Commenting on today’s government consultation paper on ‘Strengthening Tax Avoidance Sanctions and Deterrents’, John Cullinane, Tax Policy Director of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said: “This is the latest in a series of measures cracking down on those who profit from tax avoidance schemes. The Government need to be careful… – Continue reading
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is likely to issue show cause notices to owners of about 20 industrial units for not paying infrastructure development cess, according to sources. They said that provincial government had levied one per cent infrastructure development cess on imported items. “Now majority of the businessmen have… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: In a major development, Pakistan has been formally offered to sign and ratify a 98-countries’ convention — “Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters” — to check tax evasion and tax avoidance by any of its nationals living in any of the member countries. Signing the convention… – Continue reading
Through Notification No. 68/2016, the Government of India has ratified a Protocol to its tax treaty with Mauritius. The protocol was signed on May 10, 2016, in Mauritius, in a bid to limit abuse of the India-Mauritius double tax avoidance agreement. The protocol provides India with the right to tax… – Continue reading
SCOTLAND has formally called on the UK to close a legal loophole that allows Scottish firms to be used as secret offshore tax shelters. Holyrood politicians have been demanding action on Scotland’s limited partnerships (SLPs) ever since some of the unique corporate arrangements were exposed as Eastern European money-laundering vehicles… – Continue reading
Four months since the so-called “Panama Papers” made global headlines, Panama continues a path of reform aimed at improving financial transparency and closing loopholes exploited by foreign tax cheats. Among our steps, we established an independent committee to examine Panama’s laws and regulations and make recommendations for strengthening them. While… – Continue reading
Greece intends to sign agreements with Bulgaria and Cyprus which will allow Athens to look into suspected tax evasion by Greek-owned companies registered in the two countries, Greek newspaper Kathimerini has reported. The closer inspection of Greek-owned companies registered in Bulgaria and Cyprus will aim to find out whether they… – Continue reading
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Auditor General for Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) have joined hands to check tax evasions of billions of rupees by monitoring sale and purchase activities of government vendors. “The FBR in collaboration with AGPR has put a mechanism in place to monitor and access complete data… – Continue reading
AN Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Barbados and the United States will allow for greater co-operation under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). This is according to Julia Tonkovich, of the United States Treasury Department. Ms. Tonkovich stated that FATCA, which was in place since 2010, is part of the… – Continue reading
The implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) will reduce tax evasion and improve ease of doing business by engendering a common market throughout the country, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday, as he moved the modified constitution amendment bill in the Lok Sabha. “GST will ensure one… – 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
The National Tax Service (NTS) Seoul Regional Office has been probing into a Korean processed food maker Paldo Company Ltd. since June on possible overseas tax evasion. According to the NTS Sunday, it has deployed international transaction investigators to investigate whether the instant food maker manipulated its transfer price to… – Continue reading
Authorities in Greece have doubled their efforts to catch tax evaders over the last year. The Greek Finance Ministry’s General Secretariat for Public Revenue has issued an official statement asking citizens to help combat tax evasion by exercising their right not to pay for goods and services if they are… – Continue reading
Indonesia will be among the first to join the group of countries adopting the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) in 2018. AEOI would provide automatic exchange of tax information among the members of the group. All bank accounts in the world would be accessible for taxable assets. Dishonest and greedy… – Continue reading
The government of Panama on Tuesday announced a bill that would take a range of steps against countries that put it on their blacklists of ‘tax havens’ in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations. The legislation would impose tax, trade and migration measures on companies or individuals from those… – Continue reading
New Zealand is not being singled out for investigation as a tax haven, the European Union says. In a statement released today, the EU delegation in Wellington confirmed that a committee was assessing 28 non-EU countries’ tax policies. But media reports that New Zealand was being targeted for investigation as… – Continue reading
