Only fragments of the British Empire remain, and the American civil war ended 150 years ago – yet in dusty corners of the countries’ tax systems surprisingly durable legacies survive. The UK’s non-dom tax loophole is a relic of the Empire, yet ironically it is availed of by London’s cosmopolitan… – Continue reading
The ‘Green Governor’ has a reputation for innovative thinking and problem solving. He is renowned for his support of the agriculture sector and his focus on SME as well as green banking. As one of the most progressive and well-respected Central Bank Governors in the world, United World discusses Bangladesh’s… – Continue reading
Government agencies should be forced to justify themselves to federal ministers every time they buy services from global technology giants such as Google and Amazon Web Services that pay less in local taxes, according to telecommunications provider Macquarie Telecom. In a letter to the Senate Economics Reference Committee investigating the… – Continue reading
The SNP’s much-vaunted plan for full fiscal autonomy would land Scotland with more austerity, not less, writes Peter Jones More and more, the SNP’s plans for Scotland to achieve full fiscal autonomy are looking ridiculous (contradictions abound everywhere), dangerous(savage cuts in public spending would be inevitable) and unworkable (gaps cannot… – Continue reading
On 26 March 2015, the United Kingdom Parliament passed into law the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (the “Act”). The Act will bring about a number of fundamental changes to UK company law including, amongst others, the abolition of bearer shares and corporations acting as directors and, perhaps… – Continue reading
Shift a rock in the garden and the insects underneath will scurry away to cover. Only the foolish or desperate stand their ground, ready to take you on. So when a Senate committee decided to probe the tax arrangements of some multinationals last week, and they fought back, it was… – Continue reading
PARIS: It is the latest problem to hit HSBC over a tax evasion scandal at its Swiss private bank. HSBC said it intends to appeal the French magistrates’ decision, which it said was “without legal basis and the bail is unwarranted and excessive.” HSBC’s Swiss bank is under investigation in… – Continue reading
International and local experts discuss best judicial solutions for intellectual property and money laundering crimes UAE – Dubai Judicial Institute (DJI), in partnership with the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) of the U.S. Department of Justice, held a special joint workshop designed to raise more awareness… – Continue reading
Britain’s Conservative Party has vowed to reform inheritance taxes in a bid to counter the Labour Party’s promise to abolish the ‘non-domicile’ regime as the UK election campaign heats up. These two promises, along with proposed mansion taxes, changes to the top rate of income tax and greater efforts to… – Continue reading
Johannesburg (miningweekly.com) – With the shareholder vote just over three weeks away, the planned spin-off of South32 from BHP Billiton has turned bearish and BHP Billiton has itself fallen victim to an unprecedented number of analyst sell recommendations owing to the plummeting iron-ore price, worsened by the reputational damage that… – Continue reading
Ahead of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) return deadline of 31 May, two recent updates have changed the reporting criteria. UK financial institutions are no longer required to file nil returns Following a recent clarification from the US Internal Revenue Service(IRS) – see question C19 – HMRC has… – Continue reading
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) moved a new bill for first reading in parliament, which aims at combating money laundering and financing of terrorism, the MAS said in a press release on Monday. The Monetary Authority of Singapore Bill (MAS Bill) was moved by Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and… – Continue reading
Offshore investment entities in the Cayman Islands and many other international financial centers should now start turning their attention to compliance with the Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”) promulgated by GATCA – Global FATCA. They must document all account holders existing on December 31, 2015, with the exception of entities with… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Monday urged the U.S. Senate to take action on a tax treaty with Japan, despite Senator Rand Paul’s long-standing refusal to allow any Senate action on tax agreements with other countries. The White House appeal came just two weeks ahead of an official U.S…. – Continue reading
The 73 year old was found guilty after it was discovered that she had been hiding millions in an offshore HSBC account. Arlette Ricci, the heir to the Nina Ricci perfume and fashion fortune has been convicted of tax fraud by a Paris court. The 73 year old was found… – Continue reading
Who Will Be Next? How To Respond To A Tax Investigation The international political community continues to make the most threatening noises about those who they believe do not pay enough tax. Long gone it seems are the days where it was accepted that a person could properly organise his… – Continue reading
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is returning to the catastrophe bond market, as expected, with its largest transaction to date, a proposed $450m two tranche Alamo Re Ltd. (Series 2015-1) offering. TWIA had always been planning to include a catastrophe bond within its 2015 reinsurance renewal, as long as… – Continue reading
