Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has promised that Australia will not be “a safe haven for the proceeds of corruption” in Papua New Guinea, as police in both countries probe the role of Australian lawyers there. Ms Bishop’s intervention and the police probes were triggered by explosive video footage that… – Continue reading
The Executive Directorate of Revenue has announced that as part of the changes in the audit and tax collection system, it will oversee the transfer prices of companies headquartered abroad. In addition to the implementation of electronic billing and other changes that aim to improve the supervision of tax collections,… – Continue reading
Action 3 of the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) agenda promised to address how countries could use controlled foreign corporation (CFC) rules to combat BEPS. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon one’s vantage point), as is pretty much universally agreed, the OECD’s draft report on CFC rules (the “draft”)1… – Continue reading
The next step for all Irish entities which are classified as Financial Institutions (“FIs”) for FATCA purposes is to submit a return (the “FATCA Return”) to Irish Revenue setting out details of any US reportable accounts they may have maintained during the 2014 calendar year, or to confirm by way… – Continue reading
Brazilian President Dilma Roussef met with President Barack Obama at the White House this week. Below is the new multi-faceted partnership. The United States and Brazilian relationship has been unstable since the U.S. spying policy became known in 2013. Brazilian President Dilma Roussef canceled a 2013 visit to Washington, D.C…. – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, JULY 1: Anyone with undisclosed assets and bank accounts abroad will get time up to December 31 to avoid a higher penalty and prosecution. The Finance Ministry has notified the compliance window under The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. Under… – Continue reading
The next step for the Cayman Islands in relation to international tax cooperation is the implementation later this year of the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The CRS standardises the global automatic exchange of information (AEOI) for tax purposes. Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton said the CRS will further strengthen… – Continue reading
The German government has announced plans to incorporate Action 13 (guidance on transfer pricing documentation and country¬by¬country (CbC) reporting) of the OECD’s BEPS project into local legislation. The wording of the new law is being drafted and may be published some time in autumn of this year. It is the… – Continue reading
The budget deal agreed to by state lawmakers this week quietly targeted Microsoft for a $57 million tax increase over the next two years, and the Redmond software giant is apparently willing to go along with it. They haven’t advertised it, but the budget deal agreed to by state lawmakers… – Continue reading
VietNamNet Bridge – It is clear that the US has been increasing its investments in Vietnam and that Vietnam needs to grab the great opportunities brought by the capital flow. Dr Vu Chi Loc from the Hanoi Foreign Trade University noted that Vietnam’s deep integration into the global economy in… – Continue reading
OECD common reporting standard On 3 June 2015, the Treasurer announced that Australia had signed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) common reporting standard (CRS) Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement which enables automatic exchange of CRS information between countries. Australia proposes to implement the CRS from 1 January 2017,… – Continue reading
CUSTOMS and Excise would be adding four mobile container scanners that would become operational within the next two months. The scanners would be used for locating narcotics, arms and ammunitions and explosives as goods arrive in the country. Customs would also be acquiring six more sniffer dogs to assist its… – Continue reading
Chinese banks, encouraged by Premier Li Keqiang’s “going-out” strategy, are rocketing up the international bond arranging league tables in Asia, leaving investment banking stalwarts in their wake. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s biggest lender by assets, jumped four spots from the end of last year to… – Continue reading
THE ROBERT Fico government is preparing an additional 30 measures by which it wants to combat tax avoidance and tax evasion in Slovakia. It wants, for example, to use cover companies to uncover criminal deeds, names of debtors should be published on the website of the Financial administration and excise… – Continue reading
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) does not get most expatriate Americans’ vote, according to a new survey of Americans living abroad conducted by deVere Group, a financial consulting firm. Forty-eight percent of the 370 expats surveyed say they would vote for a presidential candidate who promises to repeal… – Continue reading
SOME businesses are taking last-minute action to fulfil their reporting obligations for the first deadline of US Fatca – the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. With the deadline for filing Fatca returns today, local business Fusion Systems has seen a rush of interest over the past week for companies seeking… – Continue reading
Swiss banks have long been seen as ‘safe havens’ for parking funds by Indians and other foreign nationals, but global pressure has been mounting in recent years on Switzerland to clamp down on their secrecy walls. Facing possible criminal action by India and some other nations over suspected black money,… – Continue reading
