ZIMBABWE intends to relax rules around offshore investments by local pension funds by allowing them to invest in foreign markets –subject to regulatory approvals. Currently, pension funds are prohibited from investing offshore, but the amendments to the Pension and Provident Fund Bill of 2015 seeks to allow them to invest… – Continue reading
Law360, New York (June 3, 2015, 3:24 PM ET) — Final rules released Wednesday by the Internal Revenue Service meant to deter corporate inversions retain a strict bright-line rule that subjects an inverted company to sanctions if it does not have a substantial business presence in a foreign country, despite… – Continue reading
ANALYSIS Dakar, Senegal — Capital flight and illicit financial flows represent missed opportunities for generating state revenue desperately needed to finance key sectors of West Africa’s economy, tackle poverty and invest in social protection and safety nets. Though the exact amount lost annually is debated, the deficit is significant and… – Continue reading
There has been some recent press regarding some of the procedural aspects of refund claims relating to foreign tax credits and they stand as a reminder about how significant the statute of limitations periods can be in processing tax claims. In a case decided last year on October 20, 2014,… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: CBDT has issued fresh instructions to the taxman to ensure that information on individuals holding black money abroad is strictly kept secret as it stressed that any “careless” act could give an excuse to the data supplying country for not helping India in the future. “In many countries,… – Continue reading
Berne: Continuing to shed its famed banking secrecy veil, Switzerland today made public more names about which it had been approached from abroad for information, even as it published fresh gazette notifications about two Indians – Sayed Mohammed Masood and Chand Kauser Mohammed Masood. Switzerland has already shared some details… – Continue reading
OECD Secretary General Jose Angel Gurria (C) and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme Helen Clark (R) listen to a speech of French Minister of Environment and Energy Segolene Royal during the OECD forum in Paris, 02 June 2015. The OECD will present its economic outlook on Wednesday, bringing… – Continue reading
Presidential candidates must come clean on America’s highly controversial global tax law – and more must urgently be done to repeal it, not least because it is “a blue print for worse to come”, warns the boss of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations. Nigel Green, founder… – Continue reading
LONDON, June 2 (Reuters) – An international campaign to stamp out corporate tax dodging will fail and G20 leading economies should instead adopt a global minimum tax rate for multinationals, a coalition of 10 charities and human rights bodies said. The G20 asked the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development… – Continue reading
Microsoft Corp. and the IRS are back in court, this time fighting about the U.S. tax agency’s interest in hiring David Boies, the lawyer who beat Microsoft in an antitrust case in 2000. The software company filed a federal lawsuit May 29 in Seattle, marking the latest legal flurry over… – Continue reading
The Abbott government didn’t get costings from Treasury on how much revenue its multinational tax avoidance budget measure would bring. The revelation explains why costings were not given by Treasurer Joe Hockey when he announced the measure or included budget papers. Speaking at a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday, finance… – Continue reading
It’s time for a complete overhaul of the global tax system to ensure each company pays their fair share, says Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. A group of leading economists — led by Stiglitz — issued a call Tuesday for countries to overhaul the system to prevent multinationals such as Apple… – Continue reading
BVI, 1 June 2015 – The Government of the Virgin Islands is advising all British Virgin Islands Reporting Financial Institutions that the FATCA deadlines for the United Kingdom and United States of America have been extended. Minister of Finance, Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, OBE made an Order under… – Continue reading
A powerful business lobby is sounding the warning to lawmakers about a global effort to crack down on offshore tax evasion. The National Association of Manufacturers warned the top congressional tax writers that the so-called Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project “could have a negative impact on the global competitiveness… – Continue reading
Luxembourg’s neighbour Belgium is to officially list the country as a tax haven, local media report, based on its non-compliant status with the OECD’s Global Forum. All countries that have been on the OECD’s list of fiscal paradises need blacklisted in Belgium, the law stipulates. This also includes Luxembourg, which… – Continue reading
London: A UK Treasury minister has dismissed Brussels’ latest move to combat tax avoidance as “an answer still looking for a question”. David Gauke, financial secretary to the Treasury, said the UK remained sceptical about a proposal for a pan-European tax system, which was relaunched by the European Commission last… – Continue reading
On May 20, 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department released for public comment draft updates to the U.S. model income tax convention and its accompanying Technical Explanation (collectively, the “Model Treaty”), which was last updated in 2006. The Model Treaty is the template that Treasury uses as its starting point in… – Continue reading
