Pasadena’s East West Bank must beef up its efforts to prevent money laundering after federal regulators said its practices were not sufficient. The bank, which has operations in the United States, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, was ordered by the Federal Reserve on Thursday to correct problems with its anti-money-laundering… – Continue reading
A rout in pharmaceutical and biotech stocks has altered the equation for chief executives thinking about big-ticket mergers and acquisitions. On one hand, target companies are much cheaper than they were: roughly $130 billion has been wiped off the Nasdaq biotech index since Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, pledged… – Continue reading
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and development, Lenita Toivakka, has admitted being involved in a scheme to reduce tax liabilities on a multi-million euro shopping centre development in Mikkeli. She insisted that the arrangement was legal as well as commonplace for international property investors. Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and… – Continue reading
A Chris Christie administration would likely make shareholders at some major U.S. companies very happy. The two-term New Jersey Governor has called for an array of pro-growth, business-friendly reforms as he bids for the Republican nomination. Christie is in favor of lowering corporate taxes so companies earn more profits, raising… – Continue reading
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has defended his country’s low rate of corporation tax, currently set at 6.25 per cent, and Dublin’s arrangements with global corporations which house subsidiaries in the country, reports Digital Look. Over the last decade, major corporations such as Google and Dell have created corporate subsidiaries… – Continue reading
Moscow. November 10. The Finance Ministry has prepared proposals aimed to strengthen Amnesty of capital, which is now actually fails, reports the newspaper “Kommersant”. The law on the voluntary Declaration by individuals of assets and accounts, is known as the law on the legalization or Amnesty of capital, earned from… – Continue reading
Article by Patrick W Martin and Ashley Fife With a net worth of USD77.1 billion, Mexican telecoms businessman Carlos Slim Helú was ranked the second richest person in the world in a 2015 survey.1 At the end of 2014, 16 of Mexico’s citizens were on Forbes’ billionaires list.2 As for… – Continue reading
The BMF has application letter sent to the chief financial authorities of the countries associated with the between the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America concluded by 31.5.2013 FATCA Agreement. Background Background of extensive, comprehensive 71 pages, application letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance on… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Markets regulator Sebi today barred 15 individuals from securities market on suspected tax evasion and money laundering through stock trading platforms. This is on top of 108 entities already prohibited from the securities in December last year in a case related to Radford Global Limited. These entities misused… – Continue reading
Millions more Greeks need to start paying taxes says OECD boss, as Athens likely to fall short in bid to secure €2bn cash injection this week Greece is battling to secure the release of €2bn in bail-out cash as one of the world’s foremost tax chiefs has warned the country… – Continue reading
Recent CRA comments at the May 2014 IFA international tax seminar1 and a subsequently released CRA technical interpretation2 highlight anomalies in the application of subsections 92(4) and (5) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “Act“).3 These provisions address the situation where shares of a foreign affiliate are held by… – Continue reading
Call to halt bank sale in favour of reform rejected by UK Government UK MINISTERS decided to “wash their hands” of a tax evasion scandal in a subsidiary of the government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, according to damning testimony given by a former treasury official who is now a Labour… – Continue reading
TThe Income and Capital Tax Treaty between Cyprus and Switzerland entered into force on 15 October 2015. The provisions of the treaty will become effective on 1 January 2016. The treaty was signed on 25 July 2014. In accordance with the treaty, the following withholding taxes will apply: Dividends: 0%… – Continue reading
Pharmaceutical giant Shire, which is headquartered in Ireland for tax purposes, has agreed to buy US rare disease specialist Dyax Corp for about $5.9bn (€5.35bn), and potentially up to $6.5bn, while still pursuing a five- times larger unsolicited bid for biopharma firm Baxalta Inc. The Dyax deal, the latest in… – Continue reading
Video game publisher Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) is satisfying its sweet tooth for acquisitions by buying mobile game maker King Digital Entertainment (NYSE:KING), best known for “Candy Crush Saga.” Activision announced late Monday that it has agreed to pay $18 in cash per share for London-based King, in a deal worth… – Continue reading
Suggest Easwar panel on Income Tax Act should also make safe harbour profit margins more realistic The justice R V Easwar committee on the Income Tax Act set up last week would do well to clarify whether payments for software should attract income tax or service tax, and make safe… – Continue reading
