LAND including Riverside Retail Park, the Cockhedge Centre and the former site of Mr. Smith’s is owned by companies based in offshore tax havens it has been revealed. Companies are often based offshore to gain from three tax loopholes, including no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax and no stamp… – Continue reading
China appeared to expand efforts Thursday to bolster its currency in what traders said is an attempt to align its exchange rates at home and abroad. The yuan rose a record 1.2 percent in the offshore market amid speculation the People’s Bank of China was again acting to contain the… – Continue reading
MORE than £20 million of prime Cumbrian land and property was bought by offshore firms between 2005 and 2014, according to Private Eye magazine. Properties purchased by offshore companies in Cumbria in the last ten years range from prestigious country estates to a hotel and a nursing home. The countries… – Continue reading
This week, MEPs discussed a draft report on tax rulings, with a view to a vote in the next plenary session in Strasbourg. The report proposes a comprehensive overhaul of corporate tax practices as part of the EU’s battle to tackle tax avoidance. Parliament’s special committee on tax rulings (TAXE)… – Continue reading
Superstar-laden FC Barcelona might be among the top teams in the Spanish Liga BBVA this season but the team is making news – again – for a more undesirable reason: tax investigations. As Lionel Messi awaits trial on tax evasion charges, another Barcelona star may be joining him. Spanish news… – Continue reading
The EB-5 Visa program has been widely promoted as a legal basis for foreign business owners to gain conditional residency followed by permanent residency in the United States. The program is a great solution to the proposition “I want to live in America.” The decision to become a permanent resident… – Continue reading
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has begun processing about 150 individual claims related to advice to invest in tax ‘mitigation’ schemes after being given the green light by lawyers. The organisation said it had been receiving claims in relation to advice to invest in 80 different tax schemes, including… – Continue reading
In the first meeting between HMRC officials and the new parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), MPs praised the Revenue’s work but called for urgent improvements to customer service and transparency Labour MP Meg Hillier, who replaced Margaret Hodge as the PAC’s chair, opened proceedings by telling HMRC permanent secretary Lin… – Continue reading
Isle of Man Government chief minister Allan Bell has predicted a wave of negative campaigning focused on the Isle of Man and the other crown dependences, if Jeremy Corbyn wins the leadership of the UK’s Labour Party. Bell identified Corbyn’s chief economic adviser as the offshore critic Richard Murphy, an… – Continue reading
Individuals and business wishing to establish a business in Canada need to familiarize themselves with the laws concerning forms of organization, FDI, competition, taxation, labor, privacy, the environment, and more. Canada has weathered the recent period of international uncertainty and volatility better than most other advanced industrialized nations. It is… – Continue reading
The US State Department has issued an interim final rule that would extend the increase in its processing fees payable for renouncing US citizenship to those who relinquish their US nationality through other methods. While the majority of individuals giving up their US citizenship do so by “making a formal… – Continue reading
Negotiations took place, on 2 July 2015, at the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Cyprus, concluding a Protocol that will amend the Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect on taxes on income, when it expires. The agreed protocol, when… – Continue reading
Bern, 09.09.2015 – The tax information exchange agreements with Andorra, Greenland, San Marino and the Seychelles have come into force. They will apply from 1 January 2016. Following the completion of the corresponding ratification processes, the tax information exchange agreements (TIEA) have come into force with Andorra (27 July 2015),… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): US taxpayers and Caymanian status holders Lee and Sheila Aronfeld are seeking a judicial review of a decision by the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority (CITIA) to give their information to the IRS in the United States in connection with a criminal tax probe. Shareholders in three Cayman… – Continue reading
The Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Republic of San Marino on exemption of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and service passports and the Convention between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of San Marino for the avoidance of double… – Continue reading
The Treasury Department has pushed American-based corporations to lobby against a tax provision prized by their foreign counterparts, according to people who have heard the pitch. One senior Treasury official in particular, Danielle Rolfes, urged domestic companies to more aggressively target an incentive for interest expensing during a March tax… – Continue reading
