Monaco has ratified the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The ratification underlines Monaco’s commitment to fighting tax evasion and avoidance. It also means the principality has taken another important step in implementing the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters, developed by the… – Continue reading
The Government is planning unilateral action to crack down on tax dodging by multinational companies, including changing the law, amid growing concern about fairness. Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse said proposals outlined in a cabinet discussion document tabled last month would see Inland Revenue properly armed to tackle the problem and… – Continue reading
Pakistan Business Council (PBC) has approached Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to stop the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) from recovery proceedings of Super Tax against non-resident companies on dividend income from their investments in Pakistan. Sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that the PBC has urged the Finance Minister… – Continue reading
Expats in the UAE has been advised that banks and other financial institutions will be contacting some of their customers to collect information about their tax status in early 2017, reports local newspaper Gulf News. CRS requires countries to exchange information about individual and expat bank accounts, as well as… – Continue reading
The Governments of Brazil and Switzerland have released a joint declaration expressing their intent to introduce, on a reciprocal basis, an automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters based on the OECD Common Reporting Standard, beginning in the year 2018. The first transmission of data will take place… – Continue reading
Ecuador signed an agreement with Italy to define the tax obligations of the citizens of the two countries, in order to avoid double taxation on income taxes and equity and prevent tax evasion, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said. “This protocol modifies the agreement signed in Ecuador and Italy in 1984… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man Government’s Agreement for the Exchange of Information relating to Tax Matters with the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands enters into force on 29 December 2016. The Agreement was signed by His Excellency Peter Beckingham, Governor to the Turks and Caicos Islands, on 30 June… – Continue reading
Ireland’s Ministry of Finance, the EU and several other governments have emphatically rejected claims by Oxfam International that the countries are tax havens, with Ireland insisting its corporate tax laws are “fully compliant” with international best practices when it comes to transparency and information exchange. The Irish government said the… – Continue reading
Finance minister Bob Richards has expressed dismay at Oxfam’s claim that Bermuda is the world’s worst corporate tax haven. And the Progressive Labour Party joined him to condemn the report as “extremely disappointing”. Mr Richards pointed to “serial errors” in the global charity’s report on offshore centres, which found that… – Continue reading
Lower corporate tax rates around the world are expected to play an important part in multinational companies’ tax planning in 2017, with a rate as low as 15 percent on the table in the U.S. and countries such as the U.K. planning to maintain or lower their current rates. A… – Continue reading
Facebook Ireland yesterday declared “we do not avoid tax” as revenues and pre-tax profits soared to record levels. New accounts show that Facebook Ireland Ltd’s corporate tax bill of €16.53m for 2015 represented only a tiny fraction of its record revenues of €7.89bn. The 63pc – €3bn – increase in… – Continue reading
Changes in the way international taxation is collected, thanks to recommendations made by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) could “pose a major challenge to the sustainability and profitability” of many iGaming operations in Malta. This information came to light through a report issued by Country Profiler on… – Continue reading
The NGO’s report exposes the worst offenders in the ‘race to the bottom on corporate tax.’ Luxembourg, Ireland, Cyprus, and the Netherlands are among the world’s 10 worst tax havens, despite an ongoing EU crackdown on tax avoidance and profit shifting across the bloc. The findings come in a report… – Continue reading
A showdown between the Australian Taxation Office and the nation’s largest companies including Chevron, Crown and BHP Billiton is looming as the tax man hits seven large companies with tax bills amounting to $2 billion. On Friday, the ATO released its corporate tax transparency report for 2014-15, which includes limited… – Continue reading
General On 30 November 2016, Kazakhstan adopted certain amendments to its Tax Code (the Tax Amendments). Most of the Tax Amendments take effect on 1 January 2017. Below we summarize some of the most important Tax Amendments: VAT Registration Threshold Under the Tax Amendments, the existing VAT registration threshold (i.e.,… – Continue reading
Recent social and economic developments have had a powerful impact on many Ukrainian citizens and businesses and have led them to look for a better life beyond the borders of Ukraine. Obviously, Ukrainians moving abroad is not something new. Periods of economic crisis in almost every state are usually accompanied… – Continue reading
1. Why was a new offshore provision introduced by this year’s Finance Bill? Following revelations in the “Panama Papers” of major worldwide tax evasion in April 2016 (which included certain Irish Resident account holders), the Minister for Finance announced on budget day, 12 October 2016 that this year’s Finance Bill… – Continue reading
