There may some benefits to the closed-down loopholes Unbearable pressure was exerted on this State by our neighbours in Europe to take action unilaterally to close down corporate tax avoidance loopholes such as the Double Irish, upon which time was called in last week’s budget. The pressure and the Irish… – Continue reading
Swiss authorities have confirmed that, if asked, they will assist India in efforts to confirm the genuineness of bank documents and will swiftly provide information on requests relating to non-banking dossiers. The commitment was made in a joint statement following a meeting between the Swiss State Secretary, Jacques de Watteville,… – Continue reading
The Irish government decided last week to get rid of a tax loophole that has helped big multinational companies like Apple and Google avoid paying billions in taxes to any government at all. But hold the champagne: Ireland could well replace one problematic tax policy with another, leaving aggressive tax… – Continue reading
Ireland puts an end to a tax loophole that saved Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook billions in taxes “Double Irish” might sound like a drink that corporate tax lawyers reach for at the prospect of paying higher tax bills, but it’s actually the name of a controversial — albeit legal… – Continue reading
The reservation or grant of certain powers by settlors has always been possible under Bermuda’s trust law but, historically, there was some uncertainty about exactly how far settlors could go without calling the validity of the trust structure into question. The recently passed Trusts (Special Provisions) Amendment Act 2014 (TAA… – Continue reading
A report claiming Lonmin is engaging in two transfer pricing arrangements is misleading and false, the company said on Thursday. It was responding to a report titled “The Bermuda connection: Profit shifting and unaffordability at Lonmin 1999-2012″, released by the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) on Thursday morning. “Lonmin… – Continue reading
Blue-ribbon corporations are deserting our country “to avoid paying taxes but expect to keep receiving the full array of benefits that being American confers, and that everyone else is paying for,” Fortune magazine reports. That’s right, Fortune wrote it; not Pravda. In a scathing article titled “Positively Un-American” by Allan… – Continue reading
The Alternative Information Development Centre (Disclosure: AIDC’s economist Dick Forslund contributes to Daily Maverick, most recently about Lonmin) has been served with an interdict application in the Johannesburg High Court to try to prevent the organisation from holding a press conference about Lonmin’s finances, especially relating to the use of… – Continue reading
Ireland’s finance ministry officials are weighing phasing out a tax device used by multinational companies including Google Inc., according to a person with knowledge of the matter, as the European Union looks into the practice. Ireland is considering whether to eliminate a technique known as the “Double Irish,” which allows… – Continue reading
Vodafone has emerged victorious against the Indian taxman in the latest bout of litigation between the two. The important point for the rest of us being what it tells us about those endless claims of tax avoidance and tax evasion by large companies. It’s not just that large amounts of… – Continue reading
Billionaire retailer Gerry Harvey says it is “morally wrong” for a company to avoid paying tax in its home country. Weighing into the debate about corporate tax dodging, the owner of Harvey Norman told Fairfax Media he could “dramatically reduce” his company’s tax bill by shifting profits overseas but chose… – Continue reading
The European Commission’s crackdown on the deal between Irish tax authorities and Apple Inc. marks an expansion in the growing global war on tax avoidance by multinational companies. Governments that enable it are now a target. Tuesday, the European Commission said the Irish tax authorities failed to conform to international… – Continue reading
Korean companies and individuals have invested more than 25 trillion won (about $23 billion) in 50 tax haven countries over the past seven years, according to a report submitted Sunday by the National Tax Service (NTS) to the National Assembly. “Investments by small-and medium-sized companies and individuals are in decline… – Continue reading
Reports that Lonmin was evading tax were denied by a spokeswoman on Monday, after calls that the company should be investigated. “It is completely false, we are busy preparing a statement,” spokeswoman Sue Vey said. Vey said she was not sure when the statement would be released. Earlier, Sars spokesman… – Continue reading
Having recently blasted corporate tax evaders, the deputy president now has egg on his face after Lonmin’s Bermuda tax avoidance tactics surfaced. Evidence before the Marikana commission that Lonmin moved millions in platinum revenue from South Africa to tax-free Bermuda is likely to prove embarrassing for ANC deputy president Cyril… – Continue reading
Strategy to stamp out avoidance by multinational groups to be unveiled today Ireland’s business tax regime is set to come under renewed scrutiny today as the OECD sets out the first phase of a plan to stamp out aggressive avoidance by big multinational groups. Moves by the OECD to overhaul… – Continue reading
As a small island nation, with a vibrant insurance sector and relatively low tax rates, Bermuda can be a target for political leaders and pundits in the United States. But history shows that our nations are natural friends, allies and economic partners. Seventy years ago, fighting against Imperial Japan and… – Continue reading
