Non-Resident Indians (NRI) constitutes a significant portion of buyer percentage when it comes to real estate transactions in India. Irrespective of constituting a considerable portion, they still face a lot of hassles in the process of taxation when buying or selling properties. Rajan Pillay representing his client who is an… – Continue reading
The objectives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Finance and Investment include enhancing the productive capacity of the economies in the region and thereby increasing trade opportunities to eventually alleviate poverty. To achieve the objectives, various strategies can be employed, including, among others, improving the investment regime,… – Continue reading
K+, a television joint venture between Vietnam and France, well-known as the exclusive broadcaster of the British Premier League in Vietnam, has reported an accumulative loss of VND1.9 trillion after five years of operation. Since 2009, when it made its debut, K+, the television corporation to which the French Canal+… – Continue reading
The medium-term uncertainty of the UK’s continued membership of the EU remains a cloud on Gibraltar’s financial horizon, for the Rock’s membership of the 27-nation body – and thus her role as a stepping-stone into Europe’s vast financial market – is under Britain’s umbrella. And it is partly in response… – Continue reading
Many states in our nation suffer the effects of over-taxation. Whether it’s high state income taxes pushing families to seek brighter economic climates or high corporate taxes compelling businesses to relocate their headquarters, taxes play a huge role in how state economies function. One of the most contentious and potentially… – Continue reading
France and Germany want to see common basic corporation tax rates across the EU, according to reports France and Germany are pushing plans to introduce a minimum corporation tax rate across the continent, it was reported today, in a move that could result in higher taxes on British companies. European… – Continue reading
As wealthy foreigners rush to get citizenship in Malta under a new programme, the residency requirement is taking many forms. Russians rent high-end villas, then stay in five-star hotels when they visit. An American financier plans to live in Switzerland but occasionally vacation in Malta. One Vietnamese businessman, eager to… – Continue reading
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey should not be ruling out particular aspects of the tax system that could be reformed, such as GST, superannuation concessions and negative gearing, KPMG’s chairman Peter Nash says. Mr Nash said when the tax white paper was first announced by the Coalition… – Continue reading
The news that Royal Bank of Canada plans to sell its wealth management services in Barbados no doubt caused some people to question the island’s future as a major centre for this type of business. After all, if the biggest player is leaving the field, what might this say to… – Continue reading
Caribbean IFCs continue to face the growing challenges as global standards struggle to manage certain risks across borders. Some of these challenges (such as cross border tax information sharing) have maintained their original format but intensified and we have seen several new initiatives (for example a push for beneficial ownership… – Continue reading
The long term weather forecast for the international finance centre of the Isle of Man is looking bright at the end of a year of legislative and regulatory change designed to ensure that the Island remains commercially friendly with a governmental and business infrastructure geared up to allow new and… – Continue reading
E-commerce giant Amazon has begun booking revenue in individual European companies, a move that tax expert Heather Self of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said is probably influenced by upcoming regulatory changes.26 May 2015 “As of 1 May, Amazon EU Sarl is recording retail sales made to customers… – Continue reading
As another season of summer travel starts, Canadian residents with US ties should make sure they are thinking carefully about their tax obligations. Tax compliance may not be first in the minds of most people planning trips to the US, but Congress and the Obama administration certainly are thinking about… – Continue reading
Six of the biggest names in global finance shelled out billions of dollars Wednesday to settle charges of rigging currency markets, but liberal lawmakers complain the government is just doling out slaps on the wrist. On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced a settlement that also saw five banks plead guilty… – Continue reading
A delegation from the European Parliament’s Special Tax Rulings Committee visited Switzerland on May 22. The delegation was received by Switzerland’s State Secretary for International Financial Matters, Jacques de Watteville. According to the Swiss Federal Council, talks focused on international corporate tax reform efforts and Switzerland’s work in this area…. – Continue reading
Reporting Australian Financial Institutions must report to the Australian Taxation Office by 31 July 2015 on their U.S. accounts or recalcitrant accounts. These financial institutions must have undertaken the prescribed due diligence procedures required under the IGA. Who must report? It is critical that you determine whether you are a… – Continue reading
Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) and foreign organizations last year topped all other economic sectors of Vietnam’s economy in social insurance debt with over VND2.13 trillion (US$97.9 million), according to a government report on the management and use of social insurance funds in 2014. This was a staggering 192.5 percent year-on-year surge,… – Continue reading
