Britain’s wealthiest families paid $1.2 billion in tax in the last financial year at a time when the state revenue contributions of the world’s richest individuals and corporations are coming under increasing scrutiny. Campden FB totalled the tax bills for 2017-18 of the 21 families of significant wealth as conservatively… – Continue reading
Analysis of more than 600 US multinational corporations has revealed that 12 per cent failed to comply with UK law requiring them to publish their tax strategies. With the UK estimated to lose £25 billion in corporate tax revenue each year due to multinational corporations shifting profits out of the… – Continue reading
Apple has settled a ten-year tax battle with France, agreeing to pay a reported half a billion Euros ($570M) in back tax. The French government had accused Apple of evading or avoiding tax due on sales made in France. The line between tax evasion, which is illegal, and aggressive tax-avoidance,… – Continue reading
Prime Minister’s adviser in charge of tax reform Faisal Derbal has revealed that tax evasion is estimated to reach TND25 billion (around USD8.3 billion) in Tunisia. He denied, during a press conference in the government’s headquarters, rumors circulating about the tax evasion value rising to double of the mentioned number… – Continue reading
Tax advisory revenue at professional services firms expanded 8.6 percent to $20.3 billion in 2017, and grew by around $5 billion in just the three years from 2014 to 2017, according to a new report. The report, from Source Global Research, found that the main tax advisory services around the… – Continue reading
For facilitators in Malta, it’s business as usual. A former employee of Mossack Fonesca has been extradited to Germany on charges relating to revelations from the Panama Papers, an unprecedented leak of over 11 million files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm at the time…. – Continue reading
Prior to the commencement of the World Economic Forum at Davos on Wednesday, Prime Minister Gaston Browne held a bilateral meeting with the Finance Minister of Malta, Edward Scicluna. According to a release from Antigua and Barbuda’s Director General of Communications, Maurice Merchant, the main items on the agenda for… – Continue reading
Background Portugal is being re-discovered as a destination to relocate to, with iconic cities such as Lisbon and Porto, and stunning coastal areas, for example, the Algarve. It also offers very easy access to the rest of Europe. Portugal is increasingly recognised as an international hub with 71 Double Taxation… – Continue reading
Complicated, aggressive corporate tax-planning strategies can produce uncertainty and confusion among investors not only about the companies’ taxes, but also the basics of their operations and finances, leading to some negative outcomes, according to a new academic study. The study, by Jennifer Blouin and Wayne Guay of the University of… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The withholding tax collection from non-cash banking transactions has posted 14 percent growth; following introduction of an amendment through the Finance Supplementary Act, 2018. The collection of withholding tax from non-cash transactions, which is applicable only on non-filers of income tax returns, increased to Rs1.128 billion in December 2018,… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Finance will scrutinize amendments to tax law policy in 2019, centred on some measures aimed at preventing base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and restructure tax revenue sources. The information was released at a conference reviewing the finance sector’s performance throughout 2018 and setting forth targets for… – Continue reading
VIENNA (Sputnik) – The Austrian government will introduce a 3-percent tax on international tech giants with an annual turnover exceeding 750 million euros ($864 million), Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Thursday. “Europe currently does not have taxation of digital Internet giants and Austria intends to become a pioneer in… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has detected tax evasion of around Rs2 billion by sugar mills through suppressing sales, sources said on Wednesday. In its ongoing drive against tax concealment by sugar mills, the revenue authority recovered around Rs500 million from one sugar mill and issued another five… – Continue reading
The Irish taxman has managed to uncover and collect €572.6m in unpaid tax last year, an average of €1,000 per case according to the latest official figures. The data for 2018 shows Revenue officials “intervened” a total of 572,785 times during the year, with around 99% of taxpayers willingly handing… – Continue reading
Double taxation agreements with China, Brunei and Vietnam came into effect Tuesday with the New Year, with experts saying they will bolster trade and attract investment. The agreement with China on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income was signed… – Continue reading
A top Central Bank official has accused the OECD of trying to “hobble” the competitiveness of The Bahamas’ economic permanent residency regime by including it in an arbitrary “quasi-blacklist”. Charles Littrell, the regulator’s inspector of banks and trust companies, in a speech to a Turks & Caicos financial services conference,… – Continue reading
Consultants, private bankers and lawyers are seeing more business from PRC clients as they seek to shelter assets and income in overseas trusts ahead of new tax laws, which will be introduced in January. China’s tax law reforms that target high net worth individuals, set to come into force on… – Continue reading
