Italy is the most complex jurisdiction in Europe and comes in first place globally for ‘tax’ complexity, while Greece is most complex in the world for ‘compliance.’ Italy and Greece are among the five most complex jurisdictions in the world for Accounting and Tax compliance, according to TMF Group’s inaugural… – Continue reading
The OECD has praised Luxembourg’s tax regime for its predictability, although it sounded a warning about the volatility of tax revenues from the financial sector. In its latest assessment of the Luxembourg economy, the OECD said that Luxembourg’s strong economic performance was due partly to “business-friendly regulations, a predictable tax… – Continue reading
Economist Magnus Heystek says that government’s push towards scrapping tax exemptions for South Africans earning a salary in foreign country will encourage a tax revolt. South Africans have expressed a mix of concern and outrage over the past week, following the news that the government is seeking to scrap tax… – Continue reading
Reader M wrote to Lifelines about Japan’s inheritance tax law, which he calls “one of the most punitive in the world”: I’ve read with interest a number of articles in The Japan Times recently about the Japanese government’s efforts to make it easier for foreigners to obtain permanent residence in… – Continue reading
The Gupta family sought advice on how to move tens of billions of rands to the United Arab Emirates, revealing the enormous size of their empire, according to a report by the Sunday Times. The treaty which came into effect in March this year, stops the South African Revenue Service… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance by multinationals is better dealt with by an international treaty than harsher measures brought in by Australia and the United Kingdom, Revenue Minister Judith Collins says. In an interview with TV3’s The Nation, the minister said she had not ruled out the idea of diverted profit tax, which… – Continue reading
The Australian Government has unveiled a package of housing tax breaks, including a new scheme for first-time buyers, a superannuation incentive for downsizers, and tighter rules for foreign residents. In a joint release, Treasurer Scott Morrison and his Assistant Minister, Michael Sukkar, said: “Housing affordability is a major issue affecting… – Continue reading
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has released guidance on a change to value-added tax rules to tax services used outside the EU by UK consumers. The changes, which were introduced in the Spring Budget 2017, will affect suppliers of mobile telecommunication services, private consumers, and non-business users who consume telecommunication… – Continue reading
The Irish Parliament’s arts committee has recommended the introduction of a “foreign artists’ withholding tax (WHT) scheme.” The committee has released a report on the Government’s Culture 2025 initiative, which is intended to provide a framework for the development of Irish arts, culture, and heritage over the next eight years…. – Continue reading
THE BENEFITS OF NON-DOMICILE STATUS An individual who is resident but not domiciled in the UK does not pay tax on overseas income and gains, as long as they are kept outside the UK and are not used to provide benefits in the UK. This is called the remittance basis… – Continue reading
Representatives from the tax authorities of Cambodia and Thailand have agreed in principle to speed up a proposed double taxation agreement that would protect their nationals from dual taxation and encourage bilateral investment. The agreement was made last week during a two-day consultation workshop in Bangkok for tax officials from… – Continue reading
India has participated in the global joint task force meet to discuss with countries information exchange as it looks to pursue work on the Panama Papers, the finance ministry said on Tuesday. The Joint International Taskforce on Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC) meeting was reconvened in Paris in the last… – Continue reading
The Indian tax authority has announced that it has begun the second phase of its Operation Clean Money initiative, within which it will challenge those taxpayers that have potentially failed to declare all their income. The agency said that 556,000 taxpayers’ affairs will be scrutinized as amounts deposited in bank… – Continue reading
The Australian Government has moved to clarify the tax treatment of foreign investors, following concerns over the practical operation of the Investment Manager Regime (IMR) and the new tax system for managed investment trusts (MITs). The aim of the IMR is to attract foreign investment to Australia and the promote… – Continue reading
Canada and dozens of other countries will automatically share banking information of non-residents Canadians with secret overseas bank accounts could soon find themselves at risk of being exposed by a new international agreement designed to help catch tax cheats. Under the Common Reporting Standard, dozens of countries will share information… – Continue reading
Tax liability under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (‘the Act’) of any person is determined based upon his residential status. A person resident of India is taxable on his income accruing across the globe [see End Note 1] while a non-resident is taxable only on the income accruing or arising or… – Continue reading
Labour is threatening to crack down on multinational companies that are dodging paying their fair share of tax in a move it believes will net $200 million a year in extra tax for the Government. Leader Andrew Little said according to Inland Revenue, New Zealanders were missing out by hundreds… – Continue reading