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) maintains its popularity as the jurisdiction of choice for international business companies by ensuring it is at the forefront of corporate legislation and international cooperation. The popularity of BVI companies continued unabated in 2014, with incorporations of approximately 60,000 new business companies during the year;… – Continue reading
1. Permanent Establishment 1.1. Subjects and activities that generate a PE Article 64 of the LISH provides that a PE is created whenever ever a resident abroad for tax purposes carries on with activities under the LH in Mexican territory or the exclusive economic zone over which Mexico has jurisdiction…. – Continue reading
A series of recent federal enforcement actions targeting weaknesses in financial institutions’ Bank Secrecy Act/anti–money laundering (BSA/AML) compliance programs continued on June 15, when the Department of Justice (DOJ), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced a coordinated enforcement against West Virginia’s Bank of Mingo…. – Continue reading
Switzerland’s banks will beef up anti-money laundering measures, the Swiss banking association said on Tuesday, weeks after a report by a government-appointed group found the Alpine nation was still vulnerable to financial crime. More transparent rules due to come into force next year will make it harder for criminals to… – Continue reading
Chinese emigration continues to grow as the nation becomes increasingly wealthy. However, a handful of those leaving the country are wanted financial criminals, and they are heading to all corners of the world. While the United States and Canada continue to be popular destinations for corrupt Chinese on the run,… – Continue reading
The Full Court of the Federal Court has recently removed previous doubts concerning whether Part IVA could be applied to a scheme involving the formation of a tax consolidated group. In the case that was before the Full Court, a company (Subco) joined a tax consolidated group and as a… – Continue reading
June 30 — Taxpayers continue to wrestle with big questions a year after the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act opened for business. Acknowledging that the Internal Revenue Service is doing its best to implement a complex law, issues still remain as the reach of FATCA goes global, practitioners told Bloomberg… – Continue reading
The European Commission has released a working paper that looks at how significant the introduction of the modified nexus approach will be for the tax affairs of multinational companies that use patent box regimes Entitled Patent Boxes Design, Patents Location, and Local R&D, the paper suggests “that in the majority… – Continue reading
A ruling at the First-tier Tribunal has allowed different form of tax credit relief on certain types of offshore dividends taxed in the UK. Overpayment claims for 2010/11 and later years should be considered immediately. Shirley v HMRC A UK resident who benefited from an overseas trust has successfully claimed… – Continue reading
THE focus of a high-level inquiry into corporate tax avoidance will move to some of the globe’s biggest drug companies during hearings today. After revealing details of the tax minimisation strategies at Google, Apple and Microsoft, the Senate’s Standing Committee on Economics will hear from pharmaceutical executives in Sydney. Among… – Continue reading
A third of local authorities used Bankruptcy Orders last year to recover council tax arrears, new research has revealed. Figures obtained by Moore Stephens show that 32% of local authorities took bankruptcy actions against council tax defaulters, making more than 1,000 tax defaulters bankrupt in 2013/14. Nearly half (48%) of… – Continue reading
Offshore accounts can keep you up at night. Starting in 2009 with changes in 2011, 2012, and 2014, the IRS has had big success in bringing people into compliance. Over the last 6 years, over 50,000 people have done it, paying about $7 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties…. – Continue reading
A common mistake when analyzing the tax implications of a cross border transaction is to jump too quickly to the ramifications of a tax treaty without first having a clear handle on the tax implications under the Income Tax Act (Canada) (“ITA”). A related issue is that even though a… – Continue reading
We consider the retirement options for three top expat destinations – New Zealand, Bahrain and Singapore Retiring overseas is an aspiration for many expats, especially after they have spent much of their working life outside the UK. But while you may think you know what’s involved, there are many things… – Continue reading
FATCA will have an impact on virtually all trusts regardless of whether they have any US connection. Trustees must consider their status under FATCA as soon as possible to ensure that they comply with its provisions. What is FATCA? FATCA is an anti-avoidance measure introduced by the US authorities which… – Continue reading
FATCA will have an impact on virtually all trusts regardless of whether they have any US connection. Trustees must consider their status under FATCA as soon as possible to ensure that they comply with its provisions. What is FATCA? FATCA is an anti-avoidance measure introduced by the US authorities which… – Continue reading
NEW YORK and SHORT HILLS, N.J., June 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Marking the one-year deadline for foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to identify their preexisting entity account base for purposes of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, and Dun & Bradstreet… – Continue reading
