Category: Directors

Impact of Mexico’s ‘controlling beneficiary’ rules

From 2022, taxpayers are obligated to obtain, keep and provide to the Mexican tax authorities when so requested, information of individuals who are considered to be the ‘controlling beneficiaries’ of legal entities, trusts and other legal vehicles, such as name, date of birth, gender, nationality, tax residence, tax ID number and marital status. ... - Continue reading

UK: Tax Bites – June 2021

Further extension to UK Common Reporting Standard compliance rules

Regulations have been made to extend the International Tax Compliance Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/878) (the Compliance Regulations). The Compliance Regulations, among other things, require UK financial institutions to report information regarding certain non-UK account holders to HMRC for exchange under international arrangements relating to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). ... - Continue reading

COVID-19 and tax treaties: the updated OECD guidance

The new situation has created questions about the application of the existing tax treaty rules. For example, new taxing rights over an employee’s income may arise in a jurisdiction if an employee changes work location because of the COVID-19 restrictions. ... - Continue reading

Bermuda: Chambers Private Wealth 2019: Bermuda (2019)

1. Tax1.1 Tax regimes In Bermuda there is no income or profits tax, withholding tax, capital gains tax, capital transfer tax or inheritance tax. There is no exit or similar such tax based on a resident's wealth when ceasing to be resident and there are no other consequences of leaving the jurisdiction. Customs duties and stamp duty are major government revenue earners, with stamp duties charged at different rates and in different manners on a variety of legal documents, excluding wills. ... - Continue reading

The tide continues to turn for offshore companies.

The case of Development Securities (No. 9) Ltd and other v HMRC [2017] UKFTT 0565 is the latest in a line of cases concerning the UK corporate tax residence of offshore companies. The case once again highlights the difficulties in preserving an offshore company’s non-UK tax resident status, whilst giving… – Continue reading

Football tours operator banned over tax avoidance

Kenneth Moyes, brother of Manchester United’s former manager David Moyes, has been disqualified as director for five years after the Insolvency Service found he withdrew cash from his company to avoid paying tax Moyes was the owner of Glasgow-based Professional Pre Season Tours, which was involved in arranging pre-season tours… – Continue reading

Company directors to make ‘uncomfortable’ tax disclosures

Companies will have to disclose “uncertain” tax positions, including amounts disputed by the Australian Tax Office, under new accounting rules designed to increase information available to investors. Australia will adopt international accounting guidance with effect from 2019 that RSM Australia national technical director Ralph Martin said would result in some… – Continue reading

Chevron: a game-changer for multinational tax avoiders

The Australian Tax Office had a superb win against Chevron in the Federal Court last week, but there is something everyone is missing, something that will turn the art of tax avoidance on its head; a game-changer for multinationals. Put simply, Chevron borrowed US$2.5 billion in the US at less… – Continue reading

New ATO draft ruling on company tax residence

Last November, the High Court’s decisions in Bywater Investments and Hua Wang Bank (Bywater) confirmed that a number of companies incorporated overseas were nevertheless Australian resident for tax because they “carried on business” and had their “central management and control” (CM&C) in Australia. The facts were extreme: the primary judge… – Continue reading

HMRC guidance clarifies fit and proper persons test

It says anyone who has been involved in designing or overseeing tax-avoidance schemes using charities would be unlikely to pass the test People who have been involved in designing or overseeing schemes to avoid tax using charities are likely to be prevented from taking up senior roles in charities, according… – Continue reading

Government introduces bill to establish ITA as a statutory body

New legislative proposals aim to establish the BVI International Tax Authority (ITA) as a fully fledged independent government institution in the British Virgin Islands with its own legal personality, giving it autonomy over the performance of its functions. The ITA was initially established within the Ministry of Finance to administer… – Continue reading

Govt seeks to lift focus on nominee directors & bring anti-money laundering into the picture in attempt to clean up Financial Service Providers Register

The Government is considering making companies include detail of who their supervisor is under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act (AML/CFT Act) as it strives to clean up the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR). This suggestion is included in a consultation paper on a Financial Services Legislation… – Continue reading

Philip Hammond must end ‘unfair’ tax system that ‘favours multinationals over local shops’ businesses say

Business leaders are calling on Chancellor Philip Hammond to tackle anomalies in the tax system that see high street shops pay higher rates on small premises than online giants do for vast warehouses. The Institute of Directors said the Chancellor should use next month’s Budget to set up a New… – Continue reading

Mind the gap – HMRC’s crackdown on SME directors

Last Autumn, HMRC issued “Measuring Tax Gaps”, an annual report on the estimated UK tax gap. The tax gap being the shortfall in tax estimated by HMRC as being due in any one tax year from that which is eventually collected. In the accompanying press releases and in comments made… – Continue reading

