ACCORDING to Greens leader Christine Milne, “Superannuation in Australia has become a tax haven for the wealthy.” Yet as far as most Australians can see, there is only one guaranteed, rolled-gold tax haven in the whole country. It’s called Parliament House, where a fortunate group of people are set to… – Continue reading
Ireland has been targeted by a new Greek law that the country’s government says is aimed at combating the nation’s widespread corporate tax avoidance, reports the Irish Independent. However, critics say a new tax regime that explicitly targets companies doing business in Ireland, Cyprus and Bulgaria undermines Europe’s common market… – Continue reading
Puerto Rico’s governor has signed a law that requires service providers to accept at least two different types of payment in a push to crack down on tax evaders. The law applies to anyone requiring a license or legal authorization to provide services. It is common for doctors, lawyers and… – Continue reading
Hundreds of members of the diamond exchange attended a meeting on anti money laundering in the diamond sector held at the Cullinan restaurant last Thursday. During the meeting, members received a detailed review of the main elements of the order against AML that takes effect next year, and the measures… – Continue reading
In 2015, Singapore celebrates its 50th year of independence and also mourns the passing of its first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who steered Singapore’s success for many critical years. From its origins as a British trading post in 1819, Singapore has grown into one of the busiest ports and… – Continue reading
Cross border tax fraud and tax evasion by High Net Wealth Individuals (HNWI) are serious problems for many jurisdictions. For many years exchange of information between countries has been solely upon request. In practise this procedure is not efficiently working as it requires foreseeable relevance, thus ‘fishing’ for information is… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) said it has no plans to establish a central register of true company owners, despite pressure from Britain to adopt the anti-money laundering and tax evasion measure. The BVI said in a statement on Wednesday it was backing other measures… – Continue reading
United Kingdom In Tower Radio Limited and another v HMRC5, the taxpayers successfully utilised a scheme which was designed to take advantage of Part 7 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA). Background During the periods relevant to this case, no liability to income tax arose under… – Continue reading
Russia’s Parliament, the Duma, has approved a draft law to allow taxpayers to regularize previously undeclared assets held offshore. The Russian Government said on March 27, 2015, that the law, “On the Voluntary Declaration of Property and Bank Accounts (Deposits) by Individuals,” will allow taxpayers to repatriate assets taken out… – Continue reading
The Diet on Tuesday approved legislation for tax system revisions for fiscal 2015, including postponement of the next consumption tax hike. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced late last year he was putting off the planned tax hike to 10 percent until April 2017, a year and a half after the… – Continue reading
The Palestinian Authority has denied that an Israeli move to unfreeze the PA’s tax revenues was part of a deal to get the Palestinians to halt their bid to have Israel prosecuted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Ha’aretz reported yesterday. The report cited an anonymous senior Palestinian official. “We… – Continue reading
The Netherlands’ tax regime is enabling a Canadian gold mining company to pay less tax in Greece, a report by a Dutch foundation concluded Monday (30 March). The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations found that Greece has missed out on at least €1.7 million in tax revenues, because the… – Continue reading
LEGISLATION is needed to make multinationals pay their fair share if we are to help more people out of poverty, writes Jamie Livingstone. In the run-up to the General Election, Oxfam is urging politicians from all parties to commit to the introduction of a new Tax Dodging Bill within the… – Continue reading
Small banks say they will be hit harder by the bank deposit levy the government is planning to introduce in the budget because they are more reliant on deposits for funding and have thinner margins than the bigger institutions. Their view has the sympathy of the Australian Greens which said… – Continue reading
Luxembourg’s Direct Tax Administration has published a circular on February 12 clarifying issues relating to residency certificates for Luxembourg funds. These are applicable to both UCITS and non-UCITS funds regulated by Luxembourg’s investment fund legislation of December 17, 2010, which transposed the UCITS IV Directive, as well as Specialised Investment… – Continue reading
When Boris Johnson ran for mayor he told the BBC he wanted “a crackdown on tax dodgers and tax avoiders of all kinds”. The comment was a deliberate reference to his then-opponent Ken Livingstone’s use of a “personal service company” (PSC) to allegedly limit his tax bill. Use of PSCs… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Being overwhelmingly impressed by the Turkish Tax System, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa will brief Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on his recent visit to Turkey. “In the upcoming board and council meeting, members of the delegation will inform the finance minister and other officials concerned about… – Continue reading
