More leaked documents relating to tax avoidance schemes involving Luxembourg’s government under the leadership of Jean-Claude Juncker, now President of the European Union (EU) Commission, have intensified the political crisis surrounding the EU. It comes at a time of growing opposition to the pro-business EU and the vicious austerity cuts… – Continue reading
More countries are requiring an exchange of client information In 2014, we saw a marked increase in transparency regarding foreign assets. The United States took the lead, and other countries followed suit. It looks like we’ve reached the tipping point, that is, “the magic moment when an idea, trend, or… – Continue reading
KOTA KINABALU: For Malaysian property investors, especially in the London property market where some Malaysian developers, welcomed by Mayor Boris Johnson are active in projects, the United Kingdom Government will introduce new Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on the sale of UK residential property with effect from April 6, 2015. Following… – Continue reading
Gov. Maggie Hassan has done an excellent job working with legislative leaders to craft and oversee the state’s current two-year budget. An array of problems is being effectively managed. This budget will end in balance. But looking ahead to the next two-year budget, we in state government face difficult challenges…. – Continue reading
Gov. Maggie Hassan has done an excellent job working with legislative leaders to craft and oversee the state’s current two-year budget. An array of problems is being effectively managed. This budget will end in balance. But looking ahead to the next two-year budget, we in state government face difficult challenges…. – Continue reading
Two case studies on how one can use the exemption method or the credit route Homi Mistry December 20, 2014 Last Updated at 22:06 IST Imagine this. You are an Indian working for one of the IT majors and have been recently transferred to the UK. Six months into the… – Continue reading
Tax deductions for interest payments could be restricted on a group wide basis, by reference to a fixed ratio, or by a combination of these two solutions, in order to counteract international tax avoidance the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has suggested. 19 Dec 2014 Tax Corporate tax… – Continue reading
Rules relating to the payment of CGT by non-resident UK property owners will change in April and expats will be affected. Significantly sneaky draft legislation was published last week that will affect the way capital gains tax (CGT) is charged on the sale of UK property assets owed by expats. … – Continue reading
BRUSSELS – It was supposed to be all about investments and Russia, but the issue of tax avoidance is likely to creep onto the EU summit agenda on Thursday (18 December). In the draft summit conclusions circulated among EU ambassadors on Wednesday, there is one paragraph mentioning the “urgent need… – Continue reading
UBS Fund Services has had one of its strongest years in terms of winning new clients according to Monette Windsor (pictured), who heads up the Cayman Islands business. “We’ve invested heavily in our business development team this year and we’ve had to beef up our client onboarding team. We have 165… – Continue reading
Bravura Solutions reflects on a year of reform and looks forward to 2015. The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement last week didn’t deliver anything as revolutionary as the reforms announced in his March budget, but there were a few early Christmas crackers around ISA rules. After a monumental year, let’s look at… – Continue reading
Ambassadors are supposed to be diplomatic and suave. Yet even those of the diplomatic corp may occasionally get tongue-tied or utter ill-timed statements. Take U.S. Ambassador to Britain Matthew Barzun. He recently sounded not all that diplomatic about duty, compliance with law, and yes, even taxes. Lee Rigby was a… – Continue reading
Debate on multinational tax avoidance widens The surprise announcement by the European Commission that it is to extend its request for information on tax rulings to all European Union member states has the potential to significantly shift the terms of the debate on multinational tax avoidance. The timing of the… – Continue reading
In a blow to Bitcoin’s international presence, Australia has confirmed it will keep its controversial sales tax policy for certain Bitcoin transactions. Following the Australian Tax Office (ATO) issuing the initial legislation earlier this year, considerable community opposition arose, with domestic exchange Coinjar even forced to relocate to the UK… – Continue reading
“These measures were taken in line with the policy announced by President Vladimir Putin for the Russian economy’s de-offshorization,” USM Holdings owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov said MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. USM Holdings owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov is transferring key assets to Russian holding companies, USM said in a… – Continue reading
The European Union has agreed rules to stamp out tax evasion and stop dirty money from criminal gangs or terrorism finance being channelled through anonymous companies. EU states and the European Parliament struck the agreement on Tuesday evening to update the bloc’s anti-money laundering rules, a statement from parliament’s economic… – Continue reading
