Despite being among the smallest countries in terms of area and population, over the past 40 years Cyprus has developed into one of the world’s most important financial and business centres. It has numerous advantages, including a strategic location, a mature and transparent legal system based on common law, world… – Continue reading
In March 2014, the British Virgin Islands Government announced that it had concluded negotiations with the US with respect to a Model 1B Intergovernmental Agreement with the United States (the IGA). The IGA (which was eventually signed on 30 June 2014) provides the framework for the implementation of the US Foreign… – Continue reading
For weeks, concerns have been mounting across the UK about a tidal wave of shock tax demands about to hit tens of thousands of individuals and businesses – and with good reason. Now that the Finance Bill 2014 has received Royal Assent, HMRC has two new weapons it can use… – Continue reading
Stellar Group is at the centre of a probe by HM Revenue and Customs into its financial affairs, but there is no suggestion Gareth Bale is under suspicion Agents behind some of the biggest transfers in British football are being investigated for alleged tax avoidance. Stellar Group – which helped… – Continue reading
DALLAS, TX, Jul 29, 2014 (Marketwired via COMTEX) — This week, the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing to question leaders of major banks and hedge funds about an alleged tax avoidance strategy. According to the Senate’s report, these entities have used basket options to skirt billions in… – Continue reading
FATCA Background The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) was enacted in response to concerns that US taxpayers were avoiding US tax by using offshore financial institutions to hide assets and avoid reporting income. Generally, FATCA imposes due diligence, information reporting and withholding obligations on non-US financial institutions (“FFIs”) and… – Continue reading
Illinois gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner (R) made part of his fortune from investments in a Caribbean tax haven, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. But because Rauner won’t release details on his tax filings it is impossible to tell just how much of his wealth comes from those offshore accounts. The newspaper… – Continue reading
Measures to discourage Jersey companies engaging in “abusive tax schemes” for UK residents have been welcomed by industry body Jersey Finance. Geoff Cook, Jersey Finance CEO, said new rules were “pro-active and forward thinking”. He also said he supported tax competition and legitimate tax planning. In July the Times newspaper… – Continue reading
Russia’s Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, has told President Vladimir Putin that a new bill to deter Russian tax residents from hiding income offshore is expected to raise about RUB30bn (USD844m) from overseas accounts in Cyprus and the Netherlands. During a Government meeting on July 30, 2014, Siluanov explained that entrepreneurs… – Continue reading
Property in England and Wales worth £122bn or more is held through companies in offshore tax jurisdictions where ownership is tricky to establish, according to Land Registry data analysed by the Financial Times. The detailed report showed that around two-thirds of the 91,248 foreign-company owned properties were held through the… – Continue reading
LONDON — When the British tax authorities struck a landmark deal with the Swiss to crack down on tax evasion, they sat back and waited for the cash to flow in. Almost three years later, they are still waiting. So far, only about $1.7 billion of the $8.4 billion windfall… – Continue reading
AROUND 16,000 TAX AVOIDERS are to be given the chance to settle their outstanding liabilities with HM Revenue & Customs, the department has confirmed. On average, each of the users of the contractor loan schemes covered by this settlement opportunity owes £11,000 a year in tax. The schemes involve complex… – Continue reading
Once was a time when what was Swiss was as clear as an alpine lake. Its Gruyère could be relied upon to be meltingly delicious in a fondue. The finely crafted watches of Zurich could be relied upon to keep the time to the second. And the bankers could be… – Continue reading
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/26dbdbce-1409-11e4-8485-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz39PGGY2lR Property ownership through an offshore company evokes an image of a rich foreign buyer… – Continue reading
A NEW REPORT makes the case that “sweeping legislative measures” are unnecessary when it comes to the regulation of Bitcoin in Canada. Prepared by lawyers Jillian Friedman and Joseph Neudorfer for the Bitcoin Foundation Canada, Bitcoin and the Law says usage of the leading cryptocurrency is already well covered by… – Continue reading
New Delhi: The government Wednesday ruled out any tax amnesty scheme to unearth black money saying it goes against honest taxpayers even as it sought to send out a positive signal to investors by promising a re-look at the controversial GAAR shortly. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also referred to demands of… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance, the American way. Little Rock, Arkansas-based telco Windstream has caused a stir by announcing a novel scheme to reduce the amount of federal taxes it has to pay. It intends to spin off certain network assets into a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT). In so doing,… – Continue reading
