The European Union is taking eight countries and jurisdictions off its tax avoidance blacklist after they made commitments to meet EU requirements. Barbados, Grenada, Macao, Mongolia, Panama, South Korea, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates were removed after agreeing to tighten their tax laws. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire… – Continue reading
Bermuda is ranked 36th in the 2018 Financial Secrecy Index, which was recently released by the UK-based Tax Justice Network, who stated that some of the world’s “important providers of financial secrecy” are “mostly not small, palm-fringed islands as many suppose, but some of the world’s biggest and wealthiest countries.”… – Continue reading
“Financial secrecy provided by the U.S. has caused untold harm to the ordinary citizens of foreign countries,” said the Tax Justice Network. While European Union, EU, officials busied themselves with listing 17 countries or overseas colonies as being dicey tax havens – notably excluding Switzerland and the United States from… – Continue reading
UAE was confident of swift removal from the tax haven list in 2018. The UAE, along with seven other countries, has been removed from the European Union’s list of Uncooperative Tax Havens as the country further enhanced its transparency in tax procedures. As a mark of strengthening ties with EU… – Continue reading
The Macau SAR has been removed from the European Union list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, joining a separate category of jurisdictions ‘subject to close monitoring,’ the European Union (EU) announced on Tuesday Macau (MNA) – The Macau SAR has been removed from the European Union list of non-cooperative… – Continue reading
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has written to several state institutions seeking record and details of offshore companies reportedly established in tax havens abroad by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Aleem Khan and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, DawnNews has reported. The Supreme Court had in November last… – Continue reading
(CMC) – The St Lucia government Friday said it expects to join fellow Caribbean Community (CARICOM) neighbours, Barbados and Grenada, in being removed from a new list of global tax havens by the European Union. The EU has signalled its intention to remove the CARICOM countries after they submitted plans… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 16: Panama, a popular tax haven that was in the eye of a data-leak storm dubbed ‘Panama Papers’ in 2016, has finally signed an international agreement that would pave the way for exchange of financial account information with the international community. By signing this agreement — CRS… – Continue reading
ST GEORGE’S – Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell says Grenada is expected to be removed from the European Union Blacklist by the end of January. The decision to remove Grenada, one of 17 countries blacklisted by the EU, is expected to follow a meeting of the Financial and Economic Unit… – Continue reading
The U.S. Treasury Secretary is disputing a decision by the European Union to place Guam, and American Samoa, on its blacklist of noncooperating tax jurisdictions. In a letter to EU Secretary General Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin wrote that “there is no basis for concluding that American Samoa… – Continue reading
THE Cabinet yesterday approved a draft bill aimed at preventing the transfer of assets and profits for the purpose of avoiding tax liabilities. Also approved yesterday were proposals requiring that juristic persons with interconnected transactions of more than Bt30 million a year send the authorities a clarification report and a… – Continue reading
Namibia has 18 months to sort out “tax haven mess” – EU Namibia has 18 months, up to June 2019 to comply with the European Union (EU) demand that it joins the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax purposes and to sign, ratify and participate in… – Continue reading
Today the European Parliament releases a list of recommendations to crack down on tax evasion. Following evidence of tax avoidance in both the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers, the EU has steadily moved to crack down on tax evaders. In December alone, the EU blacklisted 17 countries with lax… – Continue reading
Offshore tax havens conjure up a wonderland for the well-heeled and their wealth. But investigations based on the Paradise Papers leak has found that millions of ordinary Canadians also have an interest in money parked in tax havens — almost certainly without knowing it. Seven of the country’s so-called Big… – Continue reading
CASTRIES, St Lucia, Thursday December 14, 2017 – The St Lucia government says it will introduce tax reform measures to bring the country in line with European Union (EU) standards, after the country was among four Caribbean nations on a list of 17 global tax havens released by the EU…. – Continue reading
A Real Madrid star footballer will have to face a court hearing on December 22, accused of evading taxes from 2011 to 2014. MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Real Madrid football club striker and Portuguese national football team forward Cristiano Ronaldo may be fined 30 million euros ($35.3 million) for tax evasion,… – Continue reading
EU ministers have issued the bloc’s “list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes”. The blacklist was created following a November 2016 European Council decision–in the wake of the Panama Papers, Luxleaks and other revelations of multinational tax avoidance–to evaluate jurisdictions outside the EU. Territories were judged on “tax transparency”, “fair… – Continue reading
