Demands for an independent investigation into ‘Lux Leaks’ tax avoidance affair remain after censure vote World Bulletin/News Desk Although the European Commission’s new president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has comfortably survived a no-confidence vote, demands for an independent investigation into the so-called “Lux Leaks” tax avoidance affair are continuing. The censure motion… – Continue reading
The revelations that global and multinational businesses have been brokering “secret” tax deals with Luxembourg to avoid paying taxes in their home countries, may be the first time an entire country has been implicated in tax avoidance collusion. A cache of leaked agreements uncovered by the International Consortium of Investigative… – Continue reading
Passage by the French assembly on 18 November 2014 of a draft Finance Bill for 2015 (which now will be presented to the Senate) Introduction by the French government on 12 November 2014 of a second draft amended Finance Bill for 2014 In general, the draft Finance Bill for 2015… – Continue reading
The new head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker has faced, and survived a motion of no confidence, just weeks after taking up his role. MEPs wanted to censure the Commission, headed by the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, in the wake of revelations that multinational companies used his country… – Continue reading
Centrist parties vote down European parliament motion criticising commission president’s role in tax avoidance schemes Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European commission, has survived a motion of censure in the European parliament brought because of his role in tax avoidance schemes. The motion brought by Britain’s Ukip, France’s Front National,… – Continue reading
I’m afraid to say we made the wrong choice as Ukip are beginning to prove time and time again their insignificance in Europe. The European Parliament took a vote of confidence today on the newly appointed Commission of Jean Claude Juncker. The vote, triggered by the Luxleaks tax avoidance revelations,… – Continue reading
Public accounts committee will demand intricate details from Kevin Nicholson about tax avoiding schemes in Grand Duchy One of Britain’s top tax advisers at PricewaterhouseCoopers has been summoned to give evidence before MPs in the wake of revelations about controversial tax deals for PwC clients in Luxembourg. Kevin Nicholson, PwC… – Continue reading
Favourable tax systems for businesses operating in Northern Ireland must be transparent and open, according to a campaigner. Eamonn Donaghy, head of tax at KPMG Belfast and spokesman for Grow NI, a campaign to devolve corporation tax varying powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly, was speaking as a new report… – Continue reading
Responsible corporations paying their taxes and revealing their ownership structure could be a possible solution in the fight of Europe against tax evasion and tax havens which cost billions of euro annually. EurActiv Czech Republic reports. “We should step up our efforts to combat tax evasion and tax fraud”, Jean-Claude… – Continue reading
On November 21, 2014, as part of its Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), the OECD released a discussion draft on “Follow-up work on BEPS Action 6: Preventing Treaty Abuse” (the Discussion Draft) for comments. The Discussion Draft deals with a number of issues relating to tax… – Continue reading
Transfer pricing can be identified as an area of tax law that continues to attract the attention of both tax authorities and businesses worldwide. The growing importance of transfer pricing can be observed in the Slovak Republic as well, as it has become one of the dominant tax issues addressed… – Continue reading
One of George Osborne’s flagship policies is set to be reformed in next week’s Autumn Statement following the resolution of a protracted spat with Germany over the controversial tax break. The so-called Patent Box took effect last year and allowed companies to pay lower tax bills on profits derived from… – Continue reading
Rüschlikon is just a 20-minute boat ride from the centre of Zurich, yet a world away from the intense rivalry of the city’s financial powerhouses. Every autumn, the sleepy lakeside settlement hosts the Private Banking Summit, where delegates seek safeguards for their threatened industry. “Swiss private banking is in turmoil,… – Continue reading
Strasbourg, France (dpa) – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged lawmakers on Monday to trust his determination to tackle tax avoidance, ahead of a parliamentary confidence vote related to a tax scandal in his native Luxembourg. The controversy, known as LuxLeaks, grew out of allegations by a team of investigative… – Continue reading
SMALL Scottish businesses trading over the internet are being forced to turn down thousands of pounds of foreign business because of new European Union rules aimed at preventing tax avoidance by the likes of Amazon. From 1 January, VAT on what the EU deems “digital services” will have to be… – Continue reading
Nov 22 (Reuters) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sharply criticised leading German companies for reducing taxes by creating subsidiaries in Luxembourg, where tax rates are lower, according to Focus news magazine. “The list of those that have institutions in Luxembourg with the aim of saving taxes is a Who’s… – Continue reading
Sit down before you read this: Internet companies pay more corporation tax than the European average, in some cases many times more. According to the European Commission the average ‘effective’ corporate tax rate in the European Union and EFTA is 12.9%; in 2012 Amazon had a whopping 78% in corporation… – Continue reading