PIA FORUM with DOREEN KAMBANGANJI Effects of money laundering and terrorist financing Min Zhu, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made the following expression on the effects of money laundering and terrorist financing: “Money laundering and the financing of terrorism are financial crimes with economic effects. They… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s private banks are close to ridding themselves of undeclared European accounts, a salutary process but one which has undermined efforts to grow their businesses. Following the financial crisis, cash-strapped governments chased accounts hidden at banks in Zurich, Geneva and Ticino where wealthy Europeans had taken advantage of Switzerland’s famous… – Continue reading
By ESTHER MSETEKA, Mazabuka LUSAKA Stock Exchange (LuSE) chief executive officer Brian Tembo says there is need for Government to formulate a capital market policy that links foreign direct investment to listing. Mr Tembo said the country needs to find ways which can help create linkages between companies that invest… – Continue reading
“THE decision by a group of European Union (EU) Member States to blacklist Barbados as being non-cooperative and further claim that Barbados and 29 other countries, mostly small islands, do not meet its standards of transparency, exchange of information and fair tax competition, is hypocritical and on the face of… – Continue reading
When it comes to the topic of offshore corporations, some people immediately think of illegal tax shelters, but that is not the case. Currently, the IRS is working tirelessly to track down U.S. citizens and residents with unreported offshore income or assets and the new FATCA regulations make it virtually… – Continue reading
The “wall of Chinese capital” hitting property markets in Sydney and Melbourne will not ease up until the government introduces its anti-money laundering legislation, says an expert in ‘flight capital’. James Tee, an ethnic Chinese property developer whose business specialises in “capital expatriation” – that is, getting money out of… – Continue reading
Multinational drug companies are presenting a united front ahead of their appearance at the Senate’s corporate tax avoidance inquiry, insisting they are honest, ethical and pay their fair share of tax. Nine pharmaceutical companies, which between them receive billions of dollars in taxpayer-subsidised sales via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, will… – Continue reading
The US Administration has put more of its hoped-for, but perhaps poltically difficult, tax reforms into the Fact Sheet that was issued after the 2015 United States-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue held in Washington on June 23-24. In the 2014 Fact Sheet, the Administration had merely stated that it was… – Continue reading
The Policy and Advocacy Manager of Tax Justice Network – Africa (TJN-A) has urged African governments to review tax incentives for free zone companies. “Tax incentives must apply to companies that have something to show. These companies must be able to create massive employment and other services to benefit the… – Continue reading
The Italian Supreme Court has ruled that transfer pricing adjustments applied by the tax authorities may be deemed legitimate even if they have been applied after a comparison between the transactions assessed and the ones carried out by and among third independent parties. In the case at issue, the tax… – Continue reading
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement will not be ratified in the UK this year, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has confirmed. In a statement sent to Out-Law.com, the IPO ruled out ratification of the Agreement this year but said that it intends to complete the “domestic preparations” for ratification… – Continue reading
GENEVA — The FIFA corruption scandal is prompting fresh moves to stem money laundering in Switzerland, but the nation long known as a haven for hiding money may be slow to change. The Swiss government announced new measures this month following the investigation of soccer’s governing body to tighten control… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Anecdotes about the first Income Tax searches in the T-20 IPL cricket tournament and a letter by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram seeking information about alleged illegal accounts by Indians in Switzerland find place in a new book on black money. The recently launched book “It’s Raining Black!… – Continue reading
Luxembourg, home of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, is the EU’s richest country and a notorious tax haven for multinationals including Disney, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Office Depot — among more than 300 firms who allegedly shifted profits to Luxembourg through sweetheart tax deals uncovered in last year’s ‘LuxLeaks scandal. The… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Anecdotes about the first Income Tax searches in the T-20 IPL cricket tournament and a letter by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram seeking information about alleged illegal accounts by Indians in Switzerland find place in a new book on black money. The recently launched book “It’s Raining Black!… – Continue reading
It is that time of the year when you get your Form 16 from your employer and gear up to file income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year gone by. This year the government has come out with a new ITR form. Also there is more to disclose while… – Continue reading
