This Annual Conference Provides Global Tax Compliance Experts With Insight on Adopting an Internationally Accepted Standard of Tax Transparency and Compliance NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwired – August 25, 2015) – marcus evans, the world’s largest event management group, will host the 4th FATCA and Global Tax Compliance Forum on November 4-6,… – Continue reading
Greece’s Deputy Finance Minister, Trifon Alexiadis, has fired Greece’s first salvo in the fight to overcome the country’s non-compliance problems, announcing the introduction of a comprehensive scheme of asset registration for all taxpayers. The new “Asset Declaration” measure will apply from the beginning of 2016. In preparation, the tax authorities… – Continue reading
Monsanto has reported that it has ended its attempt to merge with Syngenta after its latest $46.2 Billion offer was rejected This ends Monsanto’s four-month pursuit of Syngenta and its hopes of a deal that would have formed a global agriculture powerhouse by combining Monsanto’s lead in global seed enterprise… – Continue reading
The Swiss cabinet has urged parliament to reject an initiative aimed at maintaining banking secrecy for domestic private bank clients. In recent years, Switzerland’s much-vaunted tradition of banking secrecy has been under constant pressure. On Wednesday the government dismissed calls to anchor the protection of domestic Swiss banking secrecy in… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Finance is making all possible attempts to resolve tax related disputes through proper dispute mechanism framework agreement with global as well as domestic companies with a spirit of equity and fairness so that the growth being aimed at is scaled and additional employment opportunities created as intended… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Regulator SEBI today asked market entities to ensure compliance with changed income tax regulations, with India becoming a signatory to FATCA as well as a global pact to check tax evasion. The latest directive comes close on the heels of the government signing FATCA with the United States… – Continue reading
A recent Central Board of Direct Taxes (‘CBDT’) press release of August 6, 2015 announced signing of 2 unilateral APAs, including one with a rollback provision, and this has raised hopes of many MNCs, that hope to witness expeditious and reasonable closures. n July 2012, with a view to providing… – Continue reading
If Hockey gets his way and personal income tax rates are massaged to give higher earners some more breathing space, the gap in funds will have to be filled somehow, and given the government’s history it’s pretty likely people less well-off will end up getting slugged more – either at… – Continue reading
New de-offshorization and capital amnesty laws could have widespread effects In an attempt to encourage “economic patriotism,” Russia recently adopted two new laws: (1) The De-Offshorization Law, which makes a number of major changes in the existing systems of corporate and personal taxation in Russia, particularly as they pertain to… – Continue reading
Security fears; Global authorities to begin sharing sensitive data If you have a bank account somewhere overseas, that information will make its way back to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in a couple of years. In 2018, international tax authorities will begin automatically sharing financial information under the terms of… – Continue reading
Foreign asset declarations by Spanish taxpayers have totaled EUR126.3bn (USD145bn) since 2013, when such declarations became compulsory, Spain’s Ministry of Finance has said. The Ministry said that in the past three months 1,813 taxpayers declared EUR1.9bn in foreign assets under Modelo 720, which requires tax resident individuals to report assets… – Continue reading
The new head of Barclays Plc’s Swiss unit is pushing private bankers in Geneva and Zurich to double client assets in four years as international competitors exit the world’s largest hub for offshore wealth. James Buchanan-Michaelson, who joined from Coutts International in June, aims to increase Swiss assets, including loans,… – Continue reading
New investment structures are making it easier for people from outside of the European Union seeking to live in Portugal through the country’s golden visa programme, reports the Expats Forum. The initial minimum investment of €500,000 has been reduced to €350,000 for investment in properties located in districts designated for… – Continue reading
The Bahamas Ministry of Financial Services (MoFS) and the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) once again are collaborating on a broad outreach in Asia, using the 2015 China Offshore Summit series as an anchor event, reports The Bahamas Weekly. The Summit series (2 events annually) is designed specifically to educate… – Continue reading
A working party of the EU Council is meeting on September 2, 2015, to discuss policy responses to base erosion and profit shifting. The working party will discuss a number of inter-related issues, including minimum effective tax rates; the EU’s Code of Conduct on business taxation, which is used to… – Continue reading
This month’s feature examines proposals for new tax information reporting requirements for large multinational businesses as part of wider and ongoing changes to the international tax system – proposals which have been described by international tax experts as the most significant development in the field of transfer pricing since TP… – Continue reading
Until recently, demonstrating empirically the value of International Finance Centres (IFCs) to global economies has proven relatively difficult. Despite IFCs being able to point to the high quality of their regulation and the endorsement they receive on a consistent basis from global authorities such as the OECD and IMF, this… – Continue reading
