London is an increasingly important hub for offshore law firms, which are winning business from City-based financial institutions, and clients in Russia, western Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Offshore law firms are constantly evolving, it seems. Traditionally, they operated in one offshore territory: whether the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey… – Continue reading
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first G20 meet in Australia this month, India is putting in place a cohesive strategy to prioritise issues of development and employment to the top of the agenda at the Summit. According to sources close to the development, the Prime Minister’s Office is keen… – Continue reading
Forty-one businesses across the three Crown Dependencies responded to the survey, with 78 per cent of respondents saying they have completed their FATCA classification and only 10 per cent reporting that their internal entities are not yet registered with the IRS. Confidence in FATCA compliance is high within the islands,… – Continue reading
Global tax reform is on the agenda at the G20 in Brisbane to prevent aggressive tax avoidance, but developing countries are being excluded from decision-making Tax avoidance and evasion will be at the top of the agenda at the G20 Leaders’ Summit this month, when the leaders of many of… – Continue reading
Mark Hendrickson teaches economics at Grove City College. He writes the “No Panaceas” blog at Forbes.com and is a contributing editor of the St. Croix Review. Hendrickson’s most recent book is “God and Man on Wall Street: The Conscience of Capitalism” with Craig Columbus. The political left in America remains… – Continue reading
Finance ministers from more than 50 countries recently signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement, with another 30 countries pledging to sign the agreement by 2018. The agreement, signed in Berlin, is an effort to end what the US Bank Secrecy Act, which they called “obsolete.” The ministers met for two… – Continue reading
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e56ca00c-6010-11e4-98e6-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz3I617l1GT It is no secret that Apple, Starbucks and Amazon are among several high-profile companies… – Continue reading
We are witnessing profound changes in the way that the world economy works. As a result of the growing pace and intensity of globalization and digitization, more and more economic processes have an international dimension. As a consequence, an increasing number of businesses are adapting their structures to domestic and… – Continue reading
Tax havens will no longer exist in five years as a result of sweeping rules to combat tax abuse, a leading global think-tank has said. Grace Perez-Navarro, of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which is leading a crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion, said that banking secrecy… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The government’s ability to keep a secret could determine whether it will be able to sign a key accord with the US before the year-end deadline. It’s not just private capital flows that face the risk of higher withholding tax there if India is unable to sign the… – Continue reading
Just over two-thirds (67%) of in-house tax specialists and lawyers are ‘somewhat or very concerned’ about tax adjustments which they expect to follow from the implementation of OECD guidance on transfer pricing. This is one of the conclusions of ‘Transfer Pricing: Intangible Property, Tangible Profits’, a report from ALM Legal… – Continue reading
People may not like paying tax. But what is even less popular is the thought they have no choice while others have much more control over their tax bills. Several high-profile companies make millions of pounds worth of sales in the UK. But a series of media exposes found that… – Continue reading
U.S. tax law creates perverse incentives for American companies to hold cash offshore, and the U.S. Treasury recently announced proposals to deter the practice. The proposals have triggered an outcry that ranges from criticisms that the Obama administration has overstepped its authority, on one side, to criticisms that the proposals… – Continue reading
Seychelles is preparing to submit a supplementary report to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Global Forum, to communicate measures taken to enhance how the territory exchanges tax information with other jurisdictions in practice. Last year, during Phase Two of the Peer Review Group rating process, the OECD rated… – Continue reading
Multinational firms which exploit loopholes to avoid paying tax in the UK will be pushed to “damn well pay,” David Cameron said on Thursday. The PM’s statement was denounced as disingenuous by global tax expert and UK economist Richard Murphy. Cameron’s comments follow recent controversy over the manner in which… – Continue reading
Financial institutions based in certain British Overseas Territories (BOTs) and Crown Dependencies (CDs) will be subject to stricter reporting requirements covering accounts held with them by UK resident non-UK domiciled taxpayers from 2016 if specific “carve outs” are not negotiated, an expert has said.31 Oct 2014 Private wealth tax Tax… – Continue reading
At the September 2014 convention of American labor unions, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont specifically urged taxation of wealth, asserting that, “We need a tax system which asks the billionaire class to pay its fair share of taxes and which reduces the obscene degree of wealth inequality in America.” The… – Continue reading