Government money handed to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to blitz tax avoidance has given a return of more than 100 times the investment. The incoming coalition government pledged £900 million to bolster HMRC’s compliance departments in 2011. The money was spent on sophisticated technology and recruiting specialist investigators. Since… – Continue reading
NICOLA Sturgeon is currently the most impressive political leader in the United Kingdom. Last week, in TV interviews with Jeremy Paxman, David Cameron looked stiff and out of touch; Ed Miliband looked callow and desperate. Yesterday in Glasgow, giving her keynote speech to the SNP spring conference, Sturgeon was poised,… – Continue reading
NATIONAL debt will soon come under effective and professional control, thanks to the national debt management office whose establishment is reportedly in the final stages, the national assembly heard on Friday. Deputy Finance Minister Mwigulu Nchemba under the envisaged office, the national debt will be effectively, efficiently and closely monitored… – Continue reading
Businesses still have concerns over the drafting of a new tax on multinationals said tax expert Heather Self of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-law.com. She was commenting after the UK’s Finance Bill, which contained the legislation for the new tax, completed its rapid progress through Parliament when it… – Continue reading
Except for a few family members and a dwindling number of those who consider him a dissident, most people who have followed the Mukhtar Ablyazov story have nothing good to say about him. They see him as an embezzler, swindler and con man par excellence – a guy whose theft… – Continue reading
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has approached Finance Minister Ishaq Dar seeking withholding tax exemption on the payments made or transactions carried out by the IFC, through an amendment in the Second Schedule of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 along with an exemption certificate from withholding tax provisions from July… – Continue reading
All too often, changes to tax legislation happen at a glacial pace. As a nation, we can’t afford to let that happen with the GST changes required to modernise the law and processes to capture GST from overseas online purchases. Budget 2015 provides a suitable time for the government to… – Continue reading
Public accounts committee advocates legislation making promotion of aggressive tax avoidance illegal and review of government tax relief schemes The next government should introduce new laws to prosecute financial advisers who help wealthy individuals and firms in aggressive tax avoidance, a comprehensive parliamentary report has found. The public accounts committee,… – Continue reading
Modi’s government is focused on expanding manufacturing, lightening the regulatory burden on companies NEW DELHI—Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has a simple message for critics pushing for deeper change in the economic policies of the world’s largest democracy: It’s coming, be patient. In an interview Thursday, Mr. Jaitley, a corporate… – Continue reading
Michael Wilson rants that a long-cherished distinction between avoidance (OK) and evasion (not OK) is being eroded by political doublespeak. And that the demise of the 1936 ‘Duke of Westminster’ legal principle has gone sadly unnoticed. Where will it end? You hardly need telling that there’s an election on the… – Continue reading
Following a period of consultation, legislation is to be included in the 2015 Finance Bill which will extend capital gains to gains accruing to a non-resident person on the disposal of a UK residential property. The charge will apply from 6 April 2015 to gains arising on or after that… – Continue reading
Despite the potential benefits of the time apportioned reduction, bed and breakfasting could be a better option for international clients Most experienced advisers will have internationally mobile clients; for example, those with spouses from different jurisdictions or those who intend to move abroad. Advising such a client can have its… – Continue reading
While the U.S. has traditionally been seen as a low-tax jurisdiction for individuals, with its many exemptions and generous deductions, its rules can bite hard for U.S. expatriates. In the past, “long distance Americans” generally responded by ignoring their U.S. tax obligations, and expat filing rates were notoriously low. Now,… – Continue reading
Attorney-at–Law and Compliance Specialist We are living in a time where the tax landscape facing the Bahamian financial services industry is changing and evolving rapidly. On November 3, 2014, the Government executed a Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the US government to implement the latter’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance… – Continue reading
(CS) The Lord Mayor of the City of London was in Luxembourg Tuesday to meet with representatives of the financial sector and political decision-makers to discuss a number of issues, from BEPS to FTT and TTIP. Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Alan Yarrow explained that there is much common… – Continue reading
As part of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill which Parliament is expected to approve today, the government is attempting to implement a public register showing who really owns companies. The bill is a good example of how UK legislation can affect countries around the world, especially those in… – Continue reading
