Ireland’s tax treaties with poorer countries are some of the most restrictive in the world, limiting the taxing rights of those countries, an international NGO has claimed. Action Aid said that globally, tax treaties cost developing countries billions every year. In a report released yesterday, the body said it has… – Continue reading
The French taxman, Le Fisc, has apparently decided to send McDonald’s MCD -0.24% France a tax bill for €300 million ($341 million). It’s not entirely obvious that this is a correct demand: nor, in fact, necessarily a legal one. If there were no European Union and no rules about the… – Continue reading
In amove towards a more progressive taxation policy the revenue officials have set an aggressive target of resolving about 100 transfer pricing issues by signing advance pricing agreements (APAs) with multinationals this fiscal, people close to the development said. The government, through the Central Bureau of Direct Taxes (CBDT), had… – Continue reading
As promised earlier this year, the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) has published Guidance Notes for the implementation of the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The CRS, the new global standard for automatic exchange of information for tax purposes, obliges all participating countries and jurisdictions to obtain financial information from their… – Continue reading
Overview If you have been reading my articles on JD Supra for a while, you will know that I love Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music. Nevertheless, the Hall and Oates song Private Eyes, is a more fitting song to describe the state of offshore planning in Tax Havens than “Oye Como… – Continue reading
Service tax litigations have risen substantially in recent years and that may be because of the absence of a pan-India Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime that can potentially remove several ambiguities around indirect taxation, experts maintain. A total of 75,314 litigations were pending with the Department of Revenue, the… – Continue reading
The Revenue has published its consultation on proposing to make companies criminally liable for failing to prevent their staff facilitating tax evasion The offence was first proposed in the 2015 Budget and was expected to come into effect in 2020. The Panama papers leak and subsequent scandal has put significant… – Continue reading
To provide relief to corporates having income abroad, the tax department today proposed simplified ‘Foreign Tax Credit’ rules allowing companies to claim credit for taxes paid overseas. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in its draft FTC rules said tax credit will be available to entities paying taxes in… – Continue reading
Firms waiting for govt to come out with revised safe-harbour rules Although the conclusion of ahead-of-time transfer pricing agreements gained momentum in FY16, applications foradvance pricing agreements (APAs) with the tax authorities fell to the lowest in four years at 130. This could be attributed to companies, especially those in… – Continue reading
Gibraltar, a tiny British territory at Europe’s southern tip, is famous for its geography — a huge limestone rock — that appears on the Prudential logo. It’s a global center for offshore banking, with the trappings of wealth to prove it: Luxury high-rises tower over super yachts in Gibraltar’s marina. The… – Continue reading
The U.S. Treasury Department is finalising new tax rules aimed at combating the use of shell companies to evade taxes, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Saturday amid increased pledges by global finance leaders to cooperate on tax issues. In a statement to the International Monetary Fund’s steering committee,… – Continue reading
As April 18 looms near, it’s hard not to have taxes weigh heavy on our minds. For a lot of Vermont small businesses, this day can be bittersweet. Paying taxes typically means that, as a business, you’ve made money; and for most small businesses that alone is an achievement. Small… – Continue reading
Nearly half of people say the Prime Minister’s handling of his finances was ‘morally repugnant’, according to our opinion poll, and they support public tax returns for all As the fallout from the fallout from the Panama Papers leak begins to settle, the Prime Minister is left contemplating the damage… – Continue reading
India and the US have agreed to enhance collaboration on tackling offshore tax evasion and increase cooperation in sharing of cross-border tax information. “We are committed to continued collaboration and sharing of experience in tackling offshore tax evasion and avoidance, including joint tax audits and tax examination abroad,” Finance Minister… – Continue reading
Less than two weeks after publication of the Panama Papers, a year-long investigation by hundreds of news organizations around the world, including the Star, cast a bright light on the world of offshore tax havens, a new report from Oxfam reveals how much money the 50 largest U.S. corporations have… – Continue reading
On April 13 in Riga, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury K C Chan signed a comprehensive double taxation agreement between Hong Kong and Latvia. “This is the 35th CDTA that Hong Kong has signed with its trading partners and it signifies the Government’s ongoing efforts to… – Continue reading
Ethiopia’s House of People’s Representatives (National Parliament) in its regular meeting on Friday ratified a bill to avoid double taxation with Saudi Arabia, Portugal, and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea based on the agreement the nation earlier signed with those countries. The elimination of double taxation helps to increase investment… – Continue reading
