Singaporean lawmakers approved the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2017 on October 2, 2017, which provides for numerous changes to income tax policy. Discussing the bill in parliament, Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Finance, confirmed that the existing corporate income tax rebate for 2017 will be enhanced by raising… – Continue reading
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 7: The Ministry of Finance has sent the first official list of names of Americans and Kuwaitis who also hold the US citizenship to the US Department of Revenue in compliance with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) based on agreement signed between the countries, reports… – Continue reading
Move on multinational tax arrangements expected to be announced in the Budget An important change to multinational tax arrangements is expected to be announced in Budget 2018, limiting the tax write-offs big companies can take up front on movements of valuable intellectual property to Ireland. The move could provide a… – Continue reading
Multinational companies establishing their regional operating headquarters (ROHQs), a subsector under the business processing outsourcing (BPO) sector, in the country starting January 2018 will no longer be entitled to tax incentives under the current Senate Bill on tax reform. Senate Bill No. 1592 or the proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration… – Continue reading
LONDON (Reuters) – Facebook (FB.O) reported profits in Britain in 2016 of 58.4 million pounds ($77 million) after the introduction of anti-profit shifting measures but a modest rise in its tax bill shows the challenge Europe faces in working out how to tax technology giants. Facebook said in filings with… – Continue reading
The EU is deeply divided over how to increase the tax take from tech giants such as Google, Apple and Amazon, who have recently come under fire for being perceived as not paying their fair share of taxes A controversial set of reforms spearheaded by French president Emmanuel Macron propose… – Continue reading
KUALA LUMPUR: The taxmen of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) and Royal Malaysian Customs Department have set their sights on the digital economy. Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah pointed out last week that some foreign-owned digital economy players like Google, Uber and Facebook are currently not… – Continue reading
Tax inversions by US multinationals attempting to shift profits into lower tax jurisdictions could cost the US up to $12bn (£7.4bn) in lost corporate tax revenues by 2027, according to figures released by the US Congressional Budget Office There were 11 major corporate inversions from 2014-2015, although two significant inversions… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said the EU should proceed with an overhaul of taxes on digital firms even if the rest of the rich world did not follow suit, a draft report said. The document is part of an EU push to tap more revenues from online multinationals… – Continue reading
The OECD has taken issue with the Estonian Government’s plans to reduce the rate of tax on distributed dividends for established companies, warning that the measure could complicate the tax system and discriminate against small firms. Under recently enacted legislation, tax on distributed dividends will be reduced from 20 percent… – Continue reading
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s government has issued new regulations aimed at tracing and taxing the wealth of taxpayers who were not pardoned in the nine-month tax amnesty that ended in March. Around 972,000 taxpayers joined the amnesty programme and declared assets worth a total of 4,881 trillion rupiah (272 billion pounds)…. – Continue reading
Changes in international tax laws spurred by the OECD’s BEPS project pose challenges for finance chiefs, but also offer some opportunities. The OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project, with an overall goal of reducing global loss of tax revenues due to double non-taxation, has created the need for… – Continue reading
Analysis of Finance Ministry data has revealed shocking findings: a total of 22.22 lakh entities (individuals+firms), who had never filed tax returns ever, had deposited a combined amount of over Rs. 2L crore post demonetization. That’s an average of Rs. 9,00,090 for an individual/entity which legally hasn’t earned ever! Of… – Continue reading
SINGAPORE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) — The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) publicized its annual report on Thursday, showing it collected 47 billion Singapore dollars (about 34.53 billion U.S. dollars) in tax revenue in Financial Year 2016/17, up 5 percent from the past financial year. IRAS attributes the revenue collection… – Continue reading
Four of the world’s largest companies have been under investigation by Australian tax authorities, amid new evidence from US executives about how Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft are shifting money to offshore tax havens. Appearing before a highly anticipated public hearing into corporate tax evasion, the executives endured questions about… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has claimed that the tax revenue target of Rp 1.61 quadrillion (US$ 120.40 billion), as stated in the draft 2018 state budget, is realistic as it is only a 9.30 percent increase from this year’s target of Rp 1.47 quadrillion. This projection is relatively moderate… – Continue reading
