About 30 percent of foreign investors in Korea are from overseas tax havens, a lawmaker said Tuesday. Citing data from the Financial Services Commission and the Korea Customs Service, Rep. Park Kwang-on of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) said that the number of corporate or individual… – Continue reading
What constitutes an HNI is a tricky question? In general parlance, HNIs are understood to be the individuals with ultra-high networth with deep pockets having surplus investible funds. As per the Credit Suisse global wealth report, currently India is home to around 1,500 ultra-high networth individuals with wealth of at… – Continue reading
Labor has rejected co-operating with the Coalition on boosting the goods and services tax, whatever the outcome of next year’s tax white paper and negotiations with the states. Addressing the Australian Financial Review tax summit in Sydney, Labor treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said while any GST rise would be permanent,… – Continue reading
Oil and gas multinational Chevron has come under fire in Australia for using Bermuda for tax avoidance. US-based Chevron, along with Anglo-Dutch firm Shell and the American ExxonMobil, is set to begin production at the massive Gorgon gasfield off the coast of Western Australia. But Chevron has been grilled by… – Continue reading
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s yuan weakened on Wednesday as the dollar strengthened in global markets and after activity in the country’s factory sector shrank unexpectedly to a 6-1/2-year low in September. Offshore yuan, however, trimmed earlier losses due to intervention from state banks, trade sources told Reuters. Before the market… – Continue reading
New Delhi, Sept 22 (KNN) Government will not extend the window for declaration of black money assets held abroad beyond September 30, said Joint Secretary, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Ministry of Finance, V Anandarajan. While inaugurating the conference on ‘Black Money Act: Ignorance is not Bliss! – Key… – Continue reading
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) on Monday sought simplified requirements for making investments in India, during their meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Jaitley, who has wrapped up his two-day visit here, highlighted recent initiatives taken by the government to attract investments and told them, efforts were being taken to further… – Continue reading
The UAE and the Republic of Mauritius are linked with a double taxation on income agreement that was signed in 2006. On behalf of the UAE, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), signed yesterday an agreement on mutual encouragement and protection of investments with the Republic of Mauritius. This is following… – Continue reading
Development Goals (SDGs) but poorer countries should exercise caution when borrowing money, Gail Hurley, a development finance expert with the UN Development Program (UNDP), told Xinhua. “There’s a lot more finance available now—public and private, domestic and international — (but) a lot of it is loan finance, so we do… – Continue reading
In 28 August 2015, the Chinese State Administration of Taxation issued an Announcement for Granting Tax Treaty benefits to non-residents. The Announcement proposes a new system for granting tax treaty benefits where there pre-approval of the tax authorities is no longer required for withholding tax agents to apply reduced tax… – Continue reading
The Indian Government must assure investors that it is committed to improving its legal framework, including the tax code, if it is to meet its economic objectives, a senior US State Department official has said. Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US this week, Nisha Desai… – Continue reading
Prime Minister Hun Sen said Saturday he would like to stop foreign teachers from being required to pay income tax both in Cambodia and their home country in order to attract more highly-skilled educators to work here. Speaking at the official opening of the International School of Phnom Penh’s new… – Continue reading
There are many Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from the US that are fearful of being involuntary discovered through the impending Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) disclosures of their Indian accounts by their foreign banks. The US Internal Revenue Service has issued a notice extending the time under which certain transitional… – Continue reading
Global convergence towards higher tax rates globally would be a poor outcome for the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project and a severe impediment to uplifting global growth prospects, Josephine Teo, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, has said. Speaking at the SMU-TA Centre for Excellence… – Continue reading
The OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and FATCA in the United States are long-winded. So the OECD published on August 7 a much shorter and lighter guide: the “Common Reporting Standard Implementation Handbook” (the CRS Handbook). The CRS and FATCA represent a sweeping change toward automatic information exchange and away… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): A number of lawyers in Cayman have been recognised for their excellence in the field of asset recovery, which is an area providing a buoyant stream of work, despite the relative slowdown in cases connected with the global financial crisis. The Who’s Who Legal guide to Asset Recovery… – Continue reading
Industry welcomes move by Singapore’s financial regulatory authority to go public with tax criticism of ARFP passport scheme. They say it could force Australia and Korea into a corner. Industry figures have welcomed a move by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to go public with the reasons it declined… – Continue reading