In one of the bluntest statements on the topic by any globalist thus far, controversial German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble (shown) openly called for “global standards” and “global governance” in taxation to ensure that governments can continue extracting huge sums in taxes from the wealth-producing class in perpetuity. In an… – Continue reading
International tax rules have not kept pace with globalisation and the mismatches need to be fixed, a special conference has heard. A conference on tax reform at both national and international level took place in London yesterday. Experts agreed that tax systems across the world were outdated and extremely complicated…. – Continue reading
In the fight against tax evasion, member banks of the Association of Cyprus Banks (ACB) are currently in the process of implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), in anticipation of the upcoming intergovernmental agreement between the United States of America and Cyprus, ACB Director General Michael Kammas said…. – Continue reading
Taxes are the price of a civilised society and without them no state can provide social infrastructure, alleviate poverty, subsidise corporations or rescue distressed banks. But tax revenues are under relentless attack and corporate ingenuity in avoiding taxes shows no limits. Companies have become very adept at shifting profits to… – Continue reading
In front of European Commissioners, leading politicians, chief executives of huge multinationals, senior bank bosses and billionaires, the Egyptian investment tycoon was asked to set the tone of the forum, a three-day lobbying event funded by the EU. Dr Heikal is founder and chairman of Qalaa, an African investment fund… – Continue reading
As the OECD’s proposals for global reform of corporate taxation advance, the challenge facing the Government is how best to adapt to major change, while ensuring Ireland remains competitive and continues to attract foreign direct investment. In the budget, Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan took a bold first step by… – Continue reading
The Government continues to move slowly on global tax evasion and no action is likely for four to five years, according to a statement by Revenue Minister Todd McClay. Companies like Facebook and Google have been under fire around the world for shifting revenue and profits to different jurisdictions to… – Continue reading
The automatic exchange of information on financial accounts around the world is coming. More than fifty countries have committed to this at an international tax conference hosted by Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. The exchange of information now agreed will make it easier for fiscal authorities to obtain information about… – Continue reading
BERLIN — More than 80 countries signed an agreement in Berlin on Wednesday that could end banking secrecy in the global battle against tax evasion and fraud, even though critics say it has shortcomings. Among the signatories were European Union (EU) countries and former staunch proponents of banking secrecy such… – Continue reading
On a day when it furnished before the Supreme Court the full list of 627 Indians having accounts in foreign banks, the NDA government put off the signing of a crucial multilateral agreement aimed at facilitating access to financial information on taxpayers abroad. This has been prompted by the uncertainties… – Continue reading
Governments around the world closed in on tax evaders with an automatic data-sharing accord that broadens efforts by the U.S. and the five biggest European Union economies to more than 50 countries and territories. Finance ministers signed the agreement in Berlin today in a signal of global determination to capture… – Continue reading
BERLIN – We are witnessing profound changes in the way that the world economy works. As a result of the growing pace and intensity of globalization and digitization, more and more economic processes have an international dimension. As a consequence, an increasing number of businesses are adapting their structures to… – Continue reading
Some 51 countries, including the UK, have signed a new agreement at the Global Forum in Berlin to automatically exchange tax information, in an attempt to clamp down on tax evasion. Under the agreement, “unprecedented levels” of information, including account balances, interest payments and beneficial ownership, will be shared with… – Continue reading
New Delhi/Berlin, Oct 29: India today failed to attend an OECD meeting in Berlin where a multilateral agreement requiring a commitment to follow international standards of confidentiality for information received relating to black money was signed. Official sources said that India was not able to attend the Berlin meeting where… – Continue reading
66% of Law Firms Work With at Least Some of Their Tax Clients to Identify and Document All Relevant Intangible Assets for Transfer Pricing NEW YORK, Oct. 30, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As scrutiny by tax authorities mounts, the identification and documentation of intangible assets, such as patents, trademarks and… – Continue reading
Financial institutions including fund managers will need to up the ante on client due diligence and bolster investor reporting following the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) agreement on the automatic exchange of information. The OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) will force national authorities in the 51 signatory states… – Continue reading