Hong Kong’s banks, in the midst of adapting to the new US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), are now facing a tax headache on a global scale. In July, the month where FATCA became a reality for the region, the OECD published guidelines on the adoption of a much… – Continue reading
(CS) The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, more commonly known as FATCA, will be submitted to a vote at the Luxembourg parliament this autumn, before coming into force next year, Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna has revealed. In answer to a parliamentary question by CSV MP Laurent Mosar, Gramegna said that… – Continue reading
Guyana and the United States have concluded “in substance” an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) for implementation of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA was enacted by the US in March 2010 as a mechanism designed to reduce the level of tax evasion which currently exists. It seeks to… – Continue reading
Costa Rica News – Let the finger pointing begin. Remember in Costa Rica it is never anyone’s own responsibility when you are caught doing something wrong in the Costa Rican government. The population just takes their examples from the higher ups. The Ministry of Finance is now investigating Costa Rica’s… – Continue reading
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A former partner at defunct law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist, whom prosecutors have called the most important cooperating witness in the largest criminal tax fraud case in U.S. history, was sentenced on Wednesday to six months in prison. At a court hearing in New York, U.S…. – Continue reading
This June the IRS modified its offshore disclosure programs to encourage U.S. citizens to come forward and report their assets and mitigate risk of penalty or prosecution. To help your clients avoid running afoul of FATCA, a bulletin from PwC advises them to: Determine citizenship. In some cases, non-resident Americans are… – Continue reading
Therefore, Russia “could receive about 30 billion rubles [about $900 million] in additional budget revenues [annually], which are extremely necessary,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov noted NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 30. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s new offshore taxation rules will yield about $1 billion in tax revenues for state coffers annually, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov… – Continue reading
Ex-Catalan premier Jordi Pujol is to be stripped of his honorary privileges after admitting to 34-years’ worth of tax evasion. He ruled the region for 23 years and as such earns an annual pension of over 86,000 euro; has an official car; and is honorary president of the CDC pro-independence… – Continue reading
A former Croatian deputy tourism minister Vinka Cetinski and her husband Mirko Cetinski, a one-time famous singer, were arrested on Tuesday night on suspicion of tax evasion and are to be transferred to custody in Rijeka on Wednesday, the national broadcaster (HTV) reported on Tuesday night. The Cetinski couple is… – Continue reading
The mobile phone company was targeted by UK Uncut on Twitter for allegedly avoiding £6bn of corporation tax Vodafone has accused critics of its dealings with HMRC of failing to understand “even the most basic” aspects of corporate taxation, as shareholders raised concerns about its stores being repeatedly targeted by… – Continue reading
Spain has passed a new law requiring websites that link to news stories first published by the Spanish newspaper association to pay a tax for that hyperlink, a law that targets Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and other Internet newsfeeds that feature journalism that originates elsewhere and make it available to a wider… – Continue reading
Nova Scotia’s offshore regulator is asking the Federal Court to strip the copyright from a Calgary company’s images of the ocean floor. It’s the latest move in an ongoing legal battle between Geophysical Service Inc. and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board over millions of dollars’ worth of seismic maps… – Continue reading
Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance is focusing on real estate as a key area of taxation, writes our sister paper Commercial Times. From August, the ministry will strive to eliminate cases where properties are sold separately to individuals from a parcel of land that belongs to a single person, understood to… – Continue reading
Swiss banking giant UBS has agreed to pay Germany a hefty fine for its involvement in helping German clients hide money from tax authorities. It’s the biggest fine ever paid to the country by a Swiss lender. Zurich-based UBS confirmed Tuesday it had settled investigation charges of aiding German clients… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – A Spanish court will push ahead with the process of prosecuting Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi for alleged tax evasion despite a recommendation from the public prosecutor the charges be dismissed. The prosecutor argued in June that Messi’s father Jorge was responsible for the family’s finances and… – Continue reading
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Hyderabad Bench has recently held in the case of DCIT, Hyderabad vs. M/s IJM (India) Infrastructure Ltd, Hyderabad (2014-TII-114-ITAT-HYD-TP) that a permanent establishment (PE) of a foreign company has to be treated as separate entity for the purpose of transfer pricing and that any… – Continue reading