SECP seeks amnesty scheme for offshore company owners

ISLAMABAD – The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has proposed the government to give one time amnesty scheme for the owners of offshore companies to declare their hidden assets by paying nominal tax. “I have asked the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to give one opportunity to offshore companies… – Continue reading

Special tax regime for Non-Habitual Portuguese Resident individuals

Portuguese income tax law provides for a 20% reduced rate and, in respect to income obtained abroad, a full tax exemption, for certain types of income derived by individuals having the status of Non-Habitual Portuguese Residents (NHPR). Any individual that in a certain year becomes tax resident in Portugal will… – Continue reading

Google & Indonesia Fail to Reach Tax Agreement in 2016

US multinational technology company Google failed to reach a tax settlement with Indonesia’s Tax Office in 2016 and therefore directors of Google Indonesia could risk a prison visit. In September 2016 Muhammad Hanif, Head of the Tax Office’s Special Cases Department, said Google could face claims for five years of… – Continue reading

HMRC empowered to name and shame tax evasion ‘enablers’

Treasury says individuals or corporations who take deliberate action to help others evade paying tax face steep fines. Tax advisers, accountants and lawyers who aid the super-rich with offshore tax evasion will face tough new penalties from New Year’s Day, with HMRC now able to publicly name and shame “enablers”…. – Continue reading

Multinational CFOs increasingly view tax as reputational risk

Tax directors and CFOs at multinational companies are facing increasing numbers of tax audits, and are becoming concerned about the impact of public perception of their tax planning on their company’s reputation, according to research by Taxand. Its fifth annual global survey of CFOs, tax and finance directors across Europe,… – Continue reading

Putting an end to corporate tax controversy

Controversy over giant corporations paying dwarfed tax bills has put finance chiefs in the media and public spotlight When giant companies with devilishly complex tax arrangements are accused of unethical behaviour, the stock response is “we act within the rules”. If the public and politicians don’t like it, the argument… – Continue reading

UK – FIRMS RESPOND WITH CONCERN OVER PUBLISHED IR35 PUBLIC SECTOR REFORMS

Draft legislation for the public sector IR35 reforms was published yesterday and several firms have responded concernedly to the publication of the documents. IR35 legislation reforms were proposed recently during the Autumn Statement. Julia Kermode, chief executive of The Freelancer & Contractor Services Association, commented on the publication of the… – Continue reading

Common reporting standard: Implementation in Asia

Common reporting standard: Implementation in Asia The Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”) is an internationally agreed standard for automatic exchange of financial account information (“AEOI”) on financial account information, endorsed by the OECD and the Global Forum for Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. The CRS framework requires financial… – Continue reading

Implementation of Common Reporting Standard in Hong Kong – Implications for Family Trust with a Private Trust Company as Trustee

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information in Tax Matters (Standard for AEOI) in July 2014, which aims to prevent offshore tax evasion and maintain the integrity of tax systems. Over 100 jurisdictions have committed to comply with the Standard… – Continue reading

High Court confirms tax evasion by companies linked to wealthy businessman Vanda Gould

A series of companies associated with high-flying Sydney accountant who had scores of wealthy clients in Sydney’s eastern suburbs have been found to have avoided paying tax by the High Court, in a case that the tax office has described as “blatant tax evasion”. Four companies linked to accountant, Vanda… – Continue reading

Labour and unions demand action on temp agencies’ tax avoidance

Opposition vows to shut down scheme that uses ‘contrived’ financial arrangements to slash national insurance bills Labour and trade unions have called on the government to take action after a Guardian investigation found that an aggressive tax avoidance scheme used by temporary recruitment agencies is depriving the taxpayer of “hundreds… – Continue reading

Anti-terrorism tactics should be applied to tax havens, report says

The same aggressive and uncompromising international effort used to combat terrorism must be employed to eliminate tax havens, says Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz in a report being released Tuesday. In a copy of the report, obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and shared with the Star, Stiglitz… – Continue reading

BHP Billiton has evaded taxes for more than a decade, says Wayne Swan

Former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan has accused one of Australia’s biggest companies of evading taxes for more than a decade, and for lying to the former Labor government during the height of the mining tax debate. Swan used parliamentary privilege on Wednesday to claim BHP Billiton had been “gaming the… – Continue reading

Tax haven: The devil is always in the detail

In July 2016 the then Indonesian finance minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, in conjunction with the launch of the widely publicized tax amnesty program (TAP) for undeclared offshore assets, also laid out less publicized plans for a new tax haven on the islands of Bintan and Rempang (Proposed Tax Haven). A key… – Continue reading

