The hollowing out of tax collected for public purposes by rich and poor nations is not confined to technology and mining companies, according to a major leak of secret tax agreements covering more than 340 companies around the world. The documents, published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, include… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: After reaching a significant breakthrough in information exchange on bank accounts with Switzerland, the Narendra Modi government has now turned the heat on European tax haven Cyprus as part of its fight against black money. The government wants to drop a provision in the tax treaty between the… – Continue reading
A senior civil servant has come forward with information relating to incidents that occurred over a 30-year period. THE GARDAÍ HAVE confirmed that they investigated serious allegations sent to them by a serving civil servant a number of years ago relating to tax avoidence claims. In a statement issued this… – Continue reading
Imagine a scenario in which a Hong Kong-based hedge fund manager establishes and appoints an offshore management company to provide investment management services for its fund. On one hand, the fund’s structure ensures a clear operational base. But at another level, key governance procedures are often neglected. These tasks include… – Continue reading
The Dutch tax rules are attractive to large multinationals. The same is true for countries such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Luxembourg. This writes the General Court of Auditors in a report, which was requested by the Second Chamber. The report was published today. Large multinationals search around the… – Continue reading
ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt called on Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to come clean Thursday (6 November), following revelations of massive tax-avoidance practices in his native Luxembourg, during Juncker’s premiership. In a communiqué, Verhofstadt stated that the Commission should come to the European Parliament immediately, in order to explain if the… – Continue reading
Cristina de Borbón could stand in the dock over claims involving husband’s charity unless special law is used to end case A Spanish court has approved charges of tax fraud against Princess Cristina de Borbón, the sister of King Felipe VI – paving the way for an unprecedented criminal trial…. – Continue reading
The global base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) rules, aimed at collecting a fair share of taxes from multinationals operating in different tax jurisdictions, are likely to be finalised by December 2015, a senior finance ministry official today said. “Work on BEPS is moving very fast. If things go on… – Continue reading
BEPS Action 10: Proposed modifications to Chapter VII of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines relating to low value-adding intra-group services On 3 November 2014, the OECD, as part of its work on the Action Plan to address Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (‘BEPS’), released a Discussion Draft in relation to Action… – Continue reading
Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan has rapidly abandoned several agreements with multinationals aimed at giving companies certainty about the tax they are required to pay in Australia in future years, after deeming they had misled and engaged in “aggressive tax planning”. Taxpayers can enter into a deal to lock in the… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has added another 12,760 foreign financial institutions to the latest Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) list. The FATCA list is the US government’s definitive database of overseas financial institutions complying with the reporting tax information laws that started in July 2014. The current list,… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON: The United States Treasury has opened a new front in its war against offshore tax evasion. But for some it amounts to financial imperialism. Americans with legitimate bank accounts outside the country and foreigners working in the US have begun receiving letters from their banks in Paris, Tokyo, Johannesburg… – Continue reading
Washington – While a major global campaign to cut down on tax evasion is picking up momentum, anti-poverty advocates say the initiative overlooks the world’s poorest countries. Last week, 51 countries from four continents agreed to systematically exchange tax information by 2017, with the aim of allowing authorities to quickly… – Continue reading
The US Treasury has opened a new front in its war against offshore tax evasion. But for some it amounts to financial imperialism. Americans with legitimate bank accounts outside the country, and foreigners working in the United States, have begun receiving letters from their banks in Paris, Tokyo, Johannesburg and… – Continue reading
Being a non-UK resident can offer certain tax advantages however new regulation around capital gains tax proposed to take effect next year, may have implications for non-residents when they dispose of a residential property as Kirstie Carr of Mogers Drewett explains. Capital gains tax (CGT) is a tax which applies… – Continue reading
Covidien transferred right to $6.9bn loan to new entity Multinational medical supplies group, Covidien, transferred the right to loans totalling $6.9 billion from Luxembourg to a new Irish company as part of an elaborate inter-group tax planning arrangement agreed with the Luxembourg tax authorities in 2009. Under the deal, the… – Continue reading
