Category: Jurisdiction

Canada: Increasing Corporate Penalties And Risk Management (Update To “Seven Corporate Sins As A Source Of Government Revenue And Economic Stimulus”)

Introduction Soft commodity prices, divergent monetary policies across major economies, high unemployment rates and weak world trade have all conspired to slow down global economic recovery over the past seven years. Consequently, governments have had to cut spending as future revenues remain uncertain. This has led governments to look for… – Continue reading

Syndicated loan borrowings abroad fall as companies tap bonds for expansion

MUMBAI: India’s syndicated loan borrowing in overseas markets has collapsed in the January-March quarter as Indian companies have taken the bond route to fund their expansions, and investments are yet to pick up. Loans denominated in US dollar, Japanese yen or euro dropped 75 per cent year-on-year. India G3 syndicated… – Continue reading

Businesses optimistic about tax deal with the mainland

TAIPEI–Taiwanese business people said they are optimistic about a new tax agreement between Taiwan and China that is expected to be sealed soon, with many hoping that the accord can improve the competitiveness of local businesses. Lai Cheng-i (賴正鎰) head of the General Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, said the… – Continue reading

Offshore tax havens help dozens of companies avoid paying nearly 600 billion in taxes

Apple is worth roughly 700 billion dollars. Microsoft is worth rough 70 billion. Over the past few years, congressional hearings exposed how both companies moved money overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes. But as a new report shows, Apple and Microsoft are two of dozens of companies who take part… – Continue reading

PwC among auditors enlisted by China to probe state firms’ offshore assets

Beijing enlists seven firms, including PwC, to investigate projects and holdings this year Beijing has appointed seven audit companies, including international firm PwC, to look into the overseas assets of major state-owned enterprises as it tightens the reins on the business giants. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac)… – Continue reading

Beneficial Ownership and AML, Sanctions and Anti-Corruption Compliance

Sometimes compliance realities outpace enforcement and regulatory requirements. When it comes to FinCEN’s proposal to implement a beneficial ownership rule for financial institutions (see Here), global financial institutions do not need to worry about the outcome of the FinCEN regulations. Global financial institutions already have to know their (your) customer… – Continue reading

Guernsey presence felt at US estate planning conference

Guernsey’s fiduciary sector was represented at a prominent international estate planning conference in the United States. Three representatives of Trust Corporation International attended the 11th annual International Estate Planning Institute event in Times Square, New York, where the firm was also a gold sponsor. A distinguished panel of experts debated… – Continue reading

South Korea-Turkmenistan Summit Leads to US$13 Billion Plant Project

The South Korean government is going to construct a natural gas plant in Turkmenistan, which has the world’s fourth largest natural gas reserves. The government is supporting a US$13 billion scale project in total, which includes natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant construction and the modernization of essential oil factories. South Korean… – Continue reading

Gang’s £10m worldwide scam selling fake viagra through mail order fishing tackle firm

TWELVE members of a counterfeit drug ring – including six from the Grimsby area – raked in more than £10 million selling fake Viagra under the cover of a mail-order fishing tackle business. The UK-wide conspiracy offered cheap erectile dysfunction pills to online and face-to-face customers around the world. The… – Continue reading

European Union: European Competition Law Newsletter – April 2015

EU’s Highest Court Rules on Information Exchange On 19 March 2015, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down a significant judgment on the application of EU competition law to information exchange between competitors. The case was an appeal from the European Commission’s 2008 decision to fine banana importers Dole,… – Continue reading

OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS COST SMALL BUSINESSES $3,244 A YEAR

Washington, D.C. – As tax day approaches, it’s important to remember that small businesses end up picking up the tab for offshore tax loopholes used by many large multinational corporations. U.S. PIRG joined Senator Bernie Sanders, Bryan McGannon of the American Sustainable Business Council, and Bob McIntyre of Citizens for… – Continue reading

Swiss banks suddenly preach transparency in U.S. tax evasion endgame

Swiss banks, for decades the bastions of secrecy, are preaching the virtue of transparency to their U.S. clients as they try to head off billions of dollars in potential fines for helping Americans evade taxes. Faced with the threat of penalties that could bankrupt some of them, almost 100 of… – Continue reading

Individual Tax Burdens Continued To Rise In 2014

Taxes on wages have risen by about one percent for the average worker in OECD countries between 2010 and 2014, even though the majority of governments did not increase statutory income tax rates, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) Taxing Wages 2015 report. According to the… – Continue reading

Broadscope Releases Timely White Paper Regarding US and UK FATCA Reporting Obligations for Cayman Islands Domiciled Private Equity Funds