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued draft regulations for the purpose of specifying a new country-by-country (CbC) reporting standard for multinational enterprises (MNEs). Legislative amendments to the Tax Administration Act, 2011, were effected during 2015 in order to implement CbC reporting in South Africa. They implement the OECD’s… – Continue reading
The release of the so-called Panama Papers has shone a light on the secretive world of offshore tax havens and shown the exhaustive lengths that companies and wealthy individuals will go to in an effort to avoid paying tax. The trove of documents leaked from the Panama-based law firm Mossack… – Continue reading
The Vanuatu government says it will complete its obligations to the OECD Global Forum on Tax Information Exchange Agreement by 2018. It said earlier governments had made a commitment to do so as far back as 2009 but it had never happened. The Global Forum, which has 133 members, is… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: With a number of foreign jurisdictions taking exception to the term “tax haven” being used for them, CBDT has directed that the expression be omitted in treaty communications sent by India eliciting information in black money probe cases. The decision was taken recently by the Central Board of… – Continue reading
The UK Government will bring forward plans to introduce a new criminal offense for companies that fail to prevent their staff from facilitating tax evasion. Prime Minister David Cameron said that the offense will be introduced in legislation this year. Cameron explained: “This Government has done more than any other… – Continue reading
The government should immediately withdraw key tax avoidance provisions from the income tax law and investigate sources of foreign remittances under section 111(4) of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 and other blanket amnesty/immunity clauses in the tax laws through Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs). A tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt told… – Continue reading
In the wake of the Panama Papers leak debates about the morality of taxation are back in vogue. Unlike tax evasion, tax avoidance is, by definition, legal. This is not the same thing as saying it’s acceptable. No one wants to live in a society where everything questionable is banned… – Continue reading
Businesses will be forced to declare how much they make in each European country and in certain tax havens as part of an attempt to curb schemes that shift profits out of the reach of tax collectors. The plan to introduce country-by-country reporting in Europe is the latest global curb… – Continue reading
India and Maldives today signed two agreements for exchange of information with respect to taxes, and for avoidance of double taxation of income derived from international air transport. The agreements were signed during the visit of President of Maldives Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom to New Delhi. Gayoom is on a… – Continue reading
Government has gazetted a Statutory Instrument (SI) to stop double taxation of Zimbabweans living and working in South Africa or South Africans working in Zimbabwe. The provision was gazetted last Friday. Part of the SI reads: “Subject to the provisions of article 16, 18 and 19, salaries, wages and other… – Continue reading
FATCA Notification and Reporting Deadlines Extended The Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (“DITC”) has issued an industry advisory advising that it will be adopting a soft approach to the upcoming 30 April notification deadline for US and UK FATCA and 31 May reporting deadline for both US and… – Continue reading
The agreement enhances the depth of the bilateral relations between UAE and UK. UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance, or MoF, signed an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation with the United Kingdom, on Tuesday. The agreement aims to enhance the economic and trade relations between the two… – Continue reading
The European Union’s executive wants thousands of multinationals to disclose in what member states they make money and pay taxes, an effort to close loopholes and crack down on the use of tax havens. Reacting to public anger over tax avoidance by some of the globe’s best-known companies and by… – Continue reading
Panama is a tax haven, but Mauritius is one with which India has a comprehensive double tax treaty. This complicates matters more. In popular Indian imagination, a tax haven is generally associated with Switzerland and its numbered bank accounts. But tax havens are numerous, have grown in importance, and are… – Continue reading
The chief of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday that the Panamanian government is expected to cooperate in international efforts to prevent tax avoidance after the revelation of the so-called Panama Papers. OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said in a press conference in Tokyo that… – Continue reading
ABU DHABI: UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), recently signed an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and tax evasion on income with Jordan. The agreement aims to enhance joint cooperation in economic and tax fields, and encourage investment activities and trade exchange between both countries. The… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance on a grand scale is nothing new – the US President Barak Obama has led the way in tackling the issue head on with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) since 2010. FATCA demands non-American financial institutions should hand over details about accounts and investments controlled by… – Continue reading
