Lee Curthoys, corporate tax lead at Radius, looks at Singapore’s changing transfer pricing regulations and tells us what we need to know. For a number of reasons, ranging from public safety to proximity to other Asian markets, Singapore is a popular destination for businesses looking to expand globally. In fact,… – Continue reading
On 17 March 2015 Cyprus and Bahrain signed a new double taxation agreement. Like all of Cyprus’s recent DTAs it closely follows the 2010 OECD Model Tax Convention. Its main provisions are summarised below. Taxes covered The agreement applies to taxes on income imposed by either country. In Bahrain these… – Continue reading
The outlook for uranium, moribund for some time, is looking up. And that means shares of Cameco Corp., the Saskatoon-based miner one analyst calls “the only real blue-chip stock in the sector,” are up, too – about 20 per cent from their 52-week lows. The stock has received a host… – Continue reading
A British company run by the Conservative’s election guru Lynton Crosby lost more than £1 million in two years, public records show. Accounts filed by Crosby Textor Ltd reveal that the firm, owned by Mr Crosby and his business partner Mark Textor made losses of £511,000 in 2014 and £510,000… – Continue reading
According to the latest research conducted by Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels from University of Kent, 31 per cent of American citizens living outside the United States are going to renounce their citizenship. Three per cents are in the process right now. The reason of such citizenship renunciation is the intrusive… – Continue reading
In response to Pranay Gupte’s story on a story published by Firstpost, the Secretary to the Mauritius cabinet, S Seebaluck, has rebutted some of the points made in the story titled: “Mauritius cracks whip on Muslims, not a’ role model of democracy’ as PM Modi said after all.” The following… – Continue reading
Dixcart, an international business support services provider, has released a new guide on the UK’s Diverted Profits Tax, which was altered ahead of its introduction on April 1, 2015. The DPT is intended to counter aggressive tax avoidance by multinational companies. It is charged at a rate of 25 percent… – Continue reading
“Tax policy and administration should incentivise compliance. They should be administered fairly, transparently, with minimum discretion, with no harassment of taxpayers but also ensuring that tax evasion is dealt with firmly.” Promising a ‘modern tax system’ with low and globally competitive rates, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured foreign investors… – Continue reading
It has never been easier for Americans to start businesses while living outside the U.S. If you are an American entrepreneur operating abroad, however, be aware of U.S. tax reporting obligations on non-U.S. businesses operated by Americans and make sure you are leveraging the value of U.S qualified retirement accounts… – Continue reading
When Hillary Clinton recently borrowed Elizabeth Warren’s talking points and claimed “the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top” (in our economic and political system) against regular working people, did she mention reforming the tax code — and then offer any solutions? The simple answer is… – Continue reading
The White House’s proposed highway bill, the $478 billion GROW AMERICA Act, contains numerous funding options for highways, bridges, transit and transportation programs, but what stands out for truckers? Perhaps the most talked-about provision as of press time is one that would allow states more latitude to place tolls on… – Continue reading
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. may need to accommodate activist shareholders with a merger or buyout. Starwood, which owns high-end hotel chains such as W and Westin, has one of the worst stock-return and growth outlooks in the industry. It’s also entering the second month of searching for a… – Continue reading
The British Virgin Islands International Tax Authority (ITA) has launched its BVI Financial Account Reporting System (BVIFARS). The portal was opened yesterday and is ready to accept enrolment applications from BVI Reporting Financial Institutions (FI) which are required to submit information under the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the BVI and… – Continue reading
Foreign owners of UK property assets are being advised to seek property valuations to avoid falling foul of changes to Capital Gains Tax, writes David Westgate – Managing Director, Andrews Letting & Management CHANGES to Capital Gains Tax for UK property investors based overseas were first announced by George Osborne… – Continue reading
The measure probably won’t advance further, at least not this year. The U.S. House voted to repeal the 99-year-old U.S. estate tax amid a partisan clash over whether the government should break up concentrated wealth or make it easier to pass along assets to the next generation. The House passed… – Continue reading
At least 21 financial advisers in Switzerland charged with aiding American tax dodgers are at large With its tan marble floors and leather-clad reception desk, the staid Zurich offices of the Julius Baer Group, one of Switzerland’s largest private banks, are an unlikely place to find an alleged fugitive from… – Continue reading
Last week some of Australia’s biggest and richest companies voluntarily fronted up to a senate inquiry on corporate tax avoidance. Bigwigs from big brands, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals, squirmed under the spotlight as they were grilled about how they (legally) shift profits offshore… – Continue reading