CARSON CITY — Buried in the 130-page tax bill that Gov. Brian Sandoval pitched to lawmakers last week, there’s a safe haven for mining, gaming, insurance and bankers. The tax, known as the business license fee, is a broad-based framework that would levy new dollars from the state’s 330,000 businesses… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted Tuesday to reject a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would have created millions of infrastructure jobs and closed an “absurd” tax loophole to pay for the plan. Fifty-two lawmakers opposed the proposal during votes on amendments to a GOP fiscal 2016 budget proposal…. – Continue reading
A leading Swiss banker told his Lebanese counterparts that the days of banking secrecy are over, urging the lenders to prepare their clients for this inevitable outcome. “The banks which attracted tax evaders can no longer continue in this pattern because the era of banking secrecy is over and an… – Continue reading
HM Revenue & Customs contacted foreign governments on 490 separate occasions in one year as it sought information on suspected tax evasion, a drop of 150 information requests compared to the previous year. During the 2012-13 tax year, the Revenue made nearly 500 information requests to tax authorities to find… – Continue reading
The governor released her budget for the biennium fiscal years 2016 and 2017 a month ago. The budget called for revenue $338 million more than the House Ways and Means Committee (HW&MC) estimates. On an apples to apples basis, a $100 million of the total is simply the governor’s more… – Continue reading
The Chartered Institute of Taxation has said the UK Government has taken its campaign against offshore tax evasion too far, after degrading taxpayer rights with confirmed plans for a new “strict liability” offense for offshore tax evasion. The CIOT said that, while it is generally strongly supportive of HMRC’s efforts… – Continue reading
MEPs vote this week on a financial grant to Ukraine, debate the results of last week’s European Council summit as well as discuss new legislation to tackle corporate tax avoidance. They will also take part in a meeting on the importance of inter-religious dialogue. On Monday, the economic affairs committee… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips has hit back at suggestions from Opposition Leader Andrew Holness that an increase in tax compliance would mean harassment of businesses. Holness made the suggestion as he contributed to the Budget Debate last Thursday, but speaking at a meeting at The Gleaner’s North Street offices… – Continue reading
Last week, we discussed the revised set of standards for Transfer Pricing (TP) documentation and a template for country-by-country reporting (CBCR) of income, earnings, taxes paid and certain measures of economic activity as contained in Action Plan 13 of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. The CBCR provides… – Continue reading
It’s been dubbed the ‘Google tax’! Starting April 1st, the UK will levy a new ‘diverted profits tax’. This is the British government’s offensive against multinationals like Google, Amazon, Starbucks and others accused of shifting profits and avoiding tax. In doing so UK will become the first country to implement… – Continue reading
TAXES will be cut to protect vulnerable North-East airports if Scotland carries its pledge to cut charges, David Cameron pledges today (Friday, March 20). Speaking to The Northern Echo, the Prime Minister vowed that – if re-elected – he will not allow “unfair tax competition” that would hurt Newcastle and… – Continue reading
Living in Central Massachusetts, had I the vision of Sarah Palin, who can see Russia from her home in Alaska, I could look north and see New Hampshire on the right and Vermont on the left. It is perhaps an apt metaphor. New Hampshire with its “Live Free Or Die”… – Continue reading
Tax havens have historically offered respite for individuals and companies looking to avoid high levels of taxation in their home countries. Some countries have effectively set out to create an environment in which international financial transactions come under little scrutiny so that foreign individuals and companies can safely park their… – Continue reading
Hong Kong’s Government has published in its Official Gazette the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2015, which would extend the profits tax exemption for offshore funds to private equity funds. The Bill will be tabled in the Legislative Council on March 25. To reinforce Hong Kong’s aim of becoming a venture… – Continue reading
Tough tax disclosure laws introduced by the former Labor Government represent “an invasion of privacy and intrusion for Australian private companies,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said. Abbott made the comment during a joint press conference with the Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. The press conference followed a meeting of the… – Continue reading
The government has moved to legislate in haste to close tax loopholes. But history suggests this is unwise. One legal figure to crop up in the chancellor’s budget statement published yesterday was the ubiquitous Sir Brian Leveson. The president of the Queen’s Bench Division receives a namecheck in the budget’s… – Continue reading
While the problems with our international tax system are complex, the solution is relatively simple: U.S. corporations should pay the same tax rate, at the same time, on their domestic and foreign profits. The ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden, made the case for this reform… – Continue reading
