With the Opposition targeting the government on the black money issue, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the identity of 427 foreign account holders has been established, of which 250 have admitted to having these accounts. Replying to a debate on the issue, Jaitley said… – Continue reading
UPDATE 1-Argentina charges HSBC with aiding tax evasion via Swiss accounts AFIP said it received the information on the secret accounts from France, which last week placed HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm under formal investigation for possibly aiding tax evasion. “We denounce the existence of an illegal platform created by… – Continue reading
ZURICH (Reuters) – Many of Switzerland’s foreign millionaires will be watching nervously on Sunday as voters decide whether or not to scrap one of the country’s biggest tax perks for expatriates. Switzerland’s system of charging foreign residents with no gainful activity in the country a lump sum based on their… – Continue reading
The Future of the Department of Justice’s High Visibility Offshore Tax Evasion Initiative. On August 29, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Tax Division announced the Program for Non-Prosecution Agreements and Non-Target Letters for Swiss Banks (the “Program”). The announcement of this unprecedented program was the culmination of the… – Continue reading
UK resident non-domiciliaries (RNDs), who have offshore bank accounts and interests in non-UK structures, are currently not required to provide any information about those accounts/structures to HMRC, provided that they claim the remittance basis of taxation in the UK, those accounts do not hold assets which produce UK source income… – Continue reading
Rüschlikon is just a 20-minute boat ride from the centre of Zurich, yet a world away from the intense rivalry of the city’s financial powerhouses. Every autumn, the sleepy lakeside settlement hosts the Private Banking Summit, where delegates seek safeguards for their threatened industry. “Swiss private banking is in turmoil,… – Continue reading
HM Revenue & Customs has introduced “safeguards” to reduce the potential impact of its proposals to recover tax directly from debtors’ bank accounts. The plans, which are known as Direct Recovery of Debts (DRD), will allow the Revenue to recover cash directly from the bank accounts, building society accounts and… – Continue reading
French magistrates examining whether the bank helped wealthy clients avoid a new tax, the European Union Savings Directive French judges have put the Swiss branch of HSBC under official investigation over allegations that Britain’s biggest bank helped wealthy clients avoid taxes. It was revealed on Friday that the unit had… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s ambassador to Germany said his country is working to improve its image after years of revelations that Germans used Swiss banks to avoid taxes. Ambassador Tim Guldimann pointed to Switzerland’s support of an international agreement on automatic tax-data sharing in Berlin in October as a sign of his country’s… – Continue reading
Fifty-one countries signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement in Berlin on Oct. 29 to fight offshore tax fraud and evasion. The agreement aims to put an end to banking secrecy by sharing tax-related information with member states. Missing from the signatory list are the United States and China. China’s absence… – Continue reading
A high-profile businesswoman accused of using Cayman Islands bank accounts to dodge more than $7 million in taxes is seeking to challenge the use of information obtained by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service through a tax information exchange request. Cheryl Womack, a Kansas City businesswoman who has a home and… – Continue reading
Expats have a range of choices – so how do they find a safe home for their assets? The traditional use of offshore centres as a way of enabling better tax planning – and even tax evasion – has all but fallen away. An increasing desire for countries to share… – Continue reading
TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Financial Supervisory Commission’s (FSC, 金管會) chairman Tseng Ming-chung (曾銘宗) met with the U.S. treasury from Nov. 2 till Nov. 5 and signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) that will see Taiwanese financial institutions directly providing 4,273 Taiwanese green-card holders… – Continue reading
A new report on tax transparency across 15 EU states highlights hidden profits People in Europe and in developing countries are being robbed. One trillion euro is lost to tax dodging every year in the EU, with billions being lost from developing countries each year for the same reason. It… – Continue reading
The US Treasury has opened a new front in its war against offshore tax evasion. But for some it amounts to financial imperialism. Americans with legitimate bank accounts outside the country, and foreigners working in the United States, have begun receiving letters from their banks in Paris, Tokyo, Johannesburg and… – Continue reading
Regardless of how M&T Bank Corp.’s planned acquisition of Hudson City Bancorp plays out, one thing is clear: M&T will end up with a much stronger system for fighting money laundering. Buffalo-based M&T and New Jersey-based Hudson City Bancorp still want to complete their $3.7 billion merger – a marriage… – Continue reading