In the five years since the eurozone crisis exploded, the European Union has adopted a great number of measures to improve its fiscal governance. Yet amazingly, it still does not have a robust, harmonized way of measuring and monitoring the financial activities of its member states, reports the Wall Street… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann insists the government is not shying away from reform despite a tough year selling its first budget. Senator Cormann says pursuing important economic reform is a “marathon, not a sprint”. “If it was easy, anyone could do it,” he told Sky News on Sunday. Senator Cormann… – Continue reading
It has become increasingly fashionable to compare the results of Greece and the Baltic States’ response to the financial crisis of 2008, most recently last month with the Financial Times’ column with John Dizard. This, however, is a classic textbook case of comparing apples to oranges. Greece’s crisis was chiefly… – Continue reading
A new watchdog team of the revenue authority is ready to start operation to check transfer mispricing by the multinational companies (MNCs) on their tax returns as such trick is allegedly used in underhand cross-border transactions. The revenue board recently completed appointment of officials for enforcing the measure. It was… – Continue reading
Listed companies in developed market could be avoiding as much as $82b annually London: Listed companies in developed markets are avoiding at least $82 billion (Dh301 billion) of tax a year by using tax havens and other minimisation strategies, according to detailed analysis of more than 1,000 businesses. The revelation… – Continue reading
Pakistan-Japan Business Forum has recommended to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately de-notify Federal Excise Duty (FED) on royalty and technical fee, which is now chargeable under the provincial legislation promulgated in Sindh, Punjab and KP, as sales tax on services. Sources told Business Recorder on Saturday that… – Continue reading
Pakistan-Japan Business Forum has recommended to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately de-notify Federal Excise Duty (FED) on royalty and technical fee, which is now chargeable under the provincial legislation promulgated in Sindh, Punjab and KP, as sales tax on services. Sources told Business Recorder on Saturday that… – Continue reading
Johannesburg – Mark Lifman, one of South Africa’s biggest underworld bosses, possibly hoped for some help in his nearly R400m tax battle against the SA Revenue Service (Sars). City Press has learnt – from four independent sources – that Sars commissioner Tom Moyane was allegedly approached to go easy on… – Continue reading
One of the most financially damaging taxes facing wealthier British families is UK inheritance tax. Living in Malta does not automatically protect you since liability does not rest on residence but on domicile. Domicile is a complex UK common law concept. If claiming a change of domicile, the onus is… – Continue reading
SINGAPORE, April 12 (Reuters) – The Singapore trading hubs of the world’s largest commodity companies are coming under scrutiny from the governments of some resource-producing countries who say they suspect they are using units in the Southeast Asian financial centre to avoid tax. Some of the world’s largest oil, mining… – Continue reading
Homebuyers in Dubai can choose from an apartment block with interiors encrusted in shiny crystals or multimillion-dollar villas on a man-made island. Is investing in these desert dwellings like playing on quicksand or has the city-state learnt the lessons of its 2008 property crash when it nearly went bust? The… – Continue reading
Australia and the GCC countries may only be a few months away from signing a landmark Free Trade Agreement (FTA) deal “if a decision is made quickly,” with such a deal having multiple benefits for various Gulf-based businesses and stakeholders, said Australia Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb. Speaking to… – Continue reading
The key is to arrive at a Goldilocks mean — rolling out tax-friendly policies while being firm with incorrigible offenders A phrase first used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a group of businessmen in the run-up to the elections last year has now come back to haunt his… – Continue reading
BOSTON — With Tax Day approaching fast, activists are calling on Massachusetts lawmakers to crack down on what they describe as offshore tax haven abuse by large companies. On Tuesday, the group MASSPIRG is planning to release a report detailing how they say companies use the tax code to shift… – Continue reading
Belgium has not asked Russia to lift the embargo on its food products, and such issues should be discussed between the EU and Russia, says Belgian Foreign Minister and Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Chairman Didier Reynders. “Belgium pursues its policy in solidarity with the European Union, and therefore… – Continue reading
There was a moment on Tuesday evening – hours before the first public hearing of the Senate inquiry into corporate tax evasion – when Treasurer Joe Hockey and his advisers should have sensed a firestorm approaching. Sandwiched between a story on a Gold Coast diet blogger accused of pinching other… – Continue reading
A veteran lawyer of 35 years, Mr Pascal Netto, has been struck off the rolls for professional misconduct. The 68-year-old had been a nominee director in a client’s firm but issued company shares to himself and borrowed some US$158,000 (S$215,000) from the firm without authorisation. In disbarring Mr Netto on… – Continue reading
