Finance Minister Colm Imbert and US Ambassador John Estrada yesterday signed an agreement that will pave the way for the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) enacted in the United States of America in 2010. Imbert signed on behalf of T&T, while Ambassador signed on behalf of… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: In a major development, Pakistan has been formally offered to sign and ratify a 98-countries’ convention — “Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters” — to check tax evasion and tax avoidance by any of its nationals living in any of the member countries. Signing the convention… – Continue reading
The Mauritian Government has announced that, on August 11, a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) was signed between Mauritius and South Korea for the mutual sharing of tax information. The TIEA provide for cooperation in tax matters between the two jurisdictions. The agreement, once ratified, will allow each country to… – Continue reading
There is little that can be done about FATCA and the change has to come from within the U.S. Death and taxes, life’s two certainties according to Keynes, sometimes have a causal relationship. One dies and some taxes are often associated with that event. Alternatively, one encounters so much regulation… – Continue reading
Countries pursuing billions in unpaid taxes push region’s wealthy to pull cash from accounts LONDON — Switzerland’s private bankers fear cash-strapped Latin American countries pursuing billions of dollars in unpaid taxes will push the region’s wealthy to pull cash from their Swiss bank accounts. For these banks, still recovering from… – Continue reading
Indonesia will be among the first to join the group of countries adopting the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) in 2018. AEOI would provide automatic exchange of tax information among the members of the group. All bank accounts in the world would be accessible for taxable assets. Dishonest and greedy… – Continue reading
Possible EU sanctions against New Zealand could make travel harder and have a massive effect on the economy. New Zealand is under investigation by the EU as it prepares a blacklist of global tax havens, Newshub revealed on Monday night. The grouping of 28 European nations has compiled a list… – Continue reading
Almost every country and every government now is fighting to detect undeclared Incomes and boost their tax collection. This could potentially help various countries show and collect large taxes from offshore accounts. The renewed thrust on automatic exchange of information (AEOI) between countries could achieve what seemed like a dream… – Continue reading
The government is hell-bent on cracking down on black money and undisclosed income of Indians within the country and safely stowed away abroad. While there is no proper estimation of the actual amount of black money in the economy, the government is actively taking measures to stop it. Recent media… – Continue reading
Indonesia is demanding healthy, fair and transparent taxation practices at the recent G20 meeting in Chengdu, China, as the country struggles to widen its stubbornly narrow tax base. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro intervened in the G20 High Level Tax Symposium by stating that the Indonesian government wanted fair and transparent… – Continue reading
At the recent G20 meeting in China, finance ministers stressed their support for greater tax transparency, calling for a report from the OECD on the implementation of automatic exchange of information before the end of the year, and stating that by July 2017 it wants a list of non-compliant jurisdictions… – Continue reading
Panama has agreed to sign a multilateral tax treaty, which the Indian agencies believe will help them expedite investigations into the “Panama papers” recently made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Monday announced that Panama formally communicated to the… – Continue reading
Panama announced on July 15, 2016, that it intends to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, said: “We very much welcome Panama’s request to join the Convention. Signing and ratifying the Convention will… – Continue reading
The UAE Ministry of Finance has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) on the automatic exchange of information for tax purposes in its premises. This step follows the ministry’s commitment to exchange tax information according to international requirements and sign agreements on the avoidance of double taxation…. – Continue reading
As part of the aim to sustainably meet the highest international standards in the tax field, the Minister of Finance Dr. Jose Jardim has joined the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting agenda of the OECD. In this context, the section with regard to the Common Reporting Standards concerning the automatic… – Continue reading
The Dominican Republic and Nauru signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on June 28, 2016. The two countries are the 97th and 98th jurisdictions to sign the Convention. Nauru, a tiny island nation in Micronesia, has already deposited its instrument of ratification to bring the… – Continue reading
On 9 May 2016, Singapore passed the Income Tax (Amendment No. 2) Act 2016 (Amendment Act). This is a first step towards the implementation of the Common Reporting Standards (CRS) developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) into Singapore law. The legislation sets up the legal framework… – Continue reading