The US Treasury has opened a new front in its war against offshore tax evasion. Overseas banks are being ordered to cooperate with the US Treasury and help identify which of their customers might owe the government taxes – a move that some equate to a form of “financial imperialism,… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: After reaching a significant breakthrough in information exchange on bank accounts with Switzerland, the Narendra Modi government has now turned the heat on European tax haven Cyprus as part of its fight against black money. The government wants to drop a provision in the tax treaty between the… – Continue reading
The US Treasury has opened a new front in its war against offshore tax evasion. But for some it amounts to financial imperialism. Americans with legitimate bank accounts outside the country, and foreigners working in the United States, have begun receiving letters from their banks in Paris, Tokyo, Johannesburg and… – Continue reading
The black money brouhaha is turning rapidly into a whitewash special. Part of the first report of August 2014 submitted by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the issue of black money stashed in foreign banks reveals very little fire behind all the smoke. It says that… – Continue reading
From 1970 to 2011, US$2 trillion from Latin America and the Caribbean have been funneled to offshore tax havens. It’s money that moves behind the scenes, in illicit financial flows (IFF). These transnational transfers come from three sources of illegal funds: corruption (bribery), money laundering (contraband, trafficking of drugs, weapons,… – Continue reading
A source revealed that in order to settle the investigation into whether Bank Leumi Le-Israel (LUMI) BM helped Americans evade taxes, New York’s banking regulator will ask for over $300 million. The head of the state’s Department of Financial Services, Benjamin Lawsky, is looking for an amount that surpasses what… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): Tax havens will no longer exist in five years as a result of new rules aimed at combating tax abuse, the OECD has said. In the wake of the agreement signed last week by over 50 countries, including the Cayman Islands, Grace Perez-Navarro, from the Organisation for Economic… – Continue reading
Finance ministers from 52 countries appeared to strike a major blow in the battle against global tax evasion in Berlin during the week. The tax deal signed by countries such as Germany, the UK and France also included major tax havens such as Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands…. – Continue reading
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla./ZURICH — From bundles of cash inside scraps of newspaper to setting up shell companies, the trial in Florida of a former UBS executive is a reminder of the extreme methods some Swiss bankers used to hide clients’ cash. Raoul Weil, 54, is the highest ranking Swiss banker… – Continue reading
Finance ministers from more than 50 countries recently signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement, with another 30 countries pledging to sign the agreement by 2018. The agreement, signed in Berlin, is an effort to end what the US Bank Secrecy Act, which they called “obsolete.” The ministers met for two… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Former minister of state for external affairs in the UPA regime, Preneet Kaur, figures in the list of 627 names of Indians holding accounts in foreign banks, which was submitted by the Centre to the Supreme Court. Kaur, wife of former Punjab CM and Congress’s deputy leader in… – Continue reading
With FATCA having been officially implemented for the most part this past July 2014, withholding agents will want to be especially vigilant in their duties and obligations regarding the solicitation and receipt of the appropriate Form W-8 from foreign persons. They will also want to be up on the rules… – Continue reading
Tax havens will no longer exist in five years as a result of sweeping rules to combat tax abuse, a leading global think-tank has said. Grace Perez-Navarro, of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which is leading a crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion, said that banking secrecy… – Continue reading
The automatic exchange of information on financial accounts around the world is coming. More than fifty countries have committed to this at an international tax conference hosted by Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. The exchange of information now agreed will make it easier for fiscal authorities to obtain information about… – Continue reading
FORT LAUDERDALE Fla./ZURICH (Reuters) – From bundles of cash inside scraps of newspaper to setting up shell companies, the trial in Florida of a former UBS executive is a reminder of the extreme methods some Swiss bankers used to hide clients’ cash. Raoul Weil, 54, is the highest… – Continue reading
BERLIN — More than 80 countries signed an agreement in Berlin on Wednesday that could end banking secrecy in the global battle against tax evasion and fraud, even though critics say it has shortcomings. Among the signatories were European Union (EU) countries and former staunch proponents of banking secrecy such… – Continue reading
The Supreme Court on Wednesday virtually thwarted fresh attempts by the Modi government to go slow on the black money probe, citing “sovereign powers to sign treaties”. The court sternly asked the Centre to “just go whole hog to unearth the money”, leaving other worries to the Special Investigation Team… – Continue reading
Governments around the world closed in on tax evaders with an automatic data-sharing accord that broadens efforts by the U.S. and the five biggest European Union economies to more than 50 countries and territories. Finance ministers signed the agreement in Berlin today in a signal of global determination to capture… – Continue reading
