Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission is holding an enquiry into 10 Taiwanese banks with the largest exposure to PRC companies, following a similar Ministry of Finance investigation, according to bankers. As a major shareholder, Taiwan’s MoF asked in early October eight Taiwanese state-owned banks to provide details of outstanding loans to… – 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
HA NOI (VNS) — Appropriate policies and enhanced management capacity are critical in the fight against transfer pricing to ensure a healthy business investment environment in Viet Nam, said experts on Wednesday. They were participating in an online discussion on the Government’s e-portal. Transfer pricing is causing losses to the… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The government’s ability to keep a secret could determine whether it will be able to sign a key accord with the US before the year-end deadline. It’s not just private capital flows that face the risk of higher withholding tax there if India is unable to sign the… – Continue reading
Financial institutions based in certain British Overseas Territories (BOTs) and Crown Dependencies (CDs) will be subject to stricter reporting requirements covering accounts held with them by UK resident non-UK domiciled taxpayers from 2016 if specific “carve outs” are not negotiated, an expert has said.31 Oct 2014 Private wealth tax Tax… – Continue reading
At the September 2014 convention of American labor unions, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont specifically urged taxation of wealth, asserting that, “We need a tax system which asks the billionaire class to pay its fair share of taxes and which reduces the obscene degree of wealth inequality in America.” The… – Continue reading
In front of European Commissioners, leading politicians, chief executives of huge multinationals, senior bank bosses and billionaires, the Egyptian investment tycoon was asked to set the tone of the forum, a three-day lobbying event funded by the EU. Dr Heikal is founder and chairman of Qalaa, an African investment fund… – Continue reading
Ireland’s role in Apple’s affairs means the sums involved are material to Ireland Ireland has done extraordinarily well at attracting foreign direct investment, and the politicians and public servants involved must be hoping that when the current fuss over global tax competition subsides, that will continue to be the case…. – Continue reading
Hawala networks are being replaced by sophisticated transfer pricing approaches. The image is easy to envision. Corrupt politicians, crooked corporate honchos and evil criminals stashing away their ill-gotten gains in shady Swiss banks. Thousands of crores of rupees that should be earning India tax revenue wilfully being hidden from authorities… – 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
New Delhi: A day after the Centre submitted its list of 627 Indians who have accounts in HSBC bank, Geneva for tax probe for suspected black money to Supreme Court, India has pulled out of multilateral information sharing agreement. The Mutilateral Competent Authority Agreement was signed by 51 countries in… – Continue reading
SYDNEY (World Bank) — Palau, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu are the Pacific economies that have implemented reforms to encourage business growth over the past year, according to a World Bank Group report measuring the ease of doing business in 189 economies across the globe. “Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service is encouraging taxpayers with previously undeclared foreign bank accounts to enter into its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, but there are now choices between a new streamlined version of the OVDP and the regular program that will require careful consideration and advice from practitioners. Since March 26,… – 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
Ireland’s Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton is undertaking his first investment mission since the Government announced major changes to the corporate tax regime as part of Budget 2015. Bruton is visiting the East Coast of the US as part of a program of engagement by the Government with multinational companies on… – Continue reading
European prosecutors and tax authorities are intensifying an investigation into a huge tax avoidance trading scheme costing European countries hundreds of millions of euros. The investigation centres on complex stock trades that major banks allegedly use to earn tax rebates. The practice was revealed by the Bureau three years ago…. – 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
Cayman takes another step forward in the fight against global tax evasion. Government has signed a deal that sets the worldwide standard for automatic exchange of information among tax authorities. More than 50 other countries and jurisdictions have also done that. Come 2017, Cayman will swap information on taxpayers’ offshore… – Continue reading
Non-residents will only be able to purchase land in Sri Lanka through long lease agreements and purchases will be subject to payment of a land lease tax (LLT), under the Land (Restrictions on Alienation) Act, which was recently given parliamentary approval. In accordance with regulations which have been provisionally applied… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Indian entities having businesses in the US risk higher penal taxes in the US on any fund transfer to the country if New Delhi fails to endorse a pact for information exchange by December 31 on grounds of confidentiality. New Delhi will find it difficult to sign the… – Continue reading
Offshore Incorporations Limited (OIL), a division of OV Group, a company formation and corporate service specialist focused on serving the financial and professional intermediary sectors, has released its fifth annual market research report “Offshore 2020”. This year, over 300 global senior industry stakeholders were surveyed, highlighting major trends and providing… – 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