Given how China is trying to internationalise its currency, including getting more countries to settle trade in local currencies, it is not surprising that Indian policy-makers are looking at how to increase the rupee’s international acceptability. While that will have to wait till the Indian economy acquires China’s heft, a… – Continue reading
Kampala. A policy to guide the formulation of a double taxation treaty will be finalised by close of this month, the commissioner for tax policy at the Ministry of Finance, Mr Moses Kaggwa, has disclosed. Double taxation treaty (DTT) is an important agreement that determines which country has the right… – Continue reading
France has handed to Cypriot authorities a controversial list of Cypriots with deposits at HSBC bank in Switzerland, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said on Tuesday, reports the Famagusta Gazette. Cypriot parliamentarians probing the cause of the near melt-down of the economy in 2013 have repeatedly urged the government to obtain… – Continue reading
A new tax test on the sale of residential properties is coming – the bright line test. If you buy and then sell a residential property within two years new taxation rules may apply to the gain (or loss) that you make. Existing tax law provides for tax on sales… – Continue reading
The original online payment platform, PayPal, has decided to leave the populous island of Puerto Rico next month. The commonwealth has imposed a 2 percent take on any money transmission, forcing Paypal’s hand. So what does this mean for those who need to send money from Puerto Rico? Puerto Rico… – Continue reading
Neo Corp International hit a lower circuit limit of 5% at Rs 33.45 at 11:25 IST on BSE on reports the Indian authorities are conducting a probe against the company on tax evasion charges. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 345.75 points, or 1.37%, to 25,663.62. On BSE, so far… – Continue reading
Johannesburg – The South African economy has been crippled by decades of transfer pricing and other forms of illegal capital flight by multinational companies, especially in the mining sector. This partly explained the country’s poisonous labour relations environment and led directly to the Marikana killings three years ago. These were… – Continue reading
It was an American statesman, Benjamin Franklin, a gentleman of reputedly many talents, who is credited with the widely spoken remark, ‘in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.’ Technically, none of us lives forever and paying taxes is a part of life. Dodging… – Continue reading
BEFORE the General Election David Cameron promised to protect vulnerable North-East airports if Scotland carried its pledge to cut air taxes. It is now time for the Prime Minister to deliver. Speaking to The Northern Echo in March, Mr Cameron vowed that – if re-elected – he would block “unfair… – Continue reading
Not going to make this easy The amazing Yahoo! / Alibaba / SpinCo tax structure has suffered a blow: America’s Internal Revenue Service has refused to say whether or not it approves or disapproves of Yahoo!’s tax-avoidance chicanery. And that usually spells trouble. Back at the start of the year,… – Continue reading
A wealthy Victoria, B.C., family paid virtually no tax over a span of eight years – and even obtained federal and provincial tax credits – while being involved in an offshore tax “sham” developed by one of the country’s most respected accounting firms, the Canada Revenue Agency alleges. The Canada… – Continue reading
Lawyer Patrick Poulin says he helped clients set up offshore corporations in the Caribbean. And that’s what he was working on when he flew to Miami from the Turks and Caicos last year to meet with two Americans who wanted him to invest $2 million from a real estate deal…. – Continue reading
HMRC’s recovery of tax quicker than projected Recent figures released by HMRC record the progress that they have made in seeking early repayment of tax under the Accelerated Payment Notice (APN) regime. This was introduced by the Finance Act 2014, which gave HMRC the power to serve tax demands where… – Continue reading
On April 1, 2015, Cyprus and South Africa signed a Protocol amending their existing double taxation agreement (“DTA”), which was signed in 1997 and has been in force since December 8, 1998. At the time the original DTA was concluded, dividends arising in South Africa were not subjected to South… – Continue reading
The international financial sector faces a perilous future. Major challenges loom over an uncertain global economy, while a decidedly negative political climate poses an existential threat to the offshore financial community. With each passing year, thanks to demographic changes and poorly designed fiscal policies, politicians from high-tax nations will be… – Continue reading
The General Manager of the Italian Revenue Agency, Rossella Orlandi, has confirmed that there have so far been 10,000 requests to enter into Italy’s current voluntary disclosure program, compared with only around 1,000 applications received by May. The program allows taxpayers who apply by September 30 to regularize undeclared capital… – Continue reading
No declaration of foreign assets can be made which have been acquired during the year for which a notice under specified sections of the I-T Act has been issued The government has recently come up with a new legislation namely Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of… – Continue reading
