With the UK announcing new tax rules for foreigners living in the country, the government has been careful not to damage the country’s appeal to wealthy foreigners. The “non-dom” tax status “plays an important role in allowing those from abroad to contribute to our economy”, says George Osborne, the UK’s… – Continue reading
THE OECD has published three reports outlining the framework for the automatic exchange of financial information between governments as part of its efforts to curb tax avoidance and evasion. In October last year, the organisation announced the agreement to automatically share tax information on individuals by the year 2018, to… – Continue reading
Hundreds of millions of tax dollars are flooding into exchequers across the world, as governments offer evaders a last chance to own up to undeclared accounts, reports the Financial Times. Taxpayers with funds stashed offshore are coming forward voluntarily in their tens of thousands ahead of new transparency rules that… – Continue reading
Maples and Calder and Maples Fund Services representatives explain how US and UK Fatca will impact Cayman-based funds. The implementation of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (US Fatca) and the less well-known but equally applicable UK equivalent (UK Fatca) have been a topical and core focus for Cayman… – Continue reading
British expats in Cyprus could lose a host of privileges if Britain withdraws from the EU, a popular expat forum has warned. The website is urging them to register to vote in the UK’s in/out referendum, which could take place as early as the middle of next year. The vote’s… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius, which is the regulatory body for the Mauritian non-banking financial services sector, has introduced a new application form for obtaining a tax residency certificate (TRC). FSC verifies these applications and recommends issue of the Mauritius tax residency certificate by the Mauritius revenue… – Continue reading
As U.S. expats struggle with the IRS’s punitively strict tax reporting requirements, Canadian expats are now grappling with harsh government measures of their own. Ontario’s top court has ruled that Canadian expats who have lived abroad for five years should not be allowed to vote in federal elections because it… – Continue reading
There is a rising trend that many start-ups incorporate their ultimate holding companies abroad, especially in Singapore for various reasons with tax being one of the top 3 factors for such decisions. Some of them have restructured the holding structures after few months of direct Indian holding to accommodate requests… – Continue reading
Black Money Act covers residents with undisclosed foreign assets and income and non-residents who have invested Indian-sourced income in offshore assets Compliance Scheme window open only till 30 September for declaring assets and until 31 December 2015 to pay tax at 30% and penalty at 30%. Revenue recommends disclosure of… – Continue reading
Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement or DTAA is an agreement between two countries which aims to avoid taxation of the same income in both countries. India has signed the DTAA with several countries. During assessment of an assessee to whom DTAA applies, the provisions of the Income Tax Act apply only… – Continue reading
Thousands of expats living in Australia, many of them British with temporary retirement visas, want to become permanent residents but are told they are unable to do so despite funding their own lifestyle. Some have lived in Australia for over 20 years but the visa they hold was withdrawn to… – Continue reading
Most South Africans think the prospect of working and living in a foreign country is an exciting adventure. However, the ins and outs of your tax affairs can be enough to make one less adventurous. The first thing to establish is what your “tax residency status” is. This is easier… – Continue reading
The abiding complaint of those who believe offshore buyers are driving the rise in real estate prices in Metro Vancouver is the lack of data to prove it. How can you identify a problem if you can’t quantify it? The corollary to that complaint is the provincial government’s apparent inability,… – Continue reading
THE GOVERNMENT’S MOVE to introduce criminal ‘strict liability’ measures for those with undeclared offshore income and assets have been roundly criticised by the CIoT. While welcoming the announcement that the offence will be targeted at only the “most serious” offshore tax evaders and a threshold of £5,000 of under-declared tax… – Continue reading
Experts have warned of the impact of UK Chancellor George Osborne’s decision to abolish permanent non-dom status and tighten non-dom inheritance tax (IHT) rules. The Government will abolish permanent non-dom tax status, meaning that anyone resident in the UK for more than 15 of the past 20 years will have… – Continue reading
Lisbon: Portuguese prosecutors said on Thursday they plan to charge former interior minister Miguel Macedo for his role in a money-laundering scandal linked to “golden” visas, which handed residency permits to wealthy foreigners. The announcement came shortly after Portugal’s National Assembly decided to lift the parliamentary immunity Macedo enjoyed as… – Continue reading
YEREVAN. – Armenia has renewed a treaty to exempt double taxation with Belarus during the Cabinet’s meeting on Thursday. In particular, the treaty envisages regulation of the residency of legal entities in the case of dual residency. The procedure for the exchange of information constituting bank secrecy has been specified…. – Continue reading
