Jason Porter explores the tax regimes in Portugal, France, Malta and Cyprus – four of the most advantageous territories for UK ex-pat retirees People aged 55 and over are now entitled to their pension in the form of a lump sum, to be taxed at marginal rates applying in the… – Continue reading
Part Seven in our series comparing ASEAN business costs with China Singapore is the de facto financial and services hub for ASEAN, and as a city state with such a remit it is more pertinent to compare the dynamics of Singapore with Hong Kong rather than China as a whole…. – Continue reading
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills on Tuesday confirmed reports that a U.S.-Armenia Trade and Investment Treaty will be signed during President Sargsyan’s working visit this week to Washington, DC, the final step in the negotiation of a bilateral economic accord long sought by the Armenian National Committee of America… – Continue reading
US fast-food giant McDonald’s could be facing a European Commission (EU) investigation into its tax affairs. EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she is looking into trade union allegations that the restaurant chain avoided paying more than €1bn (£658m; $1.1bn) in corporate taxes between 2009 and 2013. Unions claim McDonald’s… – Continue reading
In the 2015 Budget Speech presented to the National Assembly on 25 February 2015 the Minister of Finance announced that amendments will be proposed to change the rules for the digital economy in line with the latest guidance issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) in its… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS–The European Union won’t meet a self-imposed June deadline for deciding whether four multinational companies including Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. benefited from illegal tax sweeteners, the bloc’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said Tuesday. “We won’t meet the deadline we set ourselves [of] the end of the second quarter,” Ms…. – Continue reading
The Government will provide $127.6 million over four years to aid financial investigations and prosecutions addressing superannuation and investment fraud, identity crime, and tax evasion, it announced today. It will establish a taskforce building on work done by Project Wickenby — a cross agency task force fighting against tax evasion,… – Continue reading
The Davis Tax Committee (“DTC”) recently addressed the issue of base erosion and profit shifting (“BEPS”) in South Africa. The international importance of transfer pricing was once again emphasized when 4 out of the 15 actions identified in the OECD Action Plan on BEPS related to transfer pricing. The 15… – Continue reading
The Standing Committee’s recommendation comes after the finance minister announced in the Budget that DTC would not be pursued as most provisions of the code have been incorporated in the existing Act. Even as finance minister Arun Jaitley scrapped the proposed direct taxes code (DTC) in Budget 2015-16, the standing… – Continue reading
Passing between tax administrations Polish and US information on accounts and income tax residents predicts signed by the president Bronislaw Komorowski law on ratification of the agreement with the USA on the use of so-called FATCA Act. As reported by the presidential office, in terms of the Act of 20… – Continue reading
A guide to Spanish taxation in 2015 for expats, with up-to-date information on income tax, VAT, property tax and other taxes for residents and non-residents in Spain. If you are living and working in Spain, you will be liable to pay Spanish taxes on your income and assets and will… – Continue reading
Guernsey’s Chief Minister, Jonathan Le Tocq, met today with Pierre Moscovici, the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs. Deputy Le Tocq’s meeting, which was alongside Jersey’s Chief Minister, Ian Gorst, came at the beginning of a series of engagements over the next 48 hours in Brussels…. – Continue reading
Thailand is expected to introduce new transfer pricing (TP) laws in the near future, which will apply to all companies in the Kingdom with related-party transactions. At a recent Deloitte seminar on “Thailand TP Developments”, with participation from senior officials from the Revenue Department, we shared some valuable insights on… – Continue reading
The CBDT has constituted a high- level committee to secure confidential tax data, obtained under mutual exchange with US authorities, as part of India’s compliance measures for signing the much awaited Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The seven-member panel will be headed by the Member (Income Tax) of the… – Continue reading
The IRS, the most powerful and least accountable agency of the federal government, is an admitted criminal enterprise. To deal with this, Republican candidates for president are placing tax reform at the top of their agendas. You will have to guess why the Democrats seem not to care. Sen. Ted… – Continue reading
Mauritius and Singapore are both examples of countries with Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with India, meaning dividends from corporations that are paid out to shareholders are not taxed further, having already been taxed at the corporate level. This legislation has meant that such countries have been used to “round-trip”… – Continue reading
Group of wealthy expats facing prison for failing to declare property purchases in Marbella A NETWORK of foreign businessmen and lawyers are facing 48 years in prison for tax evasion on the Costa del Sol. The group are to go on trial for using offshore companies to avoid paying taxes… – Continue reading
