UNITED NATIONS, March 30 (Xinhua) — Stopping abuse of tax havens and promoting global tax cooperation will help create a fairer global society, Jeffrey Sachs, U.S. economist and UN special adviser on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) told reporters here Wednesday. Sachs made the statement at a press conference here… – Continue reading
Authorities in China’s southeastern coastal province of Zhejiang cracked down on 115 cases of underground banking involving transactions totalling more than 900 billion yuan (HK$ 1.07 trillion) in 2015, state media reports. The success of the campaign underscored the efforts of Beijing to rein in illegal capital outflows, which hit… – Continue reading
Twenty Caribbean and Latin American nations have been named by the U.S. as “major money laundering” countries in the 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) from the U.S. State Department released Wednesday, Mar. 2, 2016. A major money laundering is defined by statute as one “whose financial institutions engage… – Continue reading
That the collection of the taxes levied on citizens becomes an exceedingly difficult task in the absence of a moral sense of tax responsibility on the part of the taxpayers is well known. The readiness to tolerate taxes is reinforced or undermined by two primary factors: The sense taxpayers have… – Continue reading
When a rock-star French economist comes to our country to tell us that the surest way to fix inequality is to tax the hell out of the privileged, they are guaranteed a sympathetic audience. And so we will partly have Thomas Piketty to thank when Pravin Gordhan introduces tax hikes… – Continue reading
It’s unlikely anybody was particularly surprised when Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced a number of initiatives to increase the amount of tax revenue; from sugar tax to a “tyre levy” to an increase in a number of existing sin taxes. But it’s perhaps the relaxing of voluntary disclosure rules that… – Continue reading
In the aftermath of the latest global financial crises, government have sought to recoup lost revenue through tax reform. This has put the spotlight on the issue of gaps in the current international taxation system that created opportunities for Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) schemes. Simply put, BEPS are… – Continue reading
Let me give you a heads up: First, I’m going to tell you some things that will make you ill. Then I’m going to present a cure. It will make you feel better—until, of course, you realize that knowing the cure brings us as close to implementing it as buying an… – Continue reading
Rules should require foreign owners of prime London homes to come clean about beneficiary owners, say anti-corruption groups Large parts of London’s Baker Street, including the Beatles store, are owned by offshore trusts. New laws that aim to stop the UK being a magnet for money launderers – by forcing… – Continue reading
Former Standard Chartered chief says eliminating €500, $100, SFr1,000 and £50 notes would prevent corrupt payments Governments should consider scrapping high denomination banknotes to combat financial crime and tax evasion, including paying tradespeople in cash, a former bank boss has said. Criminals move more than $2tn (£1.4tn) around the world… – Continue reading
ABU DHABI // Pakistani expatriates have been reassured that new taxation laws will not apply to them. Anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International (TI) said Pakistanis residing in the UAE need not worry about double taxation laws. Syed Gilani, former chairman of TI, said that Pakistani laws state that anyone working… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro officially announced the aggregate tax revenue for 2015, amounting to Rp 1 quadrillion (US$72.46 billion). This record breaking number, however, was far below the target, by more than Rp 230 trillion. Still, the minister claimed the results were a decent achievement. This is true, especially because… – Continue reading
Moving money out of the usual offshore secrecy havens and into the U.S. is a brisk new business. Last September, at a law firm overlooking San Francisco Bay, Andrew Penney, a managing director at Rothschild & Co., gave a talk on how the world’s wealthy elite can avoid paying taxes…. – Continue reading
The Isle of Man has refused London’s call to reveal the ownership of thousands of offshore companies, joining other UK Overseas Territories in resisting David Cameron’s transparency push. The Isle of Man told the Financial Times it is a “red line” issue, joining jurisdictions including Bermuda and the Channel Islands… – Continue reading
Tax dodging by the super-rich is one of the main drivers of global income inequality and must be sharply curtailed, according to a new report from the global nonprofit Oxfam. Citing research by Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman — a protégé of Thomas Piketty, author of the global bestseller on inequality,… – Continue reading
Three leading cellular operators have made a joint representation to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) that the scheme of taxation contemplated by the Ninth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act 1990 in relation to both items – SIM cards and handsets – is legally impermissible and unconstitutional and practically… – Continue reading
The US’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has announced it will be investigating the individuals behind secretive all-cash purchases of high-end luxury real estate in a six-month trial programme intended to enhance the treasury’s anti-money laundering efforts. The initiative will focus on all-cash property purchases of over $3 million in New… – Continue reading
