The challenges faced by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in navigating the interface of transfer pricing and customs valuation rules is not a new phenomenon. However, due to a marked increase in recent years of the number of countries introducing or updating their transfer pricing legislation and scaling up their auditing and… – Continue reading
DeVere poll finds large percentage of expats want a president who’d repeal the tax law; ACAGF, University of Nevada studying FATCA’s impact The five-year-old Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is coming under fire, with a number of Americans living abroad calling for its repeal. Signed into U.S. law on July… – Continue reading
ICC has welcomed a new World Customs Organization’s (WCO) Guide to Customs Valuation and Transfer Pricing which includes ICC proposals for more coherent tax and customs revenue collection. Released this week as part of a new WCO Revenue Package, the new guide provides concrete guidance on revenue collection to governments… – Continue reading
The Turks and Caicos Islands is compliant with the Global Forum’s standards on exchange of tax information said its Minister of Finance today, Thursday, 25 June 2015. The Honourable Washington Misick was responding to a European Commission (EC) document that appeared to list 30 territories across the world that it… – Continue reading
An academic who specialises in tax havens says a blacklist released by the European Commission last week is arbitrary and poorly constructed. Transcript An academic who specialises in tax havens says a blacklist released by the European Commission last week is arbitrary and poorly constructed. The list of 30 international… – Continue reading
Taiwan and China might sign an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation later this year, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “Technical issues” led to a breakdown in negotiations in 2009 on such a pact, which could significantly lighten the tax burdens on companies and Taiwanese doing business across… – Continue reading
YEREVAN. – Armenia has renewed a treaty to exempt double taxation with Belarus during the Cabinet’s meeting on Thursday. In particular, the treaty envisages regulation of the residency of legal entities in the case of dual residency. The procedure for the exchange of information constituting bank secrecy has been specified…. – Continue reading
A new campaign to stop Africa from ‘bleeding’ is to be launched today 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. The ‘bleeding’ is symbolic of a $50 billion, which is… – Continue reading
Another round of International Tax Compliance Required under the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard The Cayman Islands Department of International Tax Compliance (DITC) has notified Cayman financial institutions of its intention to move forward with implementing the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS), with the introduction of local regulations by October 2015…. – Continue reading
The biggest hurdle to stopping multinational tax evasion isn’t the companies themselves. It’s the governments behind them. As the OECD works swiftly on its plan to stop multinational tax evasion, the United States has already signalled it’s not happy with what’s being proposed. The US has always been clear on… – Continue reading
The Cyprus Tax Authorities have announced that the FATCA reporting deadline has been extended to 31 July 2015 (from 30 June 2015). The FATCA Agreement between Cyprus and the United States was signed on 2 December 2014. FATCA seeks to obtain information on accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in other… – Continue reading
The verities of international tax law are no more. The days of strong residence-based rules of corporate taxation are numbered. The age of the Permanent Establishment (“PE”) as the central concept of international tax is drawing to a close. That seems to be the message from the OECD International Tax… – Continue reading
Lawmakers of The Gambia Tuesday considered and ratified two agreements on the avoidance of double taxation, signed between the Republic of The Gambia, the Republic of the Turkey and the State of Qatar. Tabling the motion before the House, Hon. Abdou Kolley, the minister of Finance and Economic Affairs said… – Continue reading
Tax Authority chief Moshe Asher: Banking secrecy is over. Another wave of arrests of Israelis with unreported overseas bank accounts and money is expected. In the coming day, Israelis who have not filled out forms sent to them by the Israel Tax Authority for declaring their assets will be summoned… – Continue reading
Tax Authority chief Moshe Asher: Banking secrecy is over. Another wave of arrests of Israelis with unreported overseas bank accounts and money is expected. In the coming day, Israelis who have not filled out forms sent to them by the Israel Tax Authority for declaring their assets will be summoned… – Continue reading
The Irish Government announced that the FATCA reporting deadline has been extended to 31 July 2015 (from 30 June 2015) for reporting Irish financial institutions to file a FATCA return with respect to 2014. FATCA seeks to obtain information on accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in other countries. It requires… – Continue reading
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has extended its Third Party Business Requirement Specification (BRS) for data submissions via Direct Data Flow (DDF) to include withholding tax on interest and tax-free savings and investments. The extension will be available for year-end data submissions due on May 31, 2016 (for the… – Continue reading