Revenue Minister Todd McClay today announced New Zealand’s timetable for participation in a global automatic exchange of information aimed at cracking down on tax evasion. G20 leaders announced the initiative in September 2013 – and in May 2014, New Zealand, along with all OECD countries, joined in the general declaration… – Continue reading
Offshore Incorporations Limited (OIL), a division of OV Group, a company formation and corporate service specialist focused on serving the financial and professional intermediary sectors, has released its fifth annual market research report “Offshore 2020”. This year, over 300 global senior industry stakeholders were surveyed, highlighting major trends and providing… – Continue reading
WELLINGTON, Oct. 29 — New Zealand is to join a global scheme to fight tax evasion by multi-national companies in 2019, Revenue Minister Todd McClay said Wednesday, prompting criticism that he was offering a five-year “tax holiday” for foreign firms. G20 leaders announced the initiative for an automatic exchange of… – Continue reading
(BERLIN) – The finance ministers of around 50 countries meet in Berlin on Wednesday to sign a deal they hope will put an end to banking secrecy and aid the worldwide fight against tax fraud and evasion. “Banking secrecy, in its old form, is obsolete,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble… – Continue reading
KUCHING: Accounting firm Deloitte Malaysia stressed on the government increasing focus on transfer pricing whereby there is a new requirement for taxpayers to declare if one has prepared all the necessary transfer pricing documentations. In the past, one was only required to disclose related-party transactions but there was no requirement… – Continue reading
Background The “Authorized OECD Approach” (“AOA”) rule for taxation of permanent establishments (“PE”) was introduced in Japan’s 2014 tax reform and will be applied to fiscal year commencing April 1, 2016. The new rule includes changes to source rules, the introduction of transfer pricing to intra-company transactions, and the introduction… – Continue reading
The OECD’s Action Plan on BEPS was published in July 2013 to reform the international tax system. The Action Plan identified 15 Actions to address BEPS. Seven of the 15 Action Plan items are now moving out of the station. I. Introduction On September 16, 2014 the OECD, together with… – Continue reading
Multinational life sciences companies should review their organizational structures and perform scenario planning to assess the likely impacts of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), says a new report from KPMG. “The Post Base Erosion and Profit Shifting World”… – Continue reading
At the 68th Congress of The International Fiscal Association in Mumbai, CBC-TV18’s Payaswini Upadhyay spoke to Sanjay Puri, Director, CBDT on the OECD’s work on Transfer Pricing principle of intangibles and India’s position on it and the kinds of transactions that the Department is looking at in the intangibles space…. – Continue reading
NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Bloomberg BNA’s International Tax Monitor and Tax Analysts interviewed Caplin & Drysdale’s Elan P. Keller concerning a pledge made at the 2014 OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) by tax chiefs from 38 countries to invest in resources to implement a new standard… – Continue reading
Hopes are rising that multinational companies operating in New Zealand may soon be paying a fairer share of tax. The French official leading the global clampdown on multinational tax rorts says the scrapping of the notorious “double Irish” tax loophole shows aggressive tax planning is on the way out. Organisation… – Continue reading
KIGALI, Rwanda – The need of a tax law on reverse VAT to be harmonized among EAC states was highlighted during the recently concluded East African Business Summit that took place in Kigali. “Tax law on reverse VAT can be harmonized among EAC states,” Rwanda Revenue Authority Commissioner General Richard… – Continue reading
The sovereignty of individual nations is increasingly under threat from international governance bodies that want to force a range of new regional and international taxes on states. The latest attempt to bypass state sovereignty occurred when the World Health Organization (WHO) met behind closed doors in Moscow last week. In… – Continue reading
The Swiss Federal Council has launched a consultation on legislation for the unilateral application of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) Standard on the Exchange of Information to all double tax agreements that are not already in line with this model. The legislation would only involve the exchange… – Continue reading
Law360, New York (October 24, 2014, 2:10 PM ET) — The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development delivered an agreement among over 130 tax commission delegates from 38 nations on its corporate base erosion and profit-shifting plan at the close of the Ninth Forum on Tax Administration in Dublin on… – Continue reading
With the announced end of banking secrecy for non-residents, the time has come to make use of favourable repatriation schemes, such as the voluntary disclosure regime in Italy. Despite increasing pressure for fiscal transparency and exchange of information, beneficial owners still have a choice: move the capital out (of Luxembourg),… – Continue reading
Officials from the Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have been meeting with representatives of the PPP/ PFI industry to discuss the implications for infrastructure projects of possible restrictions to interest relief.24 Oct 2014 Corporate tax Tax Projects Construction Advisory & Disputes Infrastructure UK Europe In a report on… – Continue reading
