RETAIL billionaire Solomon Lew is threatening to ship Australian online orders from New Zealand to sidestep the GST in light of the Federal Government’s failure to axe the tax-free threshold for overseas purchases. The Premier Investments chairman has also slammed Australia Post for setting up a US mail forwarding service… – Continue reading
PRWEB.COM NewswireSingapore (PRWEB) December 06, 2014 Buoyant by Singapore Government’s foreign direct investment policies, efficient corporate tax regime, robust intellectual property safeguards, and exemptions on qualifying foreign-sourced incomes, several big Indian companies such as Flipkart, InMobi, Crayon Data, Zipdial and Mobikon have made the city-state their incorporation destination. To assist… – Continue reading
The Tax Commission, appointed by the Government in March last year to review corporate taxation in Norway in light of international developments, submitted its report on December 2, and proposed a cut in both corporate and individual income tax rates, alongside other adjustments to combat corporate base erosion and profit… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Finance this week published Ordinance MF 488/14 in the Official Gazette, which reduces from 20% to 17% the threshold income tax rate for defining the concepts of low-tax jurisdictions and privileged tax regimes. The qualifications of low-tax jurisdictions and privileged tax regimes are relevant because they may… – Continue reading
Brisbane communiqué, after the G20 heads of government summit, and that from their finance ministers, after their earlier meeting in Cairns, along with recent developments in the Forum on Tax Administration mean for business. The Brisbane communiqué contained one paragraph on tax. It read: 13. We are taking actions to… – Continue reading
Brisbane communiqué, after the G20 heads of government summit, and that from their finance ministers, after their earlier meeting in Cairns, along with recent developments in the Forum on Tax Administration mean for business. The Brisbane communiqué contained one paragraph on tax. It read: 13. We are taking actions to… – Continue reading
The US and Canada are at the forefront of a global increase in new mutual agreement procedures (MAPs) being initiated, OECD figures show. There were 1,910 new MAPs in 2013, a 14% increase from 2012, when there were 1,678 new MAPs. North America accounted for most of this growth, with… – Continue reading
Greece is currently implementing a fiscal adjustment programme aimed at tackling tax evasion. This column discusses the impact of recent tax administration reforms on tax compliance in Greece. The intensification of audits, enforcement of penalties, and efficient collection of past debts can induce tax compliance and raise the collected revenue…. – 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. Business has never been better at Knappworst and Partner, a tax advisory firm in Potsdam, a leafy city… – Continue reading
The government has become the biggest threat to the rule of law, according to veteran Tory backbencher and former minister David Davis. Speaking at a briefing organised by the Taxpayers’ Alliance and the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) he slammed the government’s attempts to limit tax avoidance through laws such… – Continue reading
Greens say Malta should start thinking of Plan B on its attractive tax regime for foreign companies as pressure from major EU states on European Commission grows Malta should be prepared to diversify its current fiscal policy and even wave goodbye to its incentives to attract foreign industry, Alternattiva Demokratika… – Continue reading
To minimise confusion and litigation, the government will bring fresh guidelines to clearly explain the meaning of terms “arm’s length basis” and “ordinary course of business”, used in the Companies Act, 2013. “After understanding the significance of these two terms for our industry, we have decided to bring fresh guidelines,”… – Continue reading
Dechert Georgia, through the contribution of partners Archil Giorgadze and Nicola Mariani joined by senior associates, Ruslan Akhalaia and Irakli Sokolovski, is partnering with Georgia Today on a regular section of the paper which will provide updated information regarding significant legal changes and developments in Georgia. In particular, we will… – Continue reading
The European Commission (Commission) has given one of its clearest indications yet that it is seeking to clamp down on unfair tax breaks or ‘waivers’ for underpaying companies through the EU rules on state aid. How does State aid apply to taxation? The EU rules on state aid prohibit the… – Continue reading
The Chancellor reaffirmed the Government’s continued support for the OECD’s work on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and modernisation of the international framework for taxing multinational companies. Measures in relation to three specific areas are announced – a consultation on hybrid mismatches and the introduction of the OECD’s proposals… – Continue reading
Legislation seeking to stop U.S. corporations from moving their legal address abroad to avoid paying U.S. tax rates would raise significantly more revenue than originally thought, according to the official congressional scorekeeper. The Joint Committee on Taxation now says that Democratic legislation to curb inversions would raise $33.6 billion over… – Continue reading