Tax inspectors conducted last year 130 tax inspections which included an analysis of the affiliation relations of the taxpayer and the transfer prices applied as part of the transactions undertaken with the identified related parties, says Transfer Pricing Services (TPS). “Last year were conducted a third of the total number… – Continue reading
On March 30, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it reached the first non-prosecution agreement under the Swiss bank program with BSI, S.A. (BSI). BSI, one of Switzerland’s ten largest banks, has agreed to pay $211 million in fines and cooperate in any related civil or criminal… – Continue reading
During the multi-year build-up to FATCA,1 the primary focus was on entity classification and registration, and less attention was paid to the compliance obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. entities affected by FATCA. Withholding and information reporting responsibilities under FATCA were generally known, but with the numerous deadline postponements and references… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said the government will press ahead with Rs 40,000 crore tax demand on foreign institutional investors as FIIs lost a case against levy of tax on capital gains they made. “FIIs went to a tribunal, which is called Authority for Advance Rulings (against levy… – Continue reading
Get three tax advisers in the same room and they will come up with at least four definitions of tax avoidance: put in a couple of members of the public and the total will double. There are a few purists who dispute that tax avoidance exists – either something is… – Continue reading
ENERGY giant Woodside Petroleum says its Singapore office was set up for marketing, not tax minimisation. “THE office in Singapore for us is actually not set up at all for tax optimisation, it’s set up because that’s where marketing is done,” chief executive Peter Coleman told Woodside’s annual general meeting…. – Continue reading
China started a campaign to stop the use of offshore companies to transfer the ill-gotten gains from corruption and bribery overseas. The People’s Bank of China, the central bank, will join with four ministries including the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, to crack down on underground banks, offshore company accounts… – Continue reading
OECD director admits UK’s Google tax may undermine some of the body’s BEPS work GOVERNMENT plans to introduce a diverted profits tax have caused embarrassment at the OECD, according to Pascal Saint-Amans [pictured], the body’s director leading the Base Erosion and Profit-Shifting (BEPS) project. Appearing via video link before Australia’s… – Continue reading
New Delhi: The government has set the record straight on tax disputes, maintaining they are not covered by the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) and need to be judicially and legally settled. “…But again on the BIPA issue, let me mention, it has been our consistent view that… – Continue reading
Corporate treasury departments will have to start complying with International tax rules and provide documentation for transactions according to recent reports. G20 leaders attempted to reform the international tax system in July 2012 by setting up the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. This task was given to the… – Continue reading
Wealthy Americans are running out of ways to hide their money. The IRS has been relentless in prying open the secret Swiss bank account—dozens of Swiss banks are cooperating with the agency. Just last month, a settlement with the private bank BSI revealed bankers used coded language and nameless credit… – Continue reading
As foreign portfolio investors balk at India’s claim of $6.4 billion in back taxes, the finance ministry’s latest demand isn’t damping interest in the nation’s stocks and bonds. Foreigners were net buyers of local equities every day barring one since the finance ministry said April 6 it is well within… – Continue reading
Cross border transactions involving German entities investing in French real estate may need to be restructured as a result of proposed changes to the France/Germany double tax treaty, according to two experts. French tax expert Franck Lagorce and German tax expert Werner Geisselmeier, both of Pinsent Masons, the law firm… – Continue reading
In a major relief to Vodafone, the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the income tax department’s appeal challenging Vodafone Essar Gujarat’s transfer of certain passive assets to Vodafone Essar Infrastructure. However, it said that the department is free to raise tax demand under relevant tax laws but can’t block the… – Continue reading
In October 2012 Portugal launched its Golden Visa Residence Programme with the aim to provide prospective Non-EU foreign investors with the opportunity to take up residency in Portugal through investment. Recently, the Portuguese Parliament promulgated a set of new rules pertaining to this particular programme. The said rules are still… – Continue reading
In This Issue: – Fifth Circuit Ruling in BMC Software, Inc. v. Comm’r. Is Good News for Taxpayers – When Is a Second Inspection Not a Second Inspection? – Captive Insurance Litigation: Key 2014 Cases – Excerpt from Fifth Circuit Ruling in BMC Software, Inc. v. Comm’r. Is Good News… – Continue reading