The European Commission launched legal proceedings against Portugal, Bulgaria, and Cyprus for not adopting, in their national laws, European Union legislation requiring all EU countries to exchange tax rulings granted to multilateral companies. The legislation was adopted in the wake of the 2014 LuxLeaks scandal that revealed more than 100… – Continue reading
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has collected more than £4bn through its controversial ‘pay now, dispute later’ accelerated payment notices rules, for people who have used a tax avoidance scheme. HMRC said that more than 75,000 accelerated payment notices (APNs) have been issued to people under enquiry for tax avoidance… – Continue reading
Senator Orrin Hatch (R – Utah) has said that lowering the United States’ corporate tax rate to one of the lowest in the world should be a top priority in current tax reform efforts. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance said that the US corporate rate, one of… – Continue reading
Montenegro has shown its commitment to improving compliance with international tax standards. The FATCA Agreement is yet another example of a set of steps taken towards broadening the cooperation between the US and Montenegro and following the international standards of cross-border tax assistance. The US Ambassador, Margaret Ann Uyehara and… – Continue reading
Andorra has criminalised tax evasion, a parliamentary source said Monday as the tiny mountain principality, once a popular tax haven, moves towards full banking transparency. Last year, the OECD removed Andorra from its “grey” list of tax havens after it agreed to the automatic exchange of information on non-residents’ bank… – Continue reading
Switzerland has signed an agreement on the automatic exchange of tax information with Singapore, and is this week hosting a working meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. The agreement with Singapore was signed by the Deputy State Secretary of Switzerland’s State Secretariat… – Continue reading
Expats can claim pension tax relief as long as they are still resident in the UK. Residence is a matter of fact rather than choice and depends on the result of the statutory residence test. Expats who are not resident in the UK cannot claim pension tax relief How do… – Continue reading
TEHRAN – A Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) was signed between Iran and Kenya during the visit of an Iranian trade delegation to the African country. According to the Public Relations Department of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), the agreement was signed by the Iranian ambassador to Kenya Hadi Farajvand,… – Continue reading
The UAE Ministry of Finance (MoF) signed a final agreement for the avoidance of double taxation with the Republic of Cameroon at the Ministry’s premises in Dubai today. The agreement comes in line with the ministry’s strategy to strengthen bilateral trade and economic relations between the two countries, in order… – Continue reading
The Australian Tax Office is preparing to take several companies to court over abuse of thin capitalisation rules and will start a wave of audits of large multinationals with complex cross-border loans, as it continues to take a hardline approach in the wake of its win against Chevron. The ATO… – Continue reading
Jakarta. Following Singapore’s willingness to cooperate with Indonesia’s tax authority, the government will move to create a bilateral tax agreement with the autonomous region of Macau “in a matter of days,” an official with the Directorate General of Taxes said on Thursday (13/07). “We just need to match our scheduling,”… – Continue reading
The National Assembly of Ecuador endorsed the agreement on cooperation in taxation with Belarus by a majority vote. The document is meant to avoid double taxation and prevent property and real estate tax evasion. The agreement was endorsed by the Belarusian and Ecuadorian governments in 2016. The Special Permanent Commission… – Continue reading
Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has explained the country’s approach to tax evasion during a hearing of the European Parliament’s PANA Committee, and said Ireland is “a strong supporter of international tax reform efforts.” Donohoe was one of several European finance ministers who appeared before the committee on July 11…. – Continue reading
The Government of the Netherlands has announced that it has concluded an agreement with Indonesia on the taxation of investment funds. The Dutch Ministry of Finance announced on July 11 that the new competent authority agreement was signed by the two sides on June 23, 2017. The agreement clarifies the… – Continue reading
Bulgaria is among European Union countries that the European Commission has sent a reasoned opinion because of its failure to communicate the transposition of new measures on the automatic exchange of tax rulings between EU tax authorities. The step was announced by the European Commission on July 13, among its… – Continue reading
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble defended his opposition to pending European Union legislation that would force large multinational companies to publicly disclose, on a country-by-country basis, their taxes paid and profits. Schauble, who testified before the EU Parliament’s Panama Papers investigative committee July 11, said public reporting of companies’ tax… – Continue reading