Australia risks losing billions in tax revenues from resources sales to Asia if global efforts to stop multinational tax avoidance backfire, Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder said. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development proposes to change the basis on which profits are taxed, as part of its global anti-avoidance… – Continue reading
After the US bailed out the insurance conglomerate AIG in 2008, the company’s employees kept to business as usual—which included setting up complex tax structures to avoid taxes in Europe and Japan. In 2008, the company was on the brink of a bankruptcy that would have created huge losses throughout… – Continue reading
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin told a luncheon talk organised by Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) here on Thurs that 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) should keep in mind that the people have a right to expect transparency and accountability from it as taxpayer funds are involved. The… – Continue reading
The tax commissioner has rejected six agreements with multinationals in the past six months after deciding they had misled the Tax Office and engaged in “aggressive tax planning”. Multinationals can enter deals with the Tax Office to lock in the basis for pricing cross-border transactions, under so-called “advanced pricing agreements”,… – Continue reading
The black money brouhaha is turning rapidly into a whitewash special. Part of the first report of August 2014 submitted by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the issue of black money stashed in foreign banks reveals very little fire behind all the smoke. It says that… – Continue reading
From 1970 to 2011, US$2 trillion from Latin America and the Caribbean have been funneled to offshore tax havens. It’s money that moves behind the scenes, in illicit financial flows (IFF). These transnational transfers come from three sources of illegal funds: corruption (bribery), money laundering (contraband, trafficking of drugs, weapons,… – Continue reading
The National Tax Service (NTS) said Thursday that it will help foreign companies in Korea reduce potential tax uncertainty regarding their cross-border transactions with parent firms. From 2015, the NTS will allow foreign firms that earn less than 50 billion won ($46 million) a year in sales to focus on… – Continue reading
New Delhi: As it attempts to unearth black money stashed abroad, India today said the Grouping of 20 major economies(G20) of which it is a member is committed to a global response to deal with cross border tax avoidance and evasion. Tax evasion will be a key issue at G20’s… – Continue reading
Sigmar Gabriel calls on Juncker Commission to prioritise the issue German economics minister Sigmar Gabriel has warned that countries that permit large-scale corporate tax avoidance “take an axe to European solidarity”. In the wake of the Luxembourg Leaks, finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble told the Bundestag that the era of corporate… – Continue reading
Papers show firms used internal loans and interest payments to cut tax bills Leaked tax documents show arrangements were signed off by EU state They are legal, but are predicted to trigger calls to stop firms avoiding taxes British companies using scheme include Dyson and drugs group Shire Some of… – Continue reading
FIRST National Bank has moved to capture a bigger slice of the offshore banking market. The FirstRand subsidiary will open its first Channel Islands branch in 2015 in the tax haven of Guernsey. When approached by Business Day, FNB confirmed it plans to open the branch with Stuart Talbot, formerly… – Continue reading
“Judges are expected to decide cases as framed by the parties, then step back and allow the appellate process to unfold. In this case, the trial judge did neither.” – Taxpayer’s Supplemental Memorandum of Fact and Law The transfer pricing case of McKesson v. The Queen has raised procedural issues… – Continue reading
G20 leaders are under pressure to go further in their efforts to crack down on tax avoidance after the revelation that thousands of companies, including several major Australian firms and multinationals operating in Australia, have legally avoided tax with complicated deals negotiated through Luxembourg. The chairman of a Senate inquiry… – Continue reading
Directors of the Australian government’s Future Fund as well as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Macquarie and AMP could be forced to face a Senate inquiry into tax avoidance following a global investigation into secret tax deals in Luxembourg. Thousands of leaked documents published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on Thursday revealed… – Continue reading
November 7: The KPMG member firm in Luxembourg has prepared a report that addresses the availability of withholding tax refunds for UTICS funds, including Luxembourg SICAVs, in Sweden. Swedish courts have confirmed that many types of investment funds are eligible for a full refund of Swedish withholding tax. Many funds… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 6: India has circulated a paper on the issue of taxation of global companies, an issue which will be raised at the forthcoming G-20 meeting in Brisbane later this month. Briefing newspersons on the meeting, Suresh Prabhu, the ‘Sherpa’ for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20… – Continue reading
FATCA compliance is going to cost more than anticipated, research has revealed More than half (55%) of financial organisations now expect to exceed their original budget to adhere to the new rules, while only 35% believe they will stay on budget, a survey from Thomson Reuters has found. The Foreign… – Continue reading