(Newsroom America) — Gregg R. Mulholland, a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen, has been arrested at Phoenix International Airport during a layover of his flight from Canada to Mexico on charges of securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for fraudulently manipulating the stocks of numerous U.S. publicly-traded companies and… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India will sign an agreement with the US under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) that would facilitate automatic transmission of information and would help counter the scourge of black money. Wrapping up his nine-day US visit, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India will… – Continue reading
Executive summary On 8 June 2015, the Presidency of the EU Council (Latvia) sent a report (The Report) to the Permanent Representatives Committee and the European Council. The Report sets out the current state, as well as a number of open issues and questions, in regard to the 18 March… – Continue reading
The banks which attracted tax evaders can no longer continue in this pattern because the era of banking secrecy is over and an era of transparency has begun.” Jacque de Saussure, Chairman of Banque Pictet & Cie An increasingly complex regulatory environment combined with growing clients demands for transparency and… – Continue reading
Anti-graft organisation Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) has urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to conduct a thorough investigation into Majlis Amanah Rakyat’s (Mara) purchase of a Melbourne property that was alleged to have been bought in a scam. TI-M president Datuk Akhbar Satar said there were enough provisions in the MACC… – Continue reading
When Indian President Pranab Mukherjee gave Finance Bill 2015 his assent on May 14, most provisions were largely hailed as improvements to the business environment in India. Others, while seen as primarily positive, have been the cause of some concern. One such provision changes the residency test for companies doing… – Continue reading
Rand Paul is poised to become the first major presidential candidate in memory to sue the government he seeks to lead as president. The Kentucky senator will take legal action against the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service for what he says is the denial of his constitutional right… – Continue reading
Government data suggests there may be tax shenanigans going on in the city of Richmond, a situation that clearly is intolerable. Questions have been raised by a recent Vancouver Sun report by Douglas Todd about residents in the upscale neighbourhood of Thompson, located in northwest Richmond. Former Richmond mayor Greg… – Continue reading
A man accused of helping orchestrate a stock-fraud scheme involving Belize-based Cynk Technology Corp., which surged briefly to a market value of $6 billion last year, was charged by U.S. officials with conspiracy. Gregg Mulholland, also known as “Stamps,” and “Charlie Wolf,” was arrested Tuesday as part of a probe… – Continue reading
The governments of Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines have complained about the European Union’s decision to include them on a list of 30 international tax havens, reports the Latin American Herald. “Grenada’s inclusion implies that Grenada is not doing sufficient to guard against harmful tax practices,” Prime Minister… – Continue reading
“It seems to be realistic to finalize the file on the automatic exchange of information on tax rulings within this year,” Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President of the European Commission, has said, reports Tax News. Dombrovskis made the comment during a press conference after a meeting of the Economic and Financial… – Continue reading
Online retailer’s Luxembourg unit took £5.3bn sales from British internet shoppers, a rise of 14%, but Amazon.co.uk Limited recorded profit of just £34.4m Amazon’s booming UK business paid just £11.9m of tax last year, while the online retailer’s Luxembourg unit took £5.3bn of sales from British internet shoppers without being… – Continue reading
Last year at this time, more than a dozen U.S.-based corporations were threatening to move their legal residence to foreign tax havens in a paper transaction known as an inversion. Facing a wave of public opposition, some corporations abandoned these inversion attempts—notably, drugstore chain Walgreens put its plans on ice,… – Continue reading
Indonesia hopes to bring billions of dollars in financial assets parked overseas back home – by pardoning past financial crimes. A Bill on tax amnesty is expected to be discussed in Parliament this year, said Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro. “A tax amnesty should not be seen simply as pardoning those… – Continue reading
The Government of Netherlands has successfully negotiated the inclusion of anti-abuse provisions, aimed at combating cross-border tax avoidance, in tax treaties with Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia. At present, talks are being held with another seven countries and new agreements with several other countries are expected to be concluded… – Continue reading
It’s taken some time, but it’s harder for U.S. citizens to hold foreign accounts away from the eyes of the IRS. FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, was signed into law in 2010 with the goal of ferreting out accounts hidden by U.S. taxpayers in foreign lands. While FATCA… – Continue reading