In December 2014, the Swiss parliament—giving in to international pressure—passed new laws to tighten its anti-money-laundering regulations, most prominently the freezing of assets in Swiss bank accounts. It also increases watch over politicians and officials such as those arrested in the FIFA scandal, by defining them as PEP—Politically Exposed Persons… – Continue reading
Developments in Asia over the last year have been continuous with the biggest generic development relating to the exchange of information. Asian countries have put their FATCA reporting systems in place (even though not all have yet signed an inter-governmental agreement with the US IRS), and most have now committed… – Continue reading
The past decade or more has not been an easy road to manoeuvre for IFCs. The Bahamas like other IFCs has faced the combined challenges of international initiatives, increased competition, industry consolidation, changing client demographics, emerging market requirements; legacy market stagnation and of course the financial crisis just a few… – Continue reading
Since the beginning of the global financial crisis, politicians, the media and people on the street have engaged in a series of “blame games” to point fingers and punish those responsible for their own economic ills. For the past few years, one “culprit” has been firmly in the spotlight –… – Continue reading
David Gauke, Financial Secretary to the United Kingdom Treasury, has said that the newly elected Conservative Government will maintain a competitive corporate tax regime, although further reductions in the rate of UK corporate tax appear to be off the table. He also confirmed that the Government will continue to tackle… – Continue reading
The present French Tax Update will focus on an overview of several noteworthy French tax court decisions issued during the past few months, in particular in relation with double tax treaty conditions to benefit from a tax credit, abuse of law challenges, increased amortization rates, and priority preliminary ruling requests… – Continue reading
Argentina and Chile have signed a new double tax treaty to replace the treaty unilaterally terminated by Argentina in 2012. Ignacio Rodriguez and Andres Edelstein of PwC in Argentina outline the new structuring opportunities that are available for taxpayers. Argentina and Chile signed a new double tax treaty on May… – Continue reading
The European Commission is to propose a mandatory common corporate tax base next month as part of a wide-ranging clampdown on corporate tax avoidance. Put simply, a common tax base seeks to harmonise the way companies calculate taxable profits across Europe. For many years in Europe there has been talk… – Continue reading
Oxfam based its calculation of the tax revenue Africa loses on a UN-backed study released in April. WASHINGTON – Multinational companies deprive African governments of $11 billion in taxes each year, and G7 world leaders should set up a new global body to regulate corporate taxation, Oxfam International said on… – Continue reading
A full and fascinating roundtable discussion based around the island’s place as an international finance centre was held at KPMG’s headquarters in Athol Street, Douglas. Around the table were David Karran, managing director, IQE, Simon Scott, managing director, Barclays Isle of Man, Andrew Thomas, chief executive, Isle of Man Enterprises… – Continue reading
The five biggest suppliers of publicly subsidised medicines in Australia recorded sales of nearly $5 billion last year but paid an average of just $10 million each in company tax. Research by the Parliamentary Library, obtained by Fairfax Media, has disclosed the tax contribution of multinational pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer… – Continue reading
A “very interesting political situation” can be expected in the autumn when a number of different strands of the ongoing European, and global, debate on what to do about aggressive tax planning by multinationals, come together, one of the players involved said during a recent visit to Dublin, reports Irish… – Continue reading
Governing and opposition MPs submitted a bill to the Hungarian Parliament yesterday that would amend legislation on the state-owned Hungarian Development Bank (MFB) to exempt a broader range of its dealings with failed brokerage Quaestor from rules on banking secrecy. The bill was designed to broaden the scope of data… – Continue reading
Africa is known as the ‘paradox of plenty’. How can a continent so rich in natural resources be so poor? Economic growth is predicted to increase by 4.5% across the continent this year, despite falling oil prices and the Ebola crisis. South Africa’s economy, the second biggest in Africa is… – Continue reading
SAN DIEGO – A former J.P. Morgan Chase banker was ordered today to serve six months in prison for her role in a commercial bribery and tax-evasion scheme. While handing down the sentence to 51-year-old Lynda Sanabria in a San Diego courtroom, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez also ordered her… – Continue reading
A Gold Coast businessman has been banned from the financial services industry for taking $4 million from self-managed super fund (SMSF) investors to fund his own real estate investments. The Federal Court in Brisbane banned Craig Gore permanently and five other people from carrying on any business related to superannuation… – Continue reading
Poland has removed Gibraltar from its schedule of countries and territories that it considers to be non-cooperative tax havens, the latest in a string of countries to do the same. The move means Gibraltar companies have been freed from previously held restrictions when doing business with Polish companies. It follows… – Continue reading