A federal judge demanded to know more about HSBC Holdings Plc’s compliance with its trade sanctions and anti-money-laundering deal with the U.S. after a monitor said the bank was “too slow” to mend its ways. U.S. District Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn, New York, ordered the government to file a… – Continue reading
Authorities in Milan said on Monday that they have detained a former Swiss banker for allegedly helping wealthy Italian clients evade taxes and launder large sums of money, including the proceeds of embezzlement. Italian financial police (Guardia di Finanza) from Varese northwest of Milan said that Filippo Dollfus, a former… – Continue reading
The patent box regime, adopted at the end of 2014 with Italy’s Stability Law, was recently modified by the Investment Compact Decree and implemented into law at the end of March 2015. A distinctive feature of the Italian regime is that the measure now also covers trademarks and designs. A… – Continue reading
The Tax Foundation released its inaugural “International Tax Competitiveness Index” (ITCI) on September 15th, 2014. The United States was ranked an abysmal 32nd out of the 34 OECD member countries for the year 2014. (See accompanying Table 1.) The European welfare states such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark, with their… – Continue reading
With a new candidate seemingly entering the race for president each week, national attention is understandably focused on American politics. But while Americans spare little mind for the goings-on of international organizations, their activities not only have significant impact around the world, but could also play a role in the… – Continue reading
Monrovia – Chinese Businessman, Shun Feng, held on charges of tax evasion, economic sabotage and smuggling by the West Point Magisterial Court was Friday cleared of the charges, but warned by the court not to repeat the act. The five-year penalty that follows the crimes was also dropped by the… – Continue reading
On April 21, 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a Geographic Targeting Order (“GTO”) lowering reporting thresholds and triggering additional recordkeeping requirements for certain financial transactions in a move that is likely to have effects far beyond the 700 Miami-based electronics exporters that are specifically… – Continue reading
On 21 April 2015, the Danish Parliament adopted a bill, which sets out to deal with certain potential abuses recently encountered by the tax authorities as well as the Danish enactment of the general international anti-abuse initiatives currently considered at EU and OECD level. The new Danish GAAR will take… – Continue reading
Chapter 3 of the Internal Revenue Code requires payors (and recipients) of certain types of U.S. source income to withhold tax if the beneficial owner or recipient is a non-U.S. person for income tax purposes. Chapter 4 also imposes similar withholding under FATCA for payments to foreign financial institutions and… – Continue reading
A Netherlands-based company threatened to sue the South Korean government for inflicting more than 183 billion won in losses through double taxation during its sale of Hyundai Oilbank shares five years ago, it was revealed Saturday. If a lawsuit is filed, it will mark the second time for South Korea… – Continue reading
State government is contemplating One Time Settlement scheme to recover over Rs.2,000 crore pending commercial tax revenue dues locked up in various litigations. Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, who recently held a review meeting in Vijayawada to review the division-wise revenue collections and shore up tax collection by plugging loopholes in… – Continue reading
Bradley Birkenfeld, the former UBS employee who helped bring down Swiss banking secrecy, has explained to Swiss public television SRF why he blew the whistle on the bank’s tax evasion violations in the United States. Birkenfeld claims he was pushed into the action by the discovery of an internal document… – Continue reading
Taipei, May 2 (CNA) Taiwan has reached an agreement with Canada on the avoidance of double taxation at an annual bilateral economic consultation, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Saturday. The double taxation avoidance pact, which will be signed very soon, will be favorable to Taiwan businesses because it… – Continue reading
Fraud claims against Proskauer Rose stemming from a tax shelter scheme it helped sell to the heirs of the Johnson & Johnson fortune will survive a motion to dismiss, the Appellate Division, First Department, ruled Thursday. A unanimous panel, in an opinion written by Justice Angela Mazzarelli, affirmed a ruling… – Continue reading
A year after the signing of the intergovernmental agreement regarding FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) between Luxembourg and the United States, the bill of law was finally introduced on 27 March 2015 to the Luxembourg Parliament. The bill of law relates to the exchange of tax information between the… – Continue reading
Warning corporates not to take unfair advantage of the liberalised tax environment, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said the world is moving towards a more transparent regime that would remove the veil of secrecy from unlawful transactions. “I think, for every assessee, every person in the commercial business also,… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Five Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) on Thursday mainly from the US and the UK have dragged the Indian government and the Income Tax department to the court for levying Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on their capital gains for the year 2011-12. The five FPIs — National Westminster Bank Plc,… – Continue reading