Once the UAE fully implements the BEPS minimum standard, it will become a very good location, say tax experts The UAE’s position as an attractive destination for foreign investment will substantially improve once it fully implements minimum standards for base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), tax analysts said on Saturday…. – Continue reading
One month after the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) ruled that back office support services qualify as “intermediary” support services and not exports, officers of the indirect tax department have started issuing preliminary notices to captive units of multinationals and Indian companies exporting offshore support services. AAR’s directive meant several… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is dragging its feet over actions against Pakistanis who couldn’t declare offshore investments to evade taxes despite that the tax authority has stumbled upon critical financial data under an international treaty, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Insiders said the apex… – Continue reading
Russia most common place of origin for fraudsters using British overseas territories A NEW report has identified over £250 billion in fraudulent funds directed through UK tax havens, more than over 20 years of the UK Government’s foreign aid budget. The report, by Transparency International, examined the UK’s overseas territories,… – Continue reading
KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) stepped up efforts to net undisclosed property investments as the newly-constituted authority to curb real estate tax evasion brought the amnesty for the sector to an end, sources said Saturday. They said the amnesty to whiten undocumented money used for transactions of immovable… – Continue reading
General UK Tax Developments Finance Bill The Finance (No 3) Bill 2018-19 (which will become the Finance Act 2019) was published on 7 November and includes legislation to enact the changes highlighted in our UK Budget blog post ( UK Budget Blog). Another key area covered by the Finance Bill… – Continue reading
THE Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) has joined the growing list of advocates for the expedited passage of urgent legislation to strengthen this country’s international tax compliance. “Non-compliance with Global Forum Standards and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations increases the sovereign risk profile of not only the jurisdiction (TT)… – Continue reading
The German government is reportedly considering using blockchain in combating tax evasion This comes following the reveal of the CumEx files, which cost the government $63 Billion in lost tax revenue A while ago, it was reported that Bangkok would be making use of blockchain technology to combat tax evasion…. – Continue reading
Government officials have devised what they believe is a solution to the looming European Union blacklist threat, according to Neil Smith, the executive director of government’s Office of International Business (Regulations). The EU has threatened to place the Virgin Islands on an anti-tax avoidance blacklist at the end of the… – Continue reading
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Thursday November 22, 2018 – Barbados will harmonize its domestic and international corporation tax regimes, by December 31, 2018, slashing the tax burden for some local companies by up to 29 per cent. Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced in the Barbados Parliament on Tuesday, November 20, the ambitious… – Continue reading
Background The Brazilian and Swiss Governments signed a Double Tax Treaty (DTT) on 3 May 2018. Switzerland is one of the biggest investors in the Brazilian market and Brazil and Switzerland have already signed an Automatic Exchange of Information Agreement, which came into force on 1 January 2018. This new… – Continue reading
The cabinet of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to implement tax cuts for the nation’s businesses, which, along with the announced plans to reduce regulation, are highly reminiscent of the economic policies of Canada’s southern neighbour. Kristian Rouz — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has unveiled an ambitious… – Continue reading
Prime Minister, Mia Mottley has announced a major tax break for local business. In her mini-budget presentation made earlier this year, she had announced that come July 1, corporation tax will increase from 25 per cent to 30 per cent which was expected to raise $57M in a full year…. – Continue reading
While SARS is scrambling to meet collection targets, a new report estimates the country lost $37-billion in revenue to trade misinvoicing in five years. Trade misinvoicing is thought to be the largest component of illicit financial flows, draining developing countries of much-needed finances. In a new report, Global Financial Integrity… – Continue reading
Luanda, ANGOLA, November 18 – Angolan head of state Joao Lourenco has pledged to raise bilateral cooperation with Portugal during his visit to European country scheduled for 22- 24 November this year. Joao Lourenco made the pledge during an interview with the Portuguese newspaper “Expresso”, on the eve of his… – Continue reading
The foreign-invested enterprises which have been running large, prolonged losses and large related-party transactions, will be inspected for tax compliance. The General Department of Taxation (GDT) has just sent a document asking provincial and city Departments of Taxation to inspect and supervise groups, corporations, and companies, which reported big losses… – Continue reading
