A vote in favor of repealing FATCA sends a message: a message to foreign banks that they can get back to helping wealthy Americans hide their assets and use offshore accounts to evade tax. In anticipation of yesterday’s Senate’s budget resolution “vote-o-rama,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has introduced an amendment… – Continue reading
The Luxembourg supervisory authority, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), has recently issued FAQs regarding the immobilisation of bearer shares and units, as well as a press release to remind Luxembourg alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs) and non-EU AIFMs that market alternative investment funds (AIFs) in Luxembourg under… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: FBR has established huge tax evasion by model Ayyan Ali in a money laundering case and a formal reference in this regard will be filed soon, The News learnt Thursday. Official documents available with The News show that the FBR’s Intelligence & Investigation (I&I), Inland Revenues (IR) has completed… – Continue reading
The fight against international tax evasion dominated a meeting at Maximos Mansion between Greek State Minister Nikos Pappas and State Minister for Combating Corruption Panagiotis Nikoloudis with Swiss State Secretary for International Financial Markets Jacques de Watteville. The meeting, which was concluded earlier on Thursday, was also attended by Justice… – Continue reading
NAIROBI: Insurance brokers have contested the introduction of 10 per cent levy on their brokerage commission. Eighteen insurance brokerage firms have moved to court under a certificate of urgency, suing Commissioner of Domestic Taxes and the Attorney General. The firms complain that introduction of 10 per cent levy on their… – Continue reading
Dividend payment by an overseas company with related assets in India will not be taxable in India, the govt says New Delhi: The income tax department on Thursday clarified that dividend payment by an overseas company with related assets in India will not be taxable in India, as part of… – Continue reading
Chose not to prosecute HSBC despite money-laundering documentation NEW YORK – President Obama’s attorney-general nominee, Loretta Lynch, admitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee that her investigators in the money-laundering probe of HSBC were aware of evidence compiled by whistleblower John Cruz but she chose, nevertheless, not to bring criminal charges…. – Continue reading
WASHINGTON: A US judge on Friday decided not to require prison time for two former Credit Suisse Group AG bankers who pleaded guilty to helping US customers evade taxes by using Swiss accounts. US District Court Judge Gerald Lee sentenced Andreas Bachmann and Josef Dorig to serve five years of… – Continue reading
Except for a few family members and a dwindling number of those who consider him a dissident, most people who have followed the Mukhtar Ablyazov story have nothing good to say about him. They see him as an embezzler, swindler and con man par excellence – a guy whose theft… – Continue reading
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has approached Finance Minister Ishaq Dar seeking withholding tax exemption on the payments made or transactions carried out by the IFC, through an amendment in the Second Schedule of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 along with an exemption certificate from withholding tax provisions from July… – Continue reading
Margaret Hodge and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today urged HMRC to further its efforts to crack down on big businesses that evade tax In a new report issued by the PAC, Hodge criticised the disparity in ways that SMEs and big businesses are treated by the Revenue. “HMRC needs… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): Cayman’s leader, Premier Alden McLaughlin, was joined by the COO of Dart Enterprises at the House of Lords this week in promoting Cayman when he delivered a key-note address at the Caribbean Council reception. As McLaughlin sold the crowd on the benefits of investing in Cayman and the… – Continue reading
All too often, changes to tax legislation happen at a glacial pace. As a nation, we can’t afford to let that happen with the GST changes required to modernise the law and processes to capture GST from overseas online purchases. Budget 2015 provides a suitable time for the government to… – Continue reading
Public accounts committee advocates legislation making promotion of aggressive tax avoidance illegal and review of government tax relief schemes The next government should introduce new laws to prosecute financial advisers who help wealthy individuals and firms in aggressive tax avoidance, a comprehensive parliamentary report has found. The public accounts committee,… – Continue reading
Modi’s government is focused on expanding manufacturing, lightening the regulatory burden on companies NEW DELHI—Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has a simple message for critics pushing for deeper change in the economic policies of the world’s largest democracy: It’s coming, be patient. In an interview Thursday, Mr. Jaitley, a corporate… – Continue reading
The Saguier family, majority shareholder in the La Nación newspaper since the 1990s, is the subject of numerous court cases which are trying to determine the legality of the origen of those funds used in the transaction which left the Mitres outside of the management of the media outlet founded… – Continue reading
Introduction Every non-US entity has FATCA status Passive NFFEs report substantial US owners Trustee of trust or its sponsoring entity will report US persons Other reporting FFIs in structure will carry out FATCA due diligence Reporting when US account holders are identified Enforcement Comment Introduction The policy statement in the… – Continue reading