On May 20, 2015, the US Department of the Treasury released for public comment draft updates to the US Model Income Tax Convention, including provisions to deny treaty benefits to companies that change their tax residence via inversion transactions. The Treasury said other changes are intended to ensure that the… – Continue reading
Switzerland has begun online publication of names of foreigners and foreign firms wanted in tax probes by their countries of origin, including Germany. American citizens are identified only by their initials. The Swiss Sunday newspaper “Sonntagszeitung” said the alpine nation was flooded with formal tracing requests from foreign tax authorities…. – Continue reading
May 25 (Reuters) – Romania’s government will send a draft law on royalty taxes for the oil and gas sector to parliament in September, Deputy Finance Minister Dan Manolescu told an energy seminar on Monday. The new tax system will likely include differentiated royalties for onshore and offshore extraction and… – Continue reading
Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Foreign investors may not fear the U.S. sanctions on FATCA during operations on the Azerbaijani stock market. Director of local investment company PSG¬Broker Matanat Iskenderova has stated that the stock market of Azerbaijan is fully compliant with the standards in the field of counteraction to money¬laundering. “Likewise, it… – Continue reading
Businesses that operate globally continue to face complex tax issues, and transfer pricing – the practice of establishing arm’s-length prices for related-party cross-border transactions – has become more important than ever. When it comes to transfer pricing, I consider the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational… – Continue reading
Jakarta. The government is studying whether to reduce next year the corporate income tax to as low as 17.5 percent from 25 percent now, the president’s chief of staff said on Monday, in a move that would push companies to comply with tax payments. “[Regarding the corporate income tax], it… – Continue reading
Uzbekistan has developed a draft law on amendments and additions to the Tax Code regarding the companies established by the country’s residents in offshore zones. This remark was made by Uzbekistan’s Prosecutor-General Ikhtiyor Abdullayev, who was addressing the plenary session of the Eurasian Group on combating Money laundering and financing… – Continue reading
On 22 May 2015, Switzerland and Oman signed an Income Tax Treaty. The treaty will come into force after the two countries exchange ratification instruments. The provisions of the treaty will have effect from 1 January of the calendar year next following that in which the agreement enters into force…. – Continue reading
In November 2013 the governments of the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) entered into intergovernmental agreements with the United Kingdom (“UK IGAs”) which contained provisions for the establishment of a framework for the reporting of financial account information. That framework is similar in scope to the framework… – Continue reading
Exposure draft legislation to extend the application of the GST to supplies of intangible products by foreign suppliers to Australian consumers has been released for consultation. While there has been considerable focus on the proposed expansion of the GST regime to cover supplies of “digital products”, the changes will also… – Continue reading
Litigation on transfer pricing issues has reached humongous proportion in India. The existing law of the use of arithmetic mean for determination of arm’s length price can be credited as a major igniter of such litigations as arithmetic mean had a tendency to be skewed by outlier comparables. Considering this… – Continue reading
Thailand’s capacity for tracking how multinational companies shift income across borders within the same group to understate tax payments will increase after a transfer pricing law comes into force. The transfer pricing law, which is being deliberated by the Council of State, will authorise Revenue Department officials to ask parent… – Continue reading
It’s shaping as a fight that could recover hundreds of millions in lost tax revenue. In one corner is the commissioner of taxation. In the other, Australia’s two biggest miners — BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. At stake is their use of Singapore-based marketing hubs, which until now have remained… – Continue reading
The Serenissima : Foreign Secretary replied to the interpellation submitted by Lazzari and Pedini Amati / FATCA, Valentini: “It is not to be considered as a tax shelter” / Agreement “virtually in place since July 2014”, the signature will come after the ok from Use “FATCA is not an instrument… – Continue reading
While marketplace competition is desirable, competition among governments is not always desirable Is more competition always better? Most conventional economists would say yes. And, in the marketplace, that nugget of economists’ wisdom usually holds true. Every student of first-year economics is taught that competition is good for consumers, as it… – Continue reading
America the not so brave CRACKING down on tax evasion “has been a core piece of President Obama’s agenda” since before he took office, according to a spokesman. His administration’s campaign to that end has been a “groundbreaking” success, according to the Department of Justice, the agency that has led… – Continue reading
