Category: Oceania
Foreign-owned aluminum company embroiled in yet another scandal
Global Vietnam Aluminum Ltd linked to two Chinese-Australian business people is being probed for alleged tax evasion running into millions of dollars. The State Audit recently said it has found signs the firm illegally inflated costs by VND2.68 trillion ($116.37 million) to evade taxes. The possible fraud came to light… – Continue reading
Cyprus: Marshall Islands | Economic Substance Regulations
MOre on the Economic Substance Regulations ("ESRs"). ... - Continue reading
Australian High Court clarifies definition of “associate” in BHP Billiton tax dispute.
BHP Billiton's case puts Australia’s controlled foreign corporation laws into better perspective. ... - Continue reading
Worldwide: Cayman Islands Added To EU Blacklist
On February 18, 2020, EU finance ministers updated the EU Blacklist, adding four jurisdictions—the Cayman Islands, Palau, Panama and Seychelles. ... - Continue reading
Vanuatu: Vanuatu Citizenship And Taxes 2020
Guidance to get a passport in Vanuatu for 2020. ... - Continue reading
Barbados’ economic substance rules brings an end to separate tax rates
Barbados has introduced new economic substance requirements that effectively brings down the so-called ‘ring fence' that kept two separate tax rates for local and international business companies. ... - Continue reading
Expats to lose CGT benefits
Australian property owners living and residing abroad would have to sell their properties before June 2020 to still take advantage of capital gains tax (CGT) exemption. ... - Continue reading
Fiji Institute of Accountants concerned about cybercrime, money laundering
SUVA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) — The Fiji Institute of Accountants (FIA) said Monday they are concerned about the increase in money laundering and cyber-crime activities in the island nation. According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), while presenting before the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, the Fiji Institute of Accountants President… – Continue reading
New Zealand, Guernsey sign tax treaty protocol
The governments of New Zealand and Guernsey on September 18 signed protocol to their tax information exchange agreement, the New Zealand government has announced. ... - Continue reading
Australia provides arm’s length debt test guidance
The Australian Tax Office on 28 August, released its awaited draft guidance contained in Practical Compliance Guideline 2019/D3, on applying the arm’s length debt test contained in Division 820 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, Australia’s thin capitalization statutory provisions. ... - Continue reading
Australia’s tax office can use Paradise Papers data to pursue multinationals: Court
Australia’s High Court ruled unanimously that giant Glencore could not rely on “legal privilege” to prevent the Australian Tax Office (ATO) from accessing emails, bank records, PowerPoint presentations and other files from the 2017 Paradise Papers investigation. Typically, documents marked “privileged” do not have to be disclosed in court. Companies… – Continue reading
Citizenship of the Republic of Vanuatu and its advantages
The Republic of Vanuatu is a group of islands in the Pacific. The country exists by growing fruits, fishing, and tourism. In 2016, the government introduced the program of achieving local citizenship through investment to increase the flow of external finance. Foreign businessmen want to get a second passport in… – Continue reading
High Court confirms ATO can use information from data leaks
Today the High Court confirmed that the ATO may use information obtained from data leaks, even if leaked from a law firm. Second Commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn said today’s decision in Glencore International v. Commissioner of Taxation means the ATO can continue to use the ‘Paradise Papers’ and other similar data… – Continue reading
New Zealand-Swiss tax agreement tightens net on avoidance
WELLINGTON, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — Opportunities to dodge tax are shrinking with the completion of a new tax agreement between New Zealand and Switzerland, New Zealand’s Revenue Minister Stuart Nash said on Thursday. Nash and Swiss Ambassador to New Zealand David Vogelsanger signed documents to update the Double Tax Agreement… – Continue reading
Taiwan to join anti-tax evasion program CRS
Taiwan expected to share financial information with Japan and Australia in 2020 TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan is expected to exchange financial information with a number of countries in September of next year as part of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) program designed to combat tax evasion. Developed by the… – Continue reading
New Zealand: New Zealand’s Revised International Tax And Transfer Pricing Guidance
Duff & Phelps' Transfer Pricing Alliance Partner, TP EQuilibrium AustralAsia, contributed their insights, expertise and perspectives on this new development. ... - Continue reading
Have your say on the China-NZ double taxation agreement
Double tax agreement set to be modernised. ... - Continue reading
New Zealand digital services tax update
New Zealand Inland Revenue on 4 June 2019 launched a consultation seeking public feedback on New Zealand’s approach to a digital services tax. ... - Continue reading
$4.2 million in assets forfeited to Commonwealth
Three Victorian properties valued at $4.2 million were today forfeited to the Commonwealth by order of the Melbourne Supreme Court. This is the first forfeiture action under the terms of the Joint Agency Arrangement (JAA) on economic crime cooperation between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the People’s Republic of… – Continue reading
No double VAT
