Four UK territories in list ‘undermine Britain’s efforts to be responsible member of the international community’ Bermuda is the world’s worst corporate tax haven, according to a list by Oxfam, which includes three other UK territories among those it names and shames. The charity’s list of the “world’s worst” 15… – Continue reading
Amazon effectively offers a safe haven for businesses that want to avoid sales tax, German revenue officials told Handelsblatt on condition of anonymity. In June, authorities raided eight Amazon locations across Germany as part of an investigation into a Chinese trader who had sold goods through the online marketplace without… – Continue reading
Panama can remain a competitive financial center while cracking down on tax evaders and other criminals who have used the country to launder money, according to the panel formed by the government after the “Panama Papers” scandal broke in April. The five-member “Committee of Independent Experts”, including a former boss… – Continue reading
Proposed legislation is designed to curb the profit-shifting multinationals use to reduce tax liabilities on their income in Europe The European commission will redouble its crackdown on multinational tax avoidance next week with the relaunch of proposals to create an overarching corporation tax regime across all member states. The proposed… – Continue reading
Staff at the corporation could face demands for unpaid taxes if they are found to have been incorrectly listed as self-employed. HMRC says it is looking at tax records of around 100 BBC staff About 100 current and former BBC presenters are being investigated over claims they have not paid… – Continue reading
In 2015, more than 73 percent of Fortune 500 companies maintained subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, according to “Offshore Shell Games,” released today by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Collectively, multinationals reported booking $2.5 trillion offshore, with just… – Continue reading
The Indian government has sent out about 700,000 notices to suspected tax evaders to coax them to declare hidden income and assets, promising they won’t be pursued by the authorities if they pay a penalty now to clear their name. But, as the four-month campaign draws to a close this… – Continue reading
A report by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) has criticised the Department for International Development’s (DfiD) approach to tackling tax avoidance and its alleged failure to achieve value for money on HMRC collaboration DfiD has failed in its efforts to fully include developing countries so that they benefit… – Continue reading
Five months after the Panama Papers exposed the offshore dealings of government leaders and influential people, a new leak of 1.3 million files has revealed the names of individuals associated with companies registered in the Bahamas, a notorious tax haven. The files – received by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung… – Continue reading
Ecuador’s foreign minister, leading economists and campaigners call for a new U.N. body to root out tax evaders and crack down on offshore havens. Ecuador ramped up its fight against tax dodging Wednesday as the South American country proposed a plan on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in… – Continue reading
Back in July, ABC’s The Business and Michael West featured an extraordinary raft of allegations from a 32-year veteran industry insider turned whistleblower, George Rozvany, who claimed that multinational tax avoidance was “out of control” and cost the Budget up to $50 billion dollars a year in lost revenue. Rozvany… – Continue reading
European Union countries should better coordinate tax rules to avoid hitting corporations too hard, the Slovak presidency of the European Union has proposed. This would be an effort to provide more balance to an EU campaign against tax avoidance by multinational companies. The proposal will be discussed at an informal… – Continue reading
Salford Council has joined the other 14 councils from across the UK that have adopted motions to support ethical procurement. Moved by Labour and Co-operative councillor Jim King, the recent motion strengthens checks in the council’s procurement to exclude businesses that engage in tax avoidance. The initiative falls in line… – Continue reading
Despite Western opposition, the 134-member Group of 77 is continuing to pursue a longstanding proposal for an inter-governmental UN-affiliated tax body aimed at combating corporate tax dodging and curbing illicit financial flows, including money laundering and off-shore banking. The proposal has already been shot down twice by Western nations, first,… – Continue reading
Countries pursuing billions in unpaid taxes push region’s wealthy to pull cash from accounts LONDON — Switzerland’s private bankers fear cash-strapped Latin American countries pursuing billions of dollars in unpaid taxes will push the region’s wealthy to pull cash from their Swiss bank accounts. For these banks, still recovering from… – Continue reading
OXFAM has called for action to close a legal loophole that has seen a booming number of Scottish shell firms used for tax dodging and money laundering. The global charity warned that the country was becoming one of the world’s “secret tax havens where the privileged minority hide billions from… – Continue reading
The European Union, faced with mounting anti-establishment furor from populist parties across the region, is speeding up efforts to thwart tax dodging after the Panama Papers leaks and wants its blacklist of tax havens ready next year. “The recent leaks exposed loopholes that still allow tax evaders to hide funds… – Continue reading