Expat contractors who are earning big salaries without paying tax in their home countries are running out of time to put straighten their finances, say recruitment experts. Contractors who are still tax resident in the UK but fail to declare their offshore earnings are one target for global tax authorities…. – Continue reading
THE African continent has been under the surveillance for Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) for quite some time now. The report prepared by the former South African President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, who chaired the AU High Level Panel on IFF in early February 2015, clearly states that the multinational companies (MNCs)… – Continue reading
The most controversial part of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4th AMLD) is probably going to be the Register of Beneficial Ownership. The controversy arises since certain information which is considered private and which legitimately could be kept as such, will now be made available to a number of persons… – Continue reading
Personal incomOn 23 July, the Belgian federal government agreed the budget review for 2015 and 2016 and the implementation of the long awaited tax-shift plan. The aim of the tax shift is to reduce the Belgian tax burden on labour, improve the competitiveness of Belgian companies and create new jobs…. – Continue reading
Next week, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will gather for their third meeting during Turkey’s presidency. With just two and half months until leaders assemble in Antalya for this year’s summit, these meetings give the G20 an opportunity to confirm 2015 outcomes and demonstrate that the G20 remains… – Continue reading
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted in 2010 by the Government of the United States of America (USA) (Govt. of US) with a view to combat tax evasion by U.S. citizens and residents through the use of offshore accounts. FATCA requires financial institutions globally to share information about… – Continue reading
In the overview of tax treaties as published on the website of the Irish Revenue, the Irish Revenue has published a statement announcing that the Convention between the Government of Ireland and the Government of Ukraine for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect… – Continue reading
WINDS OF CHANGE – GEORGE OSBORNE’S FIRST BUDGET AS THE CHANCELLOR OF A CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT BROUGHT SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT ANNOUNCEMENTS. By Mark Wingate Taking a leaf from the Labour Party’s election manifesto, there will be a further tightening of the rules for non-doms. In an attempt to provide a more level… – Continue reading
The Maltese climate, culture, history and lifestyle make Malta an attractive place to live in. The fact that this is coupled with a beneficial tax system for people taking up residence in Malta makes Malta an even more desirable location. Introduction to Malta Situated in the middle of the Mediterranean… – Continue reading
The Association of Tax Technicians (ATT) has expressed serious concern that the proposed new UK Dividend Allowance amounts to a tax rise “by the back door.” Chancellor George Osborne’s Summer Budget provided for the replacement of the Dividend Tax Credit with a new Dividend Allowance. The allowance will be available… – Continue reading
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) producing or selling their products in China have had to contend with the commercial, legal, and tax challenges of managing how their intellectual property (IP) is used in relation to their Chinese operations. Regulatory approvals for joint ventures operating in China have often required that IP rights… – Continue reading
At their meeting in Salzburg, Pierre Gramegna, Austrian Finance Minister Hans Jörg Schelling, Liechtenstein Prime Minister and Finance Minister Adrian Hasler, the Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf and Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble employed in particular with international tax policy, the fight against tax optimization models overlooking the BEPS Initiative… – Continue reading
The Income Tax Act (ITA) contains many anti-avoidance rules forbidding taxpayers from misusing the provisions of the ITA to achieve tax benefits contrary to Canadian tax policy. The 2015 Federal Budget has proposed changes1 to one of these anti-avoidance rules, which may significantly impact the ability of business owners to… – Continue reading
Targeted tax incentives would provide a significant boost to research and development activities and help drive innovation in Switzerland, according to a new study. 700 large companies and SMEs were surveyed for the purposes of the study, which was prepared by KPMG Switzerland, the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, the Swiss… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Public Security has announced a state-wide crackdown on underground banking to block the funnelling of ‘grey funds’ China’s Ministry of Public Security said on Monday that it would launch a three-month crackdown on underground banking to curb money laundering and illegal funds transfers as unstable markets stoke… – Continue reading
The Revenue Department may soon come out with a circular on providing relief to FIIs from the minimum alternate tax (MAT) with retrospective effect. “Government is likely to soon issue circular giving relief to FIIs on MAT prior to April 1,” a senior Finance Ministry official said. The government-appointed AP… – Continue reading
