The United Arab Emirates has more than 140 free zones across seven emirates, including 20 designated zones with separate laws, regulations and VAT treatment. This can make doing business in the UAE a complex journey. However, there is also the strong benefit of the UAE being one of the easier… – Continue reading
According to a newly released study by K-Monitor, the Hungarian government has spent around HUF 300 billion (almost EU 1 billion) in support of international companies. Just in this May-Jun period alone, the country has provided 10.7 billion financial aid to the world’s wealthiest companies. Despite the harsh rhetoric used… – Continue reading
The big picture is easy to see. The world’s richest few are expanding their fortunes at the cost of the vast majority. The combined wealth of the world’s 2,754 billionaires increased by US$1.8 trillion – or 24 percent – in 2017, to US$9.2 trillion. The richest 1 percent now own… – Continue reading
Standard Chartered has selected FiTAX, a solution from BearingPoint, as its global client tax reporting solution for QI, FATCA and AEoI/CRS reporting. International banking group Standard Chartered, founded in 1969, is with approximately 87,000 employees across offices in more than 60 countries one of the globe’s leading financial services institutions…. – Continue reading
The OECD has welcomed efforts by the Dutch Government to tackle base erosion and profit shifting but called for the overall tax regime to be simplified, including in area of value-added tax. In its latest Economic Report on the Netherlands, the OECD said that the Government is attempting to change… – Continue reading
A vote by the UK parliament to insist that Britain’s Overseas Territories introduce publicly available beneficial ownership registers by December 31, 2020, has sparked anger and dismay within these autonomous, mainly small island, jurisdictions. An amendment to a UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill requires the British government to impose… – Continue reading
Document to be presented to Tynwald after summer recess The Isle of Man has agreed a renegotiated ‘double taxation arrangement’ with the UK. Howard Quayle met with Mel Stride MP yesterday, who is Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General across, to sign the document which replaces the agreement… – Continue reading
HMRC has formed an alliance with tax enforcement bodies in 4 countries to share intelligence and expertise in the battle against international tax crime. The UK has joined forces with Canada, the Netherlands, the United States and Australia to launch the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) – a… – Continue reading
THE Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said the legal treatment of tax evasion and loopholes involving real estate brokers are keeping the country from achieving full compliance with international standards for money laundering regulation. AMLC Secretariat Executive Director Mel Georgie B. Racela made the remarks to BusinessWorld on the sidelines of… – Continue reading
France has made adequate fiscal consolidation efforts to exit the EU’s excessive deficit procedure, the EU Council recently agreed, while calling on Hungary and Romania to adopt tax or expenditure measures to shore up their finances. The findings came alongside the release of “country specific recommendations” for each of the… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The central bank’s rules to restrict access of the non-filers to foreign currency accounts would gradually clean up untaxed money from the banking system, although it may hurt much-needed forex inflows in the short run, analysts and bankers said. Analysts said foreign currency accountholders have been facing intensifying scrutiny… – Continue reading
New Delhi-Indian deposits have increased by 50% in Swiss Banks in 2017 said Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal. He was reacting about Swiss bank deposits. Mr Goyal also said that India has automatic exchange of information with Switzerland and we will come to know who has deposited and whether it… – Continue reading
ATHENS, June 30 (Xinhua)– As Greece is loosening its capital controls imposed in 2015 to avert the collapse of banking system amid debt crisis, Greeks are increasingly using bank cards for tax avoidance rather than cash withdrawal limits. According to recent figures from the central Bank of Greece, more than… – Continue reading
The airline began commercial flight operations in 2010 and its fleet comprises five aircrafts The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has frozen the bank accounts one of the country’s private airlines, Regent Airways, for avoiding tax around Tk14 crore, confirmed sources at the NBR. According to them, the Customs, Excise… – Continue reading
Japanese politicians are questioning their Minister of Finance, Taro Aso, on the type of taxes they are applying on cryptocurrency gains in the country. While the politicians are demanding to treat profits from these virtual currencies as a ‘separate declared taxation,’ financial officials in the island country prefer to continue… – Continue reading
Most of the 3.2m EU citizens in the UK will be granted permission to stay after Brexit in “a matter of days” following simple data checks, the Home Office says. Information held by the tax or benefit authorities will be enough to confirm residence – and eligibility for the new… – Continue reading
CANBERRA, June 27 (Xinhua) — An Australian taskforce has salvaged billions of dollars from multinational companies in just under a year, according to the latest tax office data. Acting on laws that were passed to crack down on large-scale tax avoidance, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) has clawed back more… – Continue reading
