G-20 ministers agree to tax tech giants
Tax technology giants to be taxed by the Group of 20 nations ... - Continue reading
Category: A-E
British overseas territories top corporate tax loophole index
Governments are stepping up efforts to recoup more tax from multinationals, with the European Commission forcing iPhone maker Apple to repay 13 billion euros after it used Ireland to cut its tax on European profits to almost zero. The Tax Justice Network, a group campaigning for transparency, said its study… – Continue reading
TAX FIX WOULD MAKE SUMMER SWEETER FOR RENTERS AT THE SHORE
Lawmakers want to ease the tax bite on most short-term rentals, but agreements made through Airbnb and similar marketplaces would still face 12 percent levy A new state tax meant to help level the playing field for hotels and motels amid rising competition from online rental marketplaces like Airbnb may… – Continue reading
Tax authorities mount raids on 19 German banks and houses
Investigation is linked to Panama Papers and part of money laundering allegations Eleven banks and eight private homes and offices across Germany have been raided by police and tax investigators as part of a wide-ranging investigation into tax evasion. The raids, which began at dawn on Wednesday and went on… – Continue reading
Kamal says fully foreign-owned cos no more to be allowed
Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that the foreign companies will be required to have local partners for doing business in Bangladesh as the government wants to bring them under the tax net. ‘No foreign company can do business alone here any longer,’ he told reporters on Thursday after… – Continue reading
KPMG dominates 2019 Asia Tax Awards but EY claims Tax Firm of the Year
The winners of International Tax Review’s 2019 Asia Tax Awards have been announced with Ernst & Young named Tax Firm of the Year. After three consecutive crowns in the Asia Tax Awards’ Tax Firm of the Year category, KPMG has this year been bumped from the podium by fellow Big… – Continue reading
Africa’s problem with tax avoidance
Every year African countries lose at least $50 million in taxes — more than the amount of foreign development aid. So where is it all going and how can multinational companies be held to account? NGOs continue to raise the alarm. African countries are being cheated out of billions in… – Continue reading
Understand the Differences Between Retail and Offshore Private Banks
Many people don’t put too much thought into the diverse types of banks that exist. They simply want to know their money is safe and that they can access it when needed. While the word bank can be a generalized term, it is important to recognize how different banks can… – Continue reading
Swedbank hires EY to conduct forensics into money laundering
Swedbank, one of the largest banks in Sweden, has hired professionals services firm EY to investigate the bank’s possible involvement in large scale money laundering. According to media reports in Sweden, over the period of nearly ten years the bank facilitated approximately $5.8 billion worth of suspicious transactions. The transactions… – Continue reading
Tax Netflix and other e-commerce companies, say Canadians and CRA professionals
OTTAWA, Feb. 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The federal government needn’t worry about a consumer backlash to a sales tax on Canadians’ Netflix accounts, if newly released results from an Environics Research poll and a separate survey of Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) tax professionals are any indication, says the Professional… – Continue reading
OECD moves toward consensus on taxing multinational tech companies
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is making progress on dealing with the tax challenges of the digital economy with a goal of arriving at a new consensus-based long-term solution in 2020. The OECD announced last week that the countries and jurisdictions participating in the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on… – Continue reading
Apple settles 10-year tax battle with France, paying a reported €500M ($570M)
Apple has settled a ten-year tax battle with France, agreeing to pay a reported half a billion Euros ($570M) in back tax. The French government had accused Apple of evading or avoiding tax due on sales made in France. The line between tax evasion, which is illegal, and aggressive tax-avoidance,… – Continue reading
Global tax advisory services revenue grows to $20B, up $5B in 3 years
Tax advisory revenue at professional services firms expanded 8.6 percent to $20.3 billion in 2017, and grew by around $5 billion in just the three years from 2014 to 2017, according to a new report. The report, from Source Global Research, found that the main tax advisory services around the… – Continue reading
Chile May Tax eCommerce Companies 19 Pct
Chile is considering a 19 percent tax on multinational eCommerce companies like Amazon, Netflix and Uber. Finance Minister Felipe Larrain made the announcement on Thursday (Jan. 10), and if it comes to fruition, the rate would be almost double what was originally proposed, Reuters reported. The Chilean Chamber of Commerce,… – Continue reading
Austria to Introduce Tax on Tech Giants With Annual Revenues Over $864Mln – Kurz
VIENNA (Sputnik) – The Austrian government will introduce a 3-percent tax on international tech giants with an annual turnover exceeding 750 million euros ($864 million), Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Thursday. “Europe currently does not have taxation of digital Internet giants and Austria intends to become a pioneer in… – Continue reading
IRS gives foreign banks a break in Trump tax law’s new levy
The Internal Revenue Service is giving foreign-based banks with U.S. operations some leeway when calculating a major new international tax aimed at preventing global companies from shifting profits abroad. Multinationals often transfer payments, such as interest or royalties, to their affiliates in low-tax jurisdictions to maximize deductions and minimize tax… – Continue reading
Australian corporate tax takes up 20 percent: data
CANBERRA, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) — The amount of tax paid by Australia’s biggest companies has risen 20 percent in a single year, data has revealed. According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) ‘s corporate tax data for financial year 2016-17, which was released on Thursday, the nation’s 1,470 biggest companies… – Continue reading