The government’s plan to impose more levies on large companies will undermine their competitiveness amid a rising global trend of tax reductions and further distort the country’s taxation structure, analysts say. A draft tax code revision unveiled early this month proposes raising the corporate tax rate for businesses with taxable… – Continue reading
Launching the taxpayer directory for the 2016 tax year, Pakistan’s Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, revealed that government efforts to broaden the country’s taxpayer base have been successful. The number of registered taxpayers, he said, has increased by nearly 50 percent from four years ago, when the first “directory” was released…. – Continue reading
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has begun accepting country-by-country (CbC) reports from multinational corporations. In June 2016 the IRS issued final regulations requiring CbC reporting by the ultimate parent entity of a multinational enterprise (MNE) group with revenue of USD850m or more in the preceding accounting year. The first… – Continue reading
The UK tax man has raised almost an extra £30 billion in the past year from cracking down on avoidance. The boost came in a year that saw HM Revenue & Customs collect a record £574.9 billion in taxes from individuals and businesses. The tax take was £38.1 billion up… – Continue reading
The Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) has called on the country’s revenue authority to push for better taxation not more taxation. In its Transfer Pricing Report, BAN identified that such efforts hold the potential to stimulate further growth and investment whilst also allowing for increased levels of tax collection. The huge… – Continue reading
Brazil’s Inland Revenue has announced that assets worth BRL4.6bn (USD1.46bn) have been declared by Brazilian taxpayers through its amnesty for undeclared overseas holdings. It said that the income tax and fines linked to these assets totalled BRL1.6bn. The figures cover the period between March 3 and July 31, 2017, when… – Continue reading
In an effort to create a ‘level playing field’, Asian economies are committing to new standards of transparency At the risk of losing some foreign investors, Asian jurisdictions are stepping up efforts to combat corporate tax avoidance to meet new global transparency standards. More than a dozen Asia-Pacific jurisdictions have… – Continue reading
The Costa Rican government is very interested in forming part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD http://www.oecd.org/ ). The OECD is formed by 35 nations to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. Last Thursday, economist Bert Brys, explained… – Continue reading
BEIRUT: The Association of Banks in Lebanon and other private sector leaders are weighing the few options open to them as recently approved new tax measures, poised to be implemented soon, threaten to have a detrimental effect on their businesses and the overall economy. The few available options include trying… – Continue reading
France intends to appeal against a recent court decision in favor of Google in a major tax avoidance case, but is open to settling the dispute outside of court, a government minister has said. In an interview with Les Echos, Minister of Action and Public Accounts, Gerald Darmanin, said that… – 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
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
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
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
OECD lauds major progress made €85 billion in additional tax revenue has been identified thanks to progress in creating a fairer and more effective international tax system, the OECD said today. The moves include increasing efforts to close down loopholes, improve transparency and ensure that multinational enterprises pay tax where… – Continue reading
The European Parliament on Tuesday passed a directive requiring big multinationals to report tax and financial data separately in all countries where they operate, a measure aimed at tackling tax avoidance and profit shifting to countries with lower taxes. The new rules are part of a wider overhaul of tax… – Continue reading
The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Babatunde Fowler said the organisation plans to join the global forum on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) to reduce tax evasion. Fowler disclosed this on Sunday in Lagos on the sideline of the just concluded workshop on Automatic Exchange… – Continue reading
Effects on Cayman to be relatively benign Ministers and high-level officials from more than 60 countries and jurisdictions on Wednesday are to sign a multilateral convention to reduce the opportunity for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which developed the convention, said the signing… – Continue reading
