With tax season just a few months away, which means the season for creative forms of tax evasion is soon to begin. Sadly, for those with dreams of using bitcoin to cheat the tax man next year, there is some bad news. The Internal Revenue Service is actively on the… – Continue reading
A European nation appears “hungry” for business after lowering its corporate tax rate. But what does that say about the United States? Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister, has announced the government will introduce a flat corporate tax rate of nine percent, the lowest in the European Union. The average corporate… – Continue reading
Investors in a financing scheme aimed at helping the UK film industry are being asked to repay “multiple millions of pounds” following a court ruling. HMRC is pursuing investors in the Eclipse scheme, including celebrities, financiers and sports stars, for up to 20 times their original investment. Courts ruled that… – Continue reading
TAX office closures will lead to a surge in the gap between rich and the poor and an increase in tax avoidance as well as people not being paid the minimum wage, the UK Government has been warned. Under controversial HMRC plans 18 Scottish offices, including major centres in Dundee,… – Continue reading
Switzerland has signed declarations to exchange tax information automatically with Brasil, Mexico and Uruguay and Mexico in coming years, but the deals must still go before Swiss parliament for approval. Under the declarations, banking information would be collected from 2018 and exchanged by 2019, the State Secretariat for International Financial… – Continue reading
New Delhi– India on Friday signed a revised double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with Cyprus, an official statement said here. “A revised agreement between India and Cyprus for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion (DTAA) with respect to taxes on income, along with its protocol,… – Continue reading
Big U.S. internet companies in France could get hit by a new BEPS-inspired penalty on “diverted profits” under a so-called Google tax measure that France’s National Assembly is set to consider next week. The amendment, proposed by Socialist Deputy Yann Galut and adopted by the Assembly’s finance committee, targets foreign… – Continue reading
SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Yonhap) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge for a huge corporate tax cut could spur moves to reduce taxes on businesses and the rich across the world, a Seoul-based think tank said Thursday. During the campaign, the real estate mogul-turned-politician vowed to lower the business tax rate… – Continue reading
Just a handful of dodgy tax structures being used by Australians cost tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue, according to the Australian Taxation Office. That could mean many millions more are missing, and is why the ATO is cracking down on people misusing trusts. The agency has long… – Continue reading
The new Singapore-Lao People’s Democratic Republic Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) entered into force on 11 November 2016. The DTA provides clarity on tax matters and eliminates double taxation relating to cross-border transactions between the two countries. A DTA between Singapore and another jurisdiction serves to prevent double taxation… – Continue reading
Following pressure from the Finnish government and public opinion in the Scandinavian country, Helsinki has announced a deal which will allow it to come after expat pensioners, who are residing in Portugal, for income tax payments from which they were previously exempt. Other EU states have also expressed their aversion… – Continue reading
Nov. 15 — The German Cabinet is preparing to address a bill Dec. 21 to combat tax evasion by cracking down on letterbox companies and banking secrecy as a response to the Panama Papers and other scandals involving sophisticated forms of tax planning. The bill, prepared by the Federal Ministry… – Continue reading
Members of Taiwan’s executive and legislative branches gave their unanimous support to a proposed bill that would help pave the way for Taiwan to sign double taxation avoidance agreements with Hong Kong and Macau during a policy coordination meeting Nov. 14 in Taipei City. Drafted by the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs… – Continue reading
Members of Taiwan’s executive and legislative branches gave their unanimous support to a proposed bill that would help pave the way for Taiwan to sign double taxation avoidance agreements with Hong Kong and Macau during a policy coordination meeting Nov. 14 in Taipei City. Drafted by the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs… – Continue reading
Adoption of legislation for a common consolidated corporate tax base by 27 EU member states would resolve current patent box conflicts and end transfer pricing disputes that cost multinational companies hundreds of millions of dollars in double taxation, according to EU and industry officials. Speaking at a Nov. 15 conference… – Continue reading
There needs to be a “comprehensive global approach” against secret tax structures, says the Nobel Prize-winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz, who called for “zero tolerance”. Speaking to Parliament’s Panama Committee on Wednesday, the former advisor to the Panamanian government suggested that secrecy in tax affairs should be treated like a disease… – Continue reading
The Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday approved a bilateral agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of physical evasion of taxes on income and capital benefits between Nigeria and Singapore. The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun disclosed to State House Correspondents, after the FEC meeting… – Continue reading
