NEW DELHI: The Centre is in talks with Mauritius with regard to the long-pending revision of the bilateral tax treaty, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said today. “We are in discussion with them. Some negotiations have already taken place and they wanted to reopen certain issues. we are in discussion with… – Continue reading
A tax avoidance scheme which exploited the UK’s double-taxation agreement with the Isle of Man has been defeated by HM Revenue & Customs. More than 2,000 people signed up to the Isle of Man-based scheme to reduce their rate of income tax to less than 5%. The users of the… – Continue reading
NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — The following statement is being issued today by KPMG LLP on the final recommendations released on Oct. 5 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on its coordinated Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS): “The OECD’s final recommendations… – Continue reading
With the final draft of the OECD’s BEPS initiative – Base Erosion and Profit Shifting – out later today, the taxman’s ability to tax international transactions as well as those of foreign firms operating in India will go up dramatically; the idea behind the initiative is to treat all cross-border… – Continue reading
LONDON: Creating a more participatory approach to tax co-operation tops the agenda of this year’s meeting of Commonwealth finance ministers in Lima on October 7. Delegates will discuss the need for developing countries to be more active in global negotiations to prevent international tax avoidance and illegal tax evasion. The… – Continue reading
Two big offshore deals kick off the week. The first is the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. The long-awaited deal is a bit like the Jabberwocky poem in Alice in Wonderland – the alarmism means the political atmosphere is full of strange and threatening noises which only leave a general impression that… – Continue reading
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday rolled out a sweeping set of final recommendations to battle offshore tax avoidance costing countries across the globe billions of dollars a year. A group of almost three dozen advanced economies, the OECD kicked off its efforts two years ago, seeking… – Continue reading
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A former Swiss bank executive is due to be sentenced in Florida for conspiracy as part of a long-running U.S. investigation into tax evasion. Hansruedi Schumacher could avoid prison in the scheme because of his cooperation. He pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to… – Continue reading
PARIS–Global tech firms such as Amazon.com Inc. are already preparing for new tax rules that could force them to pay corporate taxes in more countries where they operate, but are also girding for what some say will be more fights with–and between–national tax authorities. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and… – Continue reading
Colombia and Panama have given each other another 60 days to come to agreement on how to combat Colombian tax evasion through Panamanian banks. The two countries failed to meet the negotiation deadline set for the exchange of tax information after one year, extending a further 60 days, in a… – Continue reading
Europe’s stiff-neckedness is difficult to cure. To come to an agreement for supranational treatment of a certain issue there needs to be a large cataclysm or at least a large scandal. In the case of taxation policy the problem begins to gain urgent and most importantly European status after the… – Continue reading
It is estimated that only around 1% of the world’s population have two or more passports, making dual citizenship an exclusive privilege JOHANNESBURG – “No man is an island” is the theme of this year’s upcoming Investment Agenda, being held in Johannesburg on the 20th of October. Leading investors, asset… – Continue reading
David Gauke, the Financial Secretary to the UK Treasury, has spoken out in support of the international tax measures being adopted by the UK, and pushed the idea of diverted profits taxes. Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC on September 29, 2015, Gauke said recent reforms have… – Continue reading
Tax evasion is a massive global industry. Of every hundred dollars people put in bank accounts and investments, eight are socked away in tax havens such as Switzerland and Singapore, according to work by the UC-Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman. While only the very wealthy can afford to play this international… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, OCT 4: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today warned that those who did not declare overseas black money during compliance window will face the consequences as the government will receive information about their wealth under automatic exchange of information, while others who took advantage of the scheme to come… – Continue reading
Pharmaceuticals group defends use of legal avoidance scheme, after paying no UK corporation tax over two years despite global profits of £3bn AstraZeneca, one of Britain’s largest businesses, is using a multimillion-pound tax avoidance scheme in the Netherlands, set up months after the UK relaxed its tax laws for multinationals… – Continue reading
The OECD’s measures to reform international corporate tax systems will cause Ireland fewer problems than forecast, but for eurozone countries it will be just the beginning of greater and more detailed change. Following two years of constant meetings between tax experts from its 34 country members, the Paris-based body releases… – Continue reading
