The European Commission has published the first of two tax transparency packages to tackle corporation tax fraud and harmful tax competition in the EU. It is recommending greater co-operation across EU member states and the automatic exchange of information on tax rulings across EU countries, which sounds good on paper… – Continue reading
CARSON CITY — Buried in the 130-page tax bill that Gov. Brian Sandoval pitched to lawmakers last week, there’s a safe haven for mining, gaming, insurance and bankers. The tax, known as the business license fee, is a broad-based framework that would levy new dollars from the state’s 330,000 businesses… – Continue reading
The Budget is one of the set-piece dramas of British political life. Yet every Chancellor of the Exchequer, every year, adds greater complexity to Britain’s tax system. This in turn muddies the grey areas of tax avoidance. With more than 1,000 tax reliefs and exemptions forming a part of a… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted Tuesday to reject a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would have created millions of infrastructure jobs and closed an “absurd” tax loophole to pay for the plan. Fifty-two lawmakers opposed the proposal during votes on amendments to a GOP fiscal 2016 budget proposal…. – Continue reading
Jakarta (ANTARA News) – The Indonesian and Japanese governments agreed to review the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJ-EPA) to derive mutual benefits, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received by Antara here on Tuesday. The review of IJ-EPA was agreed during a bilateral meeting between… – Continue reading
Two important developments last week in the transfer pricing domain have the potential of completely transforming the way this critical and controversial tax area has been handled by the income-tax department. One is the Delhi High Court judgment on tackling the AMP (advertisement, marketing and sales promotion) expenses involving a… – Continue reading
Law firm boss Tom Maher has been invited to be a speaker at a prestigious conference alongside the FBI special agent who caught the notorious ‘Wolf of Wall Street.’ He will also share the platform with a host of other newsworthy people in the business world including the whistleblower who… – Continue reading
Internationally, Australia has been seeking to take a lead on addressing transfer pricing issues as chair of G20, with a focus on a global and coordinated approach to base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). Domestically, the focus has been on reform of the transfer pricing regime in light of deficiencies… – Continue reading
Earlier today the UK government delivered its last budget before the UK general election in May. Many of the measures were, as one might expect so close to an election, focused on personal rather than corporate taxation. However, below is a summary of some of the business related announcements: Diverted… – Continue reading
DMS reminds stakeholders of all Cayman Islands investment funds deemed Foreign Financial Institutions (“FFIs”) of their International Tax Compliance (“ITC”) Obligations to the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority (“TIA”) which may apply under the following: Launch of the Cayman AEOI Portal The Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (“DITC”)… – Continue reading
According to news reports, Gibraltar’s government isn’t going to take being called a ‘tax haven’ lying down. The little British Overseas Territory at the tip of Spain is suing ABC—not the TV network, the Spanish newspaper—for defamation. Gibraltarians may live in what many call a tax haven, but their government… – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has briefed leaders of the Group of Twenty (G-20) nations on recent advances towards the conclusion of its base erosion and profit shifting project, which it says may be completed ahead of schedule. The OECD presented a report to the G-20 Finance… – Continue reading
A former Director of Public Prosecutions has accused banking giant HSBC of “grave” cross border crime and of engaging in “a systematic and profitable collusion in serious criminal activity” in the UK. According to the Independent, in a damming intervention Lord Ken Macdonald, who led the Crown Prosecution Service until… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Net profits at LGT, Liechtenstein’s biggest bank, rose more than 18 percent last year, the bank reported on Monday, after it attracted fresh funds and acquired a large portfolio of accounts from HSBC’s private bank. The Vaduz-based lender, owned by the principality’s royal family, said last year it… – Continue reading
LONDON: HM Revenue & Customs has introduced a new strict liability criminal offence on both offshore tax evaders and those who help them following the UK Government’s clampdown on tax dodging in yesterday’s Budget. Under today’s new rules, tax evaders will no longer be able to plead ignorance in order… – Continue reading
The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has criticised the government’s decision to press ahead with the introduction of a new ‘strict liability’ offence for offshore tax evasion. Although the CIOT says it is “generally strongly supportive” of the tax authority’s efforts to tackle evasion, it opposes the creation of a… – Continue reading
PM’s sudden decision to shelve the controversial land and buildings tax reflects a communications failure about its long-term benefits The sudden turnaround by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on the imposition of the land and buildings tax brought relief to middle-income taxpayers but prompted confusion among economists, policymakers and even the… – Continue reading