UK government plans to counter aggressive tax planning techniques used by multinational enterprises to divert profits from the UK to low tax jurisdictions could harm the international prospects of UK businesses according to an expert.03 Dec 2014 Corporate tax Tax Advanced Manufacturing & Technology Services UK Europe The new ‘diverted… – 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. The UK announced plans to raise over £1bn over the next five years from a new “diverted profits”… – Continue reading
The controversial ‘double Irish’ tax mechanism was never part of the Irish tax code and was not a viable way of building a sustainable economy, says Minister for Finance Michael Noonan. Speaking at a major tax conference organised by the Institute of International and European Affairs, Mr Noonan, said the… – Continue reading
Panel suggests reintroduction of Fringe Benefits Tax and Banking Cash Transaction Tax The Tax Administration and Reform Commission (TARC) has suggested reintroducing the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) and Banking Cash Transaction Tax (BCTT) to widen the tax base, minimising various tax exemptions, and staying away from amnesty schemes as these… – Continue reading
The Brazilian Federal Government decided to reduce from 20% to 17% the percentage of the maximum income tax rate required from the low-tax countries classified as “favored taxation country or dependency” (país ou dependência com tributação favorecida) or “privileged fiscal regime” (regime fiscal privilegiado). This measure was adopted by means… – Continue reading
It was billed as a multi-billion pound windfall for the long-suffering UK taxpayer, with HM Revenue & Customs getting its hands on a huge reservoir of untaxed “black money” stashed in Switzerland by wealthy subjects to keep it safe from the taxman. But the estimated take from what the former… – Continue reading
KATADATA – Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro asks exporters to refrain from tax avoidance schemes, especially transfer pricing. Tax avoidance will cause losses to the state because it reduces tax revenues. “Transfer pricing has constantly reduced our tax revenues. I urge exporters to stop this practice because it is strongly related… – Continue reading
Entrepreneurs’ relief – for many years sole traders and partnerships have been able to incorporate their businesses selling the value of the business including goodwill to the new corporate. The gain is taxed at 10 per cent, the proceeds remain on loan to the company as a directors’ loan and… – Continue reading
The Government has announced a further crackdown on tax avoidance schemes which fall under its Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes regime. In the Autumn Statement today, the Government said it will increase penalties for non-declaration of Dotas schemes and publish more information on schemes and their promoters. It says this… – Continue reading
An attempted crackdown on tax avoidance by firms will prove “futile” and the Government should instead work on an international agreement to target company owners, a former City minister has said. Lord Myners, a former Labour minister and former chairman of companies including Marks and Spencer, said firms would find… – Continue reading
The medical device manufacturer Medtronic has launched a USD17bn bond to finance part of its USD43bn corporate inversion acquisition of Ireland-based Covidien, in replacement of the cash held by its foreign subsidiaries that it was prevented from using following the United States Department of Treasury’s announcement of anti-inversion measures in… – Continue reading
Bill Dodwell comments: “Chancellor George Osborne will deliver the final Autumn Statement of this parliament. We expect that most of the announcements will concentrate on the outcomes from proposals launched at earlier Budgets, together with some technical changes. There will also be the first consultation on how the UK should… – Continue reading
Argentina and Belgium have separately accused HSBC bank’s Geneva branch of setting up a network of offshore accounts to help their citizens avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes. The Belgian charges were filed Monday and the Argentine charges were announced Friday. HSBC, formerly known as Hong Kong & Shanghai… – Continue reading
“Nothing abnormal about the way Starbucks is run” The new chief executive of Starbucks has admitted that the coffee shop chain is unlikely to pay any UK corporation tax for another three years. Speaking to the Evening Standard, Mark Fox said the tax wouldn’t be applicable until the company turned… – Continue reading
Samuel Wyly and the estate of his brother Charles will soon find out if they have to pay the U.S. regulators as much as $700 million after a jury found them liable for a 13-year scheme to use a web of offshore trusts to hide stock holdings and make illegal… – Continue reading
What unites the dates February 12, 2013, July 19, 2013, and September 16, 2014? They are the key dates to this point in the OECD’s crusade against base erosion and profit shifting, which will be remembered either as a well-coordinated campaign against abusive tax avoidance by large multinational enterprises, or… – Continue reading
December 2: A tax commission charged with examining the tax system in Norway today submitted its report—NOU 2014: 13—to the Minister of Finance that describes proposals for changes to the corporate tax system and for adjustments to the tax system, in general. The tax commission’s report will be submitted for… – Continue reading