Bahamas files: New leak exposes offshore ‘tax haven’ dealings of politicians, companies

Five months after the Panama Papers exposed the offshore dealings of government leaders and influential people, a new leak of 1.3 million files has revealed the names of individuals associated with companies registered in the Bahamas, a notorious tax haven. The files – received by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung… – Continue reading

Tax Agreements: From Double Taxation To Double Evasion

The issue of tax havens is inherently international in scope. As a result, the government can use tax agreements to fight tax avoidance schemes. Unfortunately, tax agreements haven’t been used for that purpose. On the contrary, they have facilitated the outflow of Canadian money to offshore financial centres, and have… – Continue reading

Silicon Valley Issues Netherlands With Tax Warning

A coalition of Silicon Valley tech companies has urged the Dutch Government against making changes to the most “attractive” features of its corporate tax regime, warning that it risks damaging its traditionally strong tax competitiveness by doing so. The Silicon Valley Tax Directors Group (SVTDG), which includes more than 80… – Continue reading

Ireland: Holding Companies In Ireland – August 2016

Ireland has become a destination of choice for holding companies due to its capital gains participation exemption, generous foreign tax credit system, membership of the EU, ever expanding double tax treaty (“DTT“) network (72 signed, with 70 in effect), lack of controlled foreign companies legislation, thin capitalisation rules and the… – Continue reading

Pakistan mulls providing tax-free zones to stimulate investment

In order to encourage foreign investment in Pakistan, the federal government has decided to provide facilities like Panama and Virgin Islands to foreign investors in Pakistan. According to documents available with Daily Times that government is going to introduce the companies’ bill 2016 in parliament soon according to which incumbent… – Continue reading

UK offshore companies side-step new transparency rules

Some of Britain’s offshore companies have continued to wriggle out of new transparency restrictions according to research released this weekend. Under rules brought in on 1 July 2016, British companies need to disclose on an annual basis any changes to directors or shareholders – both being deemed “persons of significant… – Continue reading

Belize offshore secrecy ill at ease with UK politics and US authorities

How US tax inspectors fear firms and individuals are using Lord Ashcroft’s bank to hide assets and evade tax It was a stern message David Cameron took with him on his visit to the Caribbean last September: “If we’re to beat corruption, we need transparency.” And some in the region… – Continue reading

Oxfam in call for crackdown to combat money launderers using Scottish shell firms

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

U.S. Corporate Tax Directors Have a Hard Time Adjusting to BEPS

Tax executives at U.S.-based multinational companies are having a hard time adjusting to the new rules demanded by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting plan, also known as OECD BEPS, according to a new survey. While OECD BEPS is not a requirement in the… – Continue reading

How new EU tax laws impact Thai firms

THAI MULTINATIONAL companies will be impacted on their cross-border business activities due to rapidly evolving tax laws in Europe and Asia-Pacific. For instance, the European Union (EU) achieved a groundbreaking result on June 20 by agreeing to a package of tax measures to combat corporate tax avoidance, which will be… – Continue reading

DNB to reveal tax haven customers

Scandal-plagued Norwegian bank DNB has agreed to turn over information to state tax authorities about Norwegian customers who have held bank accounts set up in tax havens by DNB’s own operation in Luxembourg. The future of DNB’s board of directors, meanwhile, was in doubt following heavy criticism that neither DNB’s… – Continue reading

The problem of secretive tax havens

Panama is a tax haven, but Mauritius is one with which India has a comprehensive double tax treaty. This complicates matters more. In popular Indian imagination, a tax haven is generally associated with Switzerland and its numbered bank accounts. But tax havens are numerous, have grown in importance, and are… – Continue reading

Sebi probes penny stocks involved in tax evasion

Stock market regulator investigates over 50 companies for violating long-term capital gain mechanism for tax evasion The stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is raging a war on tax evasion on the platform of stock exchanges. It is investigating more than 50 companies for violating long-term… – Continue reading

IMF cautions on wider impacts of loss of correspondent banking in Belize and the Caribbean

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued its most recent report on Belize on Monday, following its September 2014 mission to the country, led by Jacques Bouhga-Hagbe. Much of the economic data included in the report has been the subject of recent discussions in Parliament in the context of the 2016-2017… – Continue reading

Vijay Mallya’s secrets buried in offshore tax havens

It’s not just the Indian banks that business tycoon Vijay Mallya has taken for a ride. The chairman of United Breweries (UB) group and promoter of now defunct Kingfisher Airlines also concealed in his election affidavit, filed before the Rajya Sabha, his business interests in offshore tax havens elsewhere. dna… – Continue reading