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Emailftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b494286e-171e-11e4-b0d7-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz393LkTft5 Pfizer refuses to rule out tax inversion deals By Andrew Ward, Pharmaceuticals CorrespondentAuthor alerts… – Continue reading
How to Stop Canadian Multinationals from Dodging Their Taxes And if you thought low rates bought their loyalty, you’re wrong. Tax avoidance has become an accepted part of doing business for corporations the world over. But it isn’t just Google, Starbucks and Amazon working the system. Canadian corporations like Cameco… – Continue reading
With FATCA and its grave burdens and consequences for Americans living in Canada now a reality, the more than 1 million individuals affected now have the benefit of a useful guide self-published by Altro Levy, a multi-jurisdictional law firm with nine offices in Canada and the U.S. The guide is… – Continue reading
DONETSK, Ukraine (AFP) – A rebel leader on Sunday said east Ukraine was a “de facto offshore zone” following a decree from the country’s government that shuts down the banking system in the area. “They’ve taken their banking system out of here. They’ve switched it off,” Mr Pavel Gubarev, head… – Continue reading
ECONET Wireless has dismissed allegations that the company has evaded paying duty taxes since 1998 saying the accusations by a whistleblower were false and defamatory. Econet is facing allegations of tax evasion by paying less duty on base stations than they were supposed to since 1998. In a statement yesterday,… – Continue reading
The Swiss banks in “category two” of the deal struck with American tax authorities could face smaller fines than they had feared, but only if they cooperate more with the United States. The Swiss publication Finanz und Wirtschaft reported on Saturday that those banks with some exposure to American clients… – Continue reading
If you are from the US then you’ve probably heard of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), but are you aware of how it could affect you? The legislation came into full effect on July 1, 2014 and has many implications, particularly for US expatriates. Fatca is a US… – Continue reading
THE Ministry of Finance and Planning has given an assurance that it will withdraw some of the measures proposed in the Tax Collection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act and the Tax Penalties (Harmonisation) Act which are aimed at facilitating increased tax revenues. In response to growing opposition over one of the most… – Continue reading
JEMIMA WHYTE AND BIANCA HARTGE-HAZELMAN Institutional investors are increasingly open to the merits of Australian companies expanding offshore, as local growth looks set to be outpaced by foreign economies. “There’s no doubt that there have been plenty of Australia companies that have gone offshore in search of new revenue opportunities…. – Continue reading
Seychelles News Agency) – The Seychelles islands and Singapore have concluded a double taxation avoidance agreement, which will allow businesses operating in the two countries to pay tax in one of the jurisdictions and avoid taxation in the other, which is expected to encourage trade and investment between the two… – Continue reading
Richard Gibbs from No5 Chambers is defending one of three defendants charged as part of a £1.6m conspiracy to evade tax on the importation of tobacco. HMRC seized the tobacco in the form of cigarettes and hand-rolled tobacco from addresses in Wolverhampton during 2012 and 2013. Shahab Ali, represented by… – Continue reading
It’s the results reporting season over in my native UK again and once again, as regular as the seasons themselves roll around, we’ve spluttering pieces in the press about how Google avoids all of this tax that it should justly and righteously pay. Which means it must be the time… – Continue reading
Bruton says it is up to US government to resolve tax obligation anomalies The Government has insisted it does not facilitate the so-called tax inversion practices criticised by president Barack Obama in comments that referenced Ireland. Minister for Jobs and Enterprise Richard Bruton responded to Mr Obama’s remarks by saying… – Continue reading
Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance is focusing on real estate as a key area of taxation, writes our sister paper Commercial Times. From August, the ministry will strive to eliminate cases where properties are sold separately to individuals from a parcel of land that belongs to a single person, understood to… – Continue reading
Cyprus and Switzerland have signed a double taxation avoidance agreement and a relevant protocol that will contribute to further developing trade and financial relations between the two countries as well as with other countries, the Ministry of Finance said. It added that “by bringing up to date, maintaining existing and… – Continue reading
US bankers and lawyers are inciting a sense of urgency among corporate clients to get tax-reducing acquisitions of offshore companies signed before the end of this year, now that a slew of recent so-called tax-inversion trades has set off alarms in Congress. Heated debates about how to limit such acquisitions… – Continue reading
June 30 — Poland’s Sejm, the lower house of parliament, June 26 approved proposals to introduce guidelines to distinguish a foreign-controlled company for tax purposes, and approved Poland’s agreement for the avoidance of double taxation with the United Arab Emirates, as well as its tax information exchange agreements with Bermuda,… – Continue reading
