and WDR first reported on the deal on Tuesday. Allegedly, HSH Nordbank approached the prosecutor’s… – Continue reading
Anyone with undisclosed overseas income, gains or assets will be wise to make use of the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility while it lasts, according to tax experts at Baker Tilly, reports FT Adviser. Andrew Hubbard, a partner at the firm, warned advisers that everything he has heard has led him to… – Continue reading
South Africans with undisclosed offshore accounts may feel exposed after their offshore Swiss bank account information found its way into the public domain this year. The theft of information relating to some 30 000 HSBC accounts – the biggest banking leak in history – actually took place five years ago… – Continue reading
Singapore-based wealth managers, already under pressure from a global move towards tax information sharing, face a more immediate threat as Asian countries including Indonesia and India look to chase undeclared money in the low-tax city state. A global crackdown on tax evasion launched during the 2008 financial crisis has already… – Continue reading
Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Chinese yuan-denominated deposits held by banks operating in Taiwan were lower at the end of July from a month earlier on rising awareness of the downside risks in China’s economy, according to analysts. Analysts said recent volatility in share prices in China’s equity markets and interest… – Continue reading
Recently, there’s been a lot of news about the difficulties that 2 banks in Belize have been having after their correspondent banking relationship was severed by the Bank of America. The Prime Minister has commented that it’s a situation that is lamentable, but inevitable. Not surprisingly, Opposition Leader Francis Fonseca… – Continue reading
The following article by Dr Monica Galea John, partner in the Financial Services Department, analyses the manner in which the Fourth EU Anti Money Laundering Directive (the “Directive“) which has just made its way through the EU’s legislation, obliges, for the first time, EU member states to maintain central registers… – Continue reading
A narrative which is now familiar to those working in Africa or who are involved in projects relating to Africa tends to enter into all discussions related to poverty and income disparity on that continent. That narrative, that the poverty and deprivation which exist on the continent are directly attributable… – Continue reading
The Senate inquiry into multinational tax avoidance will table an interim report today detailing some of its findings after holding five public hearings and receiving more than 100 submissions from some of the world’s largest companies including Apple, Microsoft, BHP, Rio Tinto and Google. The final report is due to… – Continue reading
It is the irony of ironies. Dollar for dollar, the tobacco companies appear to do more for Australian hospitals, roads and schools than any other group of foreign-controlled multinationals who operate in this country. An analysis of the financial statements of the three major tobacco companies here, Philip Morris (Australia)… – Continue reading
FEEDBACK FROM MY LAST ARTICLE, From The Frying Pan, was encouraging. Our past Prime Minister Errol Barrow asked us, “What is your mirror image of yourselves”. A searching question. Our response to FATCA can throw some light on the matter. Encouraged by the USA, the UK, and soon others, are… – Continue reading
The U.S. and China enjoy increasingly strong connections. Yet virtually no Chinese family or business relishes dealing with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). American tax laws are famously complex, and dealing with the IRS can be like quicksand. Of course, whether they like it or not, U.S. citizens and green… – Continue reading
Artisan goods marketplace Etsy Inc., which promised to be a beacon for transparency as a public company, recently implemented a strategy that shrouds its offshore tax-cutting arrangements in secrecy. Because of a change in how its Irish subsidiary is registered, Etsy no longer needs to publicly disclose basic financial information… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Large foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have voiced concerns before Indian capital market regulator Sebi about the fate of the Mauritius treaty which the government is renegotiating with the tax haven. Officials of more than 20 offshore asset managers, belonging to top banking groups and fund houses, met Sebi chairman… – Continue reading
A report by PriceWaterHouse Coppers (PwC) that chart the top risks in the global insurance sector and the growth concerns of insurance CEOs shows that cyber risk, interest rates and growing tax burden are now among the top risks for insurers, reports Business Day. This is indicative of how high… – Continue reading
Returning expatriates and new migrants who have transferred foreign pension schemes to New Zealand face potential tax penalties if they fail to take advantage of an Inland Revenue Department (IRD) amnesty on non-compliant returns. “We’ve seen a lot of Bay of Plenty people falling into the category and often it’s… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: High net-worth individuals who have invested in residential properties in the UK, will now have to deal with the issue of inheritance tax, which their heirs are unlikely to escape from. In its budget introduced in Parliament in June, the UK plugged a loophole that enabled foreign property buyers… – Continue reading
The rise of Islamic finance and sukuk issuances have brought with it a growing phenomenon: Shariah banking is increasingly taking advantage of offshore banking jurisdictions, and this for a number of reasons, reports the Gulf Times. Many offshore centres around the world meanwhile offer a wide range of features allowing… – Continue reading
A CAMPAIGN questioning the “fairness” of land ownership launched across Scotland yesterday. Our Land is a month-long initiative created by Common Weal, Women for Independence and land reform campaigners Andy Wightman and Lesley Riddoch and aims to highlight problems caused by a land ownership system that “allows a handful of… – Continue reading