A new wave of global tax compliance regulation is a game changer in the way asset owners and investment management companies report activities. Globalization of financial markets has made it increasingly simple to make, hold and manage investments outside an asset owner’s own tax domicile. A standard on automatic exchange… – Continue reading
DHAKA, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) — For businessman Abdul Mazid paying taxes was always a hassle. As a law-abiding citizen, Mazid was willing to pay his taxes but his problem was that he does not know how to compute his taxes and where to pay. Now all these have been resolved…. – Continue reading
Look out, Thomas Piketty. Here comes Gabriel Zucman. With a slim new book that has the feel of Piketty’s bestselling “Capital in the 21st Century,” Zucman, a baby-faced 28-year-old University of California-Berkeley economist, is taking his own swing at global capitalism. His target: tax havens that he says hide $7.6… – Continue reading
New Delhi, Sept. 20: A bilateral investment treaty between India and the US is unlikely to be finalised before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to America later this week. Both Modi and US President Barack Obama have been pushing their respective bureaucracies to prepare the pact. Modi will be in… – Continue reading
GCC countries are expected to “closely consider” a project that aims to curb perceived tax avoidance by some multi-national companies, according to an international tax expert. Under intense public pressure and unprecedented media focus, leaders of the G20 countries tasked the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to come… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Widening its probe into suspected tax evasion and laundering of black money through stock markets, regulator Sebi is looking into illicit ‘arbitrage’ through derivatives trading from offshore locations. Also under the scanner are manipulation through ‘client code modifications’ in the past, although there has been a complete clampdown… – Continue reading
China’s State Administration of Taxation on 17 September 2015 released a discussion draft of proposed guidance relating to “special tax adjustments”—including those concerning transfer pricing—for public consultation. It is anticipated that this guidance could be finalized by the end of 2015, and once final, would replace the existing transfer pricing… – Continue reading
A small office shared with three other companies deep in the bowels of the Outsource IT Tower on Auckland’s Khyber Pass Road opposite a reservoir isn’t necessarily where you’d expect to find the global headquarters of a financial service provider that claims to be following in the footsteps of three… – Continue reading
CORNING — Corning Inc.’s handling of profits it earns overseas has quickly become an issue in the 2016 presidential campaign. The Fortune 500 company’s refusal to bring back to the U.S. more than $12.4 billion in overseas profits first drew criticism from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont…. – Continue reading
Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey: Australian companies can take greater advantage of Israel’s knowledge-based economy. There is no tax treaty between Australia and Israel, but the lack will soon be made good, according to an announcement by Joe Hockey, Treasurer in the Australian government. “As part of the Government’s ongoing efforts… – Continue reading
U.S. authorities have targeted Belize-based banks in a new expansion of their hunt for Americans suspected of evading taxes by hiding income and assets in offshore accounts. A federal court in Miami on Wednesday approved special “John Doe” legal summonses seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who may hold undeclared accounts… – 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
BANGALORE: The world’s largest PE firm Blackstone has acquired the Indian and most of the offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) operations of London-headquartered Serco Plc – formerly Intelenet — for Rs 2,558 crore, or $383 million. This marks Blackstone’s biggest deal in India till date, and a rare instance of… – Continue reading
Issues of the Uzbek-Iranian bilateral relations’ development were discussed during the meeting of Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov with Iranian Ambassador Ali Mardoniy Fard, who is completing his diplomatic mission in the country, said the message released Sept.16 by the foreign ministry of Uzbekistan. During the meeting, the sides exchanged… – Continue reading
SINGAPORE first entered a double taxation agreement (DTA) with Thailand in 1975. After 40 years, Singapore and Thailand signed a new DTA on June 11, 2015. The newly signed DTA has not yet been ratified by either country, and will go into force after it is. Below are some of… – Continue reading
Hong Kong’s Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) has released a report setting out recommendations on policies, including tax measures, to enhance the city’s role as a regional and global financial booking center. Financial institutions utilize such centers to enter into contracts for financial products, undertake primary obligations for delivery or… – Continue reading
JAKARTA – Indonesian Institute of Accountants (IAI) considers Indonesia may not completely avoid the impact of the practice of transfer pricing. Therefore, Indonesia must prepare regulatory and law enforcement strong to protect the interests. The practice of transfer pricing is one of the activities of neo-liberalism. According to the National… – Continue reading