The FBR has proposed powers through Finance Bill 2016-17 for entering into treaty with bilateral or multilateral forums for exchange of information to ensure prevention of tax evasions in the aftermath of Panama Leaks disclosure that many Pakistani influential owned offshore companies abroad. In totality, the FBR took tax measures… – Continue reading
The unpopular Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) of the United States has set off a rash of similar legislation around the world, and Costa Rica has been eager to adopt these international asset reporting treaties, which many taxpayers consider overreaching and in violation of financial privacy. The Costa Rica… – Continue reading
Tensions between the EU and the US over tax follow investigations into Apple in Ireland The US should be added to a new European blacklist of tax havens being drawn up by the European Commission, according to a report commissioned by the Green group in the European Parliament. The report,… – Continue reading
In August 2015, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published the first edition of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) Implementation Handbook to provide practical guidance to assist government officials in implementing the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters (AEOI). The AEOI and CRS… – Continue reading
Hot off the heels of the Panamanian documents leak, 5 EU countries announced last month that they have agreed to exchange beneficial ownership information. France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK will now automatically exchange information on the ultimate beneficial owners of companies and trusts. These 5 EU countries are… – Continue reading
The government of the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) has recently clarified the filing deadlines under the various automatic exchange of information regimes in a number of bulletins and press releases. UK FATCA / UK CDOT The BVI government has advised that BVI Reporting Financial Institutions will be able to enrol… – Continue reading
As promised earlier this year, the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) has published Guidance Notes for the implementation of the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The CRS, the new global standard for automatic exchange of information for tax purposes, obliges all participating countries and jurisdictions to obtain financial information from their… – Continue reading
Overview If you have been reading my articles on JD Supra for a while, you will know that I love Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music. Nevertheless, the Hall and Oates song Private Eyes, is a more fitting song to describe the state of offshore planning in Tax Havens than “Oye Como… – Continue reading
FATCA Notification and Reporting Deadlines Extended The Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (“DITC”) has issued an industry advisory advising that it will be adopting a soft approach to the upcoming 30 April notification deadline for US and UK FATCA and 31 May reporting deadline for both US and… – Continue reading
Panama is a tax haven, but Mauritius is one with which India has a comprehensive double tax treaty. This complicates matters more. In popular Indian imagination, a tax haven is generally associated with Switzerland and its numbered bank accounts. But tax havens are numerous, have grown in importance, and are… – Continue reading
Both the US and the global forum working on automatic exchange of information under OECD have endorsed the data safeguards put in place by India New Delhi: India’s tax systems have withstood international scrutiny over data confidentiality and other safeguards put in place by the government before the revenue authorities… – Continue reading
The proposed Article 26 (exchange of information) of the convention on Avoidance of Double Taxation, being renegotiated between Pakistan and Switzerland, would bound the Swiss tax authorities to exchange all requested information, including confidential bank account information of Pakistanis maintaining Swiss accounts. Sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that… – Continue reading
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has launched the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) also known as the common reporting standard (CRS) – a globally co-ordinated approach to disclosure of account information between tax authorities. It follows on from several country’s successful implementation of the US Fatca regulations… – Continue reading
With increasing number of people from multiple countries investing in India and vice versa, there is a need to have a system that could track all such financial transactions in a transparent manner. With increasing number of people from multiple countries investing in India and vice versa, there is a… – Continue reading
The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, through its Inland Revenue Department has gone live with Vizor Software’s FATCA & AEOI solution, the FATCA Reporting Portal. Ottawa, Canada (PRWEB) March 17, 2016 Today, Vizor Ltd. announced that the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has gone live with the Vizor… – Continue reading
Summary The pace of change in international tax is dramatic. Each month brings new initiatives and developments at both national and supra-national levels. In this update, we focus on recent changes which are relevant to our clients. The OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) reports were finalised in October… – Continue reading
