The United States is pushing measures to close tax evasion loopholes with global co-operation at the G-20 summit in Sydney, Australia, where the group of 20 advanced and emerging economies are meeting. The U.S. is bent on reducing the loopholes used by MNCs to avoid tax. Just ahead of the… – Continue reading
Deal comes as federal authorities escalate criminal probe into allegations Credit Suisse and other Swiss banks helped U.S. clients duck taxes on assets in offshore accounts. Credit Suisse is paying $196 million and admitting wrongdoing to settle civil charges it violated federal securities laws by providing financial advisory services to… – Continue reading
The battle against offshore tax evasion is gaining momentum after Australia and the US struck a deal to combat tax-dodgers and G20 members prepared to sign off on a scheme for the automatic exchange of tax information. American Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew, and federal Treasurer, Joe Hockey, announced in Sydney… – Continue reading
The White House is targeting overseas corporate-tax avoidance in its budget for fiscal 2015. President Obama will unveil a slew of proposals on March 4 that would, among other things, tighten rules for digital transactions that some companies design to limit the taxes they pay on certain income, the WSJ’s… – Continue reading
It’s a u-turn, but unavoidable: bankers and politicians are preparing for the automatic exchange of tax information. Switzerland has helped develop the new standard, which the OECD wants to fast-track worldwide. The days when Swiss finance ministers said banking secrecy was non-negotiable and carved in stone are over. Switzerland has… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Continuing its crackdown on black moneymenace, India has entered into an agreement with Switzerland for liberal interpretation of identity requirements for gathering information about illicit funds stashed away by its citizens in Swiss banks. “Government has also signed a mutual agreement with government of Swiss Confederation for liberal interpretation of the… – Continue reading
Fugitive mainland Chinese tycoon Zeng Wei, who is facing extradition to Hong Kong from the United States, is tied to at least five offshore companies, including one that was involved in a multimillion-dollar bribes-for-loans racket investigated by the ICAC, leaked company documents show. The property developer, hotel and golf course… – Continue reading
Former treasurer Wayne Swan has warned that Australia risks losing global influence unless this year’s G20 summit achieves concrete results on issues such as multinational tax avoidance. Ahead of this weekend’s meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers in Sydney, Mr Swan also urged the Abbott government not to… – Continue reading
Irish Corporate Tax 2014: The current Irish governance system has remained unchanged through boom and bust and the addiction to political spin, distortion and sometimes lies, works at least in the short term while in some cases it has an enduring impact. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, it’s possible “to… – Continue reading
More than 150 attendees gathered at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas for the Global Financial Summit. Our theme this year was “Market Solutions to World Problems,” as opposed to government solutions. In this tax haven just off the U.S. borders, we gained some valuable advice. Peter Schiff, president of EuroPacific… – Continue reading
An $880 million payout to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has reignited the debate over whether global companies pay their fair share of tax in Australia. News was paid the money after winning a long-running legal battle with the Tax Office relating to a 1989 restructure of the media empire involving… – Continue reading
February 17 — New Zealand Revenue Minister Todd McClay on February 10 announced that the agreement for the avoidance of double taxation between New Zealand and Papua New Guinea entered into force on January 21, 2014. The two countries signed the tax treaty on October 29, 2012 (216 International Tax… – Continue reading
Some three hundred years ago Sir Walter Scott asked, “Breathes there a man with soul so dead who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land.” Well, in America corporations are legally deemed “persons,” so the answer to Scott’s question is “Yes,” at least when it… – Continue reading
Switzerland must adopt a position on sharing bank client data with foreign tax authorities more quickly than originally thought and cannot hold back until all other countries have introduced the practice, its finance minister told a Swiss newspaper. So far, 42 countries have declared an interest in automatically sharing information… – Continue reading
Singapore’s wealth management industry grew 22 percent in 2012 to 1.63 trillion Singaporean dollars ($1.29 trillion US), and its share of global offshore wealth is expected to outstrip Switzerland by 2020, according to data from WealthInsight, an industry research group. Learning from the recent scandal when Swiss banks, including UBS… – Continue reading
Swiss banks are set to be in Capitol Hill’s crosshairs next week over tax evasion. Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, is planning to lead the latest tax-evasion hearing in the permanent subcommittee on investigations, which he heads. The focus this time is the status of efforts to hold Swiss… – Continue reading
You may soon be able to invest in a wider range of foreign-domiciled unit trust funds that have been approved by the local regulator, but, in the short term, there may be fewer options if you want to gain exposure to offshore markets by investing in funds that are denominated… – Continue reading
