On the day he took office as Greece’s shipping minister in June 2012, Kostis Moussouroulis received a visit from a 90-year-old shipowner. He still remembers the older man’s words: “Don’t forget, the best minister of shipping and maritime affairs is the minister who is doing nothing for the shipping industry…. – Continue reading
Global taxpayers can expect to pay more tax in the years ahead. Many governments worldwide continue to update their tax legislation and expand their tax systems to repay debt and pay for increased social welfare, even as the memory of the last global financial crisis lingers. These are the conclusions… – Continue reading
Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said that he no longer expects that the European Commission will release its decision on the legality of a tax ruling provided to Apple before Christmas. Noonan confirmed that the Commission had requested additional information on the ruling. He said it will take the… – Continue reading
The Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Tax Policy today both announced hearings relating to the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project. Both hearings are scheduled for Tuesday, December 1, 2015. SENATE FINANCE HEARING According to today’s release, the Senate Finance Committee’s… – Continue reading
BERN, Switzerland, 25 November 2015 / PRN Africa / — Today, the Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the agreement regarding the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) in tax matters with the EU and submitted it to Parliament for approval. The agreement was the subject of a consultation procedure from… – Continue reading
4AMLDThe arm of the UK Government is likely to extend into offshore trusts where they contain UK tax paying beneficiaries. Whether or not this information will be linked at an EU level remains to be seen. Following the introduction of the EU’s 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD), and recent G20… – Continue reading
Eight out of ten Europeans think there should be a legal clampdown on tax havens, a pan-European poll commissioned by 24 NGOs has found. The results of the YouGov poll of more than 18,000 EU citizens, released ahead of a vote in the European parliament tomorrow to approve recommendations to… – Continue reading
Multinationals should pay their taxes where they make their profits, according to one of the recommendations by the tax rulings committee, which were adopted by MEPs on 25 November. Report authors Elisa Ferreira (S&D, Portugal) and Michael Theurer (ALDE, Germany) told us it had been difficult for the committee to… – Continue reading
News Hour: Today the European Parliament voted in favor of specific recommendations aimed at stopping corporate tax avoidance across the European Union. The plenary adopted the report of its special committee on tax rulings, which had been created after the Luxleaks scandal. Oxfam welcomes the parliament’s broad consensus on ending… – Continue reading
In the aftermath of the Paris attack on November 13, the European Union (EU) is looking to crack down on bitcoin with the hope of preventing the financing of future attacks. Regulators and advocacy groups agree, though, that kneejerk regulation is not what is needed; rather, it’s an increase in… – Continue reading
Corporation tax in Northern Ireland is on its way ‘The future depends on what you do today’. It’s a very simple mantra but it rings so true when you consider the author and what he achieved, Mahatma Gandhi truly was a man of iconic vision and wisdom. As details of… – Continue reading
Steptoe & Johnson LLP Today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) announced that the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on December 1, to examine the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) reports and the European Union’s (EU) State Aid investigations… – Continue reading
In order to encourage the growth of international trade including that of financial services, successive Maltese governments have sought to conclude double tax treaties with important trading partners as well as with emerging countries. This policy is expected to continue in the future. To date, treaties are in force with… – Continue reading
Over 90 jurisdictions have committed to the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS), creating comprehensive global automatic information exchange for financial assets and the entities through which such assets may be held. Over 70 jurisdictions have signed the OECD’s Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement, which implements the CRS. The CRS is scheduled… – Continue reading
MILAN (Reuters) – San Marino is looking for a new central bank governor to clean up its banks – traditional havens for tax dodgers – and fix their badly damaged balance sheets. Big problems for the micro-state began in 2009 when Italy, hit hard by the global financial crisis, added… – Continue reading
A European Parliamentary debate this afternoon discussed measures that would lead to the curtailing of tax evasion and avoidance. A debate was sparked last year when it was revealed that Luxembourg had struck preferential multi-billion dollar tax deals with some of the world’s largest multinational corporations. This debate has been… – Continue reading
Earlier we already reported that Malta and Curaçao had signed a DTA. When we wrote our earlier article we had not yet been able to locate the text of the DTA. Now however, the English version of the Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal… – Continue reading
Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci says the country is set to follow in the footsteps of Spain, Portugal and Cyprus and launch its own Golden Visa scheme to grant citizenship to those foreigners who invest from €500,000-€1m in property, reports Property Showrooms. Leading Istanbul agent, Universal21, says the move could… – Continue reading
Switzerland is on its way towards the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI). The AEOI will lead to the transmission of sets of data from a reporting financial institution (e.g. a bank) to the domestic tax authority. The domestic tax authority will have to exchange such data with the respective foreign… – Continue reading
Following a ruling by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration, payments of interest under the DDM Treasury SEK 300 million Senior Secured Notes with ISIN SE0005280831 (the “Notes”) are subject to Swiss withholding tax since the refinancing executed in June 2015. On 23 June 2015 certain amendments to the documentation in… – Continue reading
As the founder of a startup company, one of the first questions you need to consider is “where should I incorporate my company?” Investors are drawn to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for its flexible and modern corporate regime, tax neutrality, respected legal system, political stability and effective regulatory framework…. – Continue reading
The European Commission has requested that the Netherlands amend the limitation on benefits clause in its double tax treaty with Japan. The Commission said that, on the basis of previous cases such as Gottardo (C-55/00) and Open Skies (C-466/98), a member state concluding a treaty with a third country cannot… – Continue reading
Nawaz Sharif has turned his full attention for close relations with Central Asian states since the five of them broke away from Russia 23 years ago. Fast track negotiations between Central Asian and Pakistani leaderships are slated to turn their countries into a big, new economic zone. Their desire and… – Continue reading
“India’s concerns are known…there can be no compromise on the issue of terror…India’s longstanding position is that there is no good or bad terror and all forms of terrorism are unacceptable and must be fought by the global community as well as each and every country”, the source told reporters…. – Continue reading
On the face of it, Malta literally has the highest corporate tax rate in the EU. At 35%, it hardly seems to be a competitor to European tax havens like Ireland and Cyprus, both applying a rate of 12.5%, or territories like Gibraltar. At a rate of 10%, the latter… – Continue reading
The creation of the Group of Twenty (G20) was believed to serve as a remedy to the harsh realities of the world today. The initial formation of the Group of Seven G7 could do little to avert pertinent challenges both the developing and the developed nations face frequently. So a… – Continue reading
The blacklisting saga did not start with Spain, but it did end with a timely correction related to it. Harbour Times explains how Hong Kong was taken off the Spanish tax haven list. Friends of Harbour Times would be familiar with the remedy of Hong Kong being named a non-cooperative… – Continue reading
The European Commission has requested that Spain amend its rules on the taxation of certain income obtained by foreign non-profit entities and of certain contributions to such entities. The crux of the Commission’s complaint is that foreign non-profit entities that derive income from Spain, but which are established in another… – Continue reading
The UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Responsible Tax will on November 23 launch a public consultation on the impact of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting on the tax rules in place in the UK. Led by Margaret Hodge, the former Chair of the UK’s Public Accounts Committee, the… – Continue reading
Introduction Facts Decision Introduction The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently ruled that the system of interim taxation for Austrian private foundations does not comply with EU law.(1) A special feature of private foundations is the so-called ‘interim tax’ – a type of corporate income tax. Pursuant to Section 13(3)… – Continue reading
On 18 June 2013, the Progressive led government issued a press release titled, “Cayman’s Action Plan Includes Beneficial Ownership”. The press statement came on the heels of the UK taking over the Presidency of G8, at the 17-18 June 2013 G8 Summit in Northern Ireland. The most interesting part of… – Continue reading
The European Commission has asked the German Government to amend its inheritance tax (IHT) law after finding that current rules discriminate against those who are not resident in Germany for tax purposes in certain situations. Under German IHT law, a special maintenance allowance is granted to surviving spouses or registered… – Continue reading
Ownership of Kildrummy Estate creates legal block for police investigators POLICE INVESTIGATIONS into wildlife crime failed in the face of a bureaucratic nightmare identifying the landowner behind a complex structure of offshore land secrecy. The conviction of gamekeeper George Mutch for wildlife crimes committed in 2012 on Kildrummy Estate opened… – Continue reading
Plans that would effectively end the UK’s non-domicile status for tax purposes have the potential to do more harm than good and could be contrary to EU law, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants. The changes, announced by chancellor George Osborne in the 2015 summer budget, mean that non-UK… – Continue reading