Small business owners are being told that they will not have to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) twice if they have already paid the tax while making an online transaction, one of the Government’s top consultants on the economy has told the small business association. Starting on May 1, Barbadians… – Continue reading
Macau | City sharing tax information with New Zealand
Macau and New Zealand have signed a tax-sharing information agreement, with the OECD stating that the city had exchanged tax information with 34 jurisdictions in 2018 Macau (MNA) – Macau has recently signed a tax-sharing information agreement with the government of New Zealand. According to a release from the Cabinet… – Continue reading
EU considers adding UAE, Oman on tax haven blacklist
European Union states have added ten jurisdictions to a draft tax haven blacklist, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bermuda, an EU official told Reuters on Tuesday, in a move that would triple the number of listed countries. The measure comes more than one year after the bloc decided… – Continue reading
Guam, other US territories in European Union’s dirty-money blacklist again
Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are included in the European Nation’s updated list of areas that are deemed hot spots for money laundering and terrorism financing. The U.S. Department of Treasury rejected the inclusion of U.S. territories, calling into question the substance of the EU… – Continue reading
Cook Islands joins coalition to fight tax avoidance
The Cook Islands has joined a coalition of countries aimed at fighting tax avoidance and easing cross-border tax dispute resolution. The country has joined 124 other countries in the Inclusive Framework on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announced earlier this month…. – Continue reading
Worldwide: UK Tax Round Up – November 2018
General UK Tax Developments Finance Bill The Finance (No 3) Bill 2018-19 (which will become the Finance Act 2019) was published on 7 November and includes legislation to enact the changes highlighted in our UK Budget blog post ( UK Budget Blog). Another key area covered by the Finance Bill… – Continue reading
OECD comes to PNG’s aid to chase tax dodgers
Internal Revenue Commission is now in partnership with an international auditing organisation to help tackle multinationals that are avoiding paying taxes, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel, pictured, says. He said that Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), under its ‘tax inspectors without borders’ programme, would help IRC… – Continue reading
New Zealand Law Foundation Report suggests accepting cryptocurrency
A recent report published by the New Zealand Law Foundation on regulating cryptocurrencies in New Zealand suggests the regulators of the country to start taking tax in crypto and trial a CBDC. The report, that is commissioned by the New Zealand Law Foundation and written by the University of Auckland… – Continue reading
Australia’s fugitive Chinese accounts frozen
The top story in the finance section on Tuesday morning is about the Chinese government’s hunt for hidden assets (and unpaid taxes) overseas. The article mentions Australia and New Zealand freezing accounts from customers who don’t identify if they are foreign taxpayers. It goes on to say many of the… – Continue reading
Crypto Islands as Double Offshore
There is a small island in the Caribbean … You immediately imagine relaxation, a beach, palm trees. However today in these small areas a really big crypto history is being created. The crypto business is increasingly mastering the jurisdiction of “dwarf” states, such as Cyprus, Malta, Gibraltar, The Republic of… – Continue reading
HK-New Zealand protocol to tax treaty in force
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The second protocol to the Comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement between Hong Kong and New Zealand (CDTA) entered into force yesterday (August 9), a government spokesman said. The second protocol was signed in June last year and amends the CDTA to pave the way for… – Continue reading
India’s sweeping anti money laundering agenda comes under scrutiny
Money laundering and abuse of sophisticated financial instruments have come under increasing scrutiny from regulators. However observers warn high-profile initiatives often act as a distraction from a lack of genuine political will to tackle global financial crime. For example, India’s leading stock exchange, the BSE, de-listed 222 dormant shell companies… – Continue reading
Tax chiefs unite to tackle international tax crime
HMRC has formed an alliance with tax enforcement bodies in 4 countries to share intelligence and expertise in the battle against international tax crime. The UK has joined forces with Canada, the Netherlands, the United States and Australia to launch the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) – a… – Continue reading
Multinationals in New Zealand to pay fair share of tax
WELLINGTON, June 26 (Xinhua) — New measures to ensure multinational companies in New Zealand pay their fair share of tax will come into force next week. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash said the Taxation (Neutralizing Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Bill, which passed its third reading in Parliament on Tuesday, takes… – Continue reading
Govt. moves to protect Samoa from “dirty money”
A bill tabled in Parliament last week aims to strengthen the Government’s ability to detect criminals who want to use Samoa’s offshore banking scheme to hide the proceeds of their criminal activities. That’s what Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi said when the Money Laundering Prevention Amendment Bill 2018 was tabled… – Continue reading
3 per cent of NZ house sales to foreigners
