Multinational drug companies are presenting a united front ahead of their appearance at the Senate’s corporate tax avoidance inquiry, insisting they are honest, ethical and pay their fair share of tax. Nine pharmaceutical companies, which between them receive billions of dollars in taxpayer-subsidised sales via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, will… – Continue reading
Mara could have set up an Australian subsidiary but instead chose to construct an elaborate network in several countries. KUALA LUMPUR: National Oversight & Whistleblowers (NOW), an NGO headed by Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, has alleged that the nature of Mara property purchases overseas was camouflaged through various offshore companies… – Continue reading
The US Administration has put more of its hoped-for, but perhaps poltically difficult, tax reforms into the Fact Sheet that was issued after the 2015 United States-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue held in Washington on June 23-24. In the 2014 Fact Sheet, the Administration had merely stated that it was… – Continue reading
The UK’s Supreme Court has ruled that a KPMG scheme to enable dealer group Pendragon to recover VAT on demonstrator cars sold as used cars was “abusive” of the law. Its decision earlier this month has overturned a previous Court of Appeal ruling on the scheme, which Pendragon used on… – Continue reading
Bank Leumi was found to have failed to fulfill reporting requirements. The Banking Corporations Sanctions Committee that oversees the prohibition on money laundering and terror financing yesterday imposed a NIS 4.2 million fine on Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) for violations of regulations under the Prohibition on Money Laundering Law. Bank… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON – An international money laundering watchdog says member states should pay “special attention” to financial transactions with North Korea. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force last week reaffirmed its earlier decision to put the community country on its watch list because of North Korea’s “failure to address the significant… – Continue reading
The Policy and Advocacy Manager of Tax Justice Network – Africa (TJN-A) has urged African governments to review tax incentives for free zone companies. “Tax incentives must apply to companies that have something to show. These companies must be able to create massive employment and other services to benefit the… – Continue reading
Romania’s Directorate for Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) prosecutors carried out searches at the Red Dragon, China Town, Sam Expo and Smart Expo shopping centers on Friday last week, following notifications from the Tax Authority ANAF. They found 70 companies that have damaged the state budget by over… – Continue reading
The Italian Supreme Court has ruled that transfer pricing adjustments applied by the tax authorities may be deemed legitimate even if they have been applied after a comparison between the transactions assessed and the ones carried out by and among third independent parties. In the case at issue, the tax… – Continue reading
A sidenote in a money laundering case in California led ESPN straight to the door of Phil Mickelson on Monday. The network’s Outside the Lines investigative crew is reporting that a 56-year-old former sports gambler pleaded guilty to acting as an intermediary between Phil Mickelson and an illegal offshore gambling… – Continue reading
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement will not be ratified in the UK this year, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has confirmed. In a statement sent to Out-Law.com, the IPO ruled out ratification of the Agreement this year but said that it intends to complete the “domestic preparations” for ratification… – Continue reading
GENEVA — The FIFA corruption scandal is prompting fresh moves to stem money laundering in Switzerland, but the nation long known as a haven for hiding money may be slow to change. The Swiss government announced new measures this month following the investigation of soccer’s governing body to tighten control… – Continue reading
(MENAFN – The Peninsula) A former high-ranking executive of US computer chip giant Qualcomm was fined 500,000 and sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday for insider trading, US officials said. Jing Wang, 52, the former executive vice president and president of global business operations at Qualcomm pleaded guilty last… – Continue reading
Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), an international intergovernmental organization created to combat money laundering has recently issued guidance in the form of a report titled ‘Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Currencies’ for closer monitoring of cryptocurrency exchanges. The report discusses about various benefits associated with… – Continue reading
To check laundering of black money through stock market platform, regulator has enhanced its vigil for the entities engaged in such illicit trades and has suggested further probe by other agencies in this regard. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has found hundreds of entities to have devised… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Anecdotes about the first Income Tax searches in the T-20 IPL cricket tournament and a letter by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram seeking information about alleged illegal accounts by Indians in Switzerland find place in a new book on black money. The recently launched book “It’s Raining Black!… – Continue reading