The US policy is different. Moving away from the homeland doesn’t mean you are free from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You are required to file your US tax returns every year, report your worldwide income to the IRS and pay any tax imposed by the US tax laws. Since… – 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
Furious at what it sees as the Modi government’s flip-flops on the black money issue and selective revelation of names of Indians holding foreign bank accounts, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered it to disclose by Wednesday the names of around 800 holders of accounts abroad. A bench led by… – 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
* Leumi says working with NY State regulators on settlement * Says too soon to estimate final amount of deal * Bank rejects $300 mln settlement offer from NY State * Leumi has provisioned 950 mln shekels for final settlement * Share price falls 1.9 pct in Tel Aviv trading… – 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
Bellary: While Union finance minister, Arun Jaitley has warned the Congress it could be embarrassed once the names of people holding illegal foreign accounts are made public, local mining industry sources say the BJP too could be in for some embarassment as its once powerful leader and jailed mining czar,… – 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
Nearly 1,500 individuals have disclosed more than AUD180m (USD157.8m) in previously unreported offshore income and over AUD1bn in assets since the Project DO IT amnesty was launched, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed. The scheme began in April and is scheduled to end on December 19, 2014. The foreign… – Continue reading
New York’s banking regulator will ask for more than $300 million to settle an investigation into whether Bank Leumi Le-Israel (LUMI) BM helped Americans evade taxes, a person familiar with the matter said. Benjamin Lawsky, head of the state’s Department of Financial Services, is seeking more than what the bank… – Continue reading
Canada’s Competition Bureau says that Burger King’s plan to buy Tim Hortons does not pose a competitive threat to the fast food industry. The antitrust watchdog issued a No Action Letter (NAL) Tuesday, confirming that it reviewed the proposed transaction and concluded that it will not, at this time, “challenge… – Continue reading
MOSCOW, October 28 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Economic Development Ministry claims that mandatory ‘deoffshorization’ aimed at moving business activities of Russian companies from offshores back to the country entails considerable risks for the companies and the slowing economy of the country, Interfax reported on Tuesday, citing a letter sent to the… – Continue reading
Did you hear the one about the billionaire mogul who thought the way to fix inequality was to cut corporate taxation? But wait, here’s the kicker – he’s one of the world’s biggest tax dodgers, but he wants a crackdown on the tax dodging of his competitors. The more we… – 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
Bank trying to ease pressures on naira, stem dollar demand * Naira down almost 4 percent this year as oil prices fall * Lenders tap international debt markets to shore up capital By Chijioke Ohuocha LAGOS, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s central bank has cut the limit on banks’ foreign… – Continue reading
The government may have revealed the names of three black money account holders, but will it be able to get the money back or catch big fishes who have stashed the illegal money in tax havens across the globe. As of now it seems impossible. With at least three different… – Continue reading
On Monday when the Centre revealed the names of Indians with bank accounts in Switzerland, a customary call to a chartered accountant made sense. Straight up, the question was how to make sure that a person be financially healthy and disciplined, without having back-of-the-mind worries of the tax man knocking… – Continue reading
Here in America, tax collectors know when you earn interest on your bank deposits. That’s because U.S. banks are obliged to collect such information and report it to the IRS. This makes it impractical for would-be tax evaders to purposefully underreport their interest income for tax purposes. They’d be easily… – Continue reading
Behind the step-by-step approach in the government’s disclosure of names of foreign bank account holders is the confidentiality clause under the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAT) that prevents making public the identity of the account holders. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earlier said the names of persons would be disclosed… – Continue reading
At the Justice Department, senior officials like to congratulate themselves on the headline-making, big bucks settlements they have imposed upon banks and lenders for their part in causing the 2008 mortgage meltdown that sparked the biggest American financial crisis since the Great Depression. But wait a moment. Those settlement figures… – Continue reading
Colombia’s minister of finance stated this weekend that Colombians are hiding $50 billion abroad in an attempt to avoid paying taxes over their assets. Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas told Spanish news agency EFE that no penalties for Colombia tax evaders had been finalized, but that they were on the agenda…. – Continue reading
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tax inversion deals have effectively been repriced by the US Treasury signaling an end to “hop-scotch” loans and other tax structuring opportunities, according to Fitch Ratings. AbbVie’s purchase of Shire and the planned merger of Salix Pharmaceuticals and Cosmo Technologies, both pulled since the Treasury announcement, were scuttled… – Continue reading