State Street Corp. was ordered by regulators to revamp its compliance programs after deficiencies were found related to internal controls, customer due-diligence procedures and transaction monitoring. The Boston-based bank had warned last month that it would likely face a public enforcement action from the Federal Reserve and Massachusetts Division of… – Continue reading
New Zealand: Budget 2015 The New Zealand Budget was handed down on 21 May 2015 and included a new tax on residential property sold within two years of purchase (with some exceptions). For further information on the New Zealand Budget see PwC New Zealand’s Budget commentary. New Zealand: Issues paper… – Continue reading
From today, negotiation on the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) between Nigeria and Singapore will start in Abuja, aimed at enhancing business between the two countries. Revealing this in an interview with the African Independent Television (AIT), Nigerian High Commissioner to Singapore. Mrs. Nonye Rajis-Opara, said there would be… – Continue reading
The British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands have entered into agreements with the UK for automatic disclosure of information in respect of interests in financial accounts held by UK residents. Most UK residents are taxed on the “arising” basis meaning they are liable to pay UK tax on worldwide… – Continue reading
Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, has met with the new TAXE committee of the European Parliament and defended the territory’s tax ruling regime. The TAXE Committee was established earlier this year in the wake of the leak of confidential tax rulings provided by EU member states to certain multinationals. The… – Continue reading
New Delhi: The government on Sunday introduced simplified income tax return forms, abandoning a previous attempt to seek detailed disclosures of foreign trips and bank accounts from taxpayers, even as it retained clauses to check evasion. While taxpayers will not have to disclose details of all foreign travel undertaken by… – Continue reading
The European Union and Switzerland signed a bilateral agreement on the automatic exchange of financial information on Wednesday morning, reports Ahram Online. According to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), a major Swiss newspaper, the agreement commits both parties to collect information on banking accounts starting in 2017 and exchanging this… – Continue reading
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina tax officials say they’re seeking U.S. information about alleged corruption involving FIFA. Tax chief Ricardo Echegaray tells La Once Diez radio that his agency has asked the U.S. for “all the documentation that permits us to quantify” Argentina’s tax losses. And he’s not ruling out… – Continue reading
British Virgin Islands, Caymans and Turks & Caicos feature heavily in justice department indictment of senior football officials British overseas tax havens play a key role in what US authorities have called “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” corruption in the world of football, analysis by the Observer reveals. The 164-page US… – Continue reading
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in an exclusive interview with ANI said that his government is ‘fully committed’ on the black money issue, adding that they want to make it more difficult to evade taxes and siphon money abroad. “My Government is fully committed on the issue of Black Money…. – Continue reading
G7 Finance Ministers meeting in Dresden today discussed the reform needed and progress made regarding international taxation and the role of multinational companies. It is positive the G7 wants to spur on international tax reform to stop multinationals avoiding taxes, and wants to support tax administrations and fair taxation in… – Continue reading
FATCA Agreement Signed On 26 May 2015, Iceland and the United States signed a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Agreement. FATCA seeks to obtain information on accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in other countries. It requires U.S. financial institutions to withhold a portion of certain payments made to Foreign… – Continue reading
Irish citizens holding bank accounts in Switzerland will no longer be able to avail of the traditional secrecy pertaining to Swiss bank accounts, MEP Marian Harkin has said. The European Commission and Switzerland this week signed an agreement that is intended to clamp down on tax evasion. Both sides will… – Continue reading
DRESDEN — Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven (G-7) economic powers met on Thursday to discuss how to revive a faltering global recovery, with the US leaning on Europe to reach a deal to avert a Greek bankruptcy. The threat of a Greek default, rising oil prices and bond… – Continue reading
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced that four Swiss banks have reached a resolution with the Government under the DoJ Tax Division’s regularization program. The DoJ’s Swiss Bank Program was signed by the two countries on August 29, 2013. It provides a framework for Swiss banks that were… – Continue reading
On 31 March 2015 amendments were made to the Income Tax (Approved International Agreements) (Implementation) (United Kingdom and United States of America) Regulations, 2014 (the “2014 Regulations”) which brought FATCA-based reporting into force under Guernsey law. FATCA-based reporting is implemented in Guernsey pursuant to the UK-Guernsey IGA, signed on 22… – Continue reading
