BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) — China has signed agreements with 99 countries to avoid goods being taxed twice as they cross borders in order to benefit more domestic enterprises going global, said a senior taxation official on Thursday. Wang Wenqin, deputy director of the State Administration of Taxation’s international tax… – Continue reading
Bankrupt ex-billionaire Samuel Wyly won a judge’s approval to sell his family’s Colorado ranch, the site of six custom-built homes. The bankruptcy judge in Dallas Wednesday also said Wyly could provide a loan to pay for the ranch’s upkeep before it’s sold. The property will be listed for $50 million,… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to launch an investigation into Axact Pakistan (Pvt) Limited’s assets in foreign countries, including the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, bank accounts, credit card transactions and internet marketing in and outside Pakistan. FBR’s subsidiary Directorate General Intelligence & Investigation… – Continue reading
By stopping bogus claims of residency, his idea would force foreigners to pay capital gains tax when they sell a home in Canada OTTAWA — Inspired by the legendary FBI ploy to nab a notorious gangster, a B.C. immigration lawyer suggests the Canadian tax system be used to discourage the… – Continue reading
Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, just got a step closer to explaining his role in the Lux Leaks scandal. Speaking after an official visit to Luxembourg, German Member of the European Parliament, Fabio De Masi said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that powerful EU member states like Germany… – Continue reading
New Delhi: Indian tax authorities and investigators probing black money cases have decided to hold one-to-one meetings with their overseas counterparts based in tax haven nations and other countries to “deepen” cooperation in the fight against illicit funds stashed abroad. As part of the measures to combat the menace, investigators… – Continue reading
At a time when traders who bet on deals are constantly being thrown curve balls, more bad news: Yahoo! Inc.’s plan to make them rich may be getting derailed. The stock plummeted as much as 12 percent near the end of Tuesday’s trading session because the U.S. Internal Revenue Service… – Continue reading
ALTHOUGH there is no conclusive evidence as to how much money South Africa is losing in terms of transfer pricing, the mining and extractive industries are responsible for R3.4bn of it. Dumisani Jantjies, financial analyst of the parliamentary budget office, singled out the mining industry as one of the biggest… – Continue reading
Pressed by the Gibraltar Government, the rightwing Spanish newspaper ABC yesterday backtracked on an earlier article in which it made damaging, but incorrect claims about Gibraltar and its commitment to tax transparency. The newspaper published a clarification yesterday following an article earlier this month in which it claimed Gibraltar was… – Continue reading
Cape Town – Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa wants artists and performers to get a financial break and will ask the Davis tax committee to give them tax incentives. Mthethwa told journalists in Parliament on Tuesday, during a briefing on his budget vote, that the department would meet the… – Continue reading
Actor John Malkovich has sued the French daily paper Le Monde over false reports saying he had a secret Swiss account. The defamation suit is the latest proof that having an undisclosed account in Switzerland—or perhaps anywhere—is an embarrassment for anyone. Whether politician, public figure, or anyone else, no one… – Continue reading
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has referred 30 per cent more individuals and businesses who it thinks have not paid all the taxes they owe, to its specialist unit for ‘serious defaulters’, signalling a toughening up of its approach to tax avoidance, reports Citywire. According to figures obtained by accountancy… – Continue reading
Experts say Panama’s new reforms will help fight money laundering. Panama’s Congress on April 22 unanimously approved anti-money laundering legislation that will bolster supervision of non-financial sectors through which proceeds from drug trafficking and other illicit activities have been laundered in recent years. To what extent will the reforms, a… – Continue reading
India has amended section 6 of the Income Tax Act to introduce place of effective management (POEM) as the test to determine the place of residence of companies in the country. The change was included Finance Act, 2015, which received the President’s assent on May 12, 2015. The change will… – Continue reading
IRS Rules That Policyholder Owns Mutual Fund Shares Under Nonqualified Deferred Annuity Contract The IRS ruled in Private Letter Ruling 201519001 on the tax treatment of a nonqualified deferred annuity contract issued by a life insurance company, finding that public mutual fund shares under the contract will be treated as… – Continue reading
On May 8, 2015, the United States Department of Justice announced that it had entered into a “non-prosecution agreement” (NPA) with Swiss bank Vadian Bank AG under the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Swiss bank program. In its press release announcing the NPA, the DOJ said, “the department has opened investigations… – Continue reading
Three years after a major restructuring of the business, general insurer AIG Jamaica is moving its operations offshore but will continue to write business for clients here. AIG Jamaica Insurance Company Limited was formerly Chartis Jamaica Insurance Company Limited, which was created in 2012 when sister company American Home Assurance… – Continue reading