The Department of Finance is actively involved in the BEPS process, but how it manages to balance national interests with a commitment to help developing countries reap the benefits of the reforms remains to be seen’ The recent Luxembourg leaks have kept the spotlight firmly on the lengths to which… – Continue reading
Taxation authorities in China said they would tighten their monitoring of foreign companies in order to prevent them from avoiding tax using numerous schemes. The official Xinhua news agency, citing tax officials in the country, reported that China would comprehensively monitor profit levels of foreign companies to make sure that… – 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. The UK has lost its top slot in a league table of multinational companies’… – Continue reading
AMP chief executive Craig Meller has launched an aggressive defence of the company’s international taxation arrangements after the financial services giant was named among some of the world’s biggest multinationals that allegedly channelled funds through Luxembourg to minimise their tax bills. The recent meeting of the G20 leaders in Brisbane… – Continue reading
UK chancellor George Osborne is set to unleash a new strict liability rule and higher penalties to capture those with offshore assets who are ignoring their tax obligations, according to a leading tax expert. John Cassidy, partner at audit, tax and advisory firm Crowe Clark Whitehill, predicts Osborne’s Autumn Statement… – Continue reading
Stock award is a popular method of rewarding talented and industrious employees. However, employees who render services across different jurisdictions may trigger a taxable presence in two or more jurisdictions. Such employees at times need to deal with the issue of double taxation on such benefits. A normal stock incentive… – Continue reading
Offshore accounts have made headlines recently, with 51 global jurisdictions agreeing to automatically share and exchange details of tax data. Included in this agreement is information on offshore accounts and their operational procedures. The decision brings new attention to overseas financial planning, and how top companies use offshore accounts to… – Continue reading
AN essential part of the Transfer Pricing (TP) documentation process is that of finding and selecting closely comparable companies. Only comparable, independent companies can truly establish the arm’s length nature of the intercompany transactions under review. This process of finding comparable companies and the arm’s length price they pay or… – Continue reading
North East Labour MEP Paul Brannen on why European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker can crack the tax dodge problem The expression ‘poacher turned game keeper’ sprang to mind this week in the European Parliament as in meeting after meeting Jean-Claude Juncker’s suitability for the top job in the European Union… – Continue reading
In the African tax sphere, the trend remains for headline tax rates to continue to remain stable or decrease. Withholding tax rates have generally remained stable, although the experience of Dentons and our clients is that African tax authorities are requiring tax to be withheld from payments that have not… – Continue reading
If you want to know how your local school is performing, you can check the My School website for data on its results, funding, enrollments and more. If you want to be sure about a company you’re doing business with, you can search ASIC’s registers for details of its ownership,… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance is morally wrong even if it is legal, the majority of people surveyed in a poll for two leading charities said. Four in five of those asked said it is too easy for large companies to avoid paying tax in the UK while almost three-quarters said the next… – 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/0/0092eb7c-788d-11e4-a33c-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz3KooWgw9y Multinational companies are braced for a tax crackdown after George Osborne vowed to use… – Continue reading
The lead article in The Sunday Times Business section today (authored by Simon Duke and David Smith) says that Britain is at the forefront of a crackdown on corporate tax avoidance – a blitz on tax avoidance by multinationals. The UK Treasury is planning a consultation on forcing multinationals like… – Continue reading
Lloyds Banking Group’s insurance arm Scottish Widows has put its offshore investment and tax planning business up for sale in the latest sign that dealmaking in the sector is heating up. Several parties have expressed an interest in the Isle of Man-based operation, which manages about £5bn of policyholders’ funds,… – Continue reading
More than 23,000 foreign and offshore companies have developed profitable activity in Greece over the last thirty years. Data released by the Greek newspaper “TA NEA” show that most foreign and offshore companies acquired a Greek taxpayer identification number (TIM) and legal representatives in Greece between the 1980s and 2011…. – Continue reading
Pascal Soriot has said that controversial inversion tax deals, branded ‘unpatriotic’ by President Obama, are still taking place despite attempts to curb the practice AstraZeneca’s chief has said inversion deals used by US companies to escape high taxes at home are not over despite a major clampdown on the practice…. – Continue reading
