Labor has accused Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of not playing by the same rules as the rest of the country by investing in funds based in a notorious tax haven. The attack was launched by Labor senator Sam Dastyari who used parliamentary privilege to accuse the prime minister of inappropriate… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Several multinationals, including Indian companies with a global presence, have initiated impact assessments to identify and fix potential problems in their tax reporting when countries start implementing a new international standards to check tax avoidance by multinationals. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) last week released the… – Continue reading
In 2014, seven major tech groups in Spain Declared collective profits of € 48.2 million, on Which They paid € 18.3 million in taxes. These online giants Real Their reduced corporate profits-through complex legal structures and accounting techniques That allowed them to shift part of the profits from Spain to… – Continue reading
Companies around the world are scrambling to overhaul how they communicate with the public when it comes to how much tax they pay, according to professional services firm KPMG. While the Senate is currently investigating multinational firms such as Apple and Google over potential tax avoidance, other countries are also… – Continue reading
The Norwegian conservative government on 7 October 2015 published both the proposed state budget for 2016 and a “white paper” containing proposals for tax reform. The proposed tax reform in the white paper is a follow-up action from a report on tax reform, presented by the Tax Commission in late… – Continue reading
As a newly-elected Australian lawmaker a decade ago, Malcolm Turnbull wrote an unsolicited 52-page proposal to reform the tax system. The report and its 281 recommendations were dismissed by the government and his costings called into question. Now, a month after replacing Tony Abbott as leader of the world’s 12th-largest… – Continue reading
Emmanuel Mayah, Jeff Mbanga, Francis Kokutse and Nick Mathiason contributed to this joint investigation by the M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism (amaBhungane) and Finance Uncovered, a global reporting project involving journalists in 54 countries. Shortly after Cyril Ramaphosa left MTN to become South Africa’s deputy president last year, he lashed… – Continue reading
The fallout for Australian firms from the BEPS project “won’t be radical in Australia, as we have already moved pre-emptively to strengthen our laws,” Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer has said. Commenting on the release of the OECD’s final BEPS reports, O’Dwyer said: “The Coalition Government’s measures line up with the… – Continue reading
EVENT OVERVIEW Globally, countries are campaigning for watertight tax regimes and gradually but definitely towards commercially driven business practices, and BEPS seems to be the way to it. Around 44 countries, including India, have come together to create a code to enable looking at transactions with a borderless lens for… – Continue reading
MTN Uganda has been accused of failing to provide evidence to justify shifting huge amounts of cash out of Uganda to a briefcase company located in Mauritius, potentially lowering its tax bill in Uganda – the subject of which remains an ongoing dispute with Uganda Revenue Authority, it has emerged…. – Continue reading
The Australian Tax Office will open negotiations with 80 multinational companies to encourage them to “restructure” in order to pay more tax on profits generated in Australia. The move represents a near tripling of the ATO’s multinational watch list after it embedded staff inside 30 companies to learn more about… – Continue reading
Federal government increases number of companies under tax office scrutiny from 30 to 80 under budget measures announced in May The federal government has widened the scope of legislation aimed at tackling multinational tax avoidance, increasing the number of large companies under the tax office’s microscope from 30 to 80…. – Continue reading
Uber and Airbnb have revealed in submissions to a federal inquiry that they route profit through companies in the Netherlands and Ireland, where taxes are lower. Uber and Airbnb have told a Senate corporate tax avoidance inquiry that while they comply with Australian tax laws, their Australian operations merely provide… – Continue reading
Nearly three-quarters of Fortune 500 companies booked their profits to tax havens last year, with just 30 companies accounting for 62 percent of earnings stashed offshore, according to a new report. The report, “Offshore Shell Games,” released Tuesday by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Citizens for Tax Justice, found… – Continue reading
LUXEMBOURG: European Union finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to automatically exchange information on deals struck with multinational companies from 2017 in a bid to reduce tax avoidance, officials said. “We have a political deal on this issue,” Luxembourg’s finance minister Pierre Gramegna told his EU counterparts in a public session… – Continue reading
NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — The following statement is being issued today by KPMG LLP on the final recommendations released on Oct. 5 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on its coordinated Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS): “The OECD’s final recommendations… – Continue reading