The finance ministry will in the near future add Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC) rules to the Income Tax Act in order to prevent the tax deferral that many Indian multinational companies resort to by not repatriating the profits of their foreign subsidiaries for long periods. The proposed rules will come… – Continue reading
Addis Ababa, 19 May 2015- (ECA) – Africa’s money that could be used to improve lives and reduce poverty is leaving the continent through illicit financial flows defined as money illegally earned, transferred and used. As the Chairperson of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, the… – Continue reading
INTRODUCTION On May 5, 2015 the Swiss Federal Supreme Court held a public hearing about two cases relating to the reclaim of Swiss withholding tax (WHT) in connection with arbitrage cases and issued its long awaited decisions. Two Danish banks issued the question on treaty entitlement for the refund of… – Continue reading
A proposal to bar insurers from claiming a tax deduction for premiums ceded to offshore affiliates would cost the U.S. economy $1.35 billion in gross domestic product, with private sector losses estimated to run roughly four times as great as the tax revenues raised, according to a new report from… – Continue reading
During a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, chaired by deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan,in his role as acting prime minister, the government passed a revised bill that requires the automatic exchange of financial account information for taxpayers from both countries every year, reports Arirang. The agreement will also ensure confidentiality and the… – Continue reading
International fast-food giant McDonald’s avoided paying half a billion dollars of tax in Australia over a five-year period by shifting profits through the low-tax nation of Singapore, a new report by a global coalition of trade unions says. The report, which has been funded and commissioned by a coalition of… – Continue reading
The IRS’s scrutiny of tax avoidance in offshore locations has discouraged bidders from taking over reinsurers, potentially reducing the companies’ value. Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. and Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd., both based in Bermuda, have each said in recent regulatory filings that potential suitors backed away last year because of… – Continue reading
(Special) — The recent slump in oil prices is causing many Canadian investors to move their money from energy-weighted markets at home to foreign markets for better yields. While this may be a profitable investment strategy, it also can create its own set of problems because many investors may not… – Continue reading
* Assets under management down 1 pct to 289 bln Sfr at end-April * Net new money growth at the low end of target range * Shares up 9.2 pct year to date (Adds detail, shares) ZURICH, May 19 (Reuters) – Swiss private bank Julius Baer said its assets under… – Continue reading
Ahead of their joint event on Deoffshorisation Compliance on 21 May, TMF Group’s Sub Regional Director for CIS and the Nordics Alex Medlock and Artem Toropov, Senior International Tax Associate at law firm Goltsblat BLP LLP (the Russian practice of Berwin Leighton Paisner), outline the key deoffshorisation/CFC compliance requirements and… – Continue reading
Differences in how new accounts are treated by the US, the UK and Canada under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act are raising tough questions for banks across many jurisdictions, practitioners told Bloomberg BNA. “This is not an insignificant issue,” said Alan Granwell, of counsel with Sharp Partners P.A. in… – Continue reading
MEPs looking into state sanctioned corporate tax avoidance praised Luxembourg’s finance minister on Monday, despite his refusal to say how many tax rulings the Grand Duchy has issued, reports the EU Observer. The micro-state gained notoriety last year following media disclosure of some 500 government-backed rulings, also known as comfort… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, MAY 19: In its ongoing quest to draw information on illegal incomes stashed abroad, the Indian revenue authorities are in negotiations with as many as 28 different countries/jurisdictions for tax information exchange agreement (TIEA). This agreement will enable Indian tax authorities to receive banking related information even from… – Continue reading
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has added Austria, Turkmenistan, Hong Kong and Niue to the list of countries transactions with which are subject to control under the administration of the law on transfer pricing. Corresponding Cabinet decree No. 449 dated May 14 has been posted on the website of… – Continue reading
Another offshore bank, Finter Bank Zurich AG (Finter), located in Zurich, Switzerland, has reached a resolution under the US Justice Department’s so called Swiss Bank Program, reports the Curacao Chronicle. The Swiss Bank Program, which was announced on August 29, 2013, provides a path for Swiss banks to resolve potential… – Continue reading
Maryland’s taxation policy violated the U.S. Constitution by taxing income that state residents earned in other states, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday. The nation’s apex said the state’s controversial policy imposed form of double taxation on residents. The court in its ruling said Maryland cannot impose form of… – Continue reading