France will cut taxes on businesses and individuals by roughly 11 billion euros ($12.6 billion) next year, faster than the government had originally intended, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has said. The goal is to create incentives for investment, hiring and economic growth, Philippe told Les Echos daily in an interview… – Continue reading
Switzerland and France have smoothed over concerns which had blocked the exchange of tax data between the two countries, a boost to French efforts to pursue cash hidden from the taxman. The way in which data sent over by Switzerland was used in a French legal case involving UBS (UBSG.S),… – Continue reading
Most Asian countries are not collecting enough tax to meet their goals and they need to boost revenue by taking steps at home and by working with other countries, the deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund said. In much of Asia, the tax-to-GDP ratio “consistently” falls below the… – Continue reading
Andrew Howard, Ropes & Gray tax partner, discusses the UK’s new corporate criminal offence of failure to prevent tax evasion, which goes into effect in September 2017. Click here to view video. Transcript: The UK’s new corporate offence of failure to prevent facilitation of tax evasion is quite a mouthful,… – Continue reading
Australian small businesses are frustrated over the introduction of the “Netflix tax”, with claims the government is failing to properly crack down on multinational tax avoidance. As Australian consumers prepare to fork out up to 20 per cent more for digital services, business owners are calling foul, declaring the tax… – Continue reading
Move to maximise revenue collections this fiscal The Income-Tax Department is likely to monitor transactions by e-commerce firms in the coming year to maximise revenue collections including those from the equalisation levy. This is part of the enforcement strategy in the Central Board of Director Taxes (CBDT) action plan for… – Continue reading
PANA Committee Chairman Werner Langen has argued that Malta’s corporate tax system is unfair, while addressing the PANA committee this evening. He was addressing the PANA Committee earlier today, during the discussion regarding the draft recommendations on the PANA Committee findings. A PANA Committee MEP had mentioned that the criteria… – Continue reading
The Revenue received 24% more requests for assistance from overseas governments with probes into taxpayers from overseas jurisdictions last year A freedom of information (FOI) request from law firm Pinsent Masons found that a total of 2,015 requests had been made to HMRC last year, up from 1,619 in 2015…. – Continue reading
Among the products purchased by the Ministry are: Onesource Benchmark and Onesource TP Loan Module. Thomson Reuters and Ministry of Taxes of the Republic of Azerbaijan have signed an agreement under which the Ministry will use Thomson Reuters tax solutions aimed at implementing tax control in the sphere of transfer… – Continue reading
Passing on your inheritance and your place of residence – the tax minefield QUESTION: I was born in Belfast and now live in Dublin. I have 2 children who both live in Dublin and I am contemplating retiring to Northern Ireland. Is there a difference between the Inheritance tax systems… – Continue reading
New data-sharing rules aren’t without pitfalls for clients of private banks, as authorities race to shut loopholes, Bank Reyl lawyer Drazen Turujlija told finews.asia-TV. Switzerland is set to begin exchanging data with other countries from next year, a move which has fundamentally shifted the dynamic in Switzerland’s trillion-Swiss franc offshore… – Continue reading
France wants Brussels to take a tougher stance on American multinationals working inside the European Union (EU) and force them to pay an appropriate amount of tax. “I can tell you that the times we live in are not for the weak,” French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire said in… – Continue reading
Slovakia is the first V4 country to sign the agreement on country-by-country reporting. Slovakia’s Financial Administration has obtained easier access to the information of US multinational companies. The representatives of Slovakia and the US signed a bilateral agreement on country-by-country (CbC) reporting on June 21, the TASR newswire reported. The… – Continue reading
The Australian Tax Office has tweaked its view about whether companies linked to family trusts are eligible for tax relief, but industry veterans say the situation remains “utterly confused” and “mind-boggling”. A new statement on the ATO website says companies will be eligible for the lower 27.5 per cent rate… – Continue reading
Ecuadoreans voted to approve a historic law banning public officials from having assets or capital in tax havens. Ecuador approved on Friday a historic law prohibiting public officials from hiding wealth in offshore tax havens after voting on it in a public plebiscite, stirring the political alliances of the opposition…. – Continue reading
A Paris court fined a Latvian bank Thursday for laundering hundreds of millions of euros through a vast scheme allowing French taxpayers to avoid paying their dues. The court fined Rietumu Banka 80 million euros ($91 million) for facilitating a scam to “democratize” tax evasion among ordinary taxpayers and small… – Continue reading
The European Union has published a letter to EU heads of state, laying down a direct challenge to the Trump administration, on the issues of tax avoidance ahead of the G20 summit this weekend. The joint letter, sent by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council president Donald Tusk… – Continue reading