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday rolled out a sweeping set of final recommendations to battle offshore tax avoidance costing countries across the globe billions of dollars a year. A group of almost three dozen advanced economies, the OECD kicked off its efforts two years ago, seeking… – Continue reading
One in five corporations with annual profits greater than $100 million paid no tax last year, the Australian Tax Office has revealed. Michael Cranston, one of the ATO’s deputy commissioners, revealed the figure to a Senate hearing into corporate tax avoidance. Corporations avoid paying tax by what is euphemistically called… – Continue reading
Finance ministers of euro zone’s major economies renewed on Tuesday their commitment to curb multinational corporations’ tax avoidance and called for more consistent rules to reduce “harmful” tax competition. Multinational companies have long been in the sights of European Union authorities because of the way they can legally reduce their… – Continue reading
Companies would save €1bn per year in administrative costs if the European Union adopts a common approach to corporate taxation, EU Economic and Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has claimed. The former French finance minister has posted an article to his online blog calling for a mandatory EU common consolidated corporate… – Continue reading
Chevron’s tax filings face repeated challenges from the United States and other global tax authorities, according to a new union-backed report that calls on world governments to crack down on the energy giant’s alleged profit-shifting tactics. The world’s largest trade union body, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), has called… – Continue reading
New Article L. 62 A of the French tax procedure code (published in the official bulletin on 2 September 2015) sets forth rules that effectively regularize the tax treatment of certain profits transferred abroad by French taxpayers, and allows for the repatriation of these funds without additional tax—and in particular,… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance practices by multinational enterprises (MNEs) often depend on corporate structures that are built by routing investments through offshore investment hubs or conduits that help shift profits from higher to lower tax jurisdictions. In essence, corporate structures built through FDI (foreign direct investment) can be considered “the engine” and… – Continue reading
As Labor Day weekend approaches, a tanned and rested Congress is poised to return to Washington to hash out corporate tax changes. Much of the debate over corporate tax reform in Washington sensibly focuses on how to encourage Fortune 500 corporations to repatriate and pay U.S. taxes on the $2.1… – Continue reading
Mexico’s government withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in tax refunds owed to Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Colgate combined as it sought to coax them and other multinationals to pay more income tax locally, according to people close to the talks. After luring foreign companies with corporate tax breaks… – Continue reading
Shifting of income between parent and subsidiary companies for the purpose of avoiding taxation has been a consistent concern for state departments of revenue. States have enacted a variety of rules to ensure that the entities involved file and pay taxes accurately. In Spring Licensing Group, Inc. v. New Jersey… – 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
Key developments Taxpayer bears onus of proving taxable income in Court – 11 August 2015 Rigoli v FC and T Background The Commissioner issued default assessments to the taxpayer in respect of the 1994 – 2001 income years, based on income estimates drawn from an expert report. The taxpayer initially… – Continue reading
In its Resolution of March 25, 2015, on the Annual Tax Report (2014/2114(INI)), the European Parliament renewed its commitment to combating tax havens and tax avoidance. To be sure, most aspects of the resolution have been discussed before. Bundling these aspects into one comprehensive package, however, provides an intriguing snapshot… – Continue reading
The Senate inquiry into multinational tax avoidance will table an interim report today detailing some of its findings after holding five public hearings and receiving more than 100 submissions from some of the world’s largest companies including Apple, Microsoft, BHP, Rio Tinto and Google. The final report is due to… – Continue reading
New transparency requirements could see tax-dodging companies being listed on a ‘name and shame’ register, a Senate committee has proposed. The Australian Tax Office would also be forced to disclose all tax avoidance settlements which exceed a proposed $100 million threshold, Fairfax has reported. In addition, companies based in Australia… – Continue reading
U.S. COMPANIES HOLDING CASH ABROAD WAITING FOR TAX REFORM. The high U.S. tax rate continues to encourage companies to stash cash and profits offshore while executives wait for tax reform. The Street has an interview with computing giant Cisco’s CFO Kelly Kramer on the company’s plans for more the more… – Continue reading
The regulatory environment surrounding the banking industry already constrains the behavior of banking groups in ways which obviate base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) risks, the International Banking Federation (IBFed) said in a paper released on August 7. Entitled Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS): Why International Banks Are Different,… – Continue reading