There has been a recent surge in anti-tax inversion legislation discouraging companies attempting to shift corporate subsidiaries or headquarters to low-tax or tax-free countries. The issue was subjected to a great deal of publicity in April 2014 during the failed hostile takeover by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) for AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) when Pfizer… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): Just days away from the 22 December deadline for many financial institutions to register with the US tax authorities to obtain their Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN) by 1 January 2015, the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority has issued Version 2 of the FATCA Guidance Notes, which clarified… – Continue reading
India will start charging income tax on digital economy firms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Uber, soon after the OECD finalises a framework by April 2015 to tackle the widespread corporate practice of shifting of profits to low-tax countries, government officials said on Wednesday. Tax may be levied on overseas… – Continue reading
Jakarta. Indonesia has banned from foreign travel senior representatives of 147 firms and 21 individuals with outstanding tax bills amounting to $42.8 million as part of a crackdown on tax evasion, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. The tax office, which is under finance ministry, is also processing bans on… – Continue reading
Nigel Westman, of Clough and Company, says figures show tax evasion to be a bigger problem than tax avoidance Pressure is mounting to tackle tax evasion, a Kirklees accountant has warned. Nigel Westman, partner at Clough & Company in Cleckheaton, said that with tax dodgers allegedly costing the UK economy… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India is proposing to set up a dedicated dispute-resolution unit for expeditious disposal of transfer pricing cases that have in the past few years evoked strong reaction from domestic and international investors, with some dubbing this ‘tax terrorism’. Through this measure, the new government hopes to send out… – Continue reading
When the commission unveiled its work program this week, it pledged to drop a stalled energy-tax proposal and resume consultations on a common corporate consolidated tax base. The program also promises an “action plan on efforts to combat tax evasion and tax fraud, including a communication on a renewed approach… – Continue reading
Tracking tax evasion has been a global issue for the Group of 20 nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is developing new standards to avoid base erosion and profit shifting. The EU also has tackled the issue from a variety of angles, such as approving a… – Continue reading
Advance Agreements The so-called tax rulings and advance pricing agreements will be formalised by the introduction of appropriate provisions in the Luxembourg tax laws. By this means, Luxembourg will be able to offer as from 1 January 2015 a unified system providing taxpayers with legal certainty and a consistent and egalitarian… – Continue reading
With an agenda to boost the manufacturing sector, the Prime Minister has appealed to companies around the world to “come and make in India.” Various reforms are being looked at by the government in order to make this vision come true—reforms in labour laws, special economic zone policy, trade policy,… – Continue reading
2015 promises to be a big year from an Australian customs perspective. However, before turning to the events of 2015, the end of 2014 brings issues of changing duty rates, transfer pricing adjustments and developments in our existing free trade agreements that need to be considered. Below we set out… – Continue reading
The European Union’s probe of tax deals expanded as the competition regulator asked all EU countries to give it information about financial agreements with multinational corporations. The EU is seeking lists of every company granted a so-called tax ruling between 2010 and 2013, the European Commission said today in an… – Continue reading
The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), in its latest economic survey of Australia, recommends a change to the tax mix including increasing the GST (Goods And Services Tax) by 50% or more. “Make greater use of efficient tax bases such as the Goods and Services Tax and land… – Continue reading
The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) has warned that the United Kingdom’s proposal to impose a new tax on so-called “diverted profits” (DPT) would, if implemented, have a major impact on US-based multinational companies. The rules, contained in UK Government’s recent Autumn Statement, propose a 25 percent DPT… – Continue reading
Heading into the G20 in Brisbane last month, Treasurer Joe Hockey thundered that multinational companies who avoided paying tax were akin to “thieves” whose actions rendered it harder for governments to tackle poverty. Sadly however the government’s actions have failed to match its rhetoric. This week’s crafty back-down on Section… – Continue reading
The German government must revise rules that allow families to transfer companies from one generation to the next without paying estate tax after the country’s top court ruled the current exemption is unconstitutional. The inheritance law gives an unfair advantage to family-owned businesses over individuals passing on non-company assets, the… – Continue reading
The Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babis believes that the gambling industry could give a greater contribution to the country’s economy. According to Reuters, on Friday, Dec. 19, Babis will propose a significant increase of the gambling taxes applied in the Czech Republic that could double the levies currently applied. Today,… – Continue reading