Bermuda has reportedly avoided being placed on an European Union blacklist after Britain blocked a French-led proposal that would have automatically branded the island a tax haven. Territories with a zero per cent corporate tax rate, such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, would have been denounced as potentially “non-co-operative”… – Continue reading
Background The Federal Inland Revenue Service [FIRS] has begun Transfer Pricing [TP] audits and has been requesting TP documentation and other documents from taxpayers relating to their related party transactions. These actions are in line with its powers under the Income Tax (Transfer Pricing) Regulations No. 1 of 2012 [Regulations]… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: The government has stepped up to check corruption and regulate offshore investments in a bid to promote transparency and good governance, finance minister said on Tuesday. “New measures, such as the companies’ global register of beneficial ownership, will curb corruption, help (government) address challenges related to offshore investments and… – Continue reading
Foreign banks have been asked to make a written commitment to Malaysia’s central bank to stop trading the ringgit in the offshore non-deliverable forwards market in the bank’s latest move to protect a weakening currency, banking sources said. Foreign banks have been sent a form letter to sign, which asks… – Continue reading
A series of companies associated with high-flying Sydney accountant who had scores of wealthy clients in Sydney’s eastern suburbs have been found to have avoided paying tax by the High Court, in a case that the tax office has described as “blatant tax evasion”. Four companies linked to accountant, Vanda… – Continue reading
Opposition vows to shut down scheme that uses ‘contrived’ financial arrangements to slash national insurance bills Labour and trade unions have called on the government to take action after a Guardian investigation found that an aggressive tax avoidance scheme used by temporary recruitment agencies is depriving the taxpayer of “hundreds… – Continue reading
President-elect Donald J. Trump has stated that among his top priorities will be revocation of President Barack Obama’s misguided executive orders. Among the first such items to get the ax should be a series of legally infirm international agreements to implement a monstrosity unfamiliar to most Americans, called the Foreign… – Continue reading
Cayman could find itself on a new EU list of “non-cooperative jurisdictions” in tax matters after the European Council of finance ministers published the criteria for including third countries in the blacklist last week. The provisions emphasize that a jurisdiction “should not facilitate offshore structures or arrangements aimed at attracting… – Continue reading
The same aggressive and uncompromising international effort used to combat terrorism must be employed to eliminate tax havens, says Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz in a report being released Tuesday. In a copy of the report, obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and shared with the Star, Stiglitz… – Continue reading
Ministry of Finance in search of suspicious behavior, will focus on false suppliers, allegedl anomalous behavior of professionals, and importers (QCOTARICA) The Directorate General of Taxation (Dirección General de Tributación) has hired an external service that cross matches taxpayer data in public databases to identify suspicious patterns that might suggest… – Continue reading
Mumbai: The government plans to withdraw tax exemption on long-term capital gains (LTCG) made on the sale of penny stocks to end the use of stock markets for tax evasion as part of a series of steps to eradicate black money, two people familiar with the development said. “The government… – Continue reading
Social media posts, private school records and immigration data are being used by the Australian Taxation Office as part of an increasingly sophisticated crackdown on tax cheats that yielded nearly $10 billion last year. ATO Commissioner Chris Jordan said the tax office had been investing in data collection analysis of… – Continue reading
MUMBAI, India — In one of the most audacious experiments in India’s modern history, Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned the two largest bills — of 500 rupees, or about $7.50, and 1,000 rupees — which account for about 86 percent of the currency in a country where 78 percent of… – Continue reading
The European Parliament risks losing the right to veto plans to make multinational companies publish tax and profit details for the countries in which they operate, according to the European Union’s legal advisers. The Council of Ministers’ legal service insisted in its opinion, seen by Bloomberg BNA, that the European… – Continue reading
The number of individuals who renounced their US citizenship for Q-3 of Y 2016 was the 2nd-highest in history at 1,380, US Treasury Department reported. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which enacted in Y 2010, and took years to implement, is “having an impact, perhaps bigger than these… – Continue reading
Following British Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to India last week, Patricia Hewitt, chair of the UK-India Business Council, said that Britain is looking to re-balance its commercial links with countries like India post-Brexit. She suggested that the two governments should look at a bilateral tax treaty to boost trade…. – Continue reading