(BVI NEWS) – Stakeholders in the local financial services sector are said to be considering Crown Dependent countries such as the Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey to relocate their businesses. That’s according to Executive Director of BVI Finance, Lorna Smith. Smith made the disclosure during a public forum at… – Continue reading
WELLINGTON, June 26 (Xinhua) — New measures to ensure multinational companies in New Zealand pay their fair share of tax will come into force next week. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash said the Taxation (Neutralizing Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Bill, which passed its third reading in Parliament on Tuesday, takes… – Continue reading
The federal government has introduced sweeping new reporting rules for private trust funds, which have been accused of hiding wealthy Canadians’ money from tax collectors. Going forward, trusts that fail to file a tax return will face fines equalling 5% of its total value. The Canadian government still has no… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: If Panama Papers documents are any guide, Saifullahs of Lakki Marwat has the highest number of offshore companies owned by any Pakistani family and majority of them are in British Virgin Islands. Seychelles and Panama are two other jurisdictions where they have set up companies. While source of wealth… – Continue reading
Growing tax compliance demands have not impacted the Bahamian financial services industry as badly as anticipated, the Central Bank is arguing, despite the sector’s continued contraction. The regulator, in its 2017 survey of the sector’s economic contribution, said there were signs that international banks and trust companies were “retaining a… – Continue reading
KARACHI: Dubai is the offshore destination of choice for Pakistanis to park untaxed money as bulk of funds against declaration of foreign assets under the amnesty scheme were received from the Emirates, a top tax official said on Saturday. “We will disclose more details regarding declarations of foreign assets on… – Continue reading
A bill tabled in Parliament last week aims to strengthen the Government’s ability to detect criminals who want to use Samoa’s offshore banking scheme to hide the proceeds of their criminal activities. That’s what Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi said when the Money Laundering Prevention Amendment Bill 2018 was tabled… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is poised to receive information about offshore financial accounts in September 2018. This was stated by the spokesperson and member policy Dr Muhammad Iqbal while addressing a press conference on the ongoing Tax Amnesty Scheme on Friday. Due to the initiatives by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and… – Continue reading
Macau and Portugal have signed a deal allowing the Secretary for Economy and Finance to alter a double taxation law between the two jurisdictions Macau (MNA) – A deal has been signed between the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong Vai Tac, and the Portuguese Government giving Macau the… – Continue reading
Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Iqbal Mahmood on Wednesday ordered all ACC officials to complete enquiries by June 30 against individuals or entities whose names have been appeared in Panama Paper and Paradise Paper leaks. He made the order in an urgent meeting with the secretary, all director generals, and directors of… – Continue reading
CBDT issues draft notification on interest computation NEW DELHI, JUNE 20 The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) proposes to provide a relief to MNCs on the interest payable by them on the untaxed profits stashed abroad, requiring to be repatriated back to India under the transfer pricing regime. It… – Continue reading
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a three day official visit to Singapore late last month. The trip was his first since November 2015, and followed quick visits to Indonesia and Malaysia. The three-nation tour, touted to be part of India’s Act East Policy, laid clear emphasis on closer Southeast… – Continue reading
BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) — The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) has begun reviewing a draft amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law at its bimonthly session that opened Tuesday. The draft amendment raises the minimum threshold for personal income tax from 3,500 yuan (about 544 U.S…. – Continue reading
Shell avoids the dividend tax via a tax haven, which would have cost the Dutch treasury – and therefore the taxpayer – at least € 7 billion… The intervention of a ‘trust’ on channel island of Jersey seems to underline the dubious character of the ‘deal’. Pressing Rutte to exchange… – Continue reading
The New Delhi Bench of the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) in the application filed by Saudi Arabian Oil Company held that Aramco India would not create a PE for Saudi Arabian Oil Company as per Treaty b/w India and Saudi Arabia. The applicant is a state owned oil company… – Continue reading
Experts have called on the federal government to do more toward promoting new investments, especially local start-up companies, by offering them tax incentives in order to enable them thrive in the nation’s current business climate. They are unanimous in their opinion that the federal government has not done enough to… – Continue reading
