DELHI – After classifying Cyprus as a “notified jurisdiction” last November and suspending double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) benefits, India may soon revise its DTAA with Cyprus and restore a 10 percent withholding tax rate in light of recent progress in tax information sharing. Since the two countries signed a… – Continue reading
Bermuda has again been singled out and labelled “a tax haven” by US legislators as they last week attached an amendment to US federal funding measures, seeking to block federal contracts to former American companies involved in corporate inversions. A leading publisher of financial information, Bankrate Inc, reported at Bankrate.com:… – Continue reading
JEDDAH – Saudi Arabia and the US discussed ways to further enhance their existing cooperation on efforts to disrupt the financial and support networks of terrorist organizations, announced Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf at a joint press conference with US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew here on Tuesday. Assaf said that… – Continue reading
It’s a very small world when it comes to money and banking, as we all learned in 2007. Now the Internal Revenue Service is extending its reach to financial activities of U.S. citizens who have money in foreign financial institutions. On July 1, 2014 FATCA — the Foreign Account Tax… – Continue reading
Going offshore means registering any intellectual property (IP) in an offshore company and delegating R&D and marketing to onshore companies. Money doesn’t grow on trees, and taking your business international is no picnic. On June 12, the International Business Structuring Association (IBSA) held a seminar to discuss ways of growing… – Continue reading
The organisations making the payments are required to withhold tax from such payments and pay over the withheld amounts to their respective relevant Tax Authorities within 30days of receipt of payment or credit by the person or entity suffering the Tax. The relevant tax authorities to receive the WHT tax… – Continue reading
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is going to introduce transfer pricing regulations from July 1, 2014 in a bid to check tax avoidance by multinational companies. The Transfer Pricing Law, approved through the Finance Bill-2012, remained in process of preparing ground work for its successful implementation. It will help… – Continue reading
The Spanish government has announced that the double tax agreement between Cyprus and Spain, which was signed on February 14 2013, entered into force on May 28 2014, on expiration of the three-month period from the date of receipt of the last notification referred to in Article 27, Paragraph 1… – Continue reading
In a June 3 speech, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said the agency may not have been accommodating enough to U.S. citizens who have lived abroad for years. “We have been considering whether these individuals should have an opportunity to come into compliance that doesn’t involve the type of penalties that… – Continue reading
New Zealand has signed a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act intergovernmental agreement with the United States, which will minimize compliance costs for financial institutions in New Zealand. The agreement includes a waiver for certain account types that are deemed to be low risk. The IGA will facilitate information exchange under… – Continue reading
Here in Ireland we can puff up our breasts and deny that there is anything tax haven-like about this country but the rest of the world believes otherwise. Poor Enda Kenny, who is chief theologian on the not-a-tax-haven side needs the Medtronic announcement like a hole in the head. There… – Continue reading
Just as water flows downhill, so do the profits of multinational corporations travel toward the countries with the lowest tax rates. That’s a fact of life in an era of global markets and businesses; there will always be countries that set unusually low corporate tax rates in the hope of… – Continue reading
The AFIP conducted 14 simultaneous raids in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires and Misiones, to disrupt a complex organization that sold onions to Brazil, which evaded nearly 500 million pesos in taxes. Marketing was performed marginally for some 1,000 million pesos, which would mean an avoidance of 500 million pesos… – Continue reading
While both major candidates for U.S. Senate in West Virginia have accepted donations from big corporations accused of using offshore tax havens, some of those corporations have been significant contributors to Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, not just this year but through her entire political career. Major American companies avoid paying… – Continue reading
The European Commission has opened an investigation to examine whether the taxes paid by Starbucks in the Netherlands comply with the EU rules on state aid. The investigation is one of three, with Apple being investigated in Ireland and Fiat in Luxembourg. This comes after revelations that the Netherlands is… – Continue reading
(CS) The Luxembourg Finance Ministry on Thursday published a statement defending its tax regime, following the launch of an EU probe into deals with multinationals in several members states. The investigation aims to determine whether special tax deals could amount to illegal state aid. Affected companies include Apple, Starbucks, Google,… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Wealthy Asians are increasingly wary of letting banks look after their money and would rather use smaller asset managers instead, according to one of the region’s leading lawyers to the ultra rich. David Chong, chairman of Asia’s largest independent trust company, Portcullis TrustNet, said huge fines imposed on… – Continue reading
