The UK government is planning to extend the time limit to 12 years for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to investigate all offshore tax non-compliance, according to documents released as part of the Budget. A Treasury document entitled ‘Tackling tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance’ states that the government will consult… – Continue reading
A major new global transparency measure aimed at curbing cross-border tax evasion by requiring countries to share information on the wealth of each other’s nationals could be undermined by the abuse of residency- and citizenship-for-sale schemes. Tax justice campaigners say that some of these schemes are already being marketed as… – Continue reading
The I-T department and SEBI are working on a two-pronged approach that involves action against tax evaders and tightening of norms for scrips prone to price manipulation Tightening the noose around companies invloved in tax evasion, the Income Tax department and market regulator SEBI have launched a crackdown on penny… – Continue reading
The Davis Tax Committee (the Committee) released a further report on “Tax Administration” on 13 November 2017 as part of the final six reports that were deliverable by the Committee. The report has five chapters covering: Governance of the South African Revenue Service Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Treatment… – Continue reading
The Irish Revenue has announced that a new inquiry is underway to identify and pursue taxpayers engaged in offshore tax evasion and avoidance. Revenue said that the inquiry is being conducted in the context of increased and ongoing sharing of information between tax administrations, and of the changes to voluntary… – Continue reading
UK Offshore tax evaders face much higher penalties for non-compliance under new HM Revenue and Customs rules. The legislation requires those with undeclared offshore tax liabilities to disclose them to HMRC before the 30th of September next year. When the Right to Correct rules come into force, offenders can expect… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man’s critics ignore the great progress it has made in keeping its business above board. Last week the island received a ringing endorsement from the OECD. We have retained the top ’compliant’ rating by the global body reviewing tax transparency – one of only six countries worldwide…. – Continue reading
Canada and Antigua and Barbuda have signed a new tax information exchange agreement. The agreement was signed on October 31, the Canadian Government announced on November 14. Negotiations were launched in November 2010. The agreement provides for the mutual exchange of tax information that is possessed by, or is accessible… – Continue reading
114 taxpayers in Canada’s voluntary disclosure program say that the Israeli bank helped them evade taxes. As if the headache of the investigation by US authorities were not enough, Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI), managed by CEO Arik Pinto, discovered two days ago that Canada was also taking aim at it…. – Continue reading
Prosecutors and investigators from tax authorities have raided the offices of several senior officials from German carmaker Volkswagen. The move was part of an effort to scrutinize the firm in a tax evasion probe. Investigators on Tuesday night searched the offices of VW finance chief Frank Witter and human resources… – Continue reading
Around 60 cases against suspected tax evaders have been dropped by the district attorney’s office due to a break in case proceedings while waiting for a decision from the European Court of Human Rights. Kjarninn reported first. Many of the dropped cases are against individuals who appeared in the Panama… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) vide notification S.O. 3512(E) dated November 2, 2017 sets out the Third Protocol to the Convention between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of New Zealand for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with… – Continue reading
The Cabinet today gave its green light to an agreement between India and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China for avoiding double taxation and prevention of tax evasion. The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also approved the protocol amending the agreement between India and Kyrgyzstan… – Continue reading
The commitment comes amid ongoing controversy over the use of complex tax arrangements following the Paradise Papers leak. The islands of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have signed up to a joint commitment with the British and Irish governments to tackle tax evasion and abusive tax avoidance. The… – Continue reading
What more could the Indonesian tax authority do than simply pledge to investigate and verify information on taxpayers who sheltered their wealth secretly in offshore tax havens, as revealed last week through the leaked Paradise Papers. But the stated commitment is meaningless unless the government acts quickly and firmly to… – Continue reading
Rarely has a spy case attracted so much attention in Germany as that of Daniel M. The bungling double agent passed on troves of bank data to German tax officials while allegedly gathering info on them for the Swiss. As far as the chronicles of the great espionage stories go,… – Continue reading
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) raised the possibility of granting a general tax amnesty to lure individuals and corporations with outstanding liabilities to settle their obligations without fear of being slapped with criminal charges. Following the tax settlement of cigarette-firm Mighty Corp. with the government, Budget Secretary Benjamin… – Continue reading