Attorney General Eric Holder will leave office with a perfect record of not having busted a single senior banker The bank, HSBC, has been involved in criminal enterprises from dealing with terrorists and drug dealers to advising clients how to escape paying taxes. Yet no HSBC banker has gone to… – Continue reading
Irish firm featured in Luxleaks coverage has set up a new company: Glanbia Cheesip Ltd In the wake of the Luxleaks controversy last year, then chair of the Revenue Commissioners Josephine Feehily said that a company’s tax policies contained the potential for reputational risk if the strategies they were implementing,… – Continue reading
On March 6 Luxembourg’s government adopted the draft legislation transposing into national law the grand duchy’s intergovernmental agreement with the US and facilitating compliance by the country’s financial institutions with the requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. FATCA, which was signed into law in 2010 but only took… – Continue reading
In our alert ” FATCA Notification and Reporting – Are you ready?” we reported that Cayman Islands Financial Institutions (“Cayman Islands FIs”) must notify the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority, Department for International Tax Cooperation (“TIA”) on or before 30 April 2015 and report on U.S. Reportable Accounts on or… – Continue reading
HMRC’s reporting of tax reliefs does not enable Parliament to scrutinise them effectively to determine whether they are providing value for money and the complexity of tax law and the constraints on HMRC’s resources mean that it is fighting an uphill battle against those who are determined to cheat the… – Continue reading
There are over 100 countries around the world that are now “FATCA-compliant.” Mexico is one of the earlier Latin American countries to comply. This means that Mexican banks will be sending to the IRS specific information regarding accounts held by U.S. persons. In this article, we discuss how FATCA is… – Continue reading
Former Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou has been handed a one-year suspended sentence after a court found him guilty of helping three people dodge millions in tax. One of Greece’s previous legislatures was offered by IMF head Christine Lagarde a list of Greek citizens holding offshore accounts, in a move… – Continue reading
Senate hearings to question alleged links between firm behind Queensland’s Abbot Point coal port, a Cayman Islands company and a $1bn rorts investigation The Greens will use Senate hearings to question the Foreign Investment Review Board (Firb) about alleged links between Australia’s biggest proposed coal venture, a Cayman Islands company… – Continue reading
Timatex Vietnam Co. Ltd. has taken legal action against the HCMC Tax Department over the collection of US$2.8-million tax arrears but it is still open for negotiation to solve the problem. Speaking at a dialogue with the tax department yesterday, a representative of the company demanded an explanation of the… – Continue reading
Michael Wilson rants that a long-cherished distinction between avoidance (OK) and evasion (not OK) is being eroded by political doublespeak. And that the demise of the 1936 ‘Duke of Westminster’ legal principle has gone sadly unnoticed. Where will it end? You hardly need telling that there’s an election on the… – Continue reading
Juan Ovelar made a quick decision when he heard the US government had accused his Andorran bank of money-laundering, and immediately withdrew most of his funds, reports Bloomberg. “I’m worried that everyone will do the same as I did and there will be a knock-on effect that could affect other… – Continue reading
Following a period of consultation, legislation is to be included in the 2015 Finance Bill which will extend capital gains to gains accruing to a non-resident person on the disposal of a UK residential property. The charge will apply from 6 April 2015 to gains arising on or after that… – Continue reading
Five years after paying $413.7 million to settle a huge tax avoidance claim, ANZ bank is under fire for a $1 billion deal that appears to “double dip” on trans-Tasman tax benefits. The criticism follows the Australian bank’s issue this month of A$970 million ($995 million) of hybrid securities to… – Continue reading
Despite the potential benefits of the time apportioned reduction, bed and breakfasting could be a better option for international clients Most experienced advisers will have internationally mobile clients; for example, those with spouses from different jurisdictions or those who intend to move abroad. Advising such a client can have its… – Continue reading
The India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) may see some headway with the island nation promising full cooperation with India to address outstanding issues relating to their bilateral tax treaty. The development comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Mauritius. Its Finance Minister Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo in his Budget speech… – Continue reading
While the U.S. has traditionally been seen as a low-tax jurisdiction for individuals, with its many exemptions and generous deductions, its rules can bite hard for U.S. expatriates. In the past, “long distance Americans” generally responded by ignoring their U.S. tax obligations, and expat filing rates were notoriously low. Now,… – Continue reading