Four UK territories in list ‘undermine Britain’s efforts to be responsible member of the international community’ Bermuda is the world’s worst corporate tax haven, according to a list by Oxfam, which includes three other UK territories among those it names and shames. The charity’s list of the “world’s worst” 15… – Continue reading
Tax sovereignty is incompatible with the globalised world, according to OECD tax policy director Pascal Saint-Amans Speaking at the Public Accounts Committee’s Global Tax Transparency Summit, Saint-Amans told told ministers, tax professionals and international representatives ‘a gap’ still exists ‘between the world globalising and tax sovereignty’. ‘As members of parliament,… – Continue reading
MUSCAT -The Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between Switzerland and Oman aiming to increase economic ties officially came into force last month, according to the Swiss government. Its provisions will be applicable from January 1, 2017, according to the government. The agreement was originally signed on May 22, 2015 before going… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan and China signed third protocol to the avoidance of double taxation agreement that would allow a Chinese bank and a state-owned investment fund to avail income tax exemption on interest income from loans for energy projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India and the US have reached a deal for the first bilateral advance pricing agreement, a move that will enable American firms to ascertain tax liabilities beforehand, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today. The two nations have resolved over 100 cases of tax disputes involving a tax of… – Continue reading
Italy is considering a proposal to introduce a territorial system of taxation to attract high net worth individuals, including successful individuals in the sports, arts, and fashion and design sectors, who could be interested in moving to Italy to take part in these thriving sectors. The new measure is contained… – Continue reading
The UK – which is Friday (December 9) hosting a global tax transparency summit – has been accused of erecting a “brick wall” over hundreds of thousands of companies that use British Oversea Territories as tax havens allowing “corrupt” owners to “enjoy their ill-gotten gains with impunity.” The UK Parliament… – Continue reading
The Canada Revenue Agency needs to toughen up the program that offers advantageous deals to tax cheats, especially in cases where large amounts of income were not declared through deliberate schemes, a federally appointed committee says. In a report released Thursday, the Offshore Compliance Advisory Committee called for a series… – Continue reading
Fast-food chain’s reorganisation means £800m from restaurants in Europe will flow through the UK instead McDonald’s is to scrap its controversial Luxembourg tax structure in a corporate shakeup that means $1bn (£800m) of income from fast-food restaurants across Europe will flow through the UK instead. The move comes 12 months… – Continue reading
Jérôme Cahuzac, appointed by Hollande to lead clampdown on wealthy avoiders, hid cash in a secret Swiss account for 20 years Jérôme Cahuzac, the minister who led François Hollande’s drive for a more honest tax system, has been sentenced to three years in prison for tax fraud and secretly stashing… – Continue reading
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has released guidance, in a question and answer format, for financial institutions (FIs) seeking to understand the impact of the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s CRS obliges countries and jurisdictions to obtain financial information from their FIs… – Continue reading
Amazon effectively offers a safe haven for businesses that want to avoid sales tax, German revenue officials told Handelsblatt on condition of anonymity. In June, authorities raided eight Amazon locations across Germany as part of an investigation into a Chinese trader who had sold goods through the online marketplace without… – Continue reading
A new report says little has changed after a number of global tax scandals… Ireland is entering unfair tax deals with developing countries according to a new report on ‘sweetheart deals’ in the EU. Of the 18 countries in the study, Ireland is found to have on average “introduced the… – Continue reading
The new 9 percent flat corporate profit tax – to be introduced 1st of January 2017 – will put Hungary in a very good position in the international race for investments as Hungary will offer even better conditions than Ireland and Cyprus, which are both often regarded as the European… – Continue reading
The Netherlands is still making secret tax deals with multinational companies, according to an European report on which Dutch research foundation SOMO worked. The Netherlands remains one of the ost important countries in Europe when it comes to tax evasion, the report states according to ANP. Last year the Netherlands… – Continue reading
After recent scandals, many financial and wealth management centres are losing their allure and ‘mid-shore’ options are taking their place, argues Philip Marcovici. Will all existing financial and wealth management centres survive? Are tax-free secrecy havens (the “offshore world”) a feature of the past? Is there room for entry of… – Continue reading
Controversy over giant corporations paying dwarfed tax bills has put finance chiefs in the media and public spotlight When giant companies with devilishly complex tax arrangements are accused of unethical behaviour, the stock response is “we act within the rules”. If the public and politicians don’t like it, the argument… – Continue reading