India and Thailand will sign a double taxation treaty and an MoU for setting up an Ayurveda Chair in one of the Thai Universities during the three-day visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj beginning on Saturday. The Minister will be the guest of honour on Sunday at the inaugural… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, India – Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete was recently in New Delhi at the invitation of Indian investors and to drum up more foreign investment for his country The interactive session was attended by several hundred businesspeople and organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). Kikwete said although… – Continue reading
KAMPALA, Uganda – Between July 2014 and June 2015, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has recovered over Ush 26 billion (about $8.1million) of the Ush36 billion ($11.2 million) from people trying to avoid paying taxes on goods The money is from 5236 seizures. This represents a 21.9% increase in overall enforcement… – Continue reading
Luxembourg, home of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, is the EU’s richest country and a notorious tax haven for multinationals including Disney, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Office Depot — among more than 300 firms who allegedly shifted profits to Luxembourg through sweetheart tax deals uncovered in last year’s ‘LuxLeaks scandal. The… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Anecdotes about the first Income Tax searches in the T-20 IPL cricket tournament and a letter by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram seeking information about alleged illegal accounts by Indians in Switzerland find place in a new book on black money. The recently launched book “It’s Raining Black!… – Continue reading
It is that time of the year when you get your Form 16 from your employer and gear up to file income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year gone by. This year the government has come out with a new ITR form. Also there is more to disclose while… – Continue reading
TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) – President Rouhani ordered to implement a law signed between Iran and Vietnam to avoid reception of double taxation and tax evasion. The bill was passed by the Parliament on May 13 and then reviewed and approved by the Guardian Council on May 27 to become… – Continue reading
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has attached the bank account of supermodel Ayyan Ali and recovered an amount of Rs 3.5 million after cross matching of records and third party information on business/property transactions. Sources told Business Recorder here on Friday that the bank account of the model was… – Continue reading
ATHENS, June 25 (Reuters) – When Greece’s tax police squad raided a busy cafe-restaurant in an upscale central Athens district earlier this year, it discovered two cash registers and an elaborate system of issuing fake receipts — at least 15,000 of them, over four years. Four months later, the cafe… – Continue reading
Ahead of Dublin visit, health expert discusses fighting poverty and sharing prosperity. “The Koreans have a saying that you bury your spouse in the ground but you bury your children in your heart,” said Dr Jim Yong Kim. The Korean-born health expert is speaking to The Irish Times at his… – Continue reading
A new campaign to stop Africa from ‘bleeding’ was launched on Thursday in Nairobi by the Tax Justice Network-Africa (TJN-A), a coalition of researchers and activists focused on the harmful impacts of tax avoidance, tax competition and tax havens. “If we can stop Africa from losing resources in illicit outflows,… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: India 0 Vs Pakistan 1. It’s not the outcome of a ODI series between the traditional rivals but a progress card on reforms in the world of real estate. At a time Indian realtors and investors are struggling to roll out real estate investment trusts (REIT) amid regulatory complications… – Continue reading
A new treaty makes it more difficult for companies to take advantage of tax loopholes to avoid their financial obligations. Globally, initiatives are afoot to close tax loopholes and South Africa is one of the frontrunners – its new treaty with Mauritius removes the allure for tax-shy corporates doing business… – Continue reading
HMRC will not face a judicial review over its handling of HSBC-backed tax evasion after a campaign group dropped its fight to take the tax office to court. Online campaign group Avaaz initiated judicial review proceedings in May, but has ended its efforts after deciding it had little prospect of… – Continue reading
The bad news: Big corporations are becoming even better at cheating the system. There is no good news. “Only the little people pay taxes,” the billionaire hotelier, and serial tax cheat, Leona Helmsley said in the ’80s. And that’s perhaps a truer statement now than it was then. While the… – Continue reading
Ethiopia and Brazil concluded an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation on profits derived from international air and shipping transport on June 22, 2015 in Brasilia, according to Fana Broadcasting corporate. H.E Ambassador Sinknesh Ejigu, Special Envoy, Ambassador Extra ordinary and plenipotentiary of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopian… – Continue reading
(Seychelles News Agency) – Seychelles’ Finance Minister says his ministry remains committed and on track towards complying with the widely-recognised Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s regulations on the sharing of tax information. “Seychelles is making considerable and steady progress in achieving the OECD standard in relation to the… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands is better positioned to police terrorism financing than the U.S., an American congressional subcommittee heard Wednesday. The comments came from New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who was called before the U.S. House Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Finance. “On a near daily basis, we encounter… – Continue reading