The United States could boost its standard of living by 6 to 9 percent using one simple trick, a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas found. OK, so it’s not really that simple, if we’re being honest: The trick is fundamentally turning around the way we tax… – Continue reading
Most online transactions in Vietnam involve cash, which is difficult to track and tax. District tax departments in Ho Chi Minh City have sent out tax demands to nearly 13,500 Facebook retailers in a move to target tax avoidance by online businesses. Since February, Vietnam’s tax authorities have been looking… – Continue reading
The first set of ‘hidden’ financial data about Britons living abroad is set to be handed to the UK’s Revenue & Customs later today, as part of the global transparency drive that has been introduced via a series of information sharing agreements across the world’s financial centres. As a result,… – Continue reading
The Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) says tax avoidance schemes such as transfer pricing, base erosion and profit shifting appear to be on the rise in the country. Transfer pricing is regarded as a tax avoidance scheme in which multinational corporations shift profits to low tax jurisdictions and avoid taxes… – Continue reading
On Friday, a variety of news outlets around the world published the Malta Files, a cache of 150,000 documents leaked “from a Malta-based provider of legal, financial and corporate services,” revealing, among other things, that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was secretly given a $25M oil tanker (!) by Azeri… – Continue reading
EU Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis has said there is a broad consensus among European finance ministers on the principle of greater tax harmonization, and that talks will continue on the proposed common corporate tax base (CCTB). At a May 23 ECOFIN meeting, ministers discussed the Commission’s proposal for a CCTB in… – Continue reading
About 21 staff of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have been interdicted for allegedly aiding some private companies to evade duties and taxes. Citi News understands that those interdicted were mostly from the customs division of GRA. Sources close to GRA also told Citi News that the case is currently… – Continue reading
About 21 staff of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have been interdicted for allegedly aiding some private companies to evade duties and taxes. Citi News understands that those interdicted were mostly from the customs division of GRA. Sources close to GRA also told Citi News that the case is currently… – Continue reading
ABUJA, May 22 (Reuters) – Nigeria will increase the interest rate on unpaid taxes to discourage companies and individuals from paying late and racking up a larger debt, the finance ministry said on Monday. The ministry said the measure will take effect on July 1 and that the rate would… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service is pilot testing a new program for conducting correspondence examinations of taxpayers using secure messaging technology that will also include their tax practitioners who have power of attorney. In an email to tax professionals Friday, the IRS said it plans to invite approximately 8,000 taxpayers who… – Continue reading
REVENUE generated from taxing offshore gaming operations here is expected to double in 2017, or less than a year since the industry was regulated, with the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) online gaming arm noting high demand for licenses. PAGCOR’s recently established Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) estimates that it… – Continue reading
The IMF has urged Ireland to ensure that it has a broad tax base, particularly in the context of international tax reform and domestic pressures to reform the Universal Social Charge (USC). The IMF has published the findings of its latest mission to Ireland. It noted that healthy economic growth… – Continue reading
Major U.S. multinationals are pushing the Trump administration to deepen the tax break it has already tentatively proposed on $2.6 trillion in corporate profits being held offshore, a key piece in Washington’s intricate tax reform puzzle. As President Donald Trump tries to deliver on his campaign promise to overhaul the… – Continue reading
India has called for enhanced international cooperation to address illicit cross- border financial flows, tax evasion and “hawala” transactions as it stressed that the world’s governance architecture for cooperation in taxation has not kept pace with globalisation. “Raising awareness on the important issue of International Cooperation on Tax matters is… – Continue reading
Sub-Saharan African countries should look to tap tax revenues outside natural resources, to finance stimulus measures that could reinvigorate their ailing economies, a new report from the International Monetary Fund says. The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa report, released on May 9, notes that growth in the Sub-Saharan… – Continue reading
Income tax has long been a progressive talking point in Seattle. Washington is one of just seven states without any income tax, and it relies heavily on sales and property taxes to fill the state coffers. As such, Washington earns the dubious honor of having the most regressive tax system… – Continue reading