French magistrates examining whether the bank helped wealthy clients avoid a new tax, the European Union Savings Directive French judges have put the Swiss branch of HSBC under official investigation over allegations that Britain’s biggest bank helped wealthy clients avoid taxes. It was revealed on Friday that the unit had… – Continue reading
On September 16, 2014, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”) released seven reports addressing certain aspects of the base erosion and profit shifting (“BEPS”) project. The seven BEPS reports released by the OECD include tax challenges of the digital economy (Action 1), hybrid mismatch arrangements (Action 2), countering… – Continue reading
Action Item 5 of the BEPS Action Plan commits the Forum on Harmful Tax Practices (“FHTP”) to: “revamp the work on harmful tax practices with a priority on improving transparency, including compulsory spontaneous exchange on rulings related to preferential regimes, and on requiring substantial activity for any preferential regime. It… – Continue reading
The European Commission will use the ‘Luxleaks’ documents uncovered by investigative journalists three weeks ago in its ongoing investigation of tax avoidance at the European level, Margrethe Vestager, the EU competition chief, said on Thursday (20 November). The documents, known as the ‘Luxleaks’, showed that more than 300 companies, including… – Continue reading
Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said he was firmly opposed to harmonising tax policies in the EU, a report said Wednesday, hitting back after an investigation exposed his tiny country as a global tax haven. Jean-Claude Juncker, Bettel’s predecessor and new European Commission president, is under pressure after it was… – Continue reading
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has criticized the European Union’s single tax plans, arguing that it should be left to member states to decide. “To say that everyone within the European Union must move toward a single tax policy with the same tax rate, that I’m against,” Belgian daily L’Echo… – Continue reading
The European Commission faces a censure motion in the European Parliament next week after right-wing, and far-right Eurosceptic lawmakers united to condemn the role its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, played in Luxembourg tax evasion schemes. A lack of support for the censure motion from other parties, less than a month after… – Continue reading
UK and multinational enterprises are starting to consider (re)organising themselves under a UK holding company for their global operations, rather than using other traditional onshore holding company jurisdictions. This new trend is the result of a number of factors, which have moved the UK from an outside choice as an… – Continue reading
The Finance Bill 2014 (the “Bill”), which was published 23 October 2014, proposes a package of measures which focuses on Ireland’s tax rate, regime and reputation. The changes seek to reinforce Ireland’s position as a top destination for multinational companies and emphasise the importance of real and substantive foreign direct… – Continue reading
The European Commission, in an “Opening Decision” published on November 14, 2014, said that an advance tax ruling provided by the Netherlands to coffee group Starbucks appears to constitute state aid, in violation of European Union (EU) rules. In a 40-page letter to the Dutch authorities, the Commission detailed the… – Continue reading
A recent binding tax ruling recognised that the historical background of a multinational group is a key factor in considering whether a non-EU ultimate parent should trigger the anti-abuse rule which applies to exemption from dividend withholding tax. In a nutshell, the Spanish Non Resident Income Tax Law (NRIT), provides… – Continue reading
Eureopean Union chief’s actions as prime minister of Luxembourg attacked over alleged role in creation of tax haven Jean-Claude Juncker is facing a vote in the European parliament to declare him unfit for his post as head of the EU executive because of his alleged role in turning Luxembourg into… – Continue reading
Recent months saw various important developments that are relevant to Sino-European trade and investment. These include (i) changes to the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive, (ii) the entry into force of the double tax treaty between Luxembourg and Taiwan, and (iii) proposed changes to China’s Foreign Investment Catalogue and the Governmental Verifications… – Continue reading
Expats have a range of choices – so how do they find a safe home for their assets? The traditional use of offshore centres as a way of enabling better tax planning – and even tax evasion – has all but fallen away. An increasing desire for countries to share… – Continue reading
(AFP) The OECD Friday forecast competition heating up among countries wanting to attract revenue from big digital companies like Apple and Google, even as a row rages over Luxembourg’s arrangements with multinationals. Closing corporate tax loopholes and endorsing a common reporting standard to increase transparency are set to be a… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS — European Union authorities have accused the Netherlands of making a special deal with Starbucks that helped the company lower its taxes, creating unfair advantages over other countries in the bloc. The report by the bloc’s competition authority, made public on Friday, is a preliminary finding in a review… – Continue reading