Spanish soprano to pay fine after already returning the €500,000 she withheld in 2010 World-famous soprano Montserrat Caballé is close to ending the darkest chapter of her career. The opera singer has reached a deal with the Spanish tax authorities over more than €500,000 that prosecutors claim she withheld in… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS – Dividend, interest and royalty payments that companies let pass through the Netherlands to avoid taxation have increased substantially in the past decade, the Netherlands Court of Audit has found. In a report published on Thursday (6 November), the court writes that tax laws and treaties that originally were… – Continue reading
The Chinese government has been accused of blocking key anti-corruption measures ahead of the G20 Leaders Summit in Brisbane. Corruption monitor Transparency International says all the G20 nations except China have agreed on draft beneficial ownership principles seeking to improve the transparency of company ownership and control. Tranparency International’s Maggie… – Continue reading
The European Commission has requested information from seven member states in state aid cases involving taxation: Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Britain and has opened four in-depth investigations in Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta, European Commission Margaritis Schinas said today. He was commenting after a media report said… – Continue reading
Sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) is bringing back the RM7.18 billion it had invested in the Cayman Islands, despite making good returns. Deputy finance minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the fund had already brought back 60% of its funds, and the balance 40% will return to Malaysia by year-end,… – Continue reading
Government intends to crack down on misuse of Danish companies The minister for business and growth, Henrik Sass Larsen, announced yesterday a new set of law proposals designed to stop Denmark being used as a tax haven. The move comes in the wake of a wave of media attention around… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS – Aid funding intended for private enterprises in developing country is being moved through offshore tax havens, potentially hindering tax collections in the developing countries it was meant to help. Government operated aid and development organizations around the world routinely route investments and funds through entities domiciled in offshore… – Continue reading
While American televisions and newspapers delved deep into the weeds in their coverage of this week’s midterms elections, Finland’s media turned their attention to their own national spectacle of civic duty and patriotism — taxes. Normally tax season is nothing to get excited about, but it’s an anticipated event for… – Continue reading
Nov 5 (Reuters) – The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched an onsite examination into Hong Kong-based Taiwanese banks’ loan exposure to mainland Chinese companies, banking sources said on Tuesday. The HKMA, which is responsible for maintaining Hong Kong’s monetary and banking stability, stepped up its supervision of Hong… – Continue reading
Beijing (ANTARA News) – The Chinese government has agreed to exempt Garuda Indonesia from business tax after the national flag carrier flies to China for ten years. The agreement will take effect next year, Indonesian Ambassador to China and Mongolia Soegeng Rahardjo said here on Wednesday. Under article 8 of… – Continue reading
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9afd1680-52e3-11e4-9221-00144feab7de.html#ixzz3IYBSVmwd For decades, regional authorities such as Wallonia have had to show great creativity in… – Continue reading
Ernst & Young Solutions LLP, Singapore* It has been eight years since the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) first released its Circular on Transfer Pricing Guidelines. During that time, there have been significant changes in the international tax landscape. In Singapore, we have seen supplementary guidance from the IRAS… – Continue reading
A source revealed that in order to settle the investigation into whether Bank Leumi Le-Israel (LUMI) BM helped Americans evade taxes, New York’s banking regulator will ask for over $300 million. The head of the state’s Department of Financial Services, Benjamin Lawsky, is looking for an amount that surpasses what… – Continue reading
Onetime Texas billionaire Sam Wyly and the estate of his late brother Charles just can’t seem to outsmart the Securities and Exchange Commission. Their latest attempt to evade the consequences of their allegedly fraudulent offshore trust scheme failed Monday, when U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin of Manhattan, in a ruling… – Continue reading
The Writ Petition filed by the NDA Government in mid-October consists of two parts. The first part deals with the issue of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement [DTAA], the information obtained from Liechtenstein through Germany and confidentiality obligations of Indian Government under the said DTAA. I had dealt extensively on this… – Continue reading
As the Irish government moves to close one door to corporate tax avoidance, it is opening another. Tucked into legislation to eliminate a much criticized tax structure known as the “Double Irish” is a separate provision that would allow companies to pay no corporate tax on profits earned from patents,… – Continue reading
The Australian tax office wants comments on a 2016 plan for buyers of some property worth more than AUS$2.5m sold by foreigners to withhold 10% for the tax office Overseas owners selling prime property in Australia may have 10% taken out as part of the deal, under tax proposals being… – Continue reading