New Delhi,Oct 30 (TruthDive): Black money stashed abroad could have been easily got back if India had been a signatory to a UN convention of double taxation treaty agreements (DTAA). By signing to this convention, India can renegotiate DTTA and bring it in line with the country’s taxation law and… – Continue reading
Mumbai, The Timblo family, named by the government in Supreme Court in connection with untaxed or black money in foreign accounts, parked money illegally in two foreign currency accounts in Hong Kong before pumping it back into India, NDTV has learnt. The family, which runs a Goa-based mining firm, had… – Continue reading
New Delhi/Berne: Amid a debate on disclosure of names of suspected black money holders, Switzerland today said information exchanged under Swiss-India tax treaty cannot be disclosed “in principle” to a court or any other body outside the proceedings of a ‘specific and relevant’ case. The comments come at a time… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI/GENEVA: A huge global pressure to break secrecy veils of Swiss banks notwithstanding, Switzerland remains the world’s largest offshore financial centre with client assets totalling over $ 2 trillion, a new study said today. Besides the country is expected to remain “the biggest offshore centre for private banking in… – Continue reading
Geneva: A huge global pressure to break secrecy veils of Swiss banks notwithstanding, Switzerland remains the world’s largest offshore financial centre with client assets totalling over USD two trillion, a new study said. Besides the country is expected to remain “the biggest offshore centre for private banking in 2018,” with… – Continue reading
On Wednesday, when the Supreme Court accepted and handed over the sealed envelope from the government carrying the Swiss bank account details of Indians to the special investigation team, what seems to have won is the concern over the double taxation avoidance treaty (DTAT) and many such agreements that the… – Continue reading
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times New Delhi, October 29, 2014 First Published: 09:16 IST(29/10/2014) | Last Updated: 10:26 IST(30/10/2014) The government on Wednesday submitted a list of 627 Indians holding accounts in HSBC Bank, Geneva, to the Supreme Court, which directed its special investigating team (SIT) to examine them and take… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Even as the present debate over black money is focused mostly around the names of 628 Indians with account in HSBC, Geneva, the authorities have a list of another 612 Indians with accounts in tax havens around the world. The names of these 612 Indians emerged in 2013… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI – The Indian government has handed over to the Supreme Court a list of more than 600 Indians with unauthorized foreign bank accounts as it attempts to crack down on rampant tax evasion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he wants to prosecute people who park their money abroad… – Continue reading
Bruton says US multinationals will advise Government on ‘knowledge box’ tax scheme Germany has warned that corporate tax subsidy arrangements known as “patent boxes” are acceptable in the European Union only as a reward for research and investment by companies in member states, not as a new tax-avoidance tool. It… – Continue reading
(BERLIN) – The finance ministers of around 50 countries meet in Berlin on Wednesday to sign a deal they hope will put an end to banking secrecy and aid the worldwide fight against tax fraud and evasion. “Banking secrecy, in its old form, is obsolete,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble… – Continue reading
(CNSBusiness): The Cayman Islands government joined more than 50 countries Wednesday, when it signed the latest agreement to tackle global tax evasion. Wayne Panton, the financial services minister, signed on the dotted line of the OECD’s Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) in Berlin, the latest worldwide standard for automatic exchange… – Continue reading
UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, has had to set aside Sfr1.84bn (or £1.2 billon / $1.9 billion) in legal provisions to pay for possible fines and to settle regulatory investigations. It has also warned shareholders that these costs are likely to be “at elevated levels” for the “forseeable future”. The Swiss… – Continue reading
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has launched a new web site for financial institutions required to make reports about US taxpayer clients under the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) laws. The online portal offers advice and access to a reporting hub for financial managers sending information about their… – Continue reading
AFIP bureau will have access to data of companies such as Techint and Globant The AFIP tax bureau yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Luxembourg to share fiscal information between both countries, an arrangement that will begin from 2015. The MOU will give AFIP access to information of… – Continue reading
Noting that tax evasion is not a criminal offence in Switzerland, a senior Swiss official has acknowledged differences with India on what can be made public about Indians having unaccounted money parked in Swiss banks. However, the Swiss Foreign Ministry official hoped that with the advent of the new government… – Continue reading