Aug. 21 — A federal court will hold a hearing Sept. 4 on whether to stop the U.S. from requiring banks in four countries to report information on U.S.-owned accounts under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. As the Sept. 30 deadline for that reporting approaches, the U.S. District Court… – Continue reading
In an assessment of money laundering and terrorism financing risks, Luxembourg scored in the bottom half of a ranking of 152 countries carried out by the Basel Institute on Governance, reports the Luxemburger Wort. The institute says that its AML (Anti-Money Laundering) Index is the only such review carried out… – Continue reading
Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood’s recent comments over the call drops seems to have snubbed the government officials. Sood, off lately had said that “The (telecom) minister’s and secretary’s comments don’t count as the view of the entire government”. The matter has now been raised with the company (Vodafone) says… – Continue reading
India will soon settle international tax disputes with close to 120 American companies as well as entities from Japan and other such countries, according to the nation’s Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das. Earlier this month, India announced a Framework Agreement under the mutual agreement procedure provision of the India-US tax treaty… – Continue reading
MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL Business, Donville Inniss is optimistic that given Barbados’ and Italy’s continued efforts at strengthening bilateral relations, Barbados could soon be removed from Italy’s blacklist. He made this disclosure this morning during his brief remarks at the end of a signing of a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between… – Continue reading
Aug 24 (Reuters) – Switzerland expects to adopt a new law by the end of the year that will speed restitution of illicit funds stashed in the Alpine country, where thousands of ‘politically exposed persons’ are believed to hold bank accounts, a top Swiss official said on Monday. Swiss authorities… – Continue reading
Investigator says Canadian real estate market has developed reputation as a place to launder money A report prepared for Canada’s anti-money laundering watchdog points to offshore cash in the real estate sector as a “significant risk” for criminal wrongdoing. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, commonly known… – Continue reading
The multinational companies in Latin America demand security, efficient services, infrastructure and good educational standards, but they are not very willing to contribute themselves by paying their fair share of tax. Honduras is a case in point, and is one of the most unequal countries on the continent. The government,… – Continue reading
As another corporate reporting season in Australia draws to a close, the broad trend has been moderately underwhelming earnings results, combined with a rise in the earnings repaid to shareholders in the form of a dividend. During this recent reporting period Australian firms returned, on average, 73% of their profits… – Continue reading
What has happened? On 2 October 2014 the Senate referred an inquiry into corporate tax avoidance to the Senate Economics References Committee for inquiry and report. The Committee conducted public hearings1 in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra and received submissions from a number of senior executives from high profile multinational corporations… – Continue reading
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has entered into partnership with the continent tax bodies in a move to wipe out illicit financial flows from Africa. A report on illicit financial flows (IFFs) estimates that Uganda loses at least Shs1.5 trillion every year to illegal activities perpetrated by the multinational companies. The… – Continue reading
The Cyprus government recently announced a number of tax incentives aimed at encouraging economic activity and attracting inward direct investment. At the same time it submitted a number of draft laws to the House of Representatives to implement the new provisions of the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive, to simplify the tax… – Continue reading
The United States has implemented laws and policies, such as the soon-to-be-activated FATCA legislation, which have redounded to the expense of Caricom territories. The Caribbean regional integration project is often described and criticised almost entirely on the uneven benefits of trade to member countries. But, important as it is, there… – Continue reading
Dubai – Cyprus’ recently revised taxation framework make sit the only citizenship-by-investment program in Europe to offer non-domiciled investors tax free profits. Will this new tax regime and business incentives attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country? Henley & Partners, the global leaders in residence and citizenship planning… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: As it steps up its crackdown on tax evasion and laundering of black money through stock markets, regulator Sebi has busted an ‘innovative’ scheme wherein HNIs were incurring ‘bogus losses’ to offset tax liabilities. The probe, which has resulted in an interim ban on 59 entities, including HNIs and… – Continue reading
A round of capital flight is taking place in China, with many of the country’s wealthy rushing to send their assets abroad to dodge an imminent introduction of inheritance tax. A significant example is the recent purchase of a luxury house in Hong Kong by Alibaba founder Jack Ma for… – Continue reading
The director of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, Pascal Saint-Amans, has praised The Bahamas for its “tremendous progress” in adopting Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) standards and paving the way for automatic exchange of information between the US and The… – Continue reading
