ISLAMABAD – The PML-N government is mulling to bring amendments in law to empower Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to purchase urban land at about 25 per cent over and above rates declared in transfer deeds in order to stop tax evasion. Currently, the people involved in the real estate… – Continue reading
On 15 May 2015, Singapore has implemented a new enhanced regulatory framework for Singapore Corporate Services Providers. The strengthened regime for Singapore Corporate Services Providers is expected to help further boost the reputation of Singapore as a trusted international financial and business centre with robust regulatory frameworks against money laundering… – Continue reading
Tax Treaty Details Become Available The details of the Income Tax Treaty between Mauritius and the Republic of Congo have become available. The treaty will come into force after the two countries exchange ratification instruments. The provisions of the treaty will have effect from 1 January of the calendar year… – Continue reading
Details of new Tax treaty Become Available The details of the new Income Tax Treaty between Netherlands and Germany have become available following its ratification by Netherlands on 15 May 2015. The new treaty was signed on 12 April 2012. Once in force and effective, the new treaty will replace… – Continue reading
Tax Information Exchange Agreement Signed On 19 May 2015, Switzerland and Grenada signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement. Each country shall notify the other, in writing, of the completion of the procedures required by its law for the bringing into force of the Agreement. The Agreement shall enter into force… – Continue reading
The Treasury Department announced draft changes for the U.S. Model Income Tax Treaty — the baseline text used by the Treasury Department when it negotiates tax treaties. The current U.S. Model was last updated in 2006. The proposed changes in the draft provisions are intended to combat so-called Base Erosion… – Continue reading
The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has informed Malaysian financial institutions (MYFIs) that their filing deadline in respect of the 2014 reporting year under the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) has been deferred from June 30, 2015. FATCA requires all FIs outside the United States to submit regular information… – Continue reading
At the heart of the case is the Ecclestone family’s Bambino trust, which is based in the offshore tax haven of Liechtenstein Bernie Ecclestone is taking legal action against HM Revenue & Customs over claims that he owes the tax authority more than £1bn after it tore up a settlement… – Continue reading
Bern, 29.04.2015 – At its meeting today, the Federal Council decided to put into effect in two stages the Federal Law of 12 December 2014 on the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force recommendations, revised in 2012. On 12 December 2014 the Federal Assembly approved the Federal Law on… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands Government today issued a report stating that it will continue its current method of providing beneficial ownership information to law enforcement, tax and regulatory authorities, as the method adheres to global standards. As explained in its Consultation Report on Maintenance of Legal and Beneficial Ownership Information, Government’s… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is taking a close look at 120 transfer pricing disputes with a view to settling them as the Narendra Modi government tries to rid India of the label that it’s overly aggressive on taxation. While the government aims to sign the 120… – Continue reading
President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued a number of federal decrees ratifying a number of agreements concluded with the governments of friendly countries. The decrees have been published in the recent issue of the federal official gazette, reports the Gulf Today. Sheikh Khalifa issued Federal… – Continue reading
DOUBTS have been raised about whether planned new laws will be powerful enough to rake in billions of offshore tax dollars from multi-national companies. TREASURER Joe Hockey has promised to stop companies using complex schemes to escape paying tax, but University of Sydney academic Anthony Ting says a close look… – Continue reading
The Compliance Commission (the Commission) has revised its Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Examination Forms which were last revised in 2010. The examination forms were revised to clarify: The requirement for a written Risk-based AML/CFT policies and procedures document; Examination of financial institutions with a branch or branches;… – Continue reading
Rio Tinto’s head of tax – who was recently hauled before the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance about the lack of tax the miner pays – will now be also advising the Abbott government on how to improve the tax system and increase transparency in relation to the tax… – Continue reading
The ultimate owners of companies will have to be listed in central registers in EU countries, under new rules agreed by the EU Council and endorsed by the European Parliament yesterday. Access to the register is restricted but will nonetheless be open both to the authorities and to people with… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands Government today issued a report stating that it will continue its current method of providing beneficial ownership information to law enforcement, tax and regulatory authorities, as the method adheres to global standards. As explained in its Consultation Report on Maintenance of Legal and Beneficial Ownership Information, Government’s… – Continue reading
