The European Union (EU) needs an “ambitious blueprint for taxation,” Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has said. Speaking at a recent conference, Moscovici said: “The European Union needs an ambitious roadmap to put an end to the distortionary nature of its tax policy and regulatory framework. In my view, the way… – Continue reading
ZURICH: Switzerland’s money laundering office received a record number of suspicious activity reports last year, in part due to increased vigilance from Swiss banks. The Alpine nation has faced intense international pressure over bank secrecy, tax evasion and money laundering, most recently highlighted by allegations that the Swiss arm of… – Continue reading
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, in the Legislative Council today (April 29): Question: It has been reported that an investigation conducted jointly by an international… – Continue reading
Athens: Greek authorities arrested one of the most important businessmen in the country, Leonidas Bobolas on Wednesday, for tax evasion. He was released later after paying €1.8 million in back taxes. This is just one of the Greek government’s attempts to collect money from tax evaders. In Greece, income tax… – Continue reading
The new omnibus bill presented by the Greek ministry of finance will be tabled in parliament on Thursday in order to expedite negotiations with creditors and reach an intermediate deal. The new bill includes several measures and reforms such as methods of tackling tax evasion, revenue increase from value added… – Continue reading
They are even engaging in strong-arm tactics with US account holders Swiss banks, for decades the bastions of secrecy, are preaching the virtue of transparency to their US clients as they try to head off billions of dollars in potential fines for helping Americans evade taxes. Faced with the threat… – Continue reading
The former head of parliament’s public accounts committee – and a fierce critic of tax avoidance and “secretive” offshore funds – has received more than £1.5m in shares from the tax haven of Liechtenstein, according to a report. The money came through a controversial scheme that lets wealthy Britons move… – Continue reading
An OECD initiative on tax evasion is causing ripples around the world While a host of topics — from the necessity and the proposed scope of corporate tax reform, to corporate rate reduction and corporate inversions — are of major concern to those engaged in international tax, the overriding issue… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Haphazard and impractical comments are the norm when tax authorities release collection figures of major political personalities. Newspaper columnists and television anchors try their level best to humiliate them but the endeavour is too shallow to spark a relevant public debate. There is no doubt politicians pay income tax… – Continue reading
A senior partner in the tax firm of Ikata, Ikata and company, Mr. Iduonku Ikata, has called for an aggressive tax collection system to stem the tide of evasion in the country. Ikata, who stated this while speaking to our correspondent in Port Harcourt recently said this could be achieved… – Continue reading
Mahmud Abu Bekir testifies in the suit brought by his former wife. KUALA LUMPUR: The Sarawak Governor’s son, businessman Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, today denied a string of accusations by his former wife’s lawyers, including the allegation that there were many women in his life. Testifiying in the Syariah High… – Continue reading
Sofia. At the request of the Commission for Establishing Property Acquired from Criminal Activity Sofia City Court levied distraint on property of former MP Htristo Biserov and his step-son Ivaylo Glavinkov, worth BGN 1,555,883, the press office of the commission announced, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR). The… – Continue reading
When should the beneficiaries of an IRS-targeted tax shelter be allowed to sue their enablers? That’s the question the federal appellate court in Atlanta posed to the Florida Supreme Court April 17 in an ongoing bankruptcy-related case. The answer, which turns on statutes of limitations, probably will boil down to… – Continue reading
A recent indictment by the United States Attorney’s office in California illustrates the inter-relationship between currency transfer restrictions, (such as those involving Iran), foreign financial account reporting (the FBAR requirement) and the failure to report taxable income (filing of a false tax return). In United States of America vs. Ali… – Continue reading
On Saturday 25 April, at the second session of the informal meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), one of most important issues on the agenda was the further development of the Capital Markets Union concept, which was broadly supported by the ministers and Governors of central banks…. – Continue reading
Americans have overcome oligarchy before — and there’s no reason we can’t do it again. Rising inequality seems to pose an insurmountable political problem. If the underlying causes are technological change and globalization, the forces appear to be unstoppable. Alternatively, if the causes are primarily political and involve the power… – Continue reading