Blacklisted nations may face sanctions. The European Union released its first-ever “blacklist” of global tax havens this week, including 17 territories, three of which are Arab countries. Deemed to fall short of EU tax standards, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, and Bahrain joined American Samoa, Barbados, Grenada, Guam, South Korea,… – Continue reading
Apple, whose CEO Tim Cook likes to talk a big game about how the tech industry should be more socially responsible while overseeing an international tax-avoidance regime that puts Scrooge McDuck’s gold-filled vault/swimming pool to shame, has agreed to repay Ireland $14.6 billion (around €13 billion) in unpaid taxes, the… – Continue reading
“The ceiling on taxation of capital gains reflects the national belief that speculation is a more worthwhile way to make a living than work.” – Calvin Trillin, Uncivil Liberties, 1982. Time was when both death and taxes were considered unavoidable. But in the light of the latest revelations contained in… – Continue reading
Serbia has for now avoided being included in EU’s blacklist of tax havens, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The agency said last week that the November 21 draft mentioned Turkey and Serbia as some of the countries that could be added to the list. But Serbia is now seen as “compliant… – Continue reading
Africa is estimated to have lost over $1 trillion in illicit financial flows (IFFs) within the past 50 years, with drainage of over $50 billion annually. These outflows, according to the African Union and Economic Commission for Africa (AU/ECA) High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs), refer to “money… – Continue reading
Multinationals have been getting away with not paying their fair share to the U.S. for too long, says this business founder With Washington pushing full-tilt on tax reform, it’s time to tackle the unfair tax advantage enjoyed by multinational enterprises. Addressing this longstanding problem could provide a unique opportunity to… – Continue reading
Plan proposes 12.5% tax rate on intellectual-property income Bills ‘upend decades of U.S. tax policy’ on tight deadline U.S. companies that make billions of dollars from patents and other intellectual property held offshore would be eligible for a special 12.5 percent tax rate on those earnings under the Senate tax… – Continue reading
Under President Trump’s political and economic climate, stocks and the economy have been soaring. Trump constantly aims for three percent GDP growth as a result of cutting corporate income and individual income taxes, which aims to encourage spending across different family incomes. However, these corporations the tax cuts favor have… – Continue reading
FinanceMalta, the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners, the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry and the Gozo Business Chamber have welcomed the PANA Committee’s confirmation that the Maltese tax system is in line with current international and EU standards. Furthermore,according to the Committee, Malta has transposed EU rules and respects… – Continue reading
Luxury yachts built in Dutch shipyards are being sold to suspect buyers around the world through tax havens, Trouw and the Financieele Dagblad reported on Friday. The dubious yacht transactions were revealed through an investigation being carried out into the Paradise Papers by the two Dutch newspapers . The documents… – Continue reading
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire has urged countries to approve tougher sanctions against jurisdictions that do not adhere to standards in tax transparency in the wake of the Paradise Papers leak. Le Maire told reporters ahead of a meeting of European Union finance ministers in Brussels that such sanctions… – Continue reading
What more could the Indonesian tax authority do than simply pledge to investigate and verify information on taxpayers who sheltered their wealth secretly in offshore tax havens, as revealed last week through the leaked Paradise Papers. But the stated commitment is meaningless unless the government acts quickly and firmly to… – Continue reading
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (CMC) — The Cayman Islands, noting that it has had to get used to “unfair and inaccurate” reporting about its global financial sector, is distancing itself from the so-called Paradise Papers, a set of confidential documents related to offshore investment. In addition, the island has also… – Continue reading
Jude Scott, CEO of the Cayman Islands’ financial services promotion agency, Cayman Finance, has taken aim at a report labeling the territory as a “tax haven.” The report on international financial centers, issued by the non-profit US Public Interest Research Group and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, also… – Continue reading
Thirty-eight African tax authorities recently converged in Abuja for the International Conference on Tax in Africa. The group discussed ways to boost revenues in Africa, in particular and how to improve collection of corporate income tax, reports Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor) Tax collection has never been a piece of cake… – Continue reading
Shadow assistant treasurer suggests companies consider the image their tax minimisation methods project Andrew Leigh, the shadow assistant federal treasurer, has said companies using offshore tax havens to “get around corporate tax” in Australia risk losing what they save in tax via damage to their reputation. Speaking to Guardian Australia… – Continue reading