Convention signed on Monday will facilitate investments, can reduce tax evasion Brazil and the United Arab Emirates signed an agreement to eliminate double taxation on income and prevent tax evasion and tax avoidance. The document was signed on Monday (12 November) by Brazilian Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira and UAE… – Continue reading
In general, investment and tax provisions relating to non-resident Indians (NRIs) returning to live in India are fairly generous. However, NRIs must carefully plan their return to India to ensure there are no surprises with respect to managing their overseas income and investments. In this article, we examine some of… – Continue reading
The misconceptions about transfer pricing being a tax avoidance or violation in Vietnam are creating challenges for multinational enterprises, said Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Amcham). In his opening speech at a workshop held to gain clarity on the changing world of transfer pricing,… – Continue reading
Bahamas-based developers have blasted the OECD’s “cynical” attempt to “”de-legitimise” this nation’s key investment product by suggesting it threatens the global fight against tax evasion. The newly-formed Bahamas Developers Association (BDA), in a recent statement, argued that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) was wrong to list this… – Continue reading
Since January 1, 2009, federal tax law limits the amount of gain eligible for exclusion from taxation (known as the “Primary Residence Exclusion”) when you sell a house used as a primary residence, if you also used the house for another purpose, such as a rental. Under Section 121 of… – Continue reading
Under pressure from international organisations, the Australian government has flagged that it is getting ready to reform the concessionally-taxed offshore banking unit (OBU) regime, a move that will hit big banks and hedge funds. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) forum on harmful tax practices has raised concerns… – Continue reading
LONDON — Britain’s Treasury chief unveiled Monday a new tax on big internet companies’ revenues, insisting it is time that the global tech giants with profitable business in the United Kingdom pay their fair share for public services. Philip Hammond made the announcement as he outlined his budget, explaining that… – Continue reading
THE European Union has decided to remove Namibia from the list of 17 countries regarded as tax havens due to lax practices and regulations on tax governance. Namibia was blacklisted in December last year, and is currently one of the six territories countries which are still blacklisted, while the other… – Continue reading
Caerphilly-based credit referencing company Creditsafe has paid Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs almost £1 million after it was served with a ‘Diverted Profits Tax’ charge. Registered as Creditsafe Business Solutions, the company, based at Caerphilly Business Park, sells business data for credit check purposes and other uses. According to full… – Continue reading
KARACHI: A global investment migration association on Wednesday termed Pakistanis among high-risk nationalities who could exploit loopholes in the OECD’s common reporting standard (CRS) developed to curb offshore tax evasion and avoidance. “Of those nearly one million citizenships granted by the EU each year that are not related to CBI… – Continue reading
The government is targeting Rp 1.51 quadrillion (US$99.29 billion) in tax revenues for 2019, or 16.67 percent higher than this year’s target. Meanwhile, it has set a 12.11 percent tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio. “We have implemented tax amnesty. It was an initial step. We also have access to banking… – Continue reading
The head of one of Denmark’s biggest pension funds has spoken out to condemn a wide-scale tax fraud uncovered by a media investigation. Danish national broadcaster DR, newspaper Politiken and other European media outlets in the last three months have published articles detailing a withholding tax scam – dubbed ‘Cum-Ex’… – Continue reading
The Antigua and Barbuda government is willing to amend the necessary laws to ensure that local financial institutions are able to share banking information of dual citizenship holders with the relevant authorities in their original country of birth, if this becomes necessary. Prime Minister Gaston Browne made the disclosure following… – Continue reading
On the list of countries operating CBI/RBI schemes, that the OECD feels have the potential to be used for tax dodging, are 2 tax havens that are popular with wealthy Canadians and large Canadian companies. These are Barbados and Panama. Ottawa (19 Oct. 2018) — New information from the Organization… – Continue reading
The Chinese government has decided to tight policies that target investors in the country and that hold their wealth overseas with the intention to avoid paying taxes. However, these investors that are now threatened by the government might move to cryptocurrencies and avoid being investigated by Chinese authorities. Most of… – Continue reading
The National Tax Agency of Japan has gathered details on 400,000 overseas bank accounts held by Japanese nationals in about 50 countries in a bid to fight fiscal evasion as only 9,000 citizens declared having an offshore account in 2016. The tax agency will compare the two sets of information… – Continue reading
The New Delhi bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in Global Academy of Emergency Medicine versus CIT(E), held that under the Income Tax Act appointing of NRIs as trustees of valid Indian trusts are permissible. The sole issue in the instant case was CIT (E) held that the owner… – Continue reading