The total amount of fines handed out to Greek taxpayers with suspected undisclosed foreign assets has reached EUR810m (USD905m) as a result of recent investigations, the Government’s anti-corruption unit has announced. According to a July 29 government press release, Special Financial Prosecutor Panagiotis Athanasiou said that the Government is intensifying… – Continue reading
Kenya will create an international taxation center to help in the global crackdown against tax avoidance, a senior official said on Wednesday. John Njiraini, the Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), said the formation of the international tax office would enable Kenya to curb tax evasion. The office… – Continue reading
The government is hell-bent on cracking down on black money and undisclosed income of Indians within the country and safely stowed away abroad. While there is no proper estimation of the actual amount of black money in the economy, the government is actively taking measures to stop it. Recent media… – Continue reading
The Trudeau government has won a round in its battle against offshore tax cheats. Two banks have agreed to give the federal revenue minister information from the accounts of a Caribbean financial institution to help the government crack down on Canadian tax evaders. The Federal Court of Canada has approved… – Continue reading
The world’s major economies need to deepen cooperation on tax collection as companies seek to minimise the amount they pay to governments, finance ministers said Saturday. The issue has become controversial in many countries, with multinational firms from Google to Starbucks facing accusations of not contributing appropriately to the economies… – Continue reading
Public Accounts committee criticised HMRC’s lack of strategy HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is exploring how it can better publicise fraud investigation outcomes and increase the impact of the sanctions it uses, in order to dispel the myth “people are getting away with tax evasion”. The department said it wants… – Continue reading
The Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and China’s State Administration of Taxation in Beijing signed an additional protocol to the agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent tax evasion, officials said in Macau. The Additional Protocol, the third, according to the statement released by the Office of the Secretary for… – Continue reading
Nordea has blocked 68 accounts for further analysis after finding suspicious signs in an internal investigation of the bank’s handling of the Panama Papers leaks. The bank announced some of the findings of the probe into whether it adhered to internal rules and external regulations regarding offshore structures at the… – Continue reading
Panama announced on July 15, 2016, that it intends to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, said: “We very much welcome Panama’s request to join the Convention. Signing and ratifying the Convention will… – Continue reading
Slovakia and the United States can now exchange information for tax purposes more easily, thanks to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA) agreement signed in Bratislava on July 31, 2015. “The objective of the agreement is to prevent tax evasion and tax frauds and improvement of tax collection,” the… – Continue reading
Guernsey States has taken steps to crack down on financial crime like tax evasion and money laundering, by formally committing to international agreements. The G5 initiative means countries will share information on beneficial ownership. Beneficial ownership refers to when one person benefits from assets even though the legal title belongs… – Continue reading
Polish President Andrzej Duda has signed into law a so-called fuel legislative package, a set of measures designed to clamp down on tax evasion. Under the legislation, which includes amendments to several laws, each importer of fuel, gas or oil from another EU member state will have to pay VAT… – Continue reading
Tax and prosecution bodies must build the capacity to curb illicit activities that rob countries of tax revenues, said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Thursday, speaking at the High Level Conference on Illicit Financial Flows at the University of Pretoria. Illicit money leaving Africa reduces the amount of resources available… – Continue reading
The UAE Ministry of Finance has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) on the automatic exchange of information for tax purposes in its premises. This step follows the ministry’s commitment to exchange tax information according to international requirements and sign agreements on the avoidance of double taxation…. – Continue reading
Ukraine and Austria have agreed to sign a protocol to their double taxation agreement to increase withholding tax rates on dividends, interest, and royalty income. The protocol increases the withholding tax rate for dividends and interest to 15 percent and five percent, respectively. Additionally, the royalty rate for patents, trademarks,… – Continue reading
The Greek economic team is close to a plan that would tax voluntarily disclosed hidden income more than 50%, without the accord of creditors so far. According to a Kathimerini newspaper report, in Thursday’s cabinet meeting on economic policy the framework of taxing those who choose to disclose money that… – Continue reading