The justice R V Easwar committee on the Income Tax Act set up last week would do well to clarify whether payments for software should attract income tax or service tax, and make safe harbour profit margins more realistic, tax experts said. Tax demands based on ‘excessive’ advertising and promotional… – Continue reading
A spate of so-called “tax inversion” deals involving companies based in Ireland appears to be distorting the country’s foreign direct investment (FDI) numbers, The Irish Times reports. An OECD report suggests investment by Irish firms abroad more than doubled to US$75 billion in the first half of 2015. The study… – Continue reading
South African Tax Legislation: Proposed Amendments in an International Tax Context[1] This article sets out a brief summary of some of the proposed amendments introduced by recent South African draft Tax Bills. The article focuses on amendments in the context of international taxation. The draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2015… – Continue reading
Pfizer Inc. may be getting closer to breaking up and moving out. The largest U.S. drugmaker and Allergan Plc are considering combining operations, according to the Wall Street Journal. A deal would give Pfizer a way to move to a low-tax legal address abroad and gain valuable specialty drugs like… – Continue reading
Mexico is experiencing a rough time, economically speaking at the moment, but hopes are high for better times ahead. With new tax laws and a relatively young government, these are interesting times for this country. To find out more about how the recent tax reforms will affect Mexico and the… – Continue reading
The earnings momentum of Taiwanese banks has tapered off this year due to China’s slowing economy and yuan devaluation, CIMB Securities Ltd said on Tuesday. Overseas earnings, which drive 35 percent of local banks’ pretax profits, might not see a hefty increase this year as in previous years, as banks… – Continue reading
LONDON (Alliance News) – The Renewables Infrastructure Group Ltd on Tuesday said it is planning to raise further funding from its equity placing programme. The company, which invests in renewable energy infrastructure projects, said the fundraising will likely take the form of placing of shares and will be closed in… – Continue reading
The new non-resident capital gains tax came into force in Guernsey on 6 April 2015. The rules intend to capture disposals of residential property in the United Kingdom by all non-residents. These notes provide a summary of who and which property is affected, and describe how a new UK tax… – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has been leading the charge to improve transparency in tax administration and curb tax avoidance by multinational companies. Endorsed by the G20 nations, including India, OECD recently came out with a package of measures and a road map to tackle base erosion… – Continue reading
OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, “Base Erosion and profit Shift (BEPS) to Combat Action Plan” s stated would be the most radical reforms in international taxation system, “BEPS Action Plan, Turkey will be one of the biggest acts in and heritage in the G20 presidency” he said. Gurria, recently in… – Continue reading
Rwanda has commissioned an audit into recent merger and acquisition deals involving foreign firms in its latest effort to clamp down on tax avoidance among multinational corporations. This comes amid growing concern that multinational companies move profits from the countries where they are generated and, in so doing, reduce national… – Continue reading
Taiwan and Mainland China signed the “Cross-straits Agreements for the Avoidance of Double Taxation on Income and Solidifying Cooperation with respect to Taxes” (hereinafter referred to as “Cross-straits ITA”) on 25 August 2015. After the draft Article 25-2 of the “Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area… – Continue reading
While stocks such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Maruti Suzuki have outperformed the markets by a wide margin in the last couple of years, the stocks have sustained the performance even over longer periods. Despite the hue and cry over royalty payments by Indian subsidiaries of multinational companies, these companies… – Continue reading
The Government has moved to boost the Revenue’s powers to tackle tax evaders and it is closing off loopholes used by companies, landlords and individuals to reduce their tax payments. The new measures are included in the Finance Bill, published on Thursday morning, which gives legislative effect to Budget 2016…. – Continue reading
Tunis, — The process of returning Tunisian property and assets frozen in a number of foreign banks in general and in Switzerland, in particular, has not moved an inch. More than four years have elapsed since the fall of former President Ben Ali without any hope of progress on the… – Continue reading
Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. got a preview of what the European Union may have in store for them after regulators ordered Starbucks Corp. and a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV unit to repay millions of euros in back taxes. The EU said the coffee company and the Italian carmaker were… – Continue reading
The new Indian Government, led by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, assumed office in May 2014 with the election promise to deliver on reviving economic growth, investor confidence and bringing consumer demand back on track. The key stated goal is to move away from a control-and-command economy towards a market… – Continue reading
