ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is making preparation for registration of FIRs against those selected individuals who owned offshore companies and were named in Panama/Bahamas Leaks but failed to comply against the sent-out tax notices within the stipulated timeframe. The FBR found 114 cases whereby individuals were non-compliant… – Continue reading
The investigation, dubbed “Offside,” was launched three years ago and conducted by Naples Public Prosecutor’s Office. The alleged offense was criminal association aimed at tax evasion. Now that the sports prosecutor has completed the investigation, the first results are emerging. Fourteen football clubs will stand trial before the sports tribunal… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: With a hope of improving India’s image on ease of doing business, the government has increased the pace of resolving transfer pricing issues and is looking to sign around 100 advance pricing agreements by the end of March 2017, people in the know said. Central Board of Direct Taxes… – Continue reading
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on how best to deter promoters of aggressive tax planning schemes. The Commission said it is particularly interested in gathering views on how a mandatory disclosure scheme for tax advisers could be put in place. If implemented, this would require intermediaries to… – Continue reading
While Trump wants to close loopholes, many of them stem from public policy concerns — not “special interests.” After a dramatic upset victory in one of the most bitterly contested presidential races in recent history, Donald Trump now has some serious work to do. His corporate tax policies—which are vital… – Continue reading
Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a draft agreement with the U.S. government to improve the implementation of tax rules and apply the provisions of the U.S. foreign account tax compliance act (FATCA). The decision is outlined in government resolution No. 821-r dated November 9, 2016 posted on the government’s… – Continue reading
In Canberra, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, K C Chan, expressed his wish to quickly start negotiations on a comprehensive double taxation agreement (CDTA) with Australia. During his meetings with Australia’s Treasurer, Scott Morrison, and the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer, Chan pointed… – Continue reading
The withholding tax (WHT) agreement between Switzerland and Austria will be terminated on January 1, 2017, when the agreement between Switzerland and the EU on the automatic exchange of tax information enters into force. On November 11, 2016, Switzerland and Austria signed an agreement to ensure a smooth transition between… – Continue reading
The European Council has reached an agreement on the criteria and the process for the establishment of an EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions in taxation matters. On November 8, the Council resolved that an EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions “will be determined by the Council in 2017.” The “screening” of… – Continue reading
Finland will have “more possibilities” to tax Finnish pensioners living in Portugal under a recently revised bilateral double taxation avoidance treaty, the Finnish Government has said. The new agreement was signed on November 7 by Portuguese Finance minister Mario Centano and his Finnish counterpart Petteri Orpo, who declared himself “very… – Continue reading
New Zealand’s tax agency has set out the international tax initiatives it intends to pursue, in particular in response to the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting plan. It said it will undertake further work on a package of BEPS initiatives, which will include hybrid mismatch rules to prevent companies… – Continue reading
Practitioners in the managed funds industry are calling for a zero-rate for withholding tax in Australia amid the government’s proposals for new tax concessions to boost it, saying the proposed measures don’t go far enough. The government released a consultation paper Nov. 3 on non-resident withholding taxes for pooled funds—or… – Continue reading
UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) signed an agreement with the Republic of Ecuador on the avoidance of double taxation on income, in the Ministry’s premises in Dubai. The agreement was signed by Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs; and Fausto Herrera, Minister… – Continue reading
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), aimed at combating tax evasion by US citizens holding financial assets in financial institutions based outside the US, will come into force in Angola from September 2017. The adoption of the US tax compliance model was announced by the manager of General Tax… – Continue reading
New Zealand has delayed cracking down on multinational tax avoidance due to private sector concerns over timing and concerns about “scaring away” foreign investment, the Inland Revenue Department says. Wide-ranging reforms to corporate tax rules proposed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), known as the base erosion… – Continue reading
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has netted more than $10 billion in secret offshore cash and investments. The controversial Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) has encouraged more than 100,000 taxpayers to reveal their overseas holdings. But the IRS suggests this is just the start as FATCA cranks up… – Continue reading
Multinational companies will still be able to use the controversial “double Irish” tax arrangement after the final end date of 2020, Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy has said. A number of tax experts have confirmed this is the case, though they have disputed whether the terms of which they will… – Continue reading