Switzerland took an important step toward becoming a renminbi trading hub on Thursday with its inauguration of a new branch of the China Construction Bank, (CCB), one of the biggest financial institutions in the world. The Zurich branch of the CCB has been authorised by China’s central bank to operate… – Continue reading
BRASILIA, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday signed a bill that gives amnesty to holders of undeclared offshore assets in exchange for a fine, part of efforts to cut a swelling budget gap and revive investment in the recession-hit economy. The law offers amnesty from prosecution… – Continue reading
Pakistan can double its tax revenues by concerted efforts to broaden tax bases, strengthening tax compliance, eliminating distortionary tax expenditures, and rationalizing the tax system in an efficient and equitable manner, says a latest study of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The study, Unlocking Pakistan’s Tax Revenue Potential notes, Pakistan’s… – Continue reading
Despite popular campaign and committee recommendations, tax haven restrictions will not be included in bill AN OVERDUE land reform report from the Scottish Government has categorically refused to bring back a proposal which campaigners say would have tackled the phenomenon of Scottish land being owned in offshore tax havens. Dropped… – Continue reading
Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s government will start 2016 trying to get lawmakers to approve the country’s fourth tax amnesty since independence, a plan it says will lure back money stashed overseas to net an extra $4.4 billion of revenue this year. Bad move, say tax analysts, anti-corruption activists and the… – Continue reading
United States Vice President Joe Biden has never been one to hold his tongue. He certainly didn’t in his recent trip to Kiev. In a speech before Ukraine’s Parliament, Biden told legislators that corruption was eating Ukraine “like a cancer,” and warned Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that Ukraine had “one… – Continue reading
Yet another amnesty scheme mocks honest taxpayers The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has once again admitted its failure in dealing with the powerful class of traders in forcing them to file tax returns as other persons do. The government of the day, as expected, is more than keen to… – Continue reading
(MENAFN – Arab News) RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Monday briefed the Cabinet over the phone call he received from the king of Bahrain the call he made to the president of Nigeria and the results of his talks with the chairman of the Presidency… – Continue reading
IRS Criminal Investigation » Agency initiated 3,853 investigations nationally and is nabbing criminals from tax cheats to terrorists despite budget cuts, chief says. Utahn Gerrit Timmerman III claimed his corporation — “The Office of the First Presiding Patriarch (Overseer) and his/her successors, a corporation sole over/for an unincorporated scriptural society,… – Continue reading
The Protocol amending the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters will lead to substantially more transnational identity theft, crime, industrial espionage, financial fraud, and the suppression of political opponents and religious or ethnic minorities by authoritarian and corrupt governments. It puts Americans’ private financial information at risk…. – Continue reading
While the latest Bond movie, Spectre, brings glowing praise for Daniel Craig, life is running rather less smoothly for the prototype 007. In truth, Sir Sean Connery’s personal story has never remotely resembled that of the unruffled agent he so consummately portrayed. Down the years, he has faced a plethora… – Continue reading
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, in power for 13 years, has been notoriously lax and often late when it comes to implementing stringent rules controlling money in order to ensure better transparency in financial movements, halt tax evasion, prevent illicit funding and disrupt money laundering activities. That… – Continue reading
According to a research report titled “Illegal Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2004-2013”, recently published by the Washington based research institute Global Financial Integrity (GFI), Bangladesh stands 26th in the list of 149 developing nations, in terms of flight of capital including money laundering (The Daily Star, December 10, 2015)…. – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: The World Bank says tax regulations in Pakistan are frequently altered, and unpredictable tax rules worsen the business climate and may deter potential investment. The report “Towards a more friendly tax regime: Key challenges in South Asia,” points out that South Asia’s tax regulations are complex and difficult to… – Continue reading
Summary In the March 2015 Budget the Chancellor announced tough new sanctions for tax evasion, intended to have a deterrent effect. After a period of consultation, the intention to proceed with these measures was confirmed in the 2015 Autumn Statement. In summary, the measures to be implemented are: A new… – Continue reading
Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis on December 15th accepted the credentials of the Japanese Ambassador to Latvia, Mariko Fujii, and noted an increase in Latvia-Japan trade recently but said there was still room for growth in economic cooperation, the Latvian president’s press service reported LETA. He said that a treaty for… – Continue reading
According to Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the United Kingdom “is at the forefront of a dramatic increase in transparency about company ownership” in developed countries. However, it is the UK which is going to provide the testing ground for… – Continue reading