US President Barack Obama and Jamaica Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller have pronounced his visit to Jamaica and their bilateral discussions to be a success. What is certain is that media coverage of Obama’s visit and his late night call at the Bob Marley museum where the President declared “I still… – Continue reading
BERLIN: The Governments of France and Germany signed an amendment to the France-German treaty dated (the “Treaty”), which will have an impact in the future for certain investments in real estate. For France, this amendment follows the amendment to France-Luxembourg signed on 5 September 2014 which also impacts foreign investments… – Continue reading
Australia’s biggest miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, have told the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance that they are under audit by the Australian Taxation Office for allegedly shifting profits through marketing hubs in Singapore. The Singaporean hubs are used by multinationals including the tech giants and miners to… – Continue reading
Legal problems have caused a serious strain on the credibility of Europe’s biggest bank HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC), which is currently up by 0.34% and trading at $44.69, has found itself at the center of a series of serious legal and possibly criminal tangles in recent years. Tax evasion,… – Continue reading
All eyes will be on former Secretary of State, and now presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton as she sets out a policy agenda during the opening months of her campaign. While in recent years Clinton has not gotten into the nitty-gritty of tax policy, she does have a long voting record… – Continue reading
Emergency laws are key plank of party manifesto to be unveiled in Manchester on Monday, as Labour seeks to bolster its economic credibility Labour will declare an immediate, all-out war on tax avoidance and evasion if it wins the 7 May election, pushing emergency laws through parliament designed to raise… – Continue reading
An Australian Senate parliamentary committee hearing on Wednesday was dominated by the fire and brimstone of Labor and Greens politicians directed against tax avoidance by major corporations. Labor Senator Sam Dastyari called on Australian Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan to “name some of Australia’s worst corporate offenders,” declaring that they “should… – Continue reading
Maryland officials are bracing for a Supreme Court decision this spring that could find a provision of the state’s income tax law unconstitutional, leaving the state and its counties on the hook for as much as $200 million in refunds and facing significant cuts in revenue. Montgomery County stands to… – Continue reading
New Delhi, April 10: The finance ministry is mulling a new tax regime for financial SEZs of the kind inaugurated today in Gujarat so that the taxes paid by financial institutions working out of them are on a par with Dubai and Singapore. The country’s first International Financial Services Centre… – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development formally invited Costa Rica to apply as a candidate for membership this week, five years after it began its push to join the exclusive club of developed economies. The news of Costa Rica taking one more step closer to joining the league of… – Continue reading
British Virgin Islands entities who have determined that they are Reporting BVI Financial Institutions (“Reporting FIs”) for the purposes of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of the United States (“FATCA”) and recently registered with the US Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for a Global Intermediary Identification Number (“GIIN”) should now… – Continue reading
On 18th March 2015, George Osborne delivered his sixth budget as Chancellor and the last of the current Parliament. Amongst the announcements were a number of developments relevant to tax planning, the key points of which are summarized below: Capital Gains Tax – Entrepreneurs’ Relief Entrepreneurs’ Relief (ER) reduces the… – Continue reading
United States and the Republic of Uzbekistan have inked an agreement to adopt of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), the press release from the US Embassy in Tashkent has said, according to UzDaily. Ambassador Pamela Spratlen and Chairman of the Uzbek State Tax Committee, Botir Parpiyev penned the… – Continue reading
The U.K. is taking aim at the super rich with a plan to scrap a 200-year-old tax loophole that shelters offshore earnings. The rule allows wealthy people living in Britain to avoid paying tax on their overseas income. All they have to do is declare that their home, or so-called… – Continue reading
DTA of Namibia president McHenry Venaani suspects that the majority of fishing and mining companies are involved in transfer pricing because of the lack of capacity in the government to control the dodgy practice. Venaani made the remarks in the National Assembly on Wednesday during his statement on the budget,… – Continue reading
On 31 March 2015, the Governments of France and Germany signed an amendment to the France-German treaty dated (the “Treaty”), which will have an impact in the future for certain investments in real estate. For France, this amendment follows the amendment to France-Luxembourg signed on 5 September 2014 which also… – Continue reading