European Parliament on July 6 passed draft recommendations for making corporate taxation fairer and clearer. They were approved by 514 votes to 68, with 125 abstentions. With the recommendations, which were prepared by co-rapporteurs Michael Theurer (ALDE, DE) and Jeppe Kofod (S&D, DK) on behalf of Parliament’s Special Committee on… – Continue reading
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has confirmed its interim order banning 26 entities in a case related to tax evasion and money laundering through misuse of the stock exchange mechanism. Detailed investigation of several others is on. Capital markets regulator Sebi, via an interim order in May… – Continue reading
Starting from 15 July 2016, a new GAAR (General Anti-Avoidance Rule) clause will be introduced into the tax system in Poland. The new clause may have a significant impact not only on future transactions, but also on the transactions, restructurings and optimisations made in the past years if they result… – Continue reading
The European Commission will propose on Tuesday stricter rules on trusts to prevent tax evasion, according to draft legislation seen by Reuters, in a move that Britain has long opposed and which was deferred until after the Brexit referendum. The EU push to identify owners of trusts has been in… – Continue reading
UBS (UBSG.S) has been ordered by Switzerland’s tax agency to provide France with tax information, the Swiss bank said on Tuesday, adding that it expected other countries to file similar requests. Since the financial crisis, cash-strapped governments around the world have clamped down on tax evasion, with authorities probing Swiss… – Continue reading
Indonesia and India are both doubling down on efforts to lure back funds that citizens have parked overseas Indonesia and India are both doubling down on efforts to lure back funds that citizens have parked overseas in places like Singapore. The stash, from the two countries combined, could amount to… – Continue reading
Tax authorities in Spain have raided Google’s offices in Madrid as part of an investigation into tax evasion and fraud, TechCrunch understands. Local press and the Reuters news agency are also reporting the raids. The raid on Google’s Madrid headquarters and its Google Campus workspace are related to VAT payments… – Continue reading
On June 29, Edward Nalbandian, Foreign Minister of Armenia, met in Yerevan with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Foreign Minister of Germany and the OSCE Chairperson-in-office. The meeting started in a tete-a-tete format, and proceeded in the extended format with the participation of delegations. The two ministers signed an Agreement between the… – Continue reading
State will implement 12 new projects to improve financial situation Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac on Wednesday said that the government will devise strong measures to curb tax evasion. The Minister said that the government will also take steps to stop the practice of getting stay orders… – Continue reading
U.S. Companies Will Be Required to Disclose Relevant Financial Data on Country-by-Country Basis to Tax Authorities but not to Public WASHINGTON, DC – Today the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a rule, which will become final tomorrow, requiring the U.S. parent company of large, public and… – 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
The industry has been demanding that GAAR provisions should apply prospectively To clear the air on retrospective applicability of the stringent anti-avoidance GAAR rule, the I-T department has said the same will not apply to income from transfer of investments before April 1, 2017. General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR), which will… – Continue reading
In what could be a significant development moving forward, UBS has provided the IRS with tax records and offshore accounts. UBS Group AG has come to an understanding with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), following a disagreement over client accounts in Singapore that had alleged tax evasion. The latest… – Continue reading
To check abuse of double taxation, India signs agreement with Belgium. The decision regarding this was taken in a meeting chaired by Narendra Modi. The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the signing of a protocol amending an agreement between India and Belgium for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service is missing out on imposing approximately $21.6 million in penalties on taxpayers who are denied entry or withdraw from its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, according to a new report The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, found the IRS needs to improve its… – Continue reading
Brussels (AFP) – The European Union agreed a raft of anti-tax evasion measures Tuesday that would make it harder for multinationals to shift profits to countries with lower taxes, but critics said they were too watered down. The proposals were agreed on provisionally by the EU’s 28 finance ministers on… – Continue reading
The seeds of Canadian corporations hiding billions of dollars in offshore tax havens were sown more than 40 years ago, after the Canadian government pursued a series of tax treaties with tiny Caribbean and European nations. The 92 tax treaties now signed with countries such as Barbados, Jamaica and Malta… – 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