In Depth There is mixed news for affected individuals, including far-reaching changes relating to offshore trusts and a further wait (possibly until March 2017) for the rest of the draft legislation. The following are highlights from the government’s response and the draft legislation. Deeming Provisions Deemed Domiciled: Non-doms will become… – Continue reading
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) welcomes the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD)’s release last week of a multilateral convention which allows for swift implementation of a series of tax treaty measures encompassed in the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. The release follows the conclusion… – Continue reading
Also commits to country-by-country reporting Cayman has committed in principle to a project reforming the application of tax rules in cross-border business to combat the erosion of tax bases and the artificial shifting of profits to low or no-tax jurisdictions. Developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, base… – Continue reading
Draft legislation for the public sector IR35 reforms was published yesterday and several firms have responded concernedly to the publication of the documents. IR35 legislation reforms were proposed recently during the Autumn Statement. Julia Kermode, chief executive of The Freelancer & Contractor Services Association, commented on the publication of the… – Continue reading
There are signs of a growing urgency in mainland China to better understand the implications of next year’s introduction of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). Institutions from within China’s trust and banking sectors, as well as private clients, are increasingly seeking guidance from jurisdictions which were early adopters of the… – Continue reading
New laws to punish those who help set up offshore schemes to enable tax evasion were revealed Monday, as the U.K. government cranks up the heat on advisers and planners. Britain’s government has widened the Finance Bill 2017 to include further measures that will tackle tax evasion, avoidance and aggressive… – Continue reading
Common reporting standard: Implementation in Asia The Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”) is an internationally agreed standard for automatic exchange of financial account information (“AEOI”) on financial account information, endorsed by the OECD and the Global Forum for Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. The CRS framework requires financial… – Continue reading
The USA Tax and Financial Consultants Office in the Middle East confirmed that Kuwait has revealed the accounts of about 7,000 Kuwaitis who hold dual citizenship and are covered by the US tax laws according to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), reports Al-Anba daily quoting informed sources. Sources… – Continue reading
Switzerland, which has been working to end its years-long practice of banking secrecy, on Thursday said it aimed to dramatically increase the number of countries it cooperates with toward international fiscal transparency. The Swiss government said in a statement that it wanted to extend the automatic exchange of information (AEOI)… – Continue reading
The United States has not agreed to participate in the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), relying instead on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) regime enacted in 2010 and initiated in 2014. United States participation in CRS is highly unlikely. Even with a change in control of Congress, CRS may… – Continue reading
The amount of tax potentially underpaid by big businesses by shifting profits to other jurisdictions has increased by 60 percent in the last year, to GBP3.8bn (USD4.8bn), according to figures obtained by international law firm Pinsent Masons. The figure is the “tax under consideration” by HMRC’s Large Business Directorate, being… – Continue reading
Taxpayers with offshore assets urged to get affairs in order before May clampdown Taxpayers with offshore assets ranging from foreign properties to deposit accounts or structured investments are being urged to get their affairs in order ahead of a May clampdown by the Revenue Commissioners – even if they believe… – Continue reading
The Kenya Revenue Authority has signed an international memorandum of understanding on tax collaboration with Botswana, to provide administration assistance from next year. Tax officials from Kenya and Botswana on Thursday agreed to the assistance project that marks the first South-South cooperation pact under the Tax Inspectors Without Borders programme… – Continue reading
Pyrenees principality approves automatic sharing of information on accounts held by non-residents from EU countries Andorran lawmakers have agreed to end banking secrecy in the Pyrenees mountains principality, approving automatic sharing of information on accounts held by non-residents. The General Council, Andorra’s unicameral parliament, approved a measure that will come… – Continue reading
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information in Tax Matters (Standard for AEOI) in July 2014, which aims to prevent offshore tax evasion and maintain the integrity of tax systems. Over 100 jurisdictions have committed to comply with the Standard… – Continue reading
European Union member countries are considering a “substance test” to determine whether a country or jurisdiction with a zero corporate tax rate qualifies as a tax haven that doesn’t reflect “real economic activity.” After a host of EU member countries rejected in early November the use of a zero corporate… – Continue reading