ST. JOHN’S –– Antigua and Barbuda has written to the European Union’s representative in the Caribbean, strongly objecting to the twin-island nation being named a tax haven and calling on the EU to apologize and withdraw the list. In a strongly worded letter to Head of the Delegation of the… – Continue reading
The TAXE committee, set up in the wake of the damaging ‘Luxleaks’ revelations to examine practice in the application of EU state aid and taxation law, has conducted on-site visits to the five EU member states and Switzerland. Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats spokesperson on the TAXE committee Peter… – Continue reading
Newcomers to the United States on temporary visas may be unpleasantly surprised at the income tax consequences. A little advance planning with tax and immigration professionals can go a long way towards mitigating income taxes due. Many countries imposes taxes on income earned in that country (i.e., a territorial tax… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man’s Agreement for the Exchange of Information Relating to Tax Matters with the Government of the Italian Republic entered into force on 10 June 2015. The agreement was signed on 16 September 2013 in London between Eddie Teare, the Isle of Man’s Treasury Minister, and His Excellency… – Continue reading
Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant said that as a matter of urgency all national parliaments should be active participants and decision makers in the process which the European Commission has been launched on the harmonisation of taxes in the eurozone. Dr. Sant said that having the same tax structures for… – Continue reading
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has taken a swipe at Switzerland for providing only limited information about wealthy tax evaders from cash-strapped Greece who are believed to have stashed billions of euros in Swiss banks. In an interview on Wednesday with Rundschau, a current affairs programme from state broadcaster SRF,… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands Government, along with its fellow 126 members of the OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, today received an email signed jointly by the Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA), and the Head of the Global Forum… – Continue reading
While the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) became law in 2010, it has been slowly transitioning to implementation, with 2015 being the first year of required reportings. For anyone not familiar with the Act, FATCA aims to prevent tax non-compliance among U.S. taxpayers with foreign accounts by requiring U.S…. – Continue reading
Thailand’s Council of State is deliberating the country’s first law on transfer pricing. If passed the bill w ould allow Thailand Revenue Department (TRD) officials to enquire into profits from crossborder transactions of multinational companies. The final draft of the law w as approved by the Cabinet in May this… – Continue reading
Romania loses EUR 502 every second, EUR 30,000 every minute, and some EUR 16 billion every year because of tax evasion, said Mihai Daraban, President of Romania’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “This represents about 70% of the tax evasion which state institutions, NGOs or the Fiscal Council calculated. In… – Continue reading
The number of raids on premises carried out by HM Revenue & Customs during investigations into tax evasion has increased by nearly 20% from 500 in 2013/14 to 593 last year. According to international law firm Pinsent Masons, the number of such raids has trebled in the last four years,… – Continue reading
In late May, Amazon announced it had started to pay tax on its sales in the UK rather than in Luxembourg. This came about after Amazon restructured its tax structure in Europe in response, at least in part, to the UK’s diverted profits tax (commonly known as the Google Tax)… – Continue reading
Tax havens are used for more than just saving money. When companies take advantage of their lack of transparency for more sinister activities, shareholders can lose out. When Enron collapsed in 2002 investigators were faced with a convoluted network of subsidiaries and offshore partnerships stretching from the Cayman Islands to… – Continue reading
Offshore investors in UK real estate face a range of tax obligations and charges to be managed. This briefing introduces some of the key tax aspects for investors using various offshore structures. UK tax on gains Gains realised by non-residents on the disposal of commercial (non-residential) UK real estate are… – Continue reading
Conor Hynes and Ronan Connaughton of Deloitte Ireland explore the impending changes arising from BEPS Action 7 and the Skandia case and provide insight on the potential tax impact for the insurance industry. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is attributed with the saying, “the only thing that is constant is change”…. – Continue reading
Before going after multinationals that channel profits through tax havens and low-tax nations, you must define what one is, business lobbies have told the Abbott government. Treasurer Joe Hockey announced in the May budget that the government would be strengthening anti-avoidance laws to go after 30 companies with over $1… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: A month after Parliament passed the black money bill – which targets those curb the stashing of illegal wealth abroad — a new law is in the pipeline to control tax evasion, sources said. The Special Investigation Team, which is handling the investigation into black money stashed abroad,… – Continue reading