Nairobi — The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) wants tax incentives offered to foreign investors withdrawn. The proposal to eliminate tax incentives and concessions offered to foreign investors is aimed at boosting revenue collection to accelerate national development. Speaking at the ongoing Biennial Ambassadors/High Commissioners conference in Kwale, KRA Commissioner General… – Continue reading
A bill working its way through the state Legislature would eliminate a property tax on business equipment that the bill’s co-sponsor calls “double taxation,” but that loss of revenue could bring down funding for local governments. Under the bill, the state’s businesses and manufacturers would still pay property taxes on… – Continue reading
Tackling tax evasion should be a top EU priority. EU countries and the European Commission should play a leading role in discussing how to fight tax fraud and aggressive tax planning in the OECD and other relevant fora, says Parliament in its resolution on tax, voted on Wednesday. The resolution,… – Continue reading
Michael Betley, group chairman of Trust Corporation International looks at how Guernsey has coped in an increasingly transparent and regulated world and how it can adapt to further change in the future. Is Guernsey positioned to navigate its way successfully through the maze of initiatives designed to penetrate the legal… – Continue reading
Ghana and the Netherlands have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Automatic Exchange of Information to help in efforts to fight tax evasion. The agreement would allow the tax authorities of the two countries to automatically provide each other with information about income from immovable property earned by… – Continue reading
The recent release of Ireland’s major strategy paper, ‘IFS2020 – A strategy for Ireland’s financial services sector 2015-2020’ addresses Ireland’s five year strategy in further developing the country as a global leader in the financial services sector. Over the past 25 years, Ireland’s international financial services sector has grown dramatically,… – Continue reading
Bulgaria’s Cabinet approved on March 25 the draft of the updated treaty with United Kingdom on avoiding double taxation of income and property, the Government press service said in a statement. The existing double-taxation agreement between the two countries dates back to 1987, when economic relations between the two countries… – Continue reading
How to ensure landowning clients do not have shortfalls and exposure to penalties Landowners in Queensland should expect increased scrutiny of their affairs for land tax purposes. It is expected the Queensland Office of State Revenue (Queensland OSR) will increase its land tax audit activity in 2015 so landholders and… – Continue reading
Attorney-at–Law and Compliance Specialist We are living in a time where the tax landscape facing the Bahamian financial services industry is changing and evolving rapidly. On November 3, 2014, the Government executed a Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the US government to implement the latter’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: A three member high level delegation of Inland Revenue-Policy Wing of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will attend a three day conference on regional taxation problems in the first week of April in Japanese capital Tokyo. The conference is funded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well… – Continue reading
Margaret Hodge accuses HMRC of bias On Monday it was the turn of Dave Hartnett, former secretary of HMRC and Edward Troup, the current tax assurance commissioner, to face the poisonous Public Accounts Committee chairperson, Margaret Hodge. The two were giving evidence as part of the Committee’s inquiry into tax… – Continue reading
Seven Caribbean countries find themselves on the US “Major Money Laundering List for 2015”. The United States Government published its “2015 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report” on Wednesday, and the Cayman Islands is on the list, reports CNS News. The other six Caribbean countries listed are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas,… – Continue reading
The Abbott Government will shortly release a discussion paper on the Australian tax system. It will be the first step towards the much anticipated tax white paper. International factors should figure prominently in the white paper — specifically, how to ensure that Australia has a resilient tax system given the… – Continue reading
CARACAS, VENEZUELA – Venezuela is launching a probe into large offshore bank deposits amid a spate of reports that at least $2 billion was siphoned off by corrupt, top-level officials at state-run oil company PDVSA. Chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz’s announcement Tuesday was the socialist government’s first response to the… – Continue reading
(CS) The Lord Mayor of the City of London was in Luxembourg Tuesday to meet with representatives of the financial sector and political decision-makers to discuss a number of issues, from BEPS to FTT and TTIP. Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Alan Yarrow explained that there is much common… – Continue reading
As part of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill which Parliament is expected to approve today, the government is attempting to implement a public register showing who really owns companies. The bill is a good example of how UK legislation can affect countries around the world, especially those in… – Continue reading
Rather than installing a territorial tax system, the federal government should change U.S. securities rules, a law professor contends. Changing to a “territorial” tax system in the United States won’t ultimately stem the exodus of U.S.-based multinationals to lower-tax countries and could come at a significant cost in terms of… – Continue reading
