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
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a series of taxpayer alerts that caution large companies against using contrived arrangements to avoid their tax obligations. The first alert concerns arrangements where Australian consolidated groups use offshore permanent establishments that have entered into intra-group transactions. Deputy Commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn explained: “Through… – Continue reading
Budget 2016 introduced a new tax called Equalisation Levy (“EL”), aimed at taxing online transactions. EL was originally mooted by the OECD in Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project Final Report on Action 1 – Addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy (the “Report”). We will examine Equalisation… – 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 Section of Taxation of the American Bar Association (ABA) has written to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) saying that there is a pressing need for guidance from tax authorities due to the rapid growth of the cloud industry. The ABA noted that, although the Organisation for Economic Co-operation… – Continue reading
There is little that can be done about FATCA and the change has to come from within the U.S. Death and taxes, life’s two certainties according to Keynes, sometimes have a causal relationship. One dies and some taxes are often associated with that event. Alternatively, one encounters so much regulation… – 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
The Trinidad & Tobago government says it has prepared legislation aimed at compliance with the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA is a 2010 federal law to enforce the requirement for United States national including those living outside the US, to file yearly reports on their non-US… – Continue reading
Mauritius is looking to revive efforts to put in place a comprehensive economic cooperation pact with India, close on the heels of sorting out long-pending issues related to the bilateral tax treaty. The island nation, a major source of foreign direct investments coming into India, is also eyeing a preferential… – Continue reading
The intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between Curacao, a low-tax Caribbean territory, and the United States implementing the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is now in force. FATCA, enacted by the US Congress in 2010, is intended to ensure that the US obtains information on accounts held abroad at foreign… – Continue reading
The comprehensive double taxation agreement (CDTA) between Hong Kong and Russia, which was signed in January this year, entered into force on July 29, 2016, and will be in effect in Hong Kong for any year of assessment beginning on or after April 1, 2017. The CDTA is said to… – 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
In early April 2016 files leaked from a large Panama-based law firm (known as the ‘Panama Papers’) brought to the attention of many the ways in which offshore companies and structures can be used to obscure the identity of beneficial owners, some of whom have used such entities to avoid… – Continue reading
To provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into an advance pricing agreement (APA) with an Indian subsidiary of a Japanese trading company to foster a non-adversarial tax regime. “Signing of this… – Continue reading
An agreement on avoidance of double taxation, which was signed today between the governments of Ukraine and Malaysia, will allow enhancing business contacts and attracting investors. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said this at a joint news conference with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “We think… – 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 Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is developing a manual on the new Income Tax (Act 896, 2015) to make it easy for taxpayers to understand the provisions of the law. The manual, known as Practice Note, which will contain examples of how to calculate taxes, is expected to give directives… – Continue reading
Transfer pricing documentation rules have come to the fore with the United Kingdom’s Brexit. The European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development appear to apply similar transfer pricing documentation rules to multinational companies, but differences nevertheless abound. Some multinational enterprises may view these differences as nuances, but… – Continue reading
A revenue-neutral modification of Finland’s tax structure could boost the nation’s economic growth, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a recently released report. Finland has already adopted some measures to make the tax structure more growth friendly in recent years, the report, Boosting Productivity in Finland, said…. – Continue reading
Local banks will report account holders with American citizenship to the IRS beginning in September The Knesset Finance Committee on Monday approved a series of regulations by the Finance Ministry, paving the way to full implementation of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which was signed between the two… – Continue reading
Possible EU sanctions against New Zealand could make travel harder and have a massive effect on the economy. New Zealand is under investigation by the EU as it prepares a blacklist of global tax havens, Newshub revealed on Monday night. The grouping of 28 European nations has compiled a list… – Continue reading
As many are now aware, the double tax avoidance arrangement (DTAA) between India and Mauritius was amended through the protocol released last month. The direct impact summarized in one line is as follows: India shall now tax capital gains arising from alienation of shares by a Mauritius investor acquired on… – Continue reading