When Indian President Pranab Mukherjee gave Finance Bill 2015 his assent on May 14, most provisions were largely hailed as improvements to the business environment in India. Others, while seen as primarily positive, have been the cause of some concern. One such provision changes the residency test for companies doing… – Continue reading
While the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) became law in 2010, it has been slowly transitioning to implementation, with 2015 being the first year of required reportings. For anyone not familiar with the Act, FATCA aims to prevent tax non-compliance among U.S. taxpayers with foreign accounts by requiring U.S…. – Continue reading
Before going after multinationals that channel profits through tax havens and low-tax nations, you must define what one is, business lobbies have told the Abbott government. Treasurer Joe Hockey announced in the May budget that the government would be strengthening anti-avoidance laws to go after 30 companies with over $1… – Continue reading
A raft of reforms to EU anti-money laundering rules will come into force later this month after they were finalised and published in the official journal of the EU, reports Out Law. The fourth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive will take effect from the 26 June. EU countries will have two… – Continue reading
Individuals who renew their US passport need to take into consideration that their Social Security Number (SSN) and country of residency will be forwarded to the IRS. Since July 2014, the passport renewal instructions forms have dedicated a specific paragraph detailing this new procedure: “Section 6039E of the Internal Revenue… – Continue reading
Irish citizens holding bank accounts in Switzerland will no longer be able to avail of the traditional secrecy pertaining to Swiss bank accounts, MEP Marian Harkin has said. The European Commission and Switzerland this week signed an agreement that is intended to clamp down on tax evasion. Both sides will… – Continue reading
At least 800 British-born United Kingdom residents enjoy “non-domiciled” status, a tax break intended for temporary residents, according to data released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Reuters. Lawmakers said the information highlighted the need to change the tax rules to ban so-called “hereditary non-doms”, where… – Continue reading
As wealthy foreigners rush to get citizenship in Malta under a new programme, the residency requirement is taking many forms. Russians rent high-end villas, then stay in five-star hotels when they visit. An American financier plans to live in Switzerland but occasionally vacation in Malta. One Vietnamese businessman, eager to… – Continue reading
Malta’s credibility as a financial centre has taken another hit as news broke this week about a legal battle for the millions of euros accumulated by Mutassim Gaddafi – son of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi – currently frozen in a Bank of Valletta account. Malta’s role in all this came… – Continue reading
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) – a law passed in 2010 to tackle the abuse of using offshore financial accounts for the purpose of evading US taxes – is now in effect after a two-year delay. As it requires foreign financial institutions worldwide to identify and report to… – Continue reading
At the heart of the case is the Ecclestone family’s Bambino trust, which is based in the offshore tax haven of Liechtenstein Bernie Ecclestone is taking legal action against HM Revenue & Customs over claims that he owes the tax authority more than £1bn after it tore up a settlement… – Continue reading
By stopping bogus claims of residency, his idea would force foreigners to pay capital gains tax when they sell a home in Canada OTTAWA — Inspired by the legendary FBI ploy to nab a notorious gangster, a B.C. immigration lawyer suggests the Canadian tax system be used to discourage the… – Continue reading
Ahead of their joint event on Deoffshorisation Compliance on 21 May, TMF Group’s Sub Regional Director for CIS and the Nordics Alex Medlock and Artem Toropov, Senior International Tax Associate at law firm Goltsblat BLP LLP (the Russian practice of Berwin Leighton Paisner), outline the key deoffshorisation/CFC compliance requirements and… – Continue reading
“Location, location, location” the well-known real estate mantra, is a notion that advisors of high- and ultrahigh-net-worth clients might also want take to heart. “Residency drives how much sophisticated wealth structuring and asset protection you can do,” says Merrill Lynch advisor Adam Katz. While the concept that it’s better to… – Continue reading
FOR NRIs wishing to invest in property in India, there are a variety of factors to be considered. A NRI can transfer any immovable property held to an Indian resident. However, he can transfer the property in India (other than agricultural land, plantation property and farm house) to a person… – Continue reading
National Treasury announced significant relaxation of exchange controls in the national budget in February this year, but according to Sable Forex MD, Andy Rissik, the paperwork demands are still an obstacle to moving money in or out of South Africa. “High Net Worth (HNW) individuals were pleased to receive some… – Continue reading