On May 18, the Supreme Court decided a Maryland case involving double taxation. Maryland’s tax code does not give full credit to residents who also pay taxes in states where they work. The Court sided with the taxpayers, and the decision may cost some states and cities millions of dollars…. – Continue reading
The government is crafting legislation to compel mining firms to release production data to the fiscus to help curb illicit financial flows (IFFs) and transfer pricing which is costing African countries at least $50 billion annually, finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Friday. IFFs have become a highly emotive issue… – Continue reading
Big pharma’s poison pill The tax commissioner wants a senate inquiry to examine tax minimisation by multinational drug companies. Analysis with Heath Aston. Pharmaceutical companies will be put under the microscope by the Senate tax avoidance inquiry which recently exposed rampant “offshoring” of profits by Google, Apple and Microsoft. Tax… – Continue reading
UK rental prices for the three months to April rose by 10 per cent British expats living in the UAE are taking advantage of rising rents in the UK to purchase investment properties, according to Offshore bank, Skipton International. The bank says it has seen a lot of interest from… – Continue reading
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) – a law passed in 2010 to tackle the abuse of using offshore financial accounts for the purpose of evading US taxes – is now in effect after a two-year delay. As it requires foreign financial institutions worldwide to identify and report to… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The finance ministry on Thursday issued the draft scheme of proposed rules for computation of arm’s length price for international and specified domestic transactions between related entities undertaken on or after April 1, 2014. The use of multiple-year data and the “range” concept in the transfer pricing regime… – Continue reading
The owner of the horse vying to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978 asks that a federal judge dismiss a lawsuit that claims he owes $1.65 million in gambling debts. Ahmed Zayat’s horse, American Pharoah has already won the first two legs of the Triple Crown—the Kentucky Derby… – Continue reading
Belgium and the Russian Federation announced in March 2007 that they would negotiate a new double tax treaty (the “Treaty”). Nearly seven years after discussions began on 20 November 2008, the Treaty was finally signed on 19 May 2015 in Brussels. This newsflash is based on an unofficial version of… – Continue reading
The Ukrainian legislation for transfer pricing came into force in 2013, with implementation of respective amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine (“CCU”). However, at present the transfer pricing rules (provided for the CCU) are not applied accurately. In light of the above, in order to clarify the transfer pricing… – Continue reading
The Ukrainian legislation for transfer pricing came into force in 2013, with implementation of respective amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine (“CCU”). However, at present the transfer pricing rules (provided for the CCU) are not applied accurately. In light of the above, in order to clarify the transfer pricing… – Continue reading
The UK’s introduction of the diverted profits tax (DPT) has dismayed tax practitioners and their multinational clients. Rushed through parliament (ahead of its dissolution before the general election) and in effect as of April 1, the DPT seemed intended to appease public anger at multinationals failing to pay their ”fair… – Continue reading
New Delhi, May 22: The government plans to phase out exemptions and lower the effective tax rates to global levels to encourage better compliance and leave more money in the hands of the people. Speaking to reporters on the completion of one year of the Narendra Modi-government, finance minister Arun… – Continue reading
It has become a $2 trillion question. Why don’t companies have to make clear exactly how much of their profits are generated offshore each year and not taxed in this country? Why must investors engage in jujitsu to estimate these figures and the risks associated with them? Companies, like individuals,… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD – The PML-N government is mulling to bring amendments in law to empower Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to purchase urban land at about 25 per cent over and above rates declared in transfer deeds in order to stop tax evasion. Currently, the people involved in the real estate… – Continue reading
On 15 May 2015, Singapore has implemented a new enhanced regulatory framework for Singapore Corporate Services Providers. The strengthened regime for Singapore Corporate Services Providers is expected to help further boost the reputation of Singapore as a trusted international financial and business centre with robust regulatory frameworks against money laundering… – Continue reading
Tax Treaty Details Become Available The details of the Income Tax Treaty between Mauritius and the Republic of Congo have become available. The treaty will come into force after the two countries exchange ratification instruments. The provisions of the treaty will have effect from 1 January of the calendar year… – Continue reading
Details of new Tax treaty Become Available The details of the new Income Tax Treaty between Netherlands and Germany have become available following its ratification by Netherlands on 15 May 2015. The new treaty was signed on 12 April 2012. Once in force and effective, the new treaty will replace… – Continue reading