BARBADOS IS IN A “good position” to thrive as an international financial centre (IFC) despite various challenges, including a worrying initiative introduced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Ben Arrindell, one of the island’s leading international business practitioners who has also advised Government on such issues or… – Continue reading
A leading Swiss banker told his Lebanese counterparts that the days of banking secrecy are over, urging the lenders to prepare their clients for this inevitable outcome. “The banks which attracted tax evaders can no longer continue in this pattern because the era of banking secrecy is over and an… – Continue reading
Switzerland and the European Union (EU) have initialled an agreement on the automatic exchange of tax information (AEOI). Account data will be collected from 2017, with the first exchange scheduled for 2018, reports Tax News. The agreement was initialled on March 19, 2015, by Jacques de Watteville, the Swiss State… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): On Friday 20 March at 4:15pm the Cayman Islands officially opened the doors to the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) Portal to report tax information to other jurisdictions. The Financial Services Ministry has announced the AEOI Portal is now available for financial institutions to register and report customer… – Continue reading
One of Britain’s leading lawyers Lord Pannick, QC, will be heading a team of Gibraltar Government experts at the Royal Courts of Justice in London this morning as the local gaming industry takes on the British Government over tax issues, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle. Government is not participating directly in… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS: Fresh efforts at bolstering economic and trade relations between Belgium and Qatar kicked-off on a high note as Belgium’s Princess Astrid, representative of the King of Belgium, met Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin… – Continue reading
HM Revenue & Customs contacted foreign governments on 490 separate occasions in one year as it sought information on suspected tax evasion, a drop of 150 information requests compared to the previous year. During the 2012-13 tax year, the Revenue made nearly 500 information requests to tax authorities to find… – Continue reading
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a Paris-based international bureaucracy with the self-proclaimed mission to “promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.” But if there was a truth-in-advertizing requirement, the OECD would instead say that its mission is to… – Continue reading
The governor released her budget for the biennium fiscal years 2016 and 2017 a month ago. The budget called for revenue $338 million more than the House Ways and Means Committee (HW&MC) estimates. On an apples to apples basis, a $100 million of the total is simply the governor’s more… – Continue reading
ZURICH, March 23 (Reuters) – Liechtenstein’s biggest bank LGT does not expect to suffer any fallout from assets it bought from HSBC’s private bank months before that business was embroiled in a scandal over allegedly helping clients to dodge taxes. Vaduz-based LGT, owned by the principality’s royal family, snapped up… – Continue reading
The Chartered Institute of Taxation has said the UK Government has taken its campaign against offshore tax evasion too far, after degrading taxpayer rights with confirmed plans for a new “strict liability” offense for offshore tax evasion. The CIOT said that, while it is generally strongly supportive of HMRC’s efforts… – Continue reading
MEPs vote this week on a financial grant to Ukraine, debate the results of last week’s European Council summit as well as discuss new legislation to tackle corporate tax avoidance. They will also take part in a meeting on the importance of inter-religious dialogue. On Monday, the economic affairs committee… – Continue reading
Elizabeth Boardman wants the IRS to stop calling her frivolous. Ms. Boardman is a Quaker and a member of the Administrative Committee of the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee. The Ninth Circuit turned down her appeal earlier this month. I wrote about the original district court decision over two… – Continue reading
Finnish tax officials have received a record number of tax evasion tip-offs since launching an online whistleblower service at the end of January. The tax administration says that nearly 80 percent of fraud reports now come in online. Finland’s tax authorities appear to have struck a rich vein by introducing… – Continue reading
Car dealers in Uganda who are unregistered importers are set to face the wrath of Uganda Revenue Authority as the tax body moves in to catch tax evaders. Last week, the tax body said more Ugandans were importing cars in the pretext of owning them, but when they reached the… – Continue reading
THE Nigerian Indigenous Ship owners Association of Nigeria, NISA, has concluded plans to move against the proposed re-registration of vessels by the management of the National Inland Waterways, NIWA , a development they say will lead to double taxation. Speaking at the end of its quarterly meeting, President of NISA,… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips has hit back at suggestions from Opposition Leader Andrew Holness that an increase in tax compliance would mean harassment of businesses. Holness made the suggestion as he contributed to the Budget Debate last Thursday, but speaking at a meeting at The Gleaner’s North Street offices… – Continue reading