The New Delhi Bench of the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) in the application filed by the applicant HM Publishers Holdings Limited held that the receipts arising out of a negative covenant not to carry on a business is taxable as business income under Section 28 (va) of the Income… – Continue reading
THE TURKS and Caicos Islands has managed to avoid being placed on the European Union’s tax haven black list. Although the territory was on the anti-corruption watchdog’s grey list in 2017, prudent financial measures including tax transparency and compliance have prevented international sanctions. The EU’s grey list consists of jurisdictions… – Continue reading
(CNS): While the prospect of legal cannabis for recreational use in the Cayman Islands is not expected anytime soon, Canada is just a couple of months away from full legalisation. As that date approaches, legislators have raised concerns that the multi-billion dollar legal weed market could be taken over by… – Continue reading
The New Delhi Bench of the Authority of Advance Rulings (AAR) in the application filed by International Zinc Association held that membership fee and contribution from members received by the applicant from the Indian members would not be liable to Income-tax in India under the provisions of the Income Tax… – Continue reading
MINSK, 18 June (BelTA) – Belarus and France are preparing to sign bilateral agreements on investment protection and double taxation avoidance. This and other upcoming events were discussed during a meeting of Belarusian Ambassador to the French Republic Pavel Latushko and Julien Buissart, Head of the CIS, Balkans and Middle-East… – Continue reading
Islamabad : With suspension of all taxes on mobile phone cards for next 15 days on the orders of Supreme Court (SC) with effect from Wednesday midnight, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is contemplating upon different options including suggesting the apex court to abolish withholding tax (WHT) of 12.5… – Continue reading
Australian tax experts have confirmed that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is cracking down on cryptocurrency investors this year, local news outlet The New Daily reports Friday, June 15. The ATO had said in early March that they would be using a combination of data matching and “100-point identification checks”… – Continue reading
The Mauritius Revenue Authority on June 11, 2018, warned those financial institutions required to report information on the accounts of US persons under the US Financial Account Tax Compliance Act that declarations are required by Jule 31, 2018. The statement said: “FATCA information in respect of the year 2017 will… – Continue reading
G7 countries are committed to working towards a consensus-based solution to the tax challenges of the digital economy, according to the final communique issued at the conclusion of the G7’s summit in Charlevoix, Canada. Expressing support for the OECD’s work in this area, the communique states that the impact that… – Continue reading
US congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) has introduced legislation designed to amend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act so that incentives for US corporations to shift income and production overseas are reduced. Introducing the bill, DeFazio said: “The new tax law [the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act] allows multinational corporations to… – Continue reading
The walls continue to close in on Offshore property holding companies in Portugal. Once a popular solution for home ownership, these structures are based in low-tax jurisdictions that allow shareholders to take advantage of certain “loopholes” to avoid paying Capital Gains tax when selling. Over the past 15 years, successive… – Continue reading
The highly concentrated nature of Ireland’s corporation tax receipts represents “an unacceptable level of risk,” according to parliament’s Public Accounts Committee. The PAC has published a new report on Ireland’s corporation tax receipts. Corporation tax accounted for 15 percent of total tax receipts in 2016, with 70 percent of all… – Continue reading
Liberia has signed the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, as amended by the Protocol amending the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) The Convention provides a multilateral basis for a wide variety of administrative assistance including… – Continue reading
NAIROBI, June 12 (Xinhua) — Kenya on Tuesday signed an agreement with Singapore to phase out double taxation and attract investments from the Southeast Asian country in key sectors like agro-processing and financial services. Henry Rotich, the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Planning, said the elimination of double taxation… – Continue reading
It emerged that Russian oligarchs, members of ‘Russian mafia’, and many other owners of real estate in Spain have neither Spanish citizenship nor residential permit and successfully evade national taxes. Mansions in Marbella purchased by Russians officially belong to offshore companies incorporated in Gibraltar, a tiny British Overseas Territory. The… – Continue reading
Election results in Switzerland indicate voters Sunday approved measures to license online gambling only through Swiss companies and to block offshore online gambling sites. Additionally, voters rejected a referendum that would have made sweeping changes in their country’s monetary and banking system. By blocking offshore sites, the country is hoping… – Continue reading
The IMF has said that the recent changes to the US tax system could make Canada a less attractive destination for investment. The IMF has published the report from its latest Article IV mission to Canada, in which it noted that “external risks are more acute than in the recent… – Continue reading