December 17: The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) today finalised the transfer pricing ruling TR 2014/8, outlining the Commissioner’s views on the application of the recordkeeping provisions in Subdivision 284-E of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Subdivision 284-E). Taxpayers need to adequately address the requirements of Subdivision 284-E… – Continue reading
If we make America the world’s most favored tax haven, money will flow to the USA. Talk of overhauling the tax code is stirring in Washington, but the overwhelming complexity of the task makes it difficult to accomplish, at least in the near term. Here’s a good, clean, quick way… – Continue reading
Some have called it the most important state and local tax case that the United States Supreme Court has heard in 20 years. The case is Maryland v. Wynne and it concerns the extent to which a state must provide credits for taxes paid to other states. The Wynnes, shareholders… – Continue reading
Companies will be forced to disclose their ultimate owners on national registers in European Union nations as the bloc seeks to clamp down on tax dodging, money laundering and terrorism financing. European Parliament legislators and representatives of 28 EU national governments struck a deal late yesterday to upgrade the bloc’s… – Continue reading
Genuine tax reform would be the second-best fiscal policy reform to boost economic growth.* With a simple and fair tax system, we could get rid of high tax rates that penalize productive behavior. We could eliminate the double taxation that discourages saving and investment. And we could wipe out the… – Continue reading
The FACT (Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency) Coalition today submitted comments to the Treasury Department praising their previous actions to limit inversions while also calling for additional measures. The proposals come as a part of the open comment period for Notice 2014-52, Rules Regarding Inversions and Related Transactions, originally issued… – Continue reading
The head of the Australian Tax Office, Chris Jordan, has described a tax lurk for multinational companies that is being retained by the Abbott government as having been “abused” by foreign corporations at a cost of “hundreds of millions of dollars” a year to the Commonwealth. As revealed by Fairfax… – Continue reading
A tax based on turnover penalises companies that hang on to their profits ro reinvest in the business One week it is Starbucks. The week afterwards it is Amazon. And the week after that it is Apple or Vodafone. The names in the headlines might change from time to time…. – Continue reading
(CNS Business): The British government has published draft legislation for a new Diverted Profits Tax (DPT), dubbed the “Google tax”, by which it intends to sidestep Britain’s existing tax treaties with low-tax jurisdictions by levying a charge that would fall outside the corporate tax system. The government hopes to raise… – Continue reading
Last March MEPs voted overwhelmingly to introduce a new transparency disclosure rule that would compel all 28 European states to make publicly accessible the real owners of companies and trusts. The decision was hailed as a major breakthrough by anti-corruption campaigners fighting financial crime and tax abuse. Lawyers working for… – Continue reading
Unlike China, Japan‘s manufacturing activities rose in December. Flash PMI from HSBC came out at 52.1, up from 52 in November. A reading over 50 signals expansion. Meanwhile, the Nikkei newspaper reported that Japan’s government is considering lowering the corporate tax rate by 2.5 percentage points starting next April. Among… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Bilateral investment treaties that the government will enter into from now on will have a provision preventing foreign investors to drag India to arbitration on any issues that have been settled by a judicial authority. Wiser from being dragged to arbitration in numerous cases, such as the Vodafone… – Continue reading
Is it a straw in the wind? Last week’s report on tax reform from the Republican staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance has caused a flutter in the global expat community. Page 282 contained these words: “The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that… – Continue reading
While the media has been feasting on Lux Leaks and other stories of “multinational tax dodging”, academic accountants have determined that U.S. multinational corporations (MNCs) have no particular tax advantage over U.S. domestic firms. In fact, a new study finds the average effective tax rate for U.S. MNCs is slightly… – Continue reading
The European Union’s new antitrust chief said the EU is braced for a legal battle with governments embroiled in its probe of sweetheart tax deals for multinationals from Apple Inc. (AAPL:US) to Amazon.com Inc. Margrethe Vestager said the process needs to be legally watertight as officials investigate whether deals handed… – Continue reading
Proposals which would introduce automatic criminal penalties for those who fail to declare taxable offshore income may “quietly disappear” following their omission from draft clauses for the 2015 Finance Bill published for consultation, an expert has said.15 Dec 2014 Tax Disputes and Investigations Tax Corporate tax Private wealth tax UK… – Continue reading
(MENAFN – Arab News) Ernst & Young one of the world’s leading professional services organizations hosted the 12th annual tax seminar on recent updates on Saudi Arabian zakat regulations and corporate income tax Law and its bye-laws in Jeddah on Thursday. Over 100 executives bankers and accountants attended this Seminar…. – Continue reading