Suggests ending STT on equity derivatives, stamp duty on index ones; also for rupee’s internationalisation, other changes A government-appointed panel has recommended abolition of the securities transaction tax (STT) in equity derivatives. The standing council on international competitiveness of the Indian financial sector also suggested doing away with the stamp… – Continue reading
The Cabinet, then discussed a number of domestic issues and, in this regard, expressed thanks to and appreciation of the competent security agencies and Saudi Customs for their following-up, monitoring and preventing drug smuggling attempts into the Kingdom and the arrest of those involved in the smuggling and their recipients,… – Continue reading
On July 30, 2015, the Netherlands and Indonesia signed a protocol (the “Protocol”) amending an agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion, originally signed on January 29,… – Continue reading
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush has outlined a tax reform plan that would raise taxes on some private equity managers and other investors. In doing so, the plan would fulfill a goal often called for by liberal tax analysts and, more recently, fellow Republican candidate Donald Trump. Bush’s tax plan,… – Continue reading
A continent so rich with natural resources, but yet there is still a wide economic inequality gap. Money is lost due to base erosion and profit shifting, thus minimizing the opportunity to advance development. CNBC Africa is joined by Ernie Lai King, head of tax and Asia practice, at Hogan… – Continue reading
Greece’s Alternate Finance Minister in the current caretaker government, Tryfon Alexiadis, has pushed for an overhaul of the controversial property tax ENFIA. The Single Property Ownership Tax (ENFIA) is widely seen as inequitable and has been deeply unpopular since its introduction on January 1, 2014. Earlier in 2015, the Syriza… – Continue reading
On September 8, 2015 the Cypriot Ministry of Finance published an announcement titled: “Conclusion of a Protocol that will amend the Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect on taxes on income between the Republic of Cyprus and the Government of Ukraine… – Continue reading
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to bring home millions of dollars of illicit money stashed abroad. Indians call undisclosed money ‘black money,’ and how much there is remains unclear. But it isn’t just billions. It could be hundreds of billions to more than $1 trillion. It isn’t merely offshore… – Continue reading
If it seems like more and more presidential candidates are adopting a populist message, it’s because they know that it resonates well with the American public. Bernie Sanders has gone from being a long shot candidate to being a very serious contender in a matter of months, simply by stating… – Continue reading
Two reviews into the Ontario Provincial Police Association reveal that “tyrannical” leaders led to a complete breakdown of governance. There were harassing, expletive-filled emails, including one telling a staffer to “hurry the f— up” and another threatening to “rip off” a board member’s head. There were employees brought to tears… – Continue reading
Multinational companies are facing far more expansive and complex audits by tax authorities fighting over the same pot of profits as budget deficits continue to increase, reports BD Live. An inevitable outcome of efforts globally to prevent tax bases from erosion is double taxation and increased disputes over adjusted assessments… – Continue reading
Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders, has written to the mayor of the District of Columbia, Muriel Brower, and several members of the US congress calling for the removal of Antigua and Barbuda from a list of alleged “tax havens”, reports Caribbean News Now. Antigua… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland, is a self-governing country with population a little over 85000. The island has seen three decades of continuous economic growth and has embraced emerging technological innovations with open arms, including satellites and cellular service. It is now… – Continue reading
In September 2014, the Hurun Research Institute published its annual listing of the richest people in China. It showed that IT tycoon Ma Yun had increased his personal fortune during the last year by 500% to $25 billion and in doing so, had climbed to first position on the list…. – Continue reading
The government is looking to adopt a global standard on exchange of financial information in 2017 in the hope of addressing the country’s tax revenue issues, according to a Cabinet minister. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said the move would enable the government to collect financial data on accounts belonging to… – Continue reading
(CN) – A loophole in Italy’s criminal code that routinely allows tax evaders to dodge prosecution may run afoul of EU law when the scofflaws’ conduct hurts the EU budget, Europe’s highest court ruled Tuesday. The case in question involves a group of individuals who Italian prosecutors believe ran a… – Continue reading
Intangible assets in the oil and gas industry have become incredibly valuable. Taxpayers need to understand how to manage compliance to mitigate their transfer pricing risks What do recent Western economic sanctions against Russia; the US’ growing energy independence; and ultra-deepwater oil and gas (O&G) discoveries off the coast of… – Continue reading