Eighty-five Canadians identified in the Panama Papers leak are now being investigated for tax evasion, the Canada Revenue Agency has revealed. Details of Canada’s enforcement effort were provided to the Star the same week the U.K., which is a major hub of the offshore finance world, said it has launched… – Continue reading
New tax takes effect on Jan. 1; highest penalties could reach C$10,000 a day Vancouver is implementing a new tax policy to rein in an overheated real estate market by forcing absentee landlords to make their vacant homes available for lease. Starting Jan. 1, the Empty Home Tax will be… – Continue reading
Earlier this year the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) announced its new administrative position that limited liability partnerships (“LLPs”) and limited liability limited partnerships (“LLLPs”) formed under the laws of Delaware and Florida are properly viewed as corporations for Canadian income tax purposes. It is widely expected that LLPs and LLLPs… – Continue reading
The Indian Government’s dramatic cancellation of large banknotes on the same day as the US election last week looks like the drastic solution to a very Indian problem with tax avoidance and the black economy, but it might turn out to be a harbinger of things to come everywhere. In… – Continue reading
Over the past few years, Apple’s cash hoard has swelled to near unthinkable levels. Per the company’s most recent earnings report, Apple now has more than $237 billion in cash and other securities, anchored of course by the company’s insanely lucrative iPhone. Though the iPhone only has a thin slice… – Continue reading
With Republican control of the House and Senate, President-elect Trump and Congress might tell the tax code, “you’re fired!” And as big as the coming tax changes might be, it’s worth noting what is highly unlikely to change. Keeping track of these 13 key tax rules could put dollars in… – Continue reading
The suspicion that cooperative banks are among several safe havens for people evading income tax appears to be true. The Directorate of Income Tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation) looking into accounts of 25 banks across the State has found thousands of deposit entries each worth over Rs. 50 lakh, but… – Continue reading
Finns alarmed by cracks in the previously iron-clad Swiss banking secrecy have come forward to volunteer information about undeclared overseas income to Finnish tax authorities. They were hoping for immunity from fines or criminal sanctions but dozens now face police investigations. The Finnish Tax Administration has requested police investigations into… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is making preparation for registration of FIRs against those selected individuals who owned offshore companies and were named in Panama/Bahamas Leaks but failed to comply against the sent-out tax notices within the stipulated timeframe. The FBR found 114 cases whereby individuals were non-compliant… – Continue reading
The investigation, dubbed “Offside,” was launched three years ago and conducted by Naples Public Prosecutor’s Office. The alleged offense was criminal association aimed at tax evasion. Now that the sports prosecutor has completed the investigation, the first results are emerging. Fourteen football clubs will stand trial before the sports tribunal… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: With a hope of improving India’s image on ease of doing business, the government has increased the pace of resolving transfer pricing issues and is looking to sign around 100 advance pricing agreements by the end of March 2017, people in the know said. Central Board of Direct Taxes… – Continue reading
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on how best to deter promoters of aggressive tax planning schemes. The Commission said it is particularly interested in gathering views on how a mandatory disclosure scheme for tax advisers could be put in place. If implemented, this would require intermediaries to… – Continue reading
While Trump wants to close loopholes, many of them stem from public policy concerns — not “special interests.” After a dramatic upset victory in one of the most bitterly contested presidential races in recent history, Donald Trump now has some serious work to do. His corporate tax policies—which are vital… – Continue reading
Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a draft agreement with the U.S. government to improve the implementation of tax rules and apply the provisions of the U.S. foreign account tax compliance act (FATCA). The decision is outlined in government resolution No. 821-r dated November 9, 2016 posted on the government’s… – Continue reading
In Canberra, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, K C Chan, expressed his wish to quickly start negotiations on a comprehensive double taxation agreement (CDTA) with Australia. During his meetings with Australia’s Treasurer, Scott Morrison, and the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer, Chan pointed… – Continue reading
The withholding tax (WHT) agreement between Switzerland and Austria will be terminated on January 1, 2017, when the agreement between Switzerland and the EU on the automatic exchange of tax information enters into force. On November 11, 2016, Switzerland and Austria signed an agreement to ensure a smooth transition between… – Continue reading
The European Council has reached an agreement on the criteria and the process for the establishment of an EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions in taxation matters. On November 8, the Council resolved that an EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions “will be determined by the Council in 2017.” The “screening” of… – Continue reading