Tax intelligence seeks to create a legal window for taxpayers to pay their evaded taxes, detected by the taxmen, in a simpler way without having to pass through a tortuous process. The Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) under the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has found out that in majority of… – Continue reading
THE REVENUE Commissioner’s large cases division is investigating almost 100 schemes it suspects were designed by companies and wealthy individuals to avoid paying capital gains tax. The taxman is enquiring into 89 cases which used sophisticated financial instruments known as contracts for difference to generate artificial losses. The schemes avoided… – Continue reading
Lahore – Pakistan Tanners Association has said that exporters are paying full tax to the government and there is no chance of evasion of income tax on exports. “Exporters, whether making profit or loss, will have to pay 1% income tax on the value of each export consignment while 1%… – Continue reading
The Income Tax Department on Sunday published names of 31 tax evaders who owe over Rs 1,500 crore in taxes to the government in its bid to stop tax evasion. The names, last known addresses and vital financial details of these entities were published in newspaper. The department said they… – Continue reading
The Irish Revenue collected EUR41.4bn (USD45bn) in tax in 2014, up 9.3 percent on 2013, according to the latest figures. Revenue’s Annual Report for 2014 shows that each of the main taxheads recorded growth. Income tax was up 8.8 percent year-on-year, with corporation tax and value-added tax (VAT) each up… – Continue reading
On March 30, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had entered into a nonprosecution agreement with BSI SA, the first Swiss bank to reach resolution with the U.S. government as to its potential criminal exposure for assisting its U.S. clients in engaging in tax evasion.[1] As part… – Continue reading
“There have been times,” Hervé Falciani tells me, “when I’ve wondered if I was losing touch with reality. Could I really have seen what I saw, and revealed the things that I did, while the financial world continued as if nothing had happened?” Falciani, sometimes called “the Ed Snowden of… – Continue reading
Greece’s desperate bid to fund debt repayments by clamping down on tax evaders is doomed to fail, according to analysts. Leonidas Bobolas, the head of Greece’s largest construction firm was arrested on Wednesday and not released until after he had paid €1.8m in back taxes, despite the fact he had… – Continue reading
New Delhi: The Income Tax department on Friday told the Delhi High Court that the amount offered by an “arm’s length buyer” for Nokia India’s Chennai mobile making plant, frozen over an alleged Rs 10,000 crore tax dispute, is “very little”. The submission was made by the IT department before… – Continue reading
Tax evasion overseas has been further targeted by authorities as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) implements tougher penalties for those who hide assets and income abroad. The maximum penalty for offshore evasion of income and capital gains tax has doubled to 200 per cent of the tax due, but can… – Continue reading
Athens: The head of one of Greece`s largest construction companies was arrested Wednesday on charges of tax evasion and ordered to pay the state 1.8 million euros ($1.9 million), the first such action since the radical left government came to power. Leonidas Bobolas, CEO of the Ellaktor group, was brought… – Continue reading
Bobolas, managing director of Greece’s biggest construction firm Ellaktor and whose family also owns newspapers, was detained on suspicion of tax evasion and money-laundering on Wednesday. He was released a few hours later after paying 1.8 million euros ($1.94 million) in back taxes to avoid charges. Bobolas is the first… – Continue reading
More than €40bn collected as Revenue Commissioners embark on recruitment drive to hire 400 people The Revenue Commissioners increased its tax collection by 9.3 per cent in 2014, as it benefited from “high levels of timely payment and compliance rates” to collect some €41.4 billion in taxes. Income tax was… – Continue reading
An inflow of bank deposits to Luxembourg from Asia and the Gulf have replaced reductions from European countries such as France and Germany following an overhaul of the Grand Duchy’s tax secrecy regime, reports the Financial Times. Pierre Gramegna told the Financial Times in an interview that “bank secrecy had… – Continue reading
The London School of Economics’s Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) has said that proposals to reintroduce a 50 percent top rate of income tax would likely result in a negligible fall in the working hours of higher earners but will lead to an increased tax avoidance risk. It says tougher… – Continue reading
Tensions between Swiss banks and the United States justice authorities should ease up in 2015, Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf has said on the sidelines of the joint International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington. The minister said she had received positive signals that this year would bring… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has sought urgent implementation of common reporting standards on automatic exchange of information globally, asserting that it is the only way to tackle the challenges posed by black money and stop tax evasion. The problem of offshore tax evasion and flow of illicit money can be… – Continue reading