The Irish Revenue has again reminded taxpayers that the Tax Avoidance Settlement Opportunity deadline is June 30. Revenue said over EUR33m (USD36.9m) has either been paid, or commitments to pay have been received, in respect of more than 90 cases. The settlement opportunity was contained in the 2014 Finance Act…. – Continue reading
Corporate entities are often deemed to be related in terms of excise law if (a) they are interconnected undertakings and / or (b) they have mutuality of interest in the business of each other. Excise and Customs law are the oldest surviving indirect tax legislations in India. Despite this, till… – Continue reading
The Swiss Federal Council is to postpone a planned overhaul of the withholding tax (WHT) system and re-examine the appropriateness of the reforms at a later date, reports Tax News. In Switzerland, WHT is levied on interest, participation income, lottery winnings, and certain insurance benefits. It is collected from the… – Continue reading
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) issued a statement on Thursday to “strongly” oppose a recent blacklisting of its members as “non-cooperative” tax jurisdictions by the European Union (EU). The list published last week named 14 Caribbean states and territories, including Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Grenada, St. Vincent and… – Continue reading
The countries’ leaders say the label is doing untold damage to their reputations, reports The Voice. A number of Caribbean prime ministers have said the blacklisting by the European Union (EU) is unacceptable and they will not take the move lightly. The Union’s European Commission said the countries were singled… – Continue reading
Savers and self-managed super funds are becoming so desperate for yield they are helping generate a major “bubble” in alternative assets such as hedge and exchange traded funds, with many increasingly buying riskier bonds with fewer legal protections, according to one of the OECD’s top officials, reports the Australian Financial… – Continue reading
Qatar’s Emir, HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, ratified a draft agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income between Qatar and South Africa as well as its attached draft protocol, which were signed in Pretoria on March 6, 2015…. – Continue reading
SEOUL, June 25 (Yonhap) — More than half of big business groups in South Korea have set up companies in overseas tax havens, with SK Group, the nation’s third-largest conglomerate, having the most, data showed Thursday. Out of 61 business groups with combined assets of more than 5 trillion won… – Continue reading
DUBAI: This week the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) published their 2015 National Strategic Assessment. The Assessment presents a comprehensive picture of the threat to the UK from serious and organised crime, and helps to inform the work of the NCA and their international partners, including in the UAE. Some… – Continue reading
Ansbacher whistleblower Gerry Ryan has made fresh allegations about the tax affairs of a number of former senior politicians, the Irish Independent understands. The allegations have been made in correspondence with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). But members of the PAC have been precluded from accessing the correspondence following legal… – Continue reading
DUBAI: This week the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) published their 2015 National Strategic Assessment. The Assessment presents a comprehensive picture of the threat to the UK from serious and organised crime, and helps to inform the work of the NCA and their international partners, including in the UAE. Some… – Continue reading
MORE foreign direct investment (FDI) is expected to flow into Thailand and other countries in East and Southeast Asia following emerging growth of the regional economy and infrastructure development. Thailand, meanwhile, should amend and adjust its laws to facilitate increased FDI and ensure fair benefit for all involved, according to… – Continue reading
Indonesia’s tax office is considering a tax amnesty for financial crimes, in a move that could bring at least 100 trillion rupiah (US$7.5 billion) into state coffers, the director-general of taxes said on Wednesday, reports the Swiss Info. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is grappling with its weakest growth in six… – Continue reading
As America’s highly controversial global tax law reaches its first birthday, almost half of Americans who live overseas would support a presidential candidate who vowed to move to repeal it, reveals a new survey by one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organizations. In a global poll, deVere Group… – Continue reading
Almost all estate planning clients own real estate in one form or another – a residence, a vacation home, or rental property. Real estate presents unique challenges in estate planning because debt is often associated with the property and because it may be difficult (or not desirable) to sell the… – Continue reading
Introduction The UK Finance Act 2015 received royal assent on March 26 2015. This included final legislation for the introduction of a capital gains tax charge on non-residents who dispose of UK residential property. The new charge applies to such disposals made on or after April 6 2015. This update… – Continue reading