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A tough new ad from Democratic Sen. Al Franken accuses his Republican opponent’s business of avoiding taxes by headquartering overseas. But Republican Mike McFadden calls the ad “ridiculous” and “full of lies.” The ad marks a new Franken campaign strategy: directly attack McFadden for his business dealings…. – Continue reading
Stopgap efforts to prevent corporate tax inversions won’t fix the underlying problems With Congress about to return for a final push before the midterm elections in November, one topic on everyone’s lips is so-called corporate inversions. The practice, where a large U.S. company buys a smaller foreign company in order… – Continue reading
A recent business report in European CEO calls Bermuda a “world leader in the ILS market,” focusing on recent growth in that sector in painting the island as a “premier financial jurisdiction.” The report, written by Greg Wojciechowski, CEO of Bermuda Stock Exchange, opens by saying, “Most people’s first thoughts of… – Continue reading
On August 26, Burger King announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire Tim Hortons, Inc., the Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain, in a transaction that will be structured as an “inversion” (i.e., Burger King will become a subsidiary of a Canadian parent corporation). The deal is expected to close in 2014… – Continue reading
The Obama administration is employing an ObamaCare contractor that was once based in the tax haven of Bermuda, even as it assails corporations for lacking the “economic patriotism” to pay taxes. Accenture was awarded a contract in January that’s now grown to well over $100 million to make improvements to… – Continue reading
This article was first published in the 2nd quarter 2014 edition of Personal Finance magazine. Most people accept that they have to pay taxes in their country of residence. But citizens of the United States and green card holders who live outside that country – even if they have never… – Continue reading
You’ll have to forgive Amazon for getting a little flustered when the British Parliament publicly blasted the company for “gaming the system” to dodge paying taxes. Amazon is an American company. They’re used to far more deferential treatment. Responding to how the company paid only $7 million in taxes despite… – Continue reading
With all the talk about inversions and America’s Burger King Going Canadian, it’s easy to ignore even more prevalent tax savings by numerous American companies. Take Microsoft, which admits in its 2014 SEC filing that it avoids $30 billion in U.S. taxes. The trick? Keep about triple that amount, $93… – Continue reading
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) has been in force for a month and still more countries are joining the tax network. So far, 101 countries and financial jurisdictions have either signed or agreed to join FATCA. FATCA is aimed at identifying US taxpayers with offshore bank accounts and investments. Overseas… – Continue reading
Potential inversion deal highlights dropping corporate taxes in Canada, now the lowest among 10 countries, with the U.S. in 5th place. Fast-food giant Burger King faced anger from both Washington and average Americans Monday, a day after it announced that it was in talks to buy Tim Hortons and relocate… – Continue reading
NEW YORK — There’s more than one way for a U.S. company to avoid taxes by claiming a foreign address. Consider the business founded in 1916 as General Plate Co., a maker of sensors and controls for everything from Fords and Frigidaires to the spaceship that first carried Americans to… – Continue reading
Education and Economic Development Minister Grant Gibbons said yesterday the Registrar of Companies’ data on new company incorporations for the second quarter of 2014 continues to show a strong positive trend in the number of new company registrations. Results following the close of the quarter in June showed that the… – Continue reading
Medtronic Inc’s Chief Executive Omar Ishrak has insisted that the company’s USD42.9bn deal to acquire Dublin-based Covidien Plc, and, thereby, move its tax residence from the United States to Ireland in a “corporate inversion,” is based on business logic and not corporate tax reduction. Medtronic is among a number of… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands, an important international business competitor for Bermuda, is expressing “consternation” that they have been included on a new list of high risk jurisdictions for financial crime. There are a total of 95 countries listed including Brazil, Afghanistan, Cuba, Russia, China, Iraq, the Republic of Congo and Jamaica…. – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The U.S. government has grappled for more than 30 years with corporate deals known as inversions in which U.S. companies shift their tax domiciles abroad to avoid U.S. taxes. Fifty-two substantial deals like this have occurred since 1983, about half of them since the 2008-2009 credit crisis, according… – Continue reading
Minister of Finance Bob Richards confirmed this week that under the Bermuda-UK FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement [IGA] model 2, Bermuda and the UK have agreed the inclusion of a Limited Capacity Exempt Beneficial Owner Category in Annex II of the IGA. The effect of this amendment will mean that there will… – Continue reading
SRINGFIELD — Republican Bruce Rauner not only has personal investments in the Cayman Islands, but he presided over his former private equity firm as it set up other investment vehicles in the Caribbean tax haven known for its secrecy. The Chicago Sun-Times verified through the Cayman Islands’ government-run online business… – Continue reading