Growth and profitability have been at the crux of the corporate agenda and defined the way businesses function. Companies have nevertheless encountered challenges while trying to achieve these goals, which have inevitably required them to sometimes ‘work around the way of the land’. For instance, it is a common concern… – Continue reading
(CNS): The UK is expected to send law enforcement officials to Cayman in the New Year to enhance the current cooperation regime between this jurisdiction and the authorities in Britain regarding financial crime and money laundering. Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton said that experts are coming at Cayman’s invitation to… – Continue reading
Come 2017, tax information on all foreign nationals holding bank accounts or other financial holdings in Cayman will be automatically shared with tax authorities in their home countries when the Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters convention kicks in. Maples, in a Cayman Islands Automatic Exchange of Information update statement… – Continue reading
Global Financial IntegrityGlobal Financial Integrity (GFI) on 8 December 2015 released the Global Illicit Financial Flows Report 2015 entitled Illicit Financial Flows from the Developing Countries: 2004-2013. This study is GFI’s 2015 annual global update on illicit financial flows from developing economies. It is the sixth annual update of GFI’s… – Continue reading
Jakarta. Indonesia’s tax office is considering a tax amnesty for financial crimes, in a move that could bring back at least 100 trillion rupiah ($7.5 billion) to the state coffers, the director-general of taxes said on Wednesday. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is grappling with the weakest economic growth in six… – Continue reading
House Lawmakers to Vote this Week on Temporary Renewal of “Tax Extenders” Package – including Two Outrageous Offshore Tax Loopholes Costing Taxpayers $10 Billion Annually Some on Capitol Hill Push to Make Loopholes Permanent, but Media Reports Suggest Offshore Provisions Could Be Phased out as Part of Bigger Tax Deal,… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON: India ranks fourth in black money outflows with a whopping USD 51 billion siphoned out of the country per annum between 2004-2013, a US-based think-tank’s report said today. Notably India’s defence budget is less than USD 50 billion. China tops the list with USD 139 billion average outflow of… – Continue reading
Taxpayers fume about wastage and corruption, but large-scale evasion seems unlikely. JOHANNESBURG – There seems to be increasing concern that South Africa could be heading for a tax revolt. This comes amid an outcry against corruption, wastage of taxpayer money and the fact that the country’s deteriorating fiscal situation will… – Continue reading
Campaigners attack offshore centre for support of tax dodging, corruption and terrorist financing, reports the Financial Times. Bermuda has hit back against its critics, claiming that the financial centre is the victim of an “irresistible urge to stereotype” the British overseas territories. Bob Richards, finance minister, mounted a trenchant defence… – Continue reading
(CNS) UPDATED: The Cayman Islands and other overseas territories have agreed to hold beneficial ownership information in their jurisdictions via “central registers or similarly effective systems”, according to the communique released by the FCO following this week’s meeting in London with territory leaders and the UK government. The agreement on… – Continue reading
Tax cheats can breathe a little easier. The gun-toting Internal Revenue Service investigators who send felons to prison are retiring in droves and there’s no one to replace them. IRS Criminal Investigation agents are the elite special forces in the never-ending war on tax evasion. They are feared among criminals… – Continue reading
A lengthy and yet complex investigation by The Botswana Gazette into financial affairs of the company in the shady tax haven of Bermuda blows the lid off the dealings amounting to P29 million with a mailbox sister company that has no office, employees or any legitimate business activities. Not only… – Continue reading
Michael Dunkley has hit back at calls for Bermuda to make its beneficial ownership information public, claiming that critics are “attempting to solve a problem that does not exist”. After three days of meetings in London, the British Overseas Territories agreed to put information on the people who ultimately own… – Continue reading
Amid all the diplomatic comings and goings on Syria and how to tackle Islamic State, an important but little-noticed high-level gathering has been taking place in London. The Overseas Territories were holding the fourth meeting of their Joint Ministerial Council at Lancaster House. Leaders from Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands,… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): A new report released by a coalition of NGOs, including Transparency International UK, has described some of the British overseas territories (BOTs) as “some of the most notorious purveyors of financial secrecy”, despite promises about more transparency. The authors say a World Bank study found that BOTs are… – Continue reading
Charities remind Cameron of pledge to ‘continue to lead world on tax and transparency’ before meetings with leaders of overseas territories Campaigners are urging David Cameron to use a meeting with leaders of Britain’s overseas territories this week to demand a crackdown on tax dodging, corruption and money laundering. Leading… – Continue reading