Ninety-eight countries are poised to formally adopt the OECD’s innovative multilateral tax treaty, which will place recommendations from the BEPS project into more than 3,000 bilateral accords, when the ad-hoc group meets later this month. The “Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty-Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting”… – Continue reading
The UK and Colombia signed a double tax agreement (DTA) on November 2, which is intended to support trade and investment by capping withholding tax on cross-border income. The agreement was signed by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jane Ellison, and the Colombian Finance Minister, Mauricio Cardenas, during President… – Continue reading
A government taskforce created to analyse the Panama Papers data leak has identified a number of leads that are relevant to a major insider-trading operation, led by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and supported by the National Crime Agency. After acquiring data on offshore activity in Panama, the taskforce has… – Continue reading
The level of cash holdings kept in foreign jurisdictions by US multinationals will continue to increase unless changes to domestic corporate tax rules are introduced, Moody’s Investors Services has said. According to a new report from the ratings agency, US non-financial companies rated by Moody’s will increase their cash holdings… – Continue reading
European Union finance ministers agreed on Tuesday how to screen countries for a blacklist of tax havens across the world, officials said, and said applying zero-rate taxes was not necessarily a factor, prompting an outcry. The bloc committed in May to agree on a common list of tax offenders by… – Continue reading
European Union finance ministers agreed that countries applying a zero tax rate cannot automatically be considered tax havens, Italy’s finance minister said on Tuesday, a move that may reduce the scope of a EU blacklist of offending jurisdictions. “We have find an agreement on the fact that if a jurisdiction… – Continue reading
The United Arab Emirates’ tax-free perks could soon come to an end as the OECD group of wealthy nations lays down the pressure to tackle global tax-evaders. The Gulf state’s hesitation to sign up to a world treaty to assist in the exchange of information on tax evaders is a… – Continue reading
A multinational company based in a jurisdiction that has no tax treaty with Israel must pay Israeli taxes on its Israel-related earnings from international money transfer services, the Israel Tax Authority determined. The ruling is set to apply to the growing number of financial service firms entering the Israeli market,… – Continue reading
Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance released a draft circular on October 11th which, if passed, is set to become the largest change to transfer pricing (TP) regulation since the implementation of Circular 66/2010/TT-BTC in 2010 – which the draft updates. Touching on conditionality of TP exemption and thresholds for defining related… – Continue reading
The OECD is calling on all jurisdictions to conform to the latest tax transparency standards under exchange of information rules at the same time as they develop their own tax transparency initiatives The majority of OECD members have committed to implement the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) standard, with a… – Continue reading
Network of foreign subsidiaries reported key to €923 million windfall over five years German chemicals manufacturer BASF has been accused of avoiding close to €1 billion of tax. In a report published on Monday, the company is alleged to have used aggressive tax-planning strategies in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and… – Continue reading
The UAE has signed an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation with Argentina with the aim of boosting expanding joint economic partnerships. The agreement was signed by Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, and visiting Argentina’s Vice President Gabriela Michetti, in the presence of Fernando… – Continue reading
American multinational corporations are apparently dodging nearly $700 billion in U.S. taxes they owe on profits stockpiled offshore, according to a new “corporate tax chartbook” from Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Last year, Fortune 500 companies had $2.4 trillion in untaxed offshore profits, on… – Continue reading
Many kinds of U.S. multinational companies, including S-corporations, REITS, and financial services companies apparently dodged a bullet last month when the U.S. Treasury Dept. issued its final, substantially revised rules aimed at curtailing “earnings stripping.” The revised regulation represents an attempt by Treasury to help “narrow the rule and avoid… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service lacks a strong operation to audit a critical international tax compliance area, according to a watchdog report released Thursday. At issue is transfer pricing, a cost structure used by multinational companies to price goods and services they sell to subsidiaries in foreign locations. The IRS requires… – Continue reading
A “number” of European Union countries are blocking a push to include zero corporate tax rates as criteria for the bloc’s tax haven blacklist, according to Slovakia, which holds the rotating EU presidency. EU members have been unable to reach an agreement on cracking down on offshore structures aimed at… – Continue reading