The LuxLeaks scandal is a classical example of the growingly frequent clash between the level of integration of the European economy (and the global for that matter) and the national sovereignty. Greece was first to prove that four years ago when it put to the test the very survival of… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) — European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici vowed on Thursday to push forward fight against tax evasion and raise the bar for tax good governance in Europe. “It is clear that we need to take a more systematic approach to… – Continue reading
November 14: The European Commission (EC) today released a “non-confidential version” of its June 2014 EC decision to open an in-depth investigation concerning whether certain transfer pricing arrangements of a multinational entity with the Dutch tax authorities constitute state aid that is contrary to EU law. The investigation is identified… – Continue reading
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has nominated global tax avoidance as one of the key issues on the agenda for this weekend’s G20 summit in Brisbane. Major companies including Google and Apple have faced strong criticism over their efforts to lower their tax bills by shifting profits to jurisdictions with low… – Continue reading
Members of the European Parliament called for action on tax avoidance in Europe on Wednesday. A report released earlier this month by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists documented secret deals arranged with multinational corporations, enabling them to avoid paying tax in Luxembourg. Hundreds of major corporations like Pepsi, IKEA… – Continue reading
The General Court of the European Union has ruled in Spain’s favor regarding the country’s use of tax breaks to support companies acquiring foreign shareholdings. According to the Spanish law on corporation tax, where a company which is taxable in Spain, acquires a shareholding in a “foreign company” of at… – Continue reading
Prague, Nov 13 (ČTK) — The EU is a safe haven guaranteeing stability and prosperity to the Czech Republic, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said at the opening of the National Convention on the EU today. In his speech, Sobotka also criticized the non-observance of the rules and the existence… – Continue reading
Proposals to extend capital gains and investment income tax exemptions under Portugal’s Non-Habitual Residents Tax Regime have not been passed, say government officials It seems that the Portuguese government has shelved plans, at least for 2015, to extend capital gains and investment income taxation exemptions. However, officials say they are… – Continue reading
NGO report calls for central listing of beneficial owners of EU firms and trusts The European Union should introduce a centralised public register revealing the identities of beneficial owners of companies and trusts, according to a pan-European report to be published today. Hidden Taxes: the EU’s Role in Supporting an… – Continue reading
The European Union’s 28 member states are seeking agreement on the proposed introduction of a common anti-abuse clause in the Parent-Subsidy Directive (2011/96/EU). The plans were discussed at a meeting of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) on November 7, 2014. The proposed anti-abuse clause would allow member… – Continue reading
Spain negotiated the largest rate reductions in its tax treaties with developing countries, out of 15 EU nations scrutinised for their record on international tax-dodging in the wake of the Luxembourg Leaks scandal. Developing countries were missing out on billions of much needed-revenue as a result of the tax rate… – Continue reading
A new report on tax transparency across 15 EU states highlights hidden profits People in Europe and in developing countries are being robbed. One trillion euro is lost to tax dodging every year in the EU, with billions being lost from developing countries each year for the same reason. It… – Continue reading
The UK has agreed to put forward a proposal to close its patent box tax break, which allows income from the commercial exploitation of intellectual property (IP) to be taxed at 10%, in a concession to German concerns about artificial shifting of profits between European countries.12 Nov 2014 Intellectual Property… – Continue reading
The European Union should harmonize tax practices better to counter the sweet deals that countries like Luxembourg have used to attract multinationals and the super-rich, the EU’s executive chief said Wednesday. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker denied allegations that he was part of the problem since he had been prime… – Continue reading
Patent boxes allow firms to pay much lower taxes on profits from patented inventions, but critics say it gives UK too much of a fiscal advantage George Osborne’s move removes one of the potential flash points between the UK and Germany before this week’s G20 summit in Brisbane. Photograph: Pa… – Continue reading
Northern Ireland is a serious player in the international market to attract more foreign investment. The comprehensive requirement: can Northern Ireland offer a competitive combination of access to markets, favourable domestic costs including employment costs, an adequate infrastructure base, a stable society and taxation policies that help to ensure attractive… – Continue reading
The European Union should complete its four tax probes before it can “decide what to do next,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. “Maybe in the beginning of the second quarter of next year we will have results on at least some of those open cases,” Vestager told reporters after… – Continue reading