The Australia government on 6 August 2015 released two exposure drafts in relation to its multinational tax integrity measures. In the 2015 budget, the government announced a package of measures to address multinational tax avoidance. As part of these measures, the two exposure drafts would: (1) introduce the new OECD… – Continue reading
NAIROBI: The civil society in Kenya wants Parliament to join them in the push to end tax evasion through enactment of laws that enhance compliance from international trade. This, they argue, will boost revenue collection by the State. They say tougher laws will criminalise tax avoidance and spell harsher penalties… – Continue reading
Tax evasion by Canadian companies using offshore havens promises to become election issue Canadian corporations that use tax havens like Switzerland and the Cayman Islands to reduce the taxes they pay at home have good reason to worry. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been stepping up its scrutiny of… – Continue reading
On 30 July 2015, Insurance Europe and the Pan European Insurance Forum jointly published a position paper. The paper summarises the views of the European insurance industry regarding the proposals of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its draft versions of its Action Plan on Base Erosion… – Continue reading
None of the pharmaceutical companies that are accused of profit shifting have been taken to court, the Australian Taxation Office has said in written responses to the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance. Earlier in July executives from the largest global pharmaceutical companies operating in Australia were hauled before the… – Continue reading
A senior GOP lawmaker will roll out a plan Wednesday to cut taxes for income spurred by intellectual property, as House Republicans lay the groundwork for a potential major highway and tax reform deal. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) said his so-called “innovation box” would be a central part of the… – Continue reading
Blatant corporate and personal tax evasion contributed to Greece’s debt crisis, but it’s dwarfed by the tax avoidance of U.S. multinationals operating in countries like Australia. There’s a popular misconception that Greece’s debt crisis was self-inflicted. ‘The Greeks are a bunch of tax evaders! They should never have been allowed… – Continue reading
This report summarizes the OECD paper describing the consensus approach on intangible property regimes under BEPS Action 5. On 6 February 2015, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a trio of papers that address three of the focus areas in its Action Plan on Base Erosion and… – Continue reading
Top lawmakers and the White House are in the early stages of discussing an ambitious overhaul of how the U.S. taxes its multinational firms, according to officials involved in the effort. The talks, part of an effort to find funding for a long-term highway bill, are preliminary and could yet… – Continue reading
Recent revelations that Walmart, the world’s biggest corporation, is maintaining secret subsidiaries in well-known offshore tax havens are outrageous but far from surprising to small business owners. That’s because we’re used to seeing large corporations abuse the tax system in ways that hurt our businesses, communities and families. Walmart’s hidden… – Continue reading
The Coalition for Tax Competition (CTC) sent a letter to members of the US Congress on July 14, calling on them to protect American interests in talks on the work of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The CTC urged Congress… – Continue reading
Energy giants called to explain billions in tax havens To describe Gorgon as another super-sized resources project in Western Australia does not do justice to the scale and scope of the venture. When the taps are turned on later this year and liquefied natural gas begins to flow, Australia will… – Continue reading
It’s well-documented that profitable Fortune 500 companies are stashing profits offshore to the tune of at least $2.1 trillion and avoiding as much as $550 billion in U.S. taxes. But instead of taking steps to halt this brazen tax dodging, lawmakers have floated various misguided “reform” proposals that would actually… – Continue reading
Multinationals were probably waiting for result of British referendum on EU before deciding where to locate, says head of Irish investment authority Global corporations will think twice about investing in the UK while uncertainty reigns over Britain’s European Union membership, according to the head of the Irish state body that… – Continue reading
The Australian Taxation Office has warned companies it will be focusing on money attributed to offshore marketing hubs and will use its stronger transfer pricing powers to go after them, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Australian companies sent more than AU$100 billion to related parties in the low-tax nation of… – Continue reading
Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today released a long-awaited tax reform plan that reads like a wish list for multinational corporations. The Senate Finance Committee working group’s report provides recommendations for restructuring the federal government’s international corporation tax rules. The plan is long on misguided ideas and… – Continue reading
Calcutta, July 5: Singapore and Hong Kong, with their low corporate tax rates, have started to hove into view on the radars of multinational companies that are looking to lower their tax burdens through profit shifting. Profit shifting is a perfectly legal way of moving the earnings of an MNC… – Continue reading