Only just over 3 per cent of houses sold or transferred in the March quarter went to foreigners, Stats NZ data shows. Of the properties which transferred to new ownership in the three months, 3.3 per cent went to people who were not citizens or residents, up from 2.9 per… – Continue reading
OECD backs BEPS plan in face of critics
The OECD has endorsed New Zealand’s crackdown on multi-national tax evasion, despite significant criticism from local businesses that it departs from OECD standards, Thomas Coughlan reports. David Bradbury, head of the OECD’s tax policy and statistics division, told Newsroom that the OECD was “very pleased with the strong support that… – Continue reading
Marshall Islands Replaces the USD With Own Cryptocurrency
The Marshall Islands have signed a bill to legalize its sole currency as a cryptocurrency. This means that it would be illegal to not accept the cryptocurrency in exchange for goods since it’s now considered as legal tender. The new currency is called sovereign or SOV, and the token sale… – Continue reading
Konrad Mizzi instructed accountants to backdate New Zealand trust documents
While Panama Papers revealed his offshore companies, Konrad Mizzi was giving instructions to backdate changes to his New Zealand holdings Konrad Mizzi instructed New Zealand accountants to backdate documents after the Panama Papers exposed his offshore interests in 2016, The Australian Financial Review reported. Last month, The Shift News reported… – Continue reading
Keith Schembri Once Again Contradicts His Own Statements Regarding His Offshore Company Network
His story has changed somewhere along the line Keith Schembri’s latest explanation today of his network of offshore companies flies in the face of his original statement when the Panama scandal first broke out two years ago. Reacting to stories published today by German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Times… – Continue reading
St Lucia to be removed from EU blacklist
According to Reuters, the European Union will soon remove Saint Lucia, along with the Marshall Islands and Bahrain, from its blacklist of countries deemed to be tax havens. The decision was made by the EU Code of Conduct Group of tax experts from the 28 member states following “specific commitments”… – Continue reading
Offshore Tax Haven Marshall Islands to Issue National Cryptocurrency
A small island nation with less than 60,000 inhabitants best known internationally as a former test site for nuclear weapons is joining the hottest new trend – issuing a national cryptocurrency. The planned Marshall Islands’ Govcoin is expected to be issued later this year. Marshall Islands Govcoin ICO The Republic… – Continue reading
Barbados Agrees To Phase Out Harmful Tax Regimes
Two Barbados preferential tax regimes have been labelled “potentially harmful” in additional guidance released by the OECD in connection with its base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project. The guidance singles out Barbados’s international financial services regime and its credit for foreign currency earnings/credit for overseas projects or services regime…. – Continue reading
US Treasury disputes EU decision to list Guam on tax haven blacklist
The U.S. Treasury Secretary is disputing a decision by the European Union to place Guam, and American Samoa, on its blacklist of noncooperating tax jurisdictions. In a letter to EU Secretary General Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin wrote that “there is no basis for concluding that American Samoa… – Continue reading
New Zealand Tables Legislation To Tackle BEPS Issues
A tax bill to counter base erosion and profit shifting by multinational companies was introduced into Parliament on December 6. The Taxation (Neutralising Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Bill contains measures to prevent multinationals from using: Artificially high interest rates on loans from related parties to shift profits out of… – Continue reading
English High Court Busts New Zealand Trust Structure
In a world where the creation of schemes to exploit loopholes in global tax laws causes social uproar about ‘hiding money’ (the leaking of the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers being good examples), the recent decision of JSC Mezhdunarodniy Promyshlenniy Bank and another v Pugachev and others [2017] EWHC 2426… – Continue reading
New Zealand To Remove GST Exemption For Low-Value Imports
New Zealand’s new Revenue Minister, Stuart Nash, has said that the country will reduce or eliminate the goods and services tax exemption for low-value imports. Presently goods worth no more than either NZD226 (USD155.6) or NZD400 (depending on if they are subject to duty) are not subject to goods and… – Continue reading
Govt. of India and Govt. of NZ signs Third Protocol to the Convention for avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion
The Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) vide notification S.O. 3512(E) dated November 2, 2017 sets out the Third Protocol to the Convention between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of New Zealand for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with… – Continue reading
NZ’s IRD a global leader in shift to digital
NZ’s IRD a global leader in shift to digital, unobtrusive tax administration, Ferguson says Oct. 18 (BusinessDesk) – The Inland Revenue Department is leading the charge in a global shift to digitally-based tax administration that’s unobtrusive and easy to use, says commissioner Naomi Ferguson. The New Zealand tax department is… – Continue reading
Inland Revenue Ordinance to be amended to facilitate international tax co-operation
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 5) Bill 2017 (Amendment Bill) was gazetted today (October 6). The Amendment Bill seeks to pave the way for Hong Kong’s participation in the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, and to align the Inland Revenue Ordinance (IRO)… – Continue reading