INTRODUCTION On 31 January 2014 the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey jointly issued draft Guidance Notes (in conjunction with the Isle of Man) on the implementation of obligations arising under the intergovernmental agreements (“IGAs“) signed by each island with the UK in October 2013 and with the US in… – Continue reading
International Business Minister, Donville Inniss recently announceed that the Barbados Government and the United States of America have agreed to start negotiations with respect to an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) that will give effect in Barbados to the provisions of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA, enacted by the… – Continue reading
Multinational tax avoidance in the digital economy has become a hot political topic with public reports of companies such as Google, Apple and Starbucks not paying a “fair share” of tax. The G20 group of rich economies has commissioned the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to tackle corporate profit… – Continue reading
SOUTH Africans who have in recent years bought holiday pads in Mauritius, typically with price tags exceeding R10m, have been handsomely rewarded on the capital growth front. While most of the world’s housing markets are still recovering from the credit crisis-induced property slump, average prices in integrated resort scheme developments… – Continue reading
The Government on Tuesday said efforts were being made to find mutually acceptable solution to address India’s concerns while revising the tax treaty with Mauritius. The Government has proposed to review the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) to incorporate amendments to the pact for prevention of treaty abuse and… – Continue reading
Thousands of Swiss bank account holders and others have already come forward to settle unpaid UK tax bills and avoid costly tax penalties – but the LDF window won’t be open for ever. The Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) was launched in 2009 and continues to be available until 5 April 2016. It… – Continue reading
Luxembourg is lobbying Beijing for equal treatment with London, which was granted an investment quota last year allowing investors based there to invest their offshore yuan directly in the mainland’s securities markets. In an effort to capture a larger share of Europe’s offshore yuan business, top officials from the grand… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger had hinted that Austria might be happy to exchange data on bank account holders with EU countries even is similar agreements have not been finalised with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Austria and Luxembourg had come under criticism in December after they previously said they will block EU… – Continue reading
Feb 11 (Reuters) – Austria signalled on Tuesday flexibility on exchanging cross-border bank account data with fellow European Union members even absent a final EU accord with Switzerland. “As far as banking secrecy for foreigners goes, it is important for us that there are similar accords with neighbours like Switzerland… – Continue reading
Sir Alex Ferguson and Sven-Goran Eriksson are among almost 300 wealthy individuals facing average losses of more than £1m each over a notorious investment in Disney films cited as a tax avoidance scheme, The Sunday Times has reported. The football bosses and 287 other investors joined a partnership that purchased… – Continue reading
ANSA reported that a preliminary hearings judge in Milan indicted the owner of the troubled ILVA steelworks in Taranto for an alleged massive tax fraud. Emilio Riva was indicted together with two former company managers and a former Deutche Bank manager for tax evasion to the tune of EUR 52… – Continue reading
Swiss bank UBS is at the centre of embarrassing revelations that it helped to set up a secretive offshore firm for the wife and daughter of a former senior Chinese official who has since been convicted of corruption. Zhang Shuguang, a former deputy chief engineer of the disbanded railways ministry,… – Continue reading
Gibraltar plans to become an Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) jurisdiction within the European Union. The ILS market has grown significantly in recent years and the total volume of catastrophe bonds and ILS issued during 2013 was more than $7.5 billion and by the end 2013 there was an all-time high… – Continue reading
The e-Gaming team for the Department of Economic Development and representatives from the Isle of Man’s e-Gaming sector have reported an extremely high number of enquiries from potential new business showing serious interest following a highly successful ICE Totally Gaming event in London last week. Howard Quayle MHK, the Department’s… – Continue reading
The law’s onerous provisions are scheduled to go into effect in the coming year. However, even as this regulatory reckoning approaches, a group of US citizens residing abroad is making progress pushing for repeal. The looming United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), intended to prevent tax cheating, is… – Continue reading
In a huge publicity coup as protests grow against America’s controversial Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Canada has finally signed an intergovernmental agreement to swap tax information with the US. Canada signing up for FATCA is a huge political and publicity coup for the US government as the Republican… – Continue reading