Now, the Aadhar Card holders need not to file income-tax returns physically. New ITR forms will link to Aadhar card and do away with the physical ITR-5 for those who are Aadhar-verified by the Electronic Verification Certification (EVC) system. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has introduced Aadhar card… – Continue reading
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed it will be “significantly increasing” the number of tax avoidance disclosures it makes to professional bodies. More practitioners are likely to face disciplinary action from their institutes having advised on tax avoidance schemes for their clients. Last week, the Institute of Chartered Accountants… – Continue reading
TACKLING tax evasion and dealing with the fast-growing digital economy were top of the agenda at a conference on taxation yesterday. Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, Mrs Josephine Teo, told the event that the tax authorities around the world are acting to address tax dodges more… – Continue reading
Promising a ‘modern tax system’ with low and globally competitive rates, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured foreign investors against any retrospective action and said taxpayers will be seen as “partners and not as potential hostages or victims”. For domestic taxpayers also, the rates need to be low as taxes… – Continue reading
If there’s a “most frustrating set of tax facts” to be considered today as this year’s Tax Week comes to a close, it’s got to be this: the billions of dollars that tax scofflaws cheat their fellow citizens out of and the conservative, budget-cutting policies that help enable it. As… – Continue reading
At least 21 financial advisers in Switzerland charged with aiding American tax dodgers are at large With its tan marble floors and leather-clad reception desk, the staid Zurich offices of the Julius Baer Group, one of Switzerland’s largest private banks, are an unlikely place to find an alleged fugitive from… – Continue reading
On March 30, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it reached the first non-prosecution agreement under the Swiss bank program with BSI, S.A. (BSI). BSI, one of Switzerland’s ten largest banks, has agreed to pay $211 million in fines and cooperate in any related civil or criminal… – Continue reading
It seems like the ultimate irony. At least 21 Swiss bankers under U.S. indictment for helping Americans skirt income taxes remain at large in their native country and out of the hands of prosecutors, reports Bloomberg. But the whistleblower who helped the Justice Department in its probe ended up going… – Continue reading
Washington State Auditor Troy X. Kelley has been indicted for federal income tax evasion, lying to investigators, concealing millions of dollars, and making repeated false statements. The 10-count indictment relates to Mr. Kelley’s career before becoming the state’s auditor. Not surprisingly, though, Governor Jay Inslee wants Mr. Kelley to resign…. – Continue reading
We’ve heard a lot in this election campaign about how much parties say they will save by clamping down on tax avoidance and evasion. It is one of the key ways they say they are going to pay for their spending promises. Should we believe them? First of all, tax… – Continue reading
French President François Hollande said on Wednesday that a drawn-out tax evasion row with Switzerland “is behind us” as he launched a visit aimed at mending fences. The two-day trip is the first state visit to Switzerland by a French president since Jacques Chirac’s stopover 17 years ago. Paris is… – Continue reading
One in three wealthy people who may be dodging tax will get a call or personal visit by the Australian Taxation Office as it moves to ensure the richest Australians and private companies pay their fair share of tax. The ATO wants to beat its 2013-14 rate of raising $1.1… – Continue reading
Swiss banks, for decades the bastions of secrecy, are preaching the virtue of transparency to their U.S. clients as they try to head off billions of dollars in potential fines for helping Americans evade taxes. Faced with the threat of penalties that could bankrupt some of them, almost 100 of… – Continue reading
Government chief whip Paul Kehoe is to write to the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Barrett, recommending that a motion of censure be moved against Mary Lou McDonald. The Sinn Féin deputy leader was found to have abused Dáil privilege when she named former politicians in the chamber who were accused of… – Continue reading
His softball sentence of two years probation ended five years ago. But billionaire real estate developer Igor Olenicoff still can’t put behind him his December 2007 guilty plea to lying on his federal tax return about some $200 million he kept offshore. For that, he can blame his own litigiousness… – Continue reading
Bank appoints headhunters MWM Consulting after revelations about its Swiss banking arm have brought board composition under intense scrutiny HSBC is preparing to bring in new non-executive directors to overhaul a board that has faced intense scrutiny following revelations of its Swiss arm’s involvement in tax evasion. The appointment of… – Continue reading
Swiss banks, for decades the bastions of secrecy, are preaching the virtue of transparency to their U.S. clients as they try to head off billions of dollars in potential fines for helping Americans evade taxes. Faced with the threat of penalties that could bankrupt some of them, almost 100 of… – Continue reading