The Lower House and Senate Committee investigating the existence of secret HSBC bank accounts in Switzerland met today with the presence of the bank’s internal auditor Diego Esquenazi, and external auditor Mabel Casillas. During his presentation, Esquenazi asserted that “As chief of the bank’s internal auditing, I deny all the… – Continue reading
Verizon consolidated nearly 1,500 finance operations staff from more than 300 U.S. locations into service centers in Lake Mary, Fla., and Tulsa, Okla., indicative of a trend among companies placing business service operations in mid-size U.S. cities rather than offshore locations such as India, according to a new report. The… – Continue reading
Ruling opens door for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to recoup losses from other firms which used rate-booster schemes High street retailer Next has been hit with a £22.4m tax bill after a court found that it diverted profits made in the UK to offshore havens to avoid paying tax…. – Continue reading
Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s commercial tax department is investigating into tax suppression and evasion to the tune of Rs.1,522 crore, an official statement said on Monday. The government is also taking action based on the result of audit and inspection with a total revenue effect of Rs.5,178 crore. In a statement… – Continue reading
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Registrar of Companies (RoC), jointly hosted an outreach workshop last week regarding the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA is extra-territorial US legislation that affects Financial Institutions (FIs), particularly those which have accountholders who are US… – Continue reading
Kuwait working to ban remittances to 12 countries, including Arab states, claiming the locations are being used to funnel funds to terrorists, Arabic daily Al Anbaa has reported, citing a ministerial source. The blacklisted countries include islands known to host offshore accounts of companies that run illegal money laundering businesses,… – Continue reading
Authorities worldwide have increased scrutiny of tax-avoidance strategies in the past year, CFOs and finance directors of multinational clients told global tax consulting firm network Taxand. Sixty per cent of multinationals reported an increase in audits by tax authorities in the past year, and 70% said authorities had increased their… – Continue reading
OVER 50 judicial officers underwent a two-day training in emerging trends in tax law practice and administration organised by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to hone their skills in adjudication of revenue affairs. The training that closed last week was held at Lake Victoria Serena Resort, Kigo in Kampala. The training… – Continue reading
In 1934, a distinguished American jurist, Judge Learned Hand, famously opined that “one may so arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to… – Continue reading
Compliance costs for banks in the Middle East are soaring, as a global crackdown on money laundering and higher international capital requirements squeezes their resources, a new report from Thomson Reuters said, reports Gulf News. Four out of five financial services companies in the Middle East polled by Reuters said… – Continue reading
As part of a push to control money laundering in the global banking system, the HKMA has called on lenders to peek into customers’ filings, reports the South China Morning Post. Banks in Hong Kong are calculating just how much tax expertise they will need to add over the coming… – Continue reading
In July 1997, Tyco International (with then Wall St darling Dennis Kozlowski at the helm) was “acquired” by a relatively small provider of home security services, known as ADT Inc. The deal arguably exploited some strategic synergies between the two companies, but far and away the biggest benefit to Tyco… – Continue reading
The advantages of off-shore investments Two of the top reasons that South African investors are given to encourage offshore investments are that going offshore diversifies your portfolio and that it gives you access to sectors you could never find on the resource-heavy JSE. “While those are not reasons to be… – Continue reading
Georgia’s freshman Senator David Perdue is a big advocate of the Fair Tax – a proposal long linked to the Peach State that calls for replacing federal income taxes with a national sales tax on all goods and services. Perdue talked up the plan in the GOP primary and general… – Continue reading
The bipartisan Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act, which which would simplify tax reporting requirements for those workers employed in multiple state US jurisdictions, has been introduced into the House of Representatives by Hank Johnson (D – Georgia) and Mike Bishop (R – Michigan). States currently have widely varying… – Continue reading
Marcelo Vicentini of Standard Chartered in Brazil discusses the differences between OECD member countries and non-members when it comes to asset management transfer pricing. Brazil’s diversion from the OECD is well-documented and can make life difficult for transfer pricing managers when they are trying to apply a consistent policy across… – Continue reading
THE BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government, which had made a lot of noise about black money and the illegal stashing of funds abroad in the run-up to general elections last year, finally got down to some serious work to tax ill-gotten wealth and curb its growth. Last week, the government… – Continue reading