The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited Chairman & CEO Brendan McDonagh commented on the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act [FATCA] in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. FACTA imposes due diligence, information reporting and control obligations on non-US financial institutions for certain US persons who maintain… – Continue reading
HumaneWatch.org, a project of the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), is running a full-page ad today in USA Today calling out the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) for parking $20 million of donor funds in offshore investment shelters in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The practice is only the latest in… – Continue reading
Calls for crackdown as investigation finds huge Indonesian corporations evading tax through network of secret shell companies in British Virgin Islands and other tax havens Giant Asian logging companies that make billions from destroying rainforests use a labyrinth of secret shell companies based in a UK overseas territory, the British Virgin… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands continue to be the pre-eminent offshore jurisdiction for hedge funds. Around 85 per cent of the world’s hedge funds are domiciled in the Cayman Islands, enabling the jurisdiction to outrank competing offshore centres (the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Jersey among them) as the top spot for… – Continue reading
Corporate Tax Reform: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) held a briefing and webcast at its Paris headquarters Wednesday on its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project and Pascal Saint-Amans, the director of the OECD’s tax centre confirmed that “Double Irish Dutch” sandwich tax schemes, which involve… – Continue reading
A call to tax technology companies such as Apple and Google in the countries where they have substantial activities has re-ignited concerns companies may be taxed twice and stop business altogether. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which is working on a global plan to prevent companies from avoiding paying… – Continue reading
ITS SEARCH ENGINE may boast almighty powers to divine our every move, but Google has come under attack from an order of Catholic priests over its tax arrangements. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, established in France two centuries ago, has called on Google to hand more of its profits… – Continue reading
The Tax Office is allowing Australians with money parked in offshore accounts to avoid harsh penalties by coming forward, in an amnesty program worth up to half a billion dollars. ATO Commissioner Chris Jordan will announce the program today, which will reduce the penalties for taxpayers who hand over information… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Caterpillar Inc’s offshore tax strategies will come under scrutiny on Tuesday at a U.S. Senate hearing expected to examine dealings by the world’s largest mining and construction equipment maker in Switzerland, Bermuda and Luxembourg. With many multinationals being criticized for tax avoidance, veteran tax sleuth Senator Carl Levin… – Continue reading
A looming global crackdown on aggressive tax avoidance is set to stop internet companies slashing bills by routing profits to havens. Plans to “restore taxation” in the countries where digital companies make their sales and base their headquarters were set out on Monday in the first international response to the… – Continue reading
LONDON — They are the most expensive and luxurious flats in the whole of London. Their ultramodern bay windows offer an unobstructed view onto Hyde Park. An underground corridor connects them to the Mandarin Oriental, the palace where Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal has one of his prized restaurants. In total, the… – Continue reading
U.S. corporations added at least $206 billion to their stockpiles of offshore profits last year, parking earnings in low-tax countries until Congress gives them a reason not to. They have accumulated $1.95 trillion outside the U.S., up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, according to securities filings from 307 corporations…. – Continue reading
The U.S. Virgin Islands is attempting to lure small businesses with substantial corporate tax breaks, in a bid to create jobs and diversify the tiny territory’s $4.2 billion economy. Democratic Gov. John de Jongh toured New York late last week with regional economic development officials, meeting companies and investors. De… – Continue reading
Financial institutions in Bermuda, such as banks and trust companies, will soon be obliged to provide information to foreign tax authorities relating to the financial affairs of United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) resident clients. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act 2009 (US FATCA) is a US law designed… – Continue reading
Some states are going after multinational corporations which avoid state taxes by stashing some of their earnings in offshore tax havens, an effort aimed at recouping some of the more than $20 billion states lose to such gimmicks each year. Shifting income to subsidiaries in places like the Cayman Islands… – Continue reading
OECD tax director Pascal Saint-Amans has played down concerns that the United States might resist plans to make multinational companies such as Apple and Starbucks pay more tax, arguing that governments must move quickly to close multibillion-dollar loopholes or risk ordinary citizens losing faith in their taxation systems. Mr Saint-Amans… – Continue reading