Appleby, the offshore law firm, has spoken out against recent media coverage, which implies but does not allege that there is wrongdoing in the papers recently exposed that include information on its clients’ tax affairs – the so-called Paradise Papers. In its latest statement, the firm said: “Recent media coverage,… – Continue reading
The investigation wing of the income-tax department in Goa probing money laundering and black money has uncovered more than Rs 1,000 crore worth of tax evasion in recent months. The tax evasion cases came to light between April and October 2017 following the post-demonetisation crackdown on undisclosed income, a senior… – Continue reading
The EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council has adopted a Directive to create a new system to resolve double taxation disputes between EU Member States. This measure will afford taxpayers a transparent process with clear deadlines applicable to tax authorities involved to resolve cross-border double tax disputes within the EU…. – Continue reading
Introduction The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an economic organisation made up of 35 member countries, with the aim of encouraging economic progress and world trade. In 2015, the OECD developed the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, made up of reports on 15 action plans,… – Continue reading
The difference between the tax due and that collected by the UK tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – known as the “tax gap” – fell to a record low of six percent in the fiscal year 2015-16, according to official statistics released on October 26, 2017. HMRC pointed… – Continue reading
HMRC has warned convenience retailers to “play by the tax rules” or face the consequences as new stats show a disproportionate amount of tax evasion is committed by convenience stores. While accounting for less than 1% of businesses, convenience stores and newsagents now account more than 6% of all incidents… – Continue reading
Freelance professionals in Greece may declare as low an income as they wish in order to avoid paying taxes, solidarity levies and social security contributions. This year’s tax statements showed that 89 percent of them declared annual takings below 7,000 euros. One might assume that declaring a very low income… – Continue reading
T&T faces possible sanctions after the Global Forum recognised this country as the only jurisdiction not considered to have made sufficient progress towards satisfactory implementation of the agreed tax transparency standards. Speaking at a media conference on Friday afternoon, Attorney General Faris Al Rawi said this has negative implications for… – Continue reading
Peru takes one step further in the eradication of tax avoidance and evasion after signing the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Deputy Director of the OECD‘s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration Grace Perez-Navarro affirmed these two crimes… – Continue reading
Bad news for the world’s favourite search engine. On Tuesday, the Indian tax office gained an upper hand in its six-year-long battle with Google India in a ruling that would set a precedence for some of the other multinational companies. The rift owes its origin to the arrangement and fund… – Continue reading
In a dramatic turn of events in the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Vodafone Ghana tax dispute before court, the Acting Commissioner-General of the GRA has refused to grant a waiver of the payment of 30 per cent of the value of tax in contention. In a letter to Vodafone… – Continue reading
The European Parliament’s PANA Committee has approved draft recommendations calling for increased scrutiny and regulation of emerging technologies, including virtual currencies and FinTech. The committee also approved a report delving into the findings of an 18-month probe into breaches of EU law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and… – Continue reading
Bangladesh’s National Board of Revenue (NBR) is clamping down on foreign workers failing to declare their earnings in the country. Earlier companies were encouraged to report details of foreigners they have on their payroll to the Bangladesh Investment Developments Authority (BIDA), as currently required by law. Foreign individuals should pay… – Continue reading
New Delhi: Star striker Neymar Jr is fined 3.8 million reais ($1.2 million) by a Brazilian court for attempting to “obstruct the continuity” of a tax evasion case. The penalty applies to the Paris Saint-Germain player, his parents and three companies that manage his finances, according to the federal regional… – Continue reading
THE Bahamas yesterday upgraded its tax information exchange agreement with Finland to the automatic variety, as it bids to meet global standards by September 2018. K P Turnquest, deputy prime minister, signed the Protocol to Amend the Tax Information Exchange Agreement between the Bahamas and Finland, with the latter’s ambassador… – Continue reading
BRATISLAVA, Oct.18 (Xinhua) — International information exchange system could help fight tax evasion, said President of Slovak Financial Administration Frantisek Imrecze at a press conference here on Wednesday. According to Imrecze, the information exchange system has been available to the Slovak Financial Administration since Sept. 30, the Slovak tax office… – Continue reading
ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland said on Wednesday it would start sharing information on the activities of multinationals in its territory with other countries in 2020, joining an international push to fight tax evasion. The new measures will force about 200 large companies in the low-tax haven to prepare country-by-country reports… – Continue reading
The trial in a Frankfurt court of a Swiss private investigator accused of spying on the tax authorities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia got underway on Wednesday. The 54-year-old allegedly acted on behalf of the Swiss intelligence service trying to uncover a series of thefts of CDs with… – Continue reading
According to the SFIO report, IQ Bridge Limited, Mauritius, and its Indian subsidiary, IQ Bridge Limited, Bangalore, controlled by Mallya and the UB Group, held 15 lakh and 52 lakh equity shares respectively in Kingfisher Airlines before its merger with Deccan Aviation. A PROBE by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — The Philippine government plans to target additional companies in its crackdown on tax evasion, said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez “We are on a roll, and this is part of the president’s program to make our country more law abiding,” Dominguez told Bloomberg Television’s Kathleen Hays in an interview… – Continue reading
Kenneth Moyes, brother of Manchester United’s former manager David Moyes, has been disqualified as director for five years after the Insolvency Service found he withdrew cash from his company to avoid paying tax Moyes was the owner of Glasgow-based Professional Pre Season Tours, which was involved in arranging pre-season tours… – Continue reading
Denmark’s top lender, Danske Bank, played an “organised” role in a Russian money-laundering scam, French prosecutors have said. The Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris said the bank’s branch in Estonia helped to move €15 million of “money from organised fraud and tax evasion” in Russia into France and other… – Continue reading
Newcastle United are facing a major investigation into possible tax fraud which is suspected to have taken place during some of their transfer dealings, according to The Daily Mirror. Transfer deals between 2011 and 2013 adding up to around £500m are said to be under scrutiny, which include deals for… – Continue reading
European Union finance ministers gave formal approval to legislation designed to dramatically reduce the 900-plus unresolved company cross-border double taxation disputes. The Oct. 10 approval for the EU Double Taxation Dispute Resolution Directivecomes amid skepticism from tax professionals that it has the resources to be effective. It includes mandatory binding… – Continue reading
A Federal Court judge has approved at least one court order that will require a British Columbia developer to turn over information to tax officials about people who bought and flipped condo units before or during construction. And several similar applications are under way, reflecting the federal government’s efforts to… – Continue reading
Cisco Korea may have to share its key financial information starting next year as the government aggressively pushes to tackle the lack of transparency and tax-dodging practices by foreign enterprises, according to industry sources, Tuesday. “Though there still is much to be seen about the application of the revision, it… – Continue reading
French judges issue non-public ruling on UBS France bid UBS France sought to become plaintiff in exec’s plea process UBS Group AG suffered a setback in a long-running French tax probe as a court rejected its bid to stop a former executive from striking a plea deal in the case…. – Continue reading
The increased number of inspections at food service establishments this summer appear to have paid off in areas with high rates of tax dodging by enterprises. According to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, bars and restaurants are no longer the worst offenders in terms of tax evasion. This unenviable… – Continue reading
Survey respondents cite high marginal rates and lack of staff reward schemes as negatives More than half of Irish business owners view the State’s tax code as a barrier to growth rather than a support, according to a survey by accounting and professional services firm Deloitte. Respondents cited Ireland’s high… – Continue reading
A memorandum of understanding between Greece and the United States that aims to fight tax evasion and money laundering was submitted to parliament on Friday by the finance ministry. The agreement will help with implementation of the US’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA), which was enacted in 2014. As… – Continue reading
AMMAN — The major objective behind amending the Income Tax Law is not to expand the taxpayer base but to primarily address tax evasion and improve tax compliance, a senior official said. The official, familiar with the changes under way to the Income Tax Law, cited Prime Minister Hani Mulki’s… – Continue reading
Last year $128 million was identified for possible tax evasion and $81 million as funds available for possible laundering in and through the Fijian financial system. Fiji Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) investigated and profiled more than 1,000 individuals and 388 businesses. This was presented by FIU director Razim Buksh to… – Continue reading
4 October 2017 – Highlighting the problems posed by illicit financial flows globally, including undermining rule of law and human rights, a United Nations human rights expert has called on Switzerland to ensure that so called dirty money – which stems from tax evasion and corruption – does not enter… – Continue reading