On Monday (5 Oct) the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will present its final Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (Beps) project corporate tax reform proposals and on Tuesday the Ecofin council of EU finance ministers, is expected to agree on the exchange of tax rulings between member… – Continue reading
By: Jayesh Sanghvi, Partner & National Leader – International Tax Services, EY India Multinational groups can create non-resident affiliates in low tax jurisdictions to which income is shifted, wholly or partly for tax reasons rather than for non-tax business reasons. Such overseas profits are not subjected to tax in the… – Continue reading
The United States has included India in a list of 34 countries with which the US administration would automatically share information under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) regulations. The US Treasury Department has now added 16 new countries, including India, to an original list with which the US… – Continue reading
Two banks owned by former Tory Party vice-chairman Lord Ashcroft are at the centre of a major US tax evasion investigation. Authorities are probing whether wealthy Americans have been using the banks, based in the Central American tax haven Belize, to shelter funds offshore. Billionaire Lord Ashcroft is the majority… – Continue reading
The world’s richest nations will launch a huge crackdown on multinational tax avoidance on Monday as part of the biggest shake-up of international tax rules for decades. The move could lead to a multi- billion pound gain for Chancellor George Osborne and higher tax bills for a raft of blue-chip… – Continue reading
Millions of pounds of British aid money could have been given to known tax havens to fund public services The UK paid out £45m to 13 countries on the European Commission’s tax haven “blacklist” in 2013, according to a report in The Independent. The blacklisted countries that received British aid… – Continue reading
Government’s anti-corruption champion says legislation is one option if British overseas territories fail to adopt public registers of companies The government could legislate to force the UK’s tax havens to reveal for the first time the true owners of offshore companies, anti-corruption champion Sir Eric Pickles has indicated. Pickles described… – Continue reading
The new Protocol to the Cyprus – Ukraine double taxation agreement The Cyprus Ministry of Finance has announced that agreement has been reached with Ukraine on a Protocol that will amend the existing DTA between the two countries. The existing DTA was signed in 2012 and entered into force on… – Continue reading
The income tax department has signed 16 advance pricing agreements (APAs) with multinational companies (MNCs) so far, exempting their transactions with local units from rigorous tax audits. The income tax department has signed 16 advance pricing agreements (APAs) with multinational companies (MNCs) so far, exempting their transactions with local units… – Continue reading
Once again, Commonwealth Caribbean countries are under attack as “tax havens”, even though they are nothing of the sort. This time it is not only the usual countries which have been listed. Trinidad and Tobago has been included, and we can bet that Jamaica and Guyana will be added unless… – Continue reading
Under the intergovernmental agreement between the UAE and the US the first report, disclosing the financial activities of US citizens in 2014, was due to be submitted to the US by September 30, 2015. This agreement was signed to facilitate implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), a… – Continue reading
EU member states to reveal information on tax rulings offered to companies Ireland’s corporate tax regime is to come under renewed scrutiny next week as EU finance ministers sign off on a proposal obliging member states to reveal information on tax rulings offered to companies. EU finance ministers meeting in… – Continue reading
The four entities tasked with upholding New Zealand’s anti-money laundering law should team up to close off the law’s obvious arbitrage opportunity by stopping financial services companies that only have clients overseas from being able to sidestep the law, a leading lawyer says. As first highlighted by interest.co.nz in August… – Continue reading
Efforts to block the exchange of information on US taxpayers’ foreign accounts are halted as an Ohio federal judge says Sen. Paul and six others don’t have standing to challenge parts of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, reports BNA. US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Judge… – Continue reading
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – Six orders for implementing the tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) with six Nordic jurisdictions (i.e. Denmark, the Faroes, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), and an order for implementing the Fourth Protocol to the Comprehensive Arrangement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with the Mainland (the Arrangement)… – Continue reading
Two hundred miles off the coast of Morocco, the Canary Islands remainamong Spains farthest-flung territories, appearing as a few specks of volcanic rock against the endless Atlantic blue. Tourists roast on its beaches, and everything moves at a snails pace. That includes, unfortunately, the economy, which suffers from high unemploymentand… – Continue reading
On July 27, 2015, the U.S. Tax Court issued a stunning rebuke to the IRS by invalidating the part of the Internal Revenue Services’ (IRS) cost-sharing regulations under section 482 of the Internal Revenue Code that says taxpayers have to take into account, among other costs, the costs of stock-based… – Continue reading