On May 13th 2015, the portal for applying for Estonian e-residency was launched at e-resident.gov.ee, which allows to send an application from anywhere in the world to join the Estonian digital identity program, Estonian Ministry of Economy announced, Äripäev.ee/LETA reports. Estonia is the first country to offer e-residency — a… – Continue reading
President Putin coined a new word in his state of the nation address at the end of 2012, when he called for new measures for the “deoffshorisation of our economy”, reports the International Business Times. This was to become a major addition, not just to the Russian vocabulary but to… – Continue reading
A mixed bag of topics for this week’s edition of Lifelines: ‘Gaijin card’ deadline looms First up are the new residence cards, which have replaced the old alien registration cards (aka gaijin cards) for foreign residents. If you are still using your old card, be aware that the deadline for… – Continue reading
Bold step on non-resident levy likely to be first of many. A tax policy paper released yesterday proposes changes on the taxation of non-residents in respect of New Zealand-sourced interest income. These changes, if implemented, will affect large multinationals, banks and even individual New Zealand borrowers. As the first significant… – Continue reading
The deductibility of interest has for years been a contentious issue and this has been reaffirmed with the introduction of section 23M into the Income Tax Act No 58 of 1962 (the “Act”) with effect from 1 January 2015. A further addition to the interest sphere of income tax is… – Continue reading
Jason Porter explores the tax regimes in Portugal, France, Malta and Cyprus – four of the most advantageous territories for UK ex-pat retirees People aged 55 and over are now entitled to their pension in the form of a lump sum, to be taxed at marginal rates applying in the… – Continue reading
Passing between tax administrations Polish and US information on accounts and income tax residents predicts signed by the president Bronislaw Komorowski law on ratification of the agreement with the USA on the use of so-called FATCA Act. As reported by the presidential office, in terms of the Act of 20… – Continue reading
A guide to Spanish taxation in 2015 for expats, with up-to-date information on income tax, VAT, property tax and other taxes for residents and non-residents in Spain. If you are living and working in Spain, you will be liable to pay Spanish taxes on your income and assets and will… – Continue reading
Although you may be working in China, does the ATO still consider you an Australian resident? It’s just one of the things you need to get absolutely right. The tax requirements for Aussies working overseas vary from region to region. Aussies working in Hong Kong will find last month’s tax… – Continue reading
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a corporate tax bill earlier this month. Unsurprisingly, it cuts in a different direction than most tax proposals floating around Washington these days. The bill (S.922) is titled the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act of 2015. A companion bill was introduced in the House by… – Continue reading
The tax status of (usually well-heeled) long-term foreign residents in the United Kingdom hit the headlines again recently as the opposition Labour Party pledged to abolish the non-domicile tax rules if its wins the general election on May 7. At least, that seemed to be the message when Labour leader… – Continue reading
1. NON-TAX ISSUES 1.1 Domestic law 1.1.1 Briefly describe your legal system and its origins The legal system of the Republic of Ireland is a common law system. In order to ensure consistency, a legal principle developed whereby courts were generally required to follow earlier relevant decisions. This doctrine of… – Continue reading
TL: What are the main considerations and advantages for doing business in Malta? AB: Malta’s positive approach to business promotion, development and standard of living within the EU makes the island a destination of choice for relocation of business purposes. Malta offers noteworthy benefits to individuals and investors who are… – Continue reading
Why Does Residency Status Matter? An Ohio resident must pay Ohio income tax on his or her worldwide income (including investment income (i.e., dividends, capital gains etc.) and pass-through income from LLCs and S corporations with operations outside of Ohio), subject to credits for taxes paid in other jurisdictions. A… – Continue reading
Doing so would get rid of ‘overlapping and duplicative disclosure requirements,’ says advocacy group for Americans abroad The IRS’ taxpayer advocate is urging the tax service to simplify rules for Americans living overseas. Currently, foreign bank accounts must be reported both to the Treasury, in a Report of Foreign Bank… – Continue reading
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued a revised draft interpretation note that discusses the principles and guidelines for the considering the “place of effective management” in determining the tax residence of a company. SARS points out that the concept of residency is critical in determining a company’s South… – Continue reading
One of Ed Miliband’s key election advisers pays no UK tax on his reported £300,000 earnings, it has emerged. David Axelrod, a former adviser to Barack Obama, admitted he was not a resident in the UK for tax purposes and the Labour party pays him in dollars through his consultancy…. – Continue reading