Tax dodgers in Greece enjoy multiple benefits: They pay less tax, they avoid social security contributions, they can protect their main residence from confiscation and have access to a number of social benefits, ranging from free nursery places for their children to various allowances. The temptation to declare an income… – Continue reading
Multinationals suspected of routing Australian profits via Singapore will be outed to tax authorities, with the low-tax nation this week signing up to the global plan to fight tax evasion. Companies including big miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto as well as technology giants Apple and Google, have admitted using… – Continue reading
Last month the government announced an amendment to the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement between India and Mauritius. The DTAA was signed between the two countries in August 1982 and notified in December 1983. For the past thirty-three years it has been a key factor affecting foreign investment flows into India…. – 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
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
It’s easy to stoke outrage at multinationals’ low taxes but harder to do something about it. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – the so-called rich-countries club – tax avoidance by multinational companies is worth US$100-240 billion a year. That’s 4-10% of total global corporate income… – Continue reading
The American Institute of CPAs has written to the Internal Revenue Service recommending some changes in the IRS’s proposed regulations for country-by-country reporting by multinational corporations of financial information to curb tax avoidance. The proposed regulations were issued last December as part of an effort by the Organization of Economic… – Continue reading
McDonald’s Australia was able to more than halve its tax bill last year after routing payments via the low-tax nation of Singapore. Each year McDonald’s reduces its profit, and thus its local tax bill, by paying McDonald’s Asia Pacific based in Singapore, and registered in Delaware, a “service fee” amounting… – Continue reading
European Commission’s tax avoidance plan announced last week includes positives, like country-by-country reporting, but doesn’t go far enough to turn the tide against corporate tax dodging; Such reporting should be made public The European Commission last week announced proposals for new laws to tackle tax avoidance and evasion in the… – Continue reading
If Republican leaders in Congress really want to fix our broken corporate tax system, as they’ve recently claimed, they should start by blocking what would be the biggest offshore tax dodge in American history. By stopping drug giant Pfizer from changing its legal address to Ireland — and thereby avoiding… – Continue reading
SEJONG, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s tax authorities said Wednesday that it has launched probes into 30 offshore tax evasion cases as part of its efforts to clamp down on tax dodging. The National Tax Service (NTS) said the investigation is targeting companies and individuals who have allegedly concealed… – Continue reading
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been defending his decision to build a new data centre in Ireland against claims the move is a tax dodge. The social media mogul announced the start of construction of the €200m facility at Clonee on the Meath-Dublin border on his own Facebook page, quickly… – Continue reading
Directive follows a series of high-profile tax cases involving Google, Apple and others. Rampant corporate tax dodging and sweetheart deals that cheat governments and skew markets, have prompted the European Commission to unveil a new directive Thursday. The proposed legislation follows a quick succession of tax rulings, settlements and investigations… – Continue reading
Tax dodging by the super-rich is one of the main drivers of global income inequality and must be sharply curtailed, according to a new report from the global nonprofit Oxfam. Citing research by Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman — a protégé of Thomas Piketty, author of the global bestseller on inequality,… – Continue reading
Ireland’s insistence that it is not a tax haven and that in fact other EU countries have tax regimes that facilitate tax dodging by multinationals will be borne out by a study to be released next week. But while this will be good news to Finance Minister Michael Noonan a… – Continue reading
India’s biggest source of FDI is India itself, money departing on a short holiday to a tax haven and then routed back as FDI. Will the government muster up the political will to clamp down on the tax-allergic business elite? This could be a bumper year for the ever-lucrative tax… – Continue reading
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will be sitting in the House gallery as an honored guest at the State of the Union (SOTU) address tonight. By all rights, he be should sitting before a Congressional committee instead, answering for his company’s blatant tax avoidance. Microsoft is playing a game called “Global… – Continue reading
‘We’re not a tax haven, we have never been involved in any kind of tax malpractice’ – Michael Noonan, Irish Minister for Finance 5th October 2015 If your top political figures need to constantly state that your country is not a tax haven, then the chances are it probably is… – Continue reading