With its enviable reputation in offshore trusts, pensions and insurance, Bermuda is an ideal jurisdiction for employers to establish international pension and employee benefit plans (IPPs). Global organisations may consider establishing Bermuda IPPs for employees who work outside their home country or the home country of both the employees and… – Continue reading
The OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project is changing the international tax landscape by building a new international consensus on how to tackle BEPS. In September 2014, the first seven of the deliverables under the 15-point BEPS Action Plan were presented to G20 Finance Ministers when they met… – Continue reading
The debate around transparency, information exchange and beneficial ownership continues to evolve and has demanded a real focus for those working in International Finance Centres (IFCs), which frequently find themselves in the frame when it comes to ill-considered accusations relating to secrecy and illicit financial flows. In fact, Jersey and… – Continue reading
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has forwarded a novel set of recommendations to the prime minister proposing establishment of the Pakistan Revenue Regulatory Authority (PRRA) for imposing taxes while limiting the role of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to tax collection. The prevention committee on tax evasion recommendations were… – Continue reading
HM Revenue & Customs is facing a possible legal challenge in the form of judicial review, over the use of a tax amnesty to exonerate hundreds of suspected tax evaders whose names appeared on documents leaked from HSBC in Geneva, reports the International Business Times. Campaign group Avaaz made clear… – Continue reading
Bradley Birkenfeld was released from federal prison in August 2012 after serving 2½ years for his role as a Swiss banker hiding millions of dollars for wealthy American clients. Five weeks later, he found himself in the kitchen of a small rental house in Raymond, New Hampshire. At that moment,… – Continue reading
A committee set up by the finance ministry to address industry’s tax concerns has invited trade and industry for talks on the issue. Experts, however, say Finance Minister Arun Jaitley should have in his reply to a debate on the Finance Bill 2015 provided clarity on minimum alternate tax (MAT)… – Continue reading
Iran and the Czech Republic have signed an agreement which allows the two countries’ companies to avoid paying double tax on their trade activities. The agreement was signed on Thursday by Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyebnia and his Czech counterpart, Andrej Babiš, in the Czech capital… – Continue reading
Introduction The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently issued a discussion draft on the use of profit split methods in relation to transfer pricing and in the context of global value chains as part of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project.(1) This update provides an overview… – Continue reading
During 2014, Barbados again produced strong evidence of the underlying strength of its financial system. All of the financial stability indicators and stress tests performed for the financial system strongly indicate that the system remains stable with the capacity to withstand a wide variety of severe economic shocks. It is… – Continue reading
The game of cat and mouse between tax authorities and citizens has been played for a very long time. People have been dodging taxes for centuries. But the more nuanced and sophisticated game of avoiding tax is a more recent phenomenon. Indeed, when it comes to tax avoidance the game… – Continue reading
Singapore is not a tax haven, it’s a value-adding hub. That is the claim of the island nation’s Economic Development Board, the Singaporean government agency that’s been charged with attracting business and investment. It has disputed recent claims at the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance that it’s being used… – Continue reading
Bucharest Court ruled the preventive arrest for 30 days of Alistar Security’s owner, Dan Alistar, and of other seven defendants detained in the case of tax evasion and money laundering with a prejudice estimated at EUR 3 million. The court thus upheld the request of the Bucharest Court’s prosecutors, who… – Continue reading
An independent group of tax professionals should report annually to parliament on whether new legislation complies with the rule of law, the Law Society’s tax committee recommended this week. Publishing a position paper on tax and the rule of law, committee chair Gary Richards said that ‘legislative hyperactivity has become… – Continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO, April 30 — Apple Inc. has raised a flag about the potential cost if the company is required to pay past taxes to Ireland as part of a European Commission investigation that started last year. While Apple hasn’t been able to estimate the amount, it could be “material,”… – Continue reading
France’s minister for digital affairs says abolition of ‘double Irish’ was a welcome move Multinational companies, particularly those in the digital sector, will need to pay tax where they create value in a new digital single market for Europe, France’s minister for digital affairs has said. Speaking to The Irish… – Continue reading