A Piketty Protégé’s Theory on Tax Havens GABRIEL ZUCMAN is a 27-year-old French economist who decided to solve a puzzle: Why do international balance sheets each year show more liabilities than assets, as if the world is in debt to itself? Over the last couple of decades, the few international… – Continue reading
Medtronic Inc. (MDT), the globe-spanning medical device maker founded in a Minneapolis garage in 1949, is poised to become the biggest company yet to escape the U.S. tax system by shifting its incorporation abroad. Medtronic said yesterday it plans to take a legal address in tax-friendly Ireland as part of… – Continue reading
KATHMANDU: US taxpayers, including US citizens, firms and green card holders, living in or operating from Nepal will come under close scrutiny of the US taxman from now onwards. Issuing a circular today, Nepal Rastra Bank directed all Nepali banks and financial institutions to provide bank account information of US taxpayers living… – Continue reading
Measures to block abuse of ‘transfer of rights’ rules expected to bring in more than £160m, taxman says. Measures to block abuse of ‘transfer of rights’ rules expected to bring in more than £160m, taxman says. The High Court has rejected an attempt to bring a judicial review to challenge… – Continue reading
Tax officials snooping around secret Swiss bank accounts may be a decade too late, with criminals constantly one step ahead of authorities. In Australia, Treasury is taking submissions on an updated tax treaty with the Swiss, in an attempt to crack down on the notorious tax haven. But the new… – Continue reading
The European Commission has opened an investigation to examine whether the taxes paid by Starbucks in the Netherlands comply with the EU rules on state aid. The investigation is one of three, with Apple being investigated in Ireland and Fiat in Luxembourg. This comes after revelations that the Netherlands is… – Continue reading
A Moscow City Hall official confronted with allegations of illegal business activity has sued his accuser, whistle-blowing blogger and opposition activist Alexei Navalny. Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov, who oversees transportation in Moscow, announced via Facebook on Thursday that he had sued Navalny for an unspecified sum. Data made publicly available… – Continue reading
Tens of thousands of Irish people and foreign nationals who have worked and lived in the UK or US and still have investments, property or pension funds there, are particularly vulnerable to those countries’ tax regulations. Soon, one group in particular – the nearly 12,000 American citizens living in Ireland… – Continue reading
While the UK government continues its battle against tax evasion and tax avoidance, the authorities have received welcome support from the High Court with a ruling backing last year’s bid to stop investors avoiding stamp duty. In simple terms, savvy investors were transferring ownership of property to an offshore company… – Continue reading
AS NAMIBIAN political activists, we are writing to you because we are greatly concerned about your transfer-pricing methods. We know that transfer-pricing occurs when two companies from the same multinational corporation trade with each other. This is probably the most important issue as far as international taxation is concerned, since… – Continue reading
NIA CHARLESTOWN Nevis (June 13, 2014) — The Nevis International Banking Ordinance 2014,received safe passage in the Nevis Island Assembly on June 12, 2014, at a sitting which commenced just after 10 a.m. and concluded at 7:15 p.m. The Ordinance replaces the Nevis Offshore Banking Ordinance Cap. 7.05., a key… – Continue reading
As the first set of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) compliance issues for banks worldwide is set to come into effect on July 1 we have seen a flurry of banks around the world advising US citizens that they will be immediately closing their accounts. None has been so far… – Continue reading
Competition takes many forms in capitalism. Financial engineering by corporations to avoid paying taxes is one aspect of this competition — under the rigors of market competition, evading responsibility is an innovation to be emulated. The magnitude of tax evasion on the part of multi-national corporations through one channel —… – Continue reading
On June 5, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down a joint ruling concerning two Dutch companies’ objections to the imposition of withholding tax on dividends paid to their respective holding companies based in the former Netherlands Antilles. In X BV, TBG Limited vs Staatssecretaris van Financien (C-24/12… – Continue reading
Tax season is over for Canadians, but Americans living in Canada – even those with Canadian citizenship – still face complex filing obligations imposed by U.S. authorities. And it could be a punishing weekend for anyone who has not begun preparing for Monday’s deadline. “Americans living in Canada are required… – Continue reading
Botswana and Ireland have signed an agreement on double taxation avoidance to enable free tax income flowing between the two countries.Speaking at the signing agreement in Gaborone on Wednesday, finance and development planning minister, Kenneth Matambo said the agreement was a commendable move because it was only when there was… – Continue reading