It’s not just about the pig’s head. Britain’s headline writers went into high porcine pun mode last month over a suggestion that Prime Minister David Cameron, while still in university, had taken part in a club-initiation ritual that bizarrely incorporated part of a pig carcass. The second-hand allegation appears in… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service said Friday it has met a key milestone relating to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, having begun exchanging tax information with certain foreign governments in time to meet a Sept. 30, 2015 deadline. The automatic exchange of account information with tax authorities abroad… – Continue reading
On September 18, 2015, the Danish Ministry of Taxation published draft legislation to introduce a new country-by-country reporting obligation for multinational corporations. The draft Bill would introduce the new three-tiered approach to transfer pricing documentation that is to be proposed formally by the OECD as part of the BEPS deliverables… – Continue reading
Introduction The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires non-US financial institutions, including investment entities, to report US account holders to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This reporting is causing US taxpayers living abroad to consider whether they have been adequately filing annually their income and information returns in the… – Continue reading
HMRC has released new Guidance on the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes (DOTAS) and promoters of tax avoidance schemes (POTAS), regimes. The new, revised, Guidance explains changes to the regimes since 2014. In relation to the issue of Conduct Notices, whereas previously the Guidance confirmed that HMRC would meet with… – Continue reading
George Osborne’s plans to tighten tax rules for wealthy foreigners living in Britain will leave many offshore trusts outside the UK tax net, according to proposals published on Wednesday, reports the Financial Times. The Treasury’s consultation on “carefully targeted” changes to the rules for “non-doms” — people who live in… – Continue reading
The Luxembourg “FATCA Law”1 became effective on 1 August 2015. Among other provisions, the FATCA Law implemented the Model 1 Luxembourg–U.S. intergovernmental agreement of 28 March 2014 (IGA). On the day prior to the law taking effect, the Administration des Contributions Directes (Office of Income Tax) issued two circulars on… – Continue reading
Prime minister says he is still not happy with way some British overseas territories are resisting financial transparency, reports The Guardian. David Cameron has accused some British overseas territories and crown dependencies of not doing enough to tackle tax evasion and money laundering. The prime minister took the offshore financial… – Continue reading
The deadline for participation in Italy’s current voluntary disclosure program has been extended from September 30 to November 30, 2015, following the decision taken at a Cabinet meeting on September 28, reports Tax News. In addition, those individuals who file an application form to enter the program by the new… – Continue reading
Using companies incorporated in international financial centres (IFCs) in structuring financial transactions, capital raisings and corporate structures has long been popular in Asia, particularly Hong Kong (itself an IFC). Following the energetic expansion of the PRC economy and assisted in part by the relaxation of PRC regulations in relation to… – Continue reading
Oct 1 Germany is not ruling out the introduction of tax breaks for companies on revenue generated from patented or licensed research, a senior official said on Thursday. The government has repeatedly said it would consider introducing so-called patent boxes if there were no progress towards fair tax competition at… – Continue reading
European Commission list identifies the city as one of 30 non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, reports the South China Morning Post. The European Commission is likely to remove Hong Kong from its list of top 30 tax havens, according to a source familiar with the situation. The source, who cannot be identified,… – Continue reading
SOUTH Africa has ranked higher than several developed countries in an assessment of money “hidden” in HSBC Swiss bank accounts, a report showed on Wednesday. “The money connected to SA was higher than money connected to France, eight times higher than that of the US, and 3.5 times more than… – Continue reading
HUNDREDS of properties worth more than £300 million in Brighton and Hove are owned by firms based in off-shore tax havens. Care homes, pubs, supermarkets, doctors’ surgeries, petrol stations and shops are all among almost 300 properties owned by firms based in foreign climes with beneficial tax arrangements. Millions of… – Continue reading
SEOUL/SEJONG, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) — A professor of international business law at Boston University has been tapped to represent South Korea in a tax dispute case involving a Netherlands-based company, the government said Thursday. Hanocal Holding B.V., a Dutch paper company belonging to the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) of… – Continue reading
Quebec — Tax havens are depriving Quebecers of at least $1.5 billion a year, said Québec solidaire MNA Amir Khadir on the opening day of parliamentary hearings on the worldwide phenomenon. The National Assembly’s public finances committee decided last June to dedicate several days this fall to the study of… – Continue reading