For the last five years, the U.S. has waged a strong battle against offshore tax evasion. In 2010, America began its boldest crackdown with the enactment of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (known widely as “FATCA”). FATCA requires foreign financial institutions (e.g., banks, investment houses, etc.) doing business in… – Continue reading
Switzerland and the US have agreed a new Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) exemption clause for accounts held by lawyers or notaries. Under the clause, inserted into the Swiss-US FATCA Agreement, accounts maintained for specific purposes by lawyers or notaries for their clients (i.e. accounts held in connection with… – Continue reading
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued final regulations that require certain financial institutions (FIs) to report on accounts held or controlled by foreign residents from March 1, 2016. The OECD’s automatic tax information exchange standard, the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), which the regulations are in response to, obliges… – Continue reading
Its official name is the global standard for automatic exchange of financial account information – these nine words are a simple distillation of an ambitious project to tackle global tax evasion. Known more regularly as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), it will see government-to-government sharing of account holder information and… – Continue reading
For those taxpayers with undisclosed foreign assets, time is running out. With the introduction of FATCA and a global standard for the automatic exchange of information between countries’ tax authorities, it is unlikely that undisclosed foreign assets will remain as such for long, resulting in serious consequences for the taxpayer…. – Continue reading
Governments globally should take steps to adjust taxation systems to close loopholes allowing multinational corporations to avoid paying taxes in countries of their origin, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Monday. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The IMF chief said taxation allows governments to mobilize their revenues. She… – Continue reading
FINANCE Minister Pravin Gordhan is widely expected to announce a new foreign exchange control and tax amnesty in his budget on Wednesday in a bid to encourage taxpayers who have not disclosed billions of rand worth of offshore assets to declare them and pay the due tax. The move would… – Continue reading
The Government has released an issues paper on New Zealand’s implementation of an OECD initiative the OECD claims will “end banking secrecy as we have known it.” The OECD’s Automatic Exchange Of Information (AEOI) initiative is setting a global standard for sharing information between countries with the aim of reducing… – Continue reading
The Indian government clarified on Friday that the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and Common Reporting Standards (CRS) will not entail reporting of all fixed deposits and auto sweep facilities in pre-existing savings bank accounts. “During stakeholders consultations, representatives of financial institutions informed that in such… – Continue reading
New Delhi :The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a clarification with regard to an inter-governmental agreement between India and USA signed for implementation of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The CBDT further said in its statement that the Government of India has also joined the Multilateral… – Continue reading
The EU and Andorra have signed a new tax transparency agreement that will make it harder for EU citizens to stash undeclared income in financial institutions in Andorra. The agreement is in line with EU’s effort to increase tax transparency and tackle tax avoidance and evasion. This deal complies with… – Continue reading
What is FATCA? FATCA refers to US legislation more fully known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and includes the US Treasury regulations implementing it. It was enacted as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010 (otherwise known as the, “HIRE Act”) on 18 March… – Continue reading
The Government recently introduced into the Legislative Council a bill to provide a legal framework for the implementation of automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters (“AEOI”). This would have significant implications both for financial institutions and, in a cosmopolitan city like Hong Kong, for many of their… – Continue reading
In almost every field of legal work, privacy is regarded as a primary and legitimate concern to protect the interests of individuals and organisations. This was confirmed recently when the European Court of Justice (ECJ) struck down the US-EU data exchange agreement amid fears that data transferred to the US… – Continue reading
Kenya will now be able to pursue individuals who use offshore companies to evade taxes and commit other economic crimes, after it signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters last week. The agreement is the most comprehensive multilateral instrument available for all forms of cooperation to… – Continue reading
The push for a tax amnesty has attracted a fair amount of criticism and even rebuke from analysts, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and even the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Yustinus Prastowo, a respectable tax analyst, went so far as… – Continue reading
Multinational companies operating in Europe will have to publicly disclose their earnings and the tax paid in each European country if new measures being proposed by the European Commission come into force, The Guardian has reported. The Commission will propose new legislation in April that makes profit and tax information… – Continue reading