Malta recently ranked first for efficiency in transposing directives into national legislation – but the chairman of Finance Malta, Kenneth Farrugia, believes that the pace of innovation needs to accelerate. “We claim to be nimble, but we need to push it much more. Innovation needs to be much faster paced…. – Continue reading
Officials from the ministries of finance and economy of five CEE countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) have called for a joint approach to combat VAT fraud and increase VAT collection in a conference hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Budapest on Thursday. According to the EU Commission data,… – Continue reading
On November 19, 2015 the European Commission published the key decisions of its November infringement package. One of the key decision mentioned is the Commission’s decision to request Germany to bring its inheritance tax rules on special maintenance allowances in line with EU law. According to a press release issued… – Continue reading
On November 19, 2015 the European Commission published the key decisions of its November infringement package. One of the key decision mentioned is the Commission’s decision to request the Netherlands to amend the Limitation on Benefits (LOB) clause in the Dutch-Japanese Tax Treaty for the Avoidance of Double Taxation, which… – Continue reading
Earlier this week the heads of state of the 20 largest global economies have agreed to adopt the 15 BEPS action points in their respective countries. Ample reason to take a closer look at the details and implications of one of the most far-reaching upcoming tax adjustments. Action 4 of… – Continue reading
Latest developments under the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was one of the key points of a recent four-day visit by KPMG’s global leader for Transfer Pricing Services Sean Foley to Vietnam. He shared the issue with Vietnam’s General… – Continue reading
Finnish companies continue to take advantage of legal tax planning to shelter their profits from taxation. According to Yle’s Ajankohtainen kakkonen current affairs programme, state-owned firms are among those that have been dragging their feet on reporting income from their foreign subsidiaries. The European Union is making an effort to… – Continue reading
As early adopters of the new global standard for the automatic exchange of information; Jersey and Spain signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) on Tuesday. The agreement was signed at the Spanish Embassy in London by Jersey’s assistant chief minister, senator Philip Ozouf, who said: “We attach great importance… – Continue reading
PwC Australia Australian Taxation Office New or updated materials on ATO website, including: Decision impact statement on McGrouther & Anor v Commissioner of Taxation case concerning whether a taxpayer can waive or withdraw a notice given to the Commissioner under s14ZYA(2) of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (requiring the Commissioner… – Continue reading
Globally, taxpayers are becoming more interdependent, and engage in cross-border financial activities with more regularity. With this, comes the need for enhanced co-operation and understanding across countries on issues such as tax administration and transparency, to curb tax evasion and ensure a fair allocation of taxes to tax jurisdictions. “The… – Continue reading
MEPs grilled eleven multinational companies on their corporate tax practices in a five-hour debate with the Special Committee on Tax Rulings on Monday. These companies had declined the committee’s first invitation to appear before it, but later changed their minds and accepted its last chance invitation. Of the 13 original… – Continue reading
Brussels – Google and Facebook were among US companies facing questions on Monday from European Union lawmakers about their tax-reducing techniques, a month after regional antitrust regulators raised the stakes by ordering Starbucks and a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV unit to repay millions of euros in back taxes. The queries… – Continue reading
A Ministry of Finance decree published on 11 November 2015 provides follow-up guidance concerning advanced tax rulings issued by the Dutch tax administration. BACKGROUND Adopted in July 2014, an amendment to the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive addresses mismatches resulting from hybrid financing, and involves the inclusion of an anti-hybrid provision. Under… – Continue reading
On November 10th 2015, the European Council announced that the EU Savings Directive 2003/48/EC (EUSD) has been repealed in order to eliminate the overlap with other legislation developed in the aspect of preventing measures of tax evasion. Brief Background The 2003 EUSD, which originally came into effect on 1 July… – Continue reading
€1 trillion a year: that’s how much tax evasion and tax avoidance is costing European tax payers every year, according to the European Commission. Parliament set up a special committee to investigate these practices in the wake of the Luxleaks scandals and came up with plans to ensure multinationals pay… – Continue reading
The UK Government launched a consultation on 22 October 2015 regarding the UK corporate tax rules for interest deductibility. The consultation seeks views on the design of a general limitation for UK corporation tax deductions for interest and similar finance costs, imposing a capcalculated by reference to a fixed percentage… – Continue reading