PARAMUS, N.J., April 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Broadscope Fund Administrators, an independent private equity fund administration firm, released a white paper outlining key US FATCA and UK FATCA reporting and registration deadlines for Cayman Islands private equity firms. The paper, US and UK FATCA Reporting Obligations for Cayman Islands Domiciled… – Continue reading

Ten Percent of S&P 500 Companies Avoid Paying U.S. Taxes

When it comes to taxes, corporate America is getting a bit less corporate. And a bit less American. Fueled by a wave of inversions, a record 54 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of leading U.S. firms are now at least partially exempt from the corporate income tax…. – Continue reading

Tax Directors Anticipate Domestic and Cross-Border Growth Over The Next Three Years, According To The Inaugural BDO Tax Outlook Survey

– Rising Cost of Compliance Within The Tax And Financial Regulatory Environment Creates Opportunities For Increased Efficiency – CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As the economy continues to accelerate, many organizations plan to grow by entering into new markets in the years ahead, reveals the first ever BDO USA, LLP Tax Outlook Survey. Fifty… – Continue reading

Canada: Private Client Tax, Third Edition – Chapter: Canada

1. NON-TAX ISSUES 1.1 Domestic law 1.1.1 Briefly describe your legal system and its origins Canada is a federal state, with legislative powers divided between the federal and provincial governments. The federal government has legislative jurisdiction over issues concerning Canada as a whole, including foreign affairs, international trade, banking, telecommunications,… – Continue reading

Social networking sites to become work places

The Revenue Office will take steps to tax social networking sites and implement other regulations related to e-commerce. After the implementation of this regulation, all such virtual sites will be deemed as “work places” and the advertisers of social networking sites will also be deemed as “electronic tax payers.” Moreover,… – Continue reading

Colorado eyes ballot question to collect from corporate tax havens

Voters in November could determine whether corporations doing business in Colorado must report and pay state taxes on profits funneled into offshore tax havens. Doing that would create a tax windfall of up to $150 million a year, according to a legislative analysis. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, and Rep. Mike… – Continue reading

10 Notorious Tax Cheats: Billionaire Olenicoff Still Battling UBS Over $200 Million Offshore Stash

His softball sentence of two years probation ended five years ago. But billionaire real estate developer Igor Olenicoff still can’t put behind him his December 2007 guilty plea to lying on his federal tax return about some $200 million he kept offshore. For that, he can blame his own litigiousness… – Continue reading

PICKING UP THE TAB 2015: SMALL BUSINESSES PAY THE PRICE FOR OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS

Every year, corporations and wealthy individuals use complicated gimmicks to shift U.S. earnings to subsidiaries in offshore tax havens – countries with minimal or no taxes – in order to reduce their federal and state income tax liabilities by billions of dollars. While tax haven abusers benefit from America’s markets,… – Continue reading

Swiss Banks Strong-Arm Clients in U.S. Tax-Evasion Endgame

Swiss banks, for decades the bastions of secrecy, are preaching the virtue of transparency to their U.S. clients as they try to head off billions of dollars in potential fines for helping Americans evade taxes. Faced with the threat of penalties that could bankrupt some of them, almost 100 of… – Continue reading

Italy removes Bermuda from ‘Tax Blacklist’

Following Italy removing Bermuda from their ‘tax blacklist,’ Minister of Finance Bob Richards said he was “pleased that my counterpart Minister has taken this positive action.”, reports Bernews. This comes after Italy’s Minister of Economy & Finance Pier Carlo Padoan signed decrees that modify Italy’s “tax blacklists”, removing some jurisdictions… – Continue reading

New tax treaty between Hong Kong and mainland China which has consequences for shipping, airline and securities trading companies

This is relevant mainly for (1) Hong Kong companies or investment funds selling securities in Chinese listed companies and (2) ship or aircraft leasing companies resident in Hong Kong who (finance) lease vessels and aircraft to lessees in mainland China. On 1 April 2015, Hong Kong and mainland China signed… – Continue reading

Legal flash – Shanghai office – March 2015 – Announcement of the State Administration of Taxes concerning enterprise income tax on fees resident enterprises pay to overseas related parties

In recent years, the State Administration of Taxes (“SAT”) has paid closer attention to fees resident enterprises pay their overseas related parties, concerned that multinational groups have shifted profits away from China through aggressive tax planning and by paying unreasonable service fees and royalties overseas. Following PRC’s active participation in… – Continue reading

Indian banks make a beeline for space in Gujarat’s Gift City

Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, HDFC Bank and many others have signed up for space in Gujarat’s International Finance Tec-City (also known as Gift City). In fact, banks are expected to be the first to kick off operations in 2016/17, when the International… – Continue reading