LONDON — Brazil has provided investors with some of the best returns in the world this year but investment funds based in Ireland have been forced to adopt new strategies to get their money’s worth. Brazil blacklisted Ireland as a tax haven in September 2016 because of its low corporate… – Continue reading
Three companies are ultimately owned in the Cayman and British Virgin islands, raising questions about the tax implications of profits generated by solar assets Adani has spread its use of offshore tax havens to its Australian solar projects, providing another avenue that could allow the wealthy Indian family behind the… – Continue reading
General Electric, Boston Scientific and other major Massachusetts-based companies are accused of keeping billions of dollars in offshore accounts to avoid taxation in 2016, according to a new report. In fact, the practice extends to 366 of the companies on the Fortune 500 list, according to the Massachusetts Public Interest… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Since last month, Indians with overseas bank accounts are receiving letters from offshore financial institutions, asking them to disclose ‘tax residency status’ before Christmas. If they don’t, banks holding these accounts would share whatever information they have on such account holders with the Indian government. Many account holders are… – Continue reading
Private-bank assets held by StanChart in Channel island tax haven were moved to S’pore in 2015: report Singapore THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Monday declared its firm commitment to keeping the country’s financial centre clean and safeguarded from illicit activities. Singapore’s central bank and financial regulatory authority said… – Continue reading
Many tax avoidance schemes are not illegal. But just because it is not illegal does not mean it is not a form of abuse, fraud or corruption. Credit: Servaas van den Bosch/IPS KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 2017 (IPS) – Since the 1950s, there has been a popular dance called the… – Continue reading
On the back of the Indonesian government’s issuance of its new controlled foreign company (CFC) regulation on July 26, many Indonesians are likely to sell their foreign shell companies because of the enforcement of double tax payments. The CFC regulation authorizes the government to charge a dividend tax on foreign… – Continue reading
The European Commission is preparing a new directive on the cross-border transfer of company headquarters, a move that could have far-reaching implications for other areas of corporate governance, including tax planning and cross-border mergers, EURACTIV has learned. With Brexit on the horizon, UK companies are busy weighing their options for… – Continue reading
The new bill is intended to stop tax havens — especially those exposed by the Panama Papers last year. Bolivian lawmakers have proposed a new bill to help fight tax evasion. The new bill, “Bill to Combat the Use of Tax Havens,” is intended to stop tax havens — especially… – Continue reading
In a sharp censure to those who charge that the present government has slapped the citizenry with the highest possible taxes while taking away the concessions, the country’s State Minister of Finance said Sri Lanka is a tax haven in comparison to most other economies in the region and beyond… – Continue reading
In recent years, Portugal has become a popular low-tax haven for Swedish retirees. Since 2009, almost 2300 Swedes, most of them senior citizens, have swapped dark winters for the Mediterranean sun, and moved to Portugal either part- or full-time. Doing so, they have been able to avoid paying taxes to… – Continue reading
ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s new tax law has provisions that more effectively block companies from trying to dodge taxes by using techniques like transfer pricing, an expert said. The Commissioner-General of Inland Revenue (CGIR) has been given the power to re-examine sch transactions if they are seen to have been… – Continue reading
Anguilla’s ex-attorney general says UK government may fear exposing its role in Caribbean territories’ tax arrangements Aid offered by the British government to its hurricane-battered territories in the Caribbean has been dismissed as “derisory” by a former attorney general of one of the worst-hit islands. Rupert Jones, who completed a… – Continue reading
By 2016 the number of foreign trusts in New Zealand had more than tripled from 2008, reaching 10,697, according to New Zealand’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD). Those trusts were bringing around $50 million in professional fees to the country. At that time, the Panama Papers scandal revealed that New Zealand… – Continue reading
A loophole may make it a good place for foreigners to keep cash. Some 65,000 Puerto Ricans left their bankrupt U.S. island commonwealth last year. A group of private bankers are moving the other way. They’re increasingly opening offshore banks known as International Financial Entities, which were created by a… – Continue reading
Bizlive cited a report from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) as showing that the British Virgin Islands alone registered $1 billion worth of FDI in the first seven months of the year, raising its total accumulative investment capital to $21.4 billion, ranking fifth among countries and territories with the highest… – Continue reading
According to China Merchants Bank and Bain & Company, a global business consulting firm, nearly 60 percent of China’s high net worth individuals have assets overseas in 2017, while in 2011 this ratio was only 20 percent. In 2015 and 2016, China’s annual financial assets exported overseas amounted to more… – Continue reading