FSC restructuring plans for 2015 he Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (FSC) has recently announced restructuring plans for 2015. The restructure will take effect on 1 January 2015, focussing on supporting efficient and effective delivery of the FSC’s regulatory objectives and with a particular focus on strengthening existing sector-specific expertise. This… – Continue reading
Georgia and Poland held negotiations in Warsaw this week over an agreement on avoiding double taxation on income and capital. At the bilateral meeting the sides initialed the renewal agreement, which is based on the OECD Model Convention 2014 and envisages the introduction of new standards of cooperation in taxation… – Continue reading
Canada’s health-care stocks are sizzling, as Concordia Healthcare Corp. and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s buy-and-streamline strategy has pushed the industry’s earnings and margins ahead of U.S. peers. The drugmakers are the two top-performing stocks in the Canadian equity benchmark this year, boosting total returns for the members of the Standard… – Continue reading
The ultimate owners of companies will have to be listed in central registers in EU countries, open both to the authorities and to people with a “legitimate interest”, such as investigative journalists, under new rules already agreed with the Council and endorsed by Parliament on Wednesday. The new anti-money laundering… – Continue reading
NUMBER OF THE WEEK: 40 percent. The average combined federal and state tax rate paid by most U.S.-based firms, according to a Wall Street Journal op-ed by James Freeman today, entitled “The Tax Takeover Craze.” Freeman claims this is “roughly double the average in Europe and Asia,” and is the… – Continue reading
It is quite clear that the more recent past has seen a notable shift in the debate from various supranational initiatives implemented over the years, designed to curtail the activities of smaller offshore financial centres, towards the real issues of tax transparency, regulatory cooperation and managing systemic risk in the… – Continue reading
AUGUSTA — A measure to prevent multinational corporations from evading Maine taxes by hiding profits in offshore tax havens won initial approval in the state’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday on an 81-67, party-line vote. The bill, LD 341, sponsored by state Rep. Ryan Tipping-Spitz, D-Orono, requires Maine companies… – Continue reading
OECD, G20 team up to plug loopholes that allow companies evade taxes in jurisdictions they operate to prevent tax base erosion There is now a serious global attempt to ensure that multinationals pay taxes in the jurisdiction in which they carry out their business. The attempt is being made keeping… – Continue reading
Jersey’s positive role in helping to drive forward and shape the international transparency landscape has been praised by a senior OECD tax expert at this year’s Jersey Finance Annual London Private Client Conference. Addressing an audience of more than 400 senior private client tax, trust and wealth management professionals at… – Continue reading
Jersey’s positive role in helping to drive forward and shape the international transparency landscape has been praised by a senior OECD tax expert at this year’s Jersey Finance Annual London Private Client Conference. Addressing an audience of more than 400 senior private client tax, trust and wealth management professionals at… – Continue reading
1. Global focus on transfer pricing There has been a recent surge in regulatory attention around the world towards pricing arrangements within multinational corporate groups. Regulators are concerned that these pricing arrangements may be used as a means of profit shifting and therefore tax avoidance. The price at which an… – Continue reading
In 2014, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) began making recommendations to Member States for the implementation of certain actions aimed at limiting base erosion and profit shifting, known as “BEPS”. The project includes 15 actions, representing 15 areas of regulation that allow states to monitor data which… – Continue reading
German tax law allows deferring the tax on certain disposal gains by transferring the hidden reserves in the disposed assets to similar newly acquired or newly produced assets (“Replacement Assets”). The tax deferral requires an allocation of the Replacement Assets to a German permanent establishment. The ECJ has recently ruled… – Continue reading
Egyptian tax on shares sold by non-residents In 2014, the Egyptian Income Tax law was changed to introduce a 10% Egyptian tax charge on the net gain realised on a disposal of shares in an Egyptian company. This tax charge is intended to apply to non-resident as well as resident… – Continue reading
BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) — China has signed agreements with 99 countries to avoid goods being taxed twice as they cross borders in order to benefit more domestic enterprises going global, said a senior taxation official on Thursday. Wang Wenqin, deputy director of the State Administration of Taxation’s international tax… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to launch an investigation into Axact Pakistan (Pvt) Limited’s assets in foreign countries, including the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, bank accounts, credit card transactions and internet marketing in and outside Pakistan. FBR’s subsidiary Directorate General Intelligence & Investigation… – Continue reading
By stopping bogus claims of residency, his idea would force foreigners to pay capital gains tax when they sell a home in Canada OTTAWA — Inspired by the legendary FBI ploy to nab a notorious gangster, a B.C. immigration lawyer suggests the Canadian tax system be used to discourage the… – Continue reading
Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, just got a step closer to explaining his role in the Lux Leaks scandal. Speaking after an official visit to Luxembourg, German Member of the European Parliament, Fabio De Masi said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that powerful EU member states like Germany… – Continue reading
Pressed by the Gibraltar Government, the rightwing Spanish newspaper ABC yesterday backtracked on an earlier article in which it made damaging, but incorrect claims about Gibraltar and its commitment to tax transparency. The newspaper published a clarification yesterday following an article earlier this month in which it claimed Gibraltar was… – Continue reading
Actor John Malkovich has sued the French daily paper Le Monde over false reports saying he had a secret Swiss account. The defamation suit is the latest proof that having an undisclosed account in Switzerland—or perhaps anywhere—is an embarrassment for anyone. Whether politician, public figure, or anyone else, no one… – Continue reading
Experts say Panama’s new reforms will help fight money laundering. Panama’s Congress on April 22 unanimously approved anti-money laundering legislation that will bolster supervision of non-financial sectors through which proceeds from drug trafficking and other illicit activities have been laundered in recent years. To what extent will the reforms, a… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS, May 20 (KUNA) ¬¬ The European Parliament Wednesday endorsed the new anti¬money laundering legislation to step up the fight against tax crimes and terrorist financing. The anti¬money laundering law will for the first time oblige EU member states to keep central registers of information on the ultimate “beneficial” owners… – Continue reading
India has amended section 6 of the Income Tax Act to introduce place of effective management (POEM) as the test to determine the place of residence of companies in the country. The change was included Finance Act, 2015, which received the President’s assent on May 12, 2015. The change will… – Continue reading
IRS Rules That Policyholder Owns Mutual Fund Shares Under Nonqualified Deferred Annuity Contract The IRS ruled in Private Letter Ruling 201519001 on the tax treatment of a nonqualified deferred annuity contract issued by a life insurance company, finding that public mutual fund shares under the contract will be treated as… – Continue reading
On May 8, 2015, the United States Department of Justice announced that it had entered into a “non-prosecution agreement” (NPA) with Swiss bank Vadian Bank AG under the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Swiss bank program. In its press release announcing the NPA, the DOJ said, “the department has opened investigations… – Continue reading
Three years after a major restructuring of the business, general insurer AIG Jamaica is moving its operations offshore but will continue to write business for clients here. AIG Jamaica Insurance Company Limited was formerly Chartis Jamaica Insurance Company Limited, which was created in 2012 when sister company American Home Assurance… – Continue reading
The finance ministry will in the near future add Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC) rules to the Income Tax Act in order to prevent the tax deferral that many Indian multinational companies resort to by not repatriating the profits of their foreign subsidiaries for long periods. The proposed rules will come… – Continue reading
Introduction Tax avoidance, however legitimate its mechanism, has become the new focus for public opprobrium in parts of the world. High-profile cases and media attention examining the tax strategies of major global companies operating primarily in the digital economy have all contributed to this shift of focus. How are the… – Continue reading
INTRODUCTION On May 5, 2015 the Swiss Federal Supreme Court held a public hearing about two cases relating to the reclaim of Swiss withholding tax (WHT) in connection with arbitrage cases and issued its long awaited decisions. Two Danish banks issued the question on treaty entitlement for the refund of… – Continue reading
A proposal to bar insurers from claiming a tax deduction for premiums ceded to offshore affiliates would cost the U.S. economy $1.35 billion in gross domestic product, with private sector losses estimated to run roughly four times as great as the tax revenues raised, according to a new report from… – Continue reading
During a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, chaired by deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan,in his role as acting prime minister, the government passed a revised bill that requires the automatic exchange of financial account information for taxpayers from both countries every year, reports Arirang. The agreement will also ensure confidentiality and the… – Continue reading
International fast-food giant McDonald’s avoided paying half a billion dollars of tax in Australia over a five-year period by shifting profits through the low-tax nation of Singapore, a new report by a global coalition of trade unions says. The report, which has been funded and commissioned by a coalition of… – Continue reading
The IRS’s scrutiny of tax avoidance in offshore locations has discouraged bidders from taking over reinsurers, potentially reducing the companies’ value. Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. and Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd., both based in Bermuda, have each said in recent regulatory filings that potential suitors backed away last year because of… – Continue reading