Washington State Auditor Troy X. Kelley has been indicted for federal income tax evasion, lying to investigators, concealing millions of dollars, and making repeated false statements. The 10-count indictment relates to Mr. Kelley’s career before becoming the state’s auditor. Not surprisingly, though, Governor Jay Inslee wants Mr. Kelley to resign…. – Continue reading
Top Democrats in both the House and the Senate are bringing back legislation to crack down on offshore tax deals. Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) and five other Democratic lawmakers are proposing to ban companies that shift their legal address abroad and score a lower… – Continue reading
DALLAS (AP) — The IRS wants $3.2 billion to cover back taxes that it says are owed by a prominent Texas businessman and his late brother who the IRS says hid income by setting up overseas trust funds. The Internal Revenue Service detailed its claim in documents filed Wednesday in… – Continue reading
NASSAU, Bahamas — The Ministry of Financial Services is doing everything necessary to ensure the full compliance of The Bahamas with established international norms and standards, as the Ministry prepares the country to be ready to comply with the United States Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The Ministries of… – Continue reading
Financial institutions and tax administrations will get another opportunity next week to test the FATCA International Data Exchange Service (IDES), the technology that will be used to exchange data securely under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Testing will be open from April 20 at 12pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)… – Continue reading
Claims of using Malta to reduce tax liability ‘malicious and libellous’ – Lynton Crosby British Prime Minister David Cameron’s electoral guru, Australian Lynton Crosby, has rejected a Labour attack on his personal tax affairs as a “made up negative story”. On Thursday the British Labour Party called on Mr Crosby… – Continue reading
* Cite new delay of merger with Hudson City Regional bank analysts at Janney Capital Markets on Tuesday lowered their earnings estimates for M&T Bank Corp., citing the latest delay of the Buffalo commercial bank’s merger with Paramus-based Hudson City Bancorp Inc. “We had previously expected the merger to close… – Continue reading
European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager is preparing to reopen the antitrust case against Google following the settlement with the search giant under Joaquin Almunia two years ago. Vestager has been speaking to various advisors both inside and outside of Europe, alongside companies affected by Google’s anti-competitive search results. She… – Continue reading
A Conservative Government would not raise value-added tax (VAT), income tax, or National Insurance contributions (NICs), the party’s manifesto says. The manifesto confirms several pre-election promises. It includes a commitment that the Conservative Party will raise the personal (tax-exempt) allowance to GBP12,500 (USD18,439) and the threshold for the 40 percent… – Continue reading
French President François Hollande said on Wednesday that a drawn-out tax evasion row with Switzerland “is behind us” as he launched a visit aimed at mending fences. The two-day trip is the first state visit to Switzerland by a French president since Jacques Chirac’s stopover 17 years ago. Paris is… – Continue reading
The tax code’s complexity and increases in tax rates has made it more difficult to add jobs in Clark County, argued a Springfield business owner as he testified in the U.S. House on Wednesday. Competitive tax rates for small businesses are critical, especially in industries like manufacturing, said Dan McGregor,… – Continue reading
Within the current discussion of corporate tax there are a number of terms used to describe the corporate strategies and behaviours involved, such as “tax minimisation” or “tax avoidance”. There are also other terms used in the academic accounting literature on tax. This can result in confusion about what exactly… – Continue reading
Ahead of this week’s income tax filing deadline, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation Foundation said the U.S. should exempt its companies’ foreign earnings from corporate taxes. In contrast to current tax policy, the groups’ analysis argued that exempting those earnings would allow… – Continue reading
Israel joined the OECD in 2010. Background The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is spearheading a concerted effort to help governments around the world collect more taxes. The OECD is doing so by issuing a series of recommendations for tightening up corporate and personal tax measures. Individual governments are… – Continue reading
One in three wealthy people who may be dodging tax will get a call or personal visit by the Australian Taxation Office as it moves to ensure the richest Australians and private companies pay their fair share of tax. The ATO wants to beat its 2013-14 rate of raising $1.1… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street banks and other financial firms should pay new fees to bankroll their own government oversight, according to a member of the top U.S. derivatives regulator. Sharon Y. Bowen, a Democrat on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said Congress should let the agency set fees on banks… – Continue reading
NEW YORK • When it comes to taxes, corporate America is getting a bit less corporate. And a bit less American. Fueled by a wave of inversions, a record 54 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of leading U.S. firms are now at least partially exempt from the… – Continue reading