On November 3, 2016, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) released details of a new form that certain companies will be required to file from the 2018 assessment year to report their related-party transactions. The form must be completed and filed together with the income tax return (Form C)… – Continue reading
Global governments battling tax avoidance increasingly are pushing multinational corporations for a bigger picture of how and where they pay taxes, leading to increasingly narrow questions from company tax officers. “We have a number of entities that are disregarded for U.S. tax purposes. When I fill out the country-by-country form,… – Continue reading
The sultanate signed an agreement on avoiding double taxation and income-tax evasion with Hungary on Wednesday. The agreement was signed by H E Darwish bin Ismail Ali al Balushi, Minister Responsible for Financial Affairs, and Hungary’s Non-Resident Ambassador to the sultanate. H E Balushi said that the signing of the… – Continue reading
Wednesday, 2 November, Finance Minister Dana Reizniece-oak and Swiss Ambassador Latvian Marcus Niklauss Paul Dutli ( Markus Niklaus Paul Dutly ) signed the Latvian Republic and the Government of the Swiss Federal Council Protocol amending the two parties on 31 January 2002 concluded the Convention for the Avoidance double taxation… – Continue reading
The row between commercial banks in the Caribbean and the larger ones on the American mainland just would not go away. In the past week, finance officials from across the globe and from multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) flew to Antigua for a conference on the… – Continue reading
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wants to force Germans to disclose their dealings with offshore firms in tax havens and make banks liable for lost tax income if they conceal their clients’ business with such firms, a draft law shows. Tax havens were thrown into the limelight in April when… – Continue reading
The leading UK accountancy and tax bodies in the UK have released updated guidance on the standards expected of tax advisers and agents. The seven organizations – the Chartered Institute of Taxation, the Association of Taxation Technicians, the Association of Accounting Technicians, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Institute… – Continue reading
Institute for Economic Affairs says changes would make those at top 13% better off, but incomes of those at bottom would rise 26% National insurance, business rates, stamp duty, the TV licence fee and excise duties on alcohol and tobacco should be among 20 taxes abolished by the government, a… – Continue reading
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has updated its guidance for those non-resident businesses that make supplies of goods, services, or digital products to consumers or GST-registered businesses in Australia, with a couple of changes due to occur next year and a change last month. Since October 1, 2016, certain transactions… – Continue reading
Historically, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been perceived as a region where taxation and transfer pricing initiatives are not high up on government agendas. Although this has been the case for a significant period of time, recent changes in the region such as decreases in global… – Continue reading
Romania plans to join the Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) program as an associate member. The program equips governments with domestic and international instruments to address tax avoidance. The program’s objective is to have profits taxed where economic activities generating the profits are performed. The Finance Ministry has published… – Continue reading
The Philippines is eyeing to seal tax treaties with all nine other Asean member-states, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). The country already has effective double taxation agreements (DTAs) with Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, BIR Assistant Commissioner Marissa O. Cabreros noted in a presentation at last… – Continue reading
Royal Bank of Canada has stopped offering tax advice to its clients in the UK and Channel Islands as firms grow increasingly wary about providing tax advisory services. The bank made the decision to cut the service over the summer, and has dismissed claims the decision was related to HM… – Continue reading
Creating of a Federal Tax Authority is the logical next step in seeing it through Within the span of month the UAE took two bold steps with the aim to develop a proper legislative and legal structure for the post-oil period. The first was to launch the Bankruptcy Law and… – Continue reading
In guidance provided to the Association of Charitable Foundations, it says charitable grant-makers will not have to carry out due diligence on bodies they fund Incorporated charitable grant-makers will not be required by the new Common Reporting Standard to carry out due diligence on organisations they fund, according to the… – Continue reading
The amended bilateral tax treaty between India and Japan, which provides for strengthened exchange of information to help reduce tax evasion, has come into force from October 29. The agreement to amend the 27-year old Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) was signed when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited India… – Continue reading
The OECD has started to review how effectively the U.S. and five other countries handle cases in which multinational companies assert double taxation under the mutual agreement procedure of bilateral tax treaties. As part of the review, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is inviting multinationals to answer a… – Continue reading