As worldwide pressure grows to fight offshore tax evasion, new statistics obtained by the Star show the Canadian government has convicted only 49 people and levied just $13.4 million in fines for what it calls offshore activity since 2010. These numbers are far lower than in comparable countries and show… – Continue reading
Almost every country and every government now is fighting to detect undeclared Incomes and boost their tax collection. This could potentially help various countries show and collect large taxes from offshore accounts. The renewed thrust on automatic exchange of information (AEOI) between countries could achieve what seemed like a dream… – 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
Just as the Cayman Islands government was feeling confident that its relationship with the British government was better than ever and the UK was beginning to understand and accept the role of the offshore financial sector, the new prime minister, Theresa May, is believed to have ordered a clampdown on… – Continue reading
A parliamentary committee on Wednesday recommended to the government to abolish double taxation in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and additional taxes being collected on edible items upon entry into the tribal areas. The Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), chaired by Senator Hilal-ur-Rehman, Wednesday took strong… – Continue reading
Ukraine is to sign a double tax agreement with Malaysia that will cap withholding tax rates on dividends, interest, and royalties. Under the deal, the withholding tax rate for dividends would be capped at 15 percent. A special rate of five percent would apply to dividends received by a company… – Continue reading
Indonesia is demanding healthy, fair and transparent taxation practices at the recent G20 meeting in Chengdu, China, as the country struggles to widen its stubbornly narrow tax base. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro intervened in the G20 High Level Tax Symposium by stating that the Indonesian government wanted fair and transparent… – 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
At the recent G20 meeting in China, finance ministers stressed their support for greater tax transparency, calling for a report from the OECD on the implementation of automatic exchange of information before the end of the year, and stating that by July 2017 it wants a list of non-compliant jurisdictions… – 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
Italian-Swiss TIEA Enters Into Force The Italian Ministry of the Economy and Finance has announced that the tax information exchange (TIE) protocol to the existing double tax agreement between Italy and Switzerland, which was signed on February 23 last year, went into effect on July 13, 2016. The TIE protocol,… – Continue reading
With elements of the Liberal government’s 2016-17 budget coming to fruition, tax lawyers must stay up to date with the changes as their workload increases, according to a global firm partner. Speaking with Lawyers Weekly, DLA Piper tax partner Jock McCormack (pictured) said tax lawyers can expect to be busy… – Continue reading
Neutral Switzerland has got an overall rating of “largely compliant” in an international review of how well it shares information with other countries on tax matters, the finance ministry said on Tuesday. Swiss officials hailed the outcome as crucial recognition of their efforts to shed the country’s reputation as a… – Continue reading
MINISTER of Finance Lou Jiwei is calling for a taxation overhaul, saying innovative industries should also come under the purview of taxation to reflect a socially balanced economic growth. “Preferential tax policies are needed to boost development of new business sector, but fairness also matters,” Lou said. He was speaking… – Continue reading
Officials from the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners said they are investigating recent media reports that so-called vulture funds are using a clause in Irish law to pay small amounts of tax here. Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has said that the Government is “very concerned” at… – 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
Slashing rates probably won’t be the U.K.’s magic bullet. As Britain plans its way out of the European Union, politicians have been looking for ways for the country to maintain its dominance as a center for global capital. One idea: turning the post-Brexit U.K. into a tax haven. In the… – 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 Panama Papers have put the spotlight on tax avoidance once again. This is, of course, not a new issue. Before that, we had Swiss Leaks and BVI Leaks. You may be asking: how does tax avoidance work and why have policymakers struggled to rein it in? Firstly, it is… – Continue reading
During a recent speech in Pretoria to the High Level Conference on Illicit Financial Flows, South African Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan noted that tax code improvements are required in African countries so that multinational enterprises (MNEs) “pay their fair share of taxes in the countries where they generate their… – 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
The Internal Revenue Service has released new guidance on how foreign financial institutions can enter into a Qualified Intermediary agreement with the U.S. under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA. Notice 2016-42, released earlier this month, outlines the proposed QI agreement, which revises and updates the current agreement… – 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