The Investment Association has hit out at Labour plans to widen the tax net for hedge funds, arguing this could harm the economy and increase the costs of UK funds. The Financial Times reports that Labours wants to remove “intermediaries relief” tax which allows investment funds to avoid paying stamp… – Continue reading
Last week, we discussed the revised set of standards for Transfer Pricing (TP) documentation and a template for country-by-country reporting (CBCR) of income, earnings, taxes paid and certain measures of economic activity as contained in Action Plan 13 of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. The CBCR provides… – Continue reading
Steve Forbes made the flat tax the centerpiece of his two presidential campaigns. Now, he’s promoting the idea once again as he relaunches an organization called Americans for Hope, Growth and Opportunity to advance a pro-growth agenda. “The flat tax is absolutely crucial to turbocharging our molasses-like economy,” Forbes, editor… – Continue reading
THE daughter of a multi-millionaire Sussex entrepreneur has been jailed over a £500,000 tax fraud. Theresa Bunn, 56, third child of the late Douglas Bunn, was sentenced to two years and eight months after lying about the value of her aunt’s estate. She told HMRC that Diana Vivien Pares-Wilson had… – Continue reading
New Delhi: The Income Tax department will carry out closer scrutiny of those tax statements wherein an assessee has disclosed that he or she holds bank accounts or any other assets abroad before the current financial year ends on March 31. Sources said the drive has been undertaken by the… – Continue reading
Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali is reported to have avoided a potential six-month prison sentence after reaching an agreement with Italy’s tax authorities over undeclared income. The Astana rider failed to declare income totalling €772,000 for 2010 and 2011, which would have incurred a tax liability of €290,000, reports… – Continue reading
Asuncion, Mar 22 (Prensa Latina) The volume of tax evasion of transnational companies based in Paraguay is even higher than drug trafficking, said economist Verónica Serafini, who calculated that the profits achieved by foreign investors in 2012 reached billions of dollars, however the country did not receive tax contributions of… – Continue reading
Compliance with non-resident state taxes is difficult enough for athletes or other professionals who occasionally travel out of state to work. For telecommuters and other home-based workers that work for a company based in another state, the tax situation can get even more complicated. As a general rule, if you… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department will carry out closer scrutiny of those tax statements wherein an assessee has disclosed that he or she holds bank accounts or any other assets abroad before the current financial year ends on March 31. Sources said the drive has been undertaken by the… – Continue reading
Virgin Care, which has been handed contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds to run more than 230 NHS and social care services, is one of at least 10 private health firms seeking state-funded contracts whose company structures include tax havens, it can be revealed. An analysis by Richard Murphy,… – Continue reading
Indian Revenue Secretary Shakti Kantadas says there will be no delay in rolling out the provisions of the act or operationalizing or putting into effect the provisions of the Black Money Act. Indian Revenue Secretary Shakti Kantadas says people should come clean on undeclared bank accounts and assets during the… – Continue reading
Mainland authorities are targeting tax evasion by multinationals, implementing new regulations aimed at “unreasonable” payments such as for service and royalties to overseas related parties. “The tax administration’s nationwide audit has discovered instances of multinationals in China making unreasonable payments to related parties overseas, causing the erosion of our tax… – Continue reading
It’s been dubbed the ‘Google tax’! Starting April 1st, the UK will levy a new ‘diverted profits tax’. This is the British government’s offensive against multinationals like Google, Amazon, Starbucks and others accused of shifting profits and avoiding tax. In doing so UK will become the first country to implement… – Continue reading
LONDON (CNN) – Greece is a tourist hot spot. But if you’re going to the islands this summer, would you mind being wired to catch tax cheats? A few tourists were asked if they would. “I’m here on holiday. I want to have a good time and I want to… – Continue reading
America’s tax code is riddled with problems. It imposes high rates on families, businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs. Its double taxation of capital gains and dividends creates a bias against savings and investment—activities essential for economic growth. Its convoluted system of deductions, credits, and exemptions distorts incentives and inefficiently allocates resources,… – Continue reading
Blackmoney stashed abroad will entail a 10 year rigorous imprisonment and a whopping 90% tax under the proposed stringent law that provides for a limited window of opportunity to offenders to disclose illicit wealth and escape prosecution. Blackmoney stashed abroad will entail a 10 year rigorous imprisonment and a whopping… – Continue reading