The Swiss-run humanitarian organisation International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has allegedly been used without its knowledge to mask the true beneficiaries of offshore accounts whose details were leaked in the Panama Papers. According to revelations by the Swiss papers Le Matin Dimanche and SonntagsZeitung on Sunday, the ICRC… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Following the Panama Papers leak, India is seeking to restart talks with the Central American country on a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) that can help uncover information on wealth hidden away from public scrutiny. Talks with Panama on such an agreement aimed at information exchange on tax… – Continue reading
TOKYO — Measures to deter tax avoidance will be discussed at next week’s meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers in light of the release of the Panama Papers, including expanding an information-sharing agreement to include Panama and other countries. The release of leaked documents from a… – Continue reading
Despite best intentions of the government, there have been little or no takers for India-based fund managers In 2015, the Indian government took a commendable step by introducing a new provision in the Income-tax Act, 1961 (i.e. section 9A), to promote India as a fund manager jurisdiction, and to encourage… – Continue reading
BERLIN – A European Union official threatened Thursday to sanction Panama and other nations if they don’t cooperate fully to fight money laundering and tax evasion, after a leak of data showed the small country remains a key destination for people wanting to hide money. The 11.5 million documents from… – Continue reading
The European Commission has set out a proposed action plan to modernise the EU VAT system in a move which should give more freedom to the member states The action plan will include new rules such as the implementation of key principles for a future single European VAT system, short… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON: Underscoring the need for tax reforms in India, the US has said the proposed Goods and Services Tax ( GST) is of paramount importance. “Given India’s tremendous needs, its very low tax ratio, at 10 per cent of GDP, is notable. Accordingly, there is meaningful scope to address tax… – Continue reading
Much of the activity is legal, but it siphons away billions in tax revenue from government coffers The massive Panama Papers data leak shines a light not only on the dirty money being shuffled through tax havens, but also on the legal and common use of offshore accounts to significantly… – Continue reading
The European Commission is looking into advance pricing agreements (APAs) given to financing companies and other businesses to see if they constitute illegal state aid, the MNE Tax news site has reported EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager told the European Parliament’s TAXE 2 committee that her office has reviewed 1,000… – Continue reading
HMRC complicite in tax avoidance scheme after it emerged it rents its own office from tax haven based company A day on, the world is still reeling from the revelations of the Panama Papers leak, the full repercussions of which are yet to be felt. Eleven million documents leaked from… – Continue reading
Lobby groups and business associations from Cyprus and India are working to build trade relations between the two countries with an eye to a new double taxation agreement that is being negotiated. The two sides see mutual benefits to their cooperation. The Indian High Commissioner Ravi Bangar said in an… – Continue reading
Georgia and South Korea have recently signed a double tax agreement, which allocates taxing rights to the two countries to prevent the double taxation of the same income. The agreement was signed by Georgian Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri, and South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Yoo II-Ho,… – Continue reading
African governments should embrace meaningful bilateral investments agreements to foster sustainable economic growth on the continent. The call follows a report by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on investment policies and bilateral investment treaties by Africa, indicating a huge gap between most of signed treaties and their actual… – Continue reading
US President Barack Obama has warned that “tax avoidance is a big global problem” and urged Congress to take action to eliminate tax loopholes. “A lot of it is legal, but that’s exactly the problem,” he said. His comments come a day after the US Treasury Department announced fresh plans… – Continue reading
Most small and mid-sized companies can qualify for tax incentives if they claim to be developing, engineering, designing, modifying, researching or evaluating new products or product alternatives. Among those incentives is the research and development tax credit. The R&D credit is a way for companies to access cash and reduce… – Continue reading
As “Panama Papers” expose the world’s most prominent people engaging in murky deals, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday told the Indian industry to become more “transparent and credible” in its functioning. “With the G20 (countries’ new global transparency standard) and FATCA (the US’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) coming… – Continue reading