Carl Icahn, the iconic activist investor, has shifted, if only for today, his cross-hairs of contempt from the boardrooms of corporate America to the nation’s capital. Icahn sends members of Congress a word of warning Wednesday saw Carl Icahn warn several members of Congress a letter laying out his plans… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: There is a sudden, inexplicable surge in money that Indians are sending abroad for ” maintenance of close relatives“. Such fund transfers typically add up to $10-20 million a month. But in July 2015, according to the latest available data, total remittance under this head crossed $124 million. Also,… – Continue reading
The Brazilian Federal Revenue – RFB and the General Attorney of the National Treasury – PGFN changed the understanding that they shared in regard to the applying of Withholding Income Tax (IRRF) over foreign remittances of remuneration of technical services supplied by non-residents in Brazil. Before that, the RFB1 and… – Continue reading
Executive summary A new bilateral Tax Arrangement between the Netherlands and Curaçao (TANC), which essentially functions as a tax treaty,1 was ratified by the Dutch Parliament and formally published on 9 October 2015. The TANC will apply to income received on or after 1 January 2016. This long-awaited TANC will… – Continue reading
Facebook was last night accused of insulting British taxpayers as it emerged staff in London have been lined up for a £250million shares jackpot. The huge windfall will be paid out over the next three years if the US social media firm, which paid just £4,000 in corporation tax last… – Continue reading
Permanent Establishment Based on the new treaty the definition of permanent establishment also includes a building site or construction or installation project or any supervisory activities in connection with such site or project constitutes a permanent establishment only if it lasts more than 9 months. Dividends The withholding tax rate… – Continue reading
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) rents office space from a Vancouver-based property developer – a company that exploits offshore tax havens in Liechtenstein, the British Virgin Islands and Channel Islands. Larco Investments Ltd. owns three buildings in Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton where they rent office space to the CRA. Larco… – Continue reading
This summer brought some very significant amendments to the Cyprus tax laws, further enhancing Cyprus’ favourable tax regime. On 17 July 2015, the following laws were amended: The Special Defense for Contribution law No. 117(I) of 2002 as amended; The Income Tax Law No 118(I) of 2002 as amended; and… – Continue reading
The chief of the generic drug company discussed her “counterintuitive” strategy for creating U.S. jobs. Mylan is one of a handful of U.S. companies that has recently completed a controversial tax inversion, as the generic drug company moved its official base to the Netherlands earlier this year. While the decision… – Continue reading
Individuals and families whose tax plans include trusts should take note of the recent decision of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Discovery Trust v Minister of National Revenue (“Discovery Trust”)1 – the first case to deal with the issue of the residency of a trust for provincial… – Continue reading
A series of recent developments means that tax is now a key part of the Australian foreign investment regime and the foreign investment rules have significantly more bite. When determining whether a foreign investment proposal is “contrary to the national interest”, the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) actively considers the… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on October 13 signed four unilateral advance pricing agreements (APAs), including India’s second APA with a rollback provision. The nature of the transactions covered under these agreements varied from software development to share price valuation. According to government sources, the total number… – Continue reading
An independent panel appointed by Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. recommended that a former chairman and chief executive officer both return bonuses after the lender agreed to pay a fine to U.S. authorities in a tax probe. An insurer for the former bank officials will pay an additional $92 million. Leumi,… – Continue reading
EBENE, Mauritius, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Mauritius plans to launch a trading platform to hedge African currencies against the U.S. dollar, part of a bid to expand its role as a financial hub for the continent, the financial services minister said. The Indian Ocean island is also in talks to… – Continue reading
Historically, unlike UK residents who are generally liable to CGT on disposals of UK residential property (other than their principal residence), non-residents have been able to dispose of such property potentially free from UK CGT. The UK government sought to address this inconsistency by introducing a CGT charge in the… – Continue reading
The Government has expressed a commitment to improving levels of UK corporate transparency but a recent Private Eye article [1], documenting the extent of ownership of British Land through offshore entities, shows just how far there is to go. By far the most common reason for owning UK property through… – Continue reading
The CBDT has clarified that MAT provisions will not be applicable to those FIIs /FPIs which do not have a permanent establishment in India, for the period prior to 1 April 2015. An amendment to the IT Act will be made in the winter session of Parliament and directions have… – Continue reading