New Zealand financial institutions’ FATCA obligations are clarified with today’s signing of a NZ/US intergovernmental agreement (IGA). The long-awaited agreement comes not a moment too soon, with the 1 July implementation date just over two weeks away. FATCA’s global reach FATCA (short for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is a… – Continue reading
In 2010, Congress passed House Resolution (H.R.) 2847, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, or HIRE Act. This legislation included a number of tax breaks meant to encourage businesses to put people on the payroll. This law also called for greater scrutiny of foreign accounts that U.S. citizens hold… – Continue reading
The UK Chancellor, George Osborne, announced new sanctions against offshore tax evasion, last month. The UK government intends to introduce a new “strict liability” criminal offence for not declaring untaxed offshore assets. Under the plans announced by the Chancellor, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) would no longer need to prove… – Continue reading
Ireland’s new double trade taxation agreement with Botswana is expected to boost two-way trade and investment between the two countries, which last year was worth almost €3.5m. The agreement was signed yesterday by Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello and Botswana’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning Kenneth Matambo…. – Continue reading
The fight against aggressive tax planning by multinationals will be one of the “key issues” for the European Parliament over the next five years, EU economics and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn has said. Speaking at an event hosted by European Movement Ireland and BDO in Brussels yesterday, Mr Rehn,… – Continue reading
The Financial Times says today that 14 US tech & pharma groups, including Microsoft, Google and Johnson & Johnson, have cut their average tax rate by a quarter over the past eight years as they parked more cash offshore than all other US companies combined. Almost a half trillion dollars… – Continue reading
One of America’s best-known stores may soon decide that it’s no longer American. If it does, you will pay the price and feel real sick about it. Walgreens pharmacy is in every way an American company. It was founded in Chicago in 1901 and maintains its headquarters in Illinois. It… – Continue reading
The European Commission raised pressure on Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg over their corporate tax practices, saying it was investigating deals the countries have cut with Apple, Starbucks and Fiat. The Commission, the executive body of the European Union, is looking at whether the countries’ tax treatment of multinationals that… – Continue reading
Committee on Legal Affairs, Public Administration and Human Rights adopted today by consensus the draft law “On ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Albania and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and… – Continue reading
Like a bad penny, this tax repatriation idea just keeps coming back. You know, the one where you offer a bribe to multinational corporations in the form of a big tax cut to “repatriate” their foreign earnings. In this case, members on both sides of the aisle are conspiring to… – Continue reading
A fool will receive praise and a rich man will receive blame,” is an old Manx saying. Fitting perhaps for the Isle of Man, a state regarded as a tax haven where much-criticised wealthy companies and individuals shelter their money while the rest of us self-congratulatory fools hand over chunks… – Continue reading
ZIMBABWE lost about $770 million in potential revenue between 2008 and 2012 through undervaluation and transfer pricing of its gems from the Marange diamond fields. VENERANDA LANGA SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER A report by Partnership Africa Canada on illicit financial flows in the diamonds industry said the gems were being exported… – Continue reading
The Heritage Foundation has issued a report to demonstrate how the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is hurting Americans living abroad, and has recommended that it should be reformed. In particular, Heritage noted that FATCA is burdening Americans living overseas with “enormous financial and legal burdens” through… – Continue reading
Last week, the TexPIRG Education Fund and the watchdog group Citizens for Tax Justice released a new report examining in detail how Fortune 500 companies in the United States are using offshore havens to avoid paying the taxes they owe the federal government. According to the report, an astounding 72% of American Fortune… – Continue reading
EC launches Apple tax investigation The European Commission has launched a formal investigation into Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland The EC has announced three “in-depth investigations” into the transfer pricing arrangements on the corporate taxation of Apple, Starbucks in the Netherlands and Fiat in Luxembourg, as to whether they comply… – Continue reading
Apple Operations International, the principal Irish holding company for foreign subsidiaries, was not always stateless for tax purposes based on the last filed accounts in Ireland. It stopped paying tax in Ireland from 2006, based on US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations evidence. The most explosive revelation in the May… – Continue reading
India is said to be seeking a revision to its 1994 double tax agreement with Cyprus before the territory can be declassified as a notified jurisdictional area. In November of last year, the Indian Government invoked powers under Section 94A of the Indian Income Tax Act (ITA) 1961 to levy… – Continue reading