NEW YORK: Noting that progress on a bilateral investment treaty with India has been “slow”, a senior US trade official has said in the absence of progress on economic reforms by India to ensure ease of doing business, the likelihood of getting to such a treaty is “low”. “Frankly, it… – Continue reading
The Transactional Net Margin Method (‘TNMM’) is a prescribed method for determining the arm’s length price in some cases. It also enjoins the adjustment owing to capacity under-utilization differences. Sizes of entities and level of activities differ, so does the available comparables for the purpose of transfer pricing adjustments. The… – Continue reading
Malta provides an outstanding opportunity for private equity and venture capital managers. It has a flexible LP structure, an extensive network of double tax treaties, a favourable local tax regime and experienced service providers who can provide a cost-effective solution,” comments Felicity Cole (pictured), Head of the Funds Department at… – Continue reading
AUGUST DECLINE:Deposits at banks’ offshore banking units plunged 7.3 percent to 49.79 billion yuan and fell 2 percent to 277.15 billion yuan at domestic banking units Yuan deposits at Taiwanese banks fell 2.88 percent to 326.94 billion yuan (US$51.29 billion) last month from July, as the Chinese currency’s widening volatility… – Continue reading
The Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia in September 2015 issued guidance concerning the requirements for compliance with an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to implement the FATCA regime. The FATCA guidance notes provide guidelines and practical information for Malaysian-based financial institutions, businesses, their advisers, and officials dealing with application of the FATCA… – Continue reading
‘I’m not going to buy into that’ Joe Hockey refuses to feed speculation that he could be replaced as Treasurer by Scott Morrison under the new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Malcolm Turnbull’s first full day as PM: Live coverage Joe Hockey signals he’s ready to serve on Malcolm Turnbull’s frontbench… – Continue reading
Exclusive: company faces renewed questions over its fitness as security contractor at Australian detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru Wilson Security faces renewed questions about its fitness as security contractor in Australia’s offshore detention centres in light of its corporate links to a tax haven, a corruption scandal that… – Continue reading
Stimulus unleashed by China’s central bank will cushion Chinese companies –the region’s biggest dollar debt issuers — from a potential Federal Reserve interest rate increase, making cheaper yuan funds available. Five interest rate cuts by the People’s Bank of China since November and rules to relax yuan bond issuance onshore… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Finance minister Arun Jaitley has promised “fairest and predictable taxation regime” while inviting US businesses to invest in the country. Speaking at the 11th Indo-US Economic Summit organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce ahead of the India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (SACD) in Washington later this month,… – Continue reading
Hewlett-Packard will offshore 60% of its workers at its consulting unit, HP Enterprise Services, CEO Meg Whitman told investors Tuesday during the company’s annual analyst meeting. In 2013, 36% of ES workers were in low-cost offshore locations like Manila, Philippines; Costa Rica; and Bangalore, India. By 2018, 60% of them… – Continue reading
Under the I-T Act, 1961, taxpayers are broadly categorised as Ordinary Resident, Not Ordinarily Resident (NOR) and Non-Resident (NR). Reporting and paying taxes on overseas incomes and assets come with their own set of challenges. Under the I-T Act, 1961, taxpayers are broadly categorised as Ordinary Resident, Not Ordinarily Resident… – Continue reading
“Luxembourg is famous for two things: its steel industry and its rose cultivation industry”. This quote from an Italian guidebook of the 1930s was uttered by Luxembourg’s Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna at the annual conference of the Luxembourg Directors’ Association on 17 June 2015[1]. The economic outlook of the tiny… – Continue reading
Kenneth Leung (PC,F-Accountancy) explains what he – and the government – are doing to get Hong Kong off the EU’s undeserved blacklisting as a “non-cooperative tax jurisdiction”. Why has Hong Kong been placed on this list? There are ten European countries that have named Hong Kong as a tax haven…. – Continue reading
Is Xi Jinping (習近平)’s anti-corruption campaign crushing it or embarrassingly ineffective? You make the call. It was widely reported the year before Xi assumed office that upwards of 18,000 corrupt officials had fled China since 1990 with about US$120 billion. In early 2012, the Ministry of Supervision released figures saying… – Continue reading
On July 9, 2015, India and the US signed an agreement to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) that will facilitate exchange of information between the two countries starting on October 1, 2015. FATCA was signed by Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das and US Ambassador Richard Verma in New… – Continue reading
Note: This article was published by Bloomberg BNA in Tax Planning International European Tax Service Vol. 17 No. 7 July 2015 Introduction The recent LuxLeaks scandal has once again focused political attention on tax planning practices of multinationals (“MNEs”). It comes in the wake of the European Commission investigation of… – Continue reading