GEORGE Osborne’s new oligarch tax is set to cause a headache for wealthy people in Worcestershire, according to tax expert Anita Stewart, partner at Bewdley firm DHJH Chartered Accountants, and she is urging them act now if they want to avoid a hefty bill in 12 months’ time. Ms Stewart… – Continue reading
India’s finance ministry is preparing to seek the cabinet’s approval to withdraw conciliation proceedings with the UK telecoms firm. Vodafone, the world’s second-largest mobile operator by subscribers, entered India in 2007 by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa’s mobile phone assets. It is contesting a tax bill of about 112bn rupees (£1.1bn) relating… – Continue reading
The income tax (I-T) department has not been able to make any headway in detecting the offshore investments by Indians, including 20 big names from Andhra Pradesh, in the safe havens abroad. The reason? ‘Non-cooperation’ by the foreign counterparts despite agreements for sharing tax information. It was after the much-publicized… – Continue reading
The U.S. tax code is perhaps the most notorious welfare program available to large corporations. Each year, all-star teams of lawyers and accountants use loopholes and gimmicks to legally reduce tax liabilities for Corporate America. Discussions about tax havens typically focus on how they impact federal revenue, but states are… – Continue reading
“If you can’t tax the big guys then you are left with the little guys and the middle class, and they can’t provide enough” for the modern democratic state, according to OECD head Jose Angel Gurria. The Paris-based body is working on tackling base erosion and profit shifting, which exploit… – Continue reading
On the menu for the lunch French President Francois Hollande is hosting today for the chiefs of the likes of Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.: carrots and sticks. In the first official trip by a French president to San Francisco in 30 years, Hollande will seek to woo Facebook’s Sheryl… – Continue reading
The following commentary, compiled by the Institute for Risk Management Bermuda Group, examines the implications for the Island of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) legislation enacted by the United States. Back in June 2012 the Institute of Risk Management (IRM), Bermuda Regional Group hosted a forward looking… – Continue reading
A new India-Cyprus double tax avoidance agreement (DTAA) or tax treaty, inches closer to finalisation. The delegates of the two countries are slated to meet in early-mid March to tie up the loose ends. While the revised treaty will contain more stringent provisions relating to exchange of information, it is… – Continue reading
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collected more tax from smaller businesses than large multinationals last year as a result of its investigations into firms’ transfer pricing arrangements, according to figures obtained by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com. Corporate tax expert Heather Self of Pinsent Masons said that HMRC… – Continue reading
When Taoiseach Enda Kenny was grilled over Ireland’s low tax regime for multinationals on a visit to Paris last week, he fell back on a familiar defence. By now it’s a regular refrain – Ireland’s corporate taxes are crystal clear and transparent. Ours, he added, is a statute-based system which… – Continue reading
Local commercial banks and near banks regulated by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), as well as other entities regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), which are counted as Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) under US law, should now be engaged in registering online with the United States Internal Revenue Service… – Continue reading
The U.S. and Britain have got themselves in another fine mess over populist measures against tax havens that don’t work and smack of hypocrisy Obama has set off once more on his crusade against foreign tax havens. His tactic is to extend the jurisdiction of the IRS to cover the… – Continue reading
Yahoo! Inc is shifting its main European tax base to Ireland from Switzerland, a Reuters examination of company statements and accounts shows, as pressure mounts on the Alpine nation to abolish some corporate tax incentives. The internet search group said the shift reflected a streamlining of its European operations and… – Continue reading
[symple_highlight color=”yellow”] Google found to have channeled French revenue to Ireland Analysts estimate Google France made 1.4bn euro in 2011 Court documents say it reported 193m euro revenue in France in 2012 [/symple_highlight] France’s tax authorities have launched a 1 billion euro tax claim against Google, it was reported today…. – Continue reading
Canada has signed a tax-information sharing agreement with the U.S. Treasury Department ahead of a new U.S. law that will crack down on offshore tax avoidance, senior Canadian finance officials said on Wednesday. The agreement, which is one of 22 so-called intergovernmental agreements (IGA) between Washington and individual countries, comes… – Continue reading
In contrast to oil-producing Arab nations, non-oil-producing Arab countries rely on tax revenues to cover government spending. However, they have encountered significant difficulties when it comes to acquiring sufficient tax revenues. This has pushed them to either cut down on investment spending, ask for foreign aid, or borrow from internal… – Continue reading
All UK trusts and trustees, whether or not they have any known US connections, need to consider their status under the UK/US IGA. If they are required to register with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the agreement, they must do so by 25 October 2014. This note is intended to help… – Continue reading