Tiny Deutsche Bank Unit At Heart Of Money Laundering Investigation
The center of the money laundering investigation at Deutsche Bank lies at a tiny unit that was barely able to eke out a profit and had been up for sale since the early part of 2016, reported Financial Times. Citing several people briefed on the matter, the publication reported that… – Continue reading
EU finance ministers need to deliver: Digital companies must pay tax
When European finance ministers meet on Tuesday (4 December), they should swiftly adopt the digital service tax: a levy on turnover for very large digital firms such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Booking and Spotify, write Udo Bullmann and Paul Tang. Udo Bullmann is president of the Socialist and Democrats… – Continue reading
A tax ruling just opened the Pandora’s box for India’s back offices
MUMBAI: Are India-based back offices of multinationals merely brokers? And, are Indian companies providing services to foreign firms just commission agents? Going by the tax department’s definition, it appears that they are so — and not exporters. Several back offices at multinationals now face 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST)… – Continue reading
US multinationals dodge $180 billion in taxes on foreign profits per year
US multinational corporations are plundering the populations of the United States and the world to the tune of trillions of dollars by driving down and evading taxes on profits booked overseas. This is the conclusion that emerges from a recent study by University of California at Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman… – Continue reading
Britain to start taxing big internet companies
LONDON — Britain’s Treasury chief unveiled Monday a new tax on big internet companies’ revenues, insisting it is time that the global tech giants with profitable business in the United Kingdom pay their fair share for public services. Philip Hammond made the announcement as he outlined his budget, explaining that… – Continue reading
Germany urges global minimum tax for digital giants
FRANKFURT AM MAIN: German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz in an interview said he backed a global minimum fiscal regime for multinationals as Europe looks to levy tax notably on US tech giants. “We need a minumum tax rate valid globally which no state can get out of (applying),” Scholz, a… – Continue reading
New Zealand Law Foundation Report suggests accepting cryptocurrency
A recent report published by the New Zealand Law Foundation on regulating cryptocurrencies in New Zealand suggests the regulators of the country to start taking tax in crypto and trial a CBDC. The report, that is commissioned by the New Zealand Law Foundation and written by the University of Auckland… – Continue reading
McDonald’s Luxembourg tax deal not illegal
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – McDonald’s tax deal with Luxembourg did not breach EU state aid rules, EU antitrust regulators ruled on Wednesday, saying the reason the US fast food chain did not pay some taxes was due to the mismatch between US and Luxembourg laws. The decision by the European Commission… – Continue reading
EU Should Challenge Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon Payment Systems, ECB Says
A European Union board member gave a speech criticizing the weak presence of European fintech businesses in the continent’s own market. The leader’s comments come in response to several major clashes with American multinationals over their unscrupulous practices. Yves Mersch, European Central Bank (ECB) member of the Executive Board, addressed… – Continue reading
The best-known transfer pricing cases in Vietnam
VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 38 percent of foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) reported losses in 2017, a significant decrease from the 50 percent seen in previous years. However, transfer pricing by FIEs remains a headache for management agencies. Do Thien Anh Tuan of Fulbright University said that enterprises that most regularly… – Continue reading
Facebook, Coke could face tax hit after ruling against Medtronic
Last week, Medtronic Plc suffered a legal setback in its bid to avoid a $1.4 billion U.S. tax bill — a ruling that may have costly implications for other multinationals battling the Internal Revenue Service over the use of overseas payments to lower their taxes. Companies including Facebook Inc. and… – Continue reading
Booksellers urge government to ‘act quickly’ on ‘Amazon tax’
News that the government may bring in an ‘Amazon tax’ to help “rebalance the playing field” between physical and online retailers has been welcomed by booksellers. After department store retailer House of Fraser became the latest high street chain to go into administration on Friday (10th August) Philip Hammond said… – Continue reading
Ensure foreign taxpayers have NBR certificates before allowing DTAA benefits
Bangladesh Bank on Monday asked all banks to ensure that foreigners have clearance certificates from the National Board of Revenue before allowing them tax benefits under double taxation avoidance agreement. Foreign Currency Policy Department of the central bank in a letter to the head offices of approved dealer banks suggested… – Continue reading
European Leaders Press for New Digital Tax at G20 Meeting
European finance officials just wrapped up a G20 summit in Argentina where they pressed for new global rules to better collect tax on digital giants like Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL 1258.15 0.04%), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB 214.67 0.02%), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN 1829.24 0.02%), among others. The European Commision is the executive (read: tasked with… – Continue reading
Greek Inspectors Pose as Clients to Combat ‘Airbnb’-Type Tax Evasion
The Greek authorities are trying to battle tax evasion said to be rampant among the thousands of owners of Airbnb-type properties. Lacking a mechanism to monitor the short-term leasing of lodgings, inspectors have been doing random checks with the aim of identifying taxpayers that do not declare their extra income…. – Continue reading
Tax, investment changes concern foreign firms
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – The changes in tax policy and investment incentives are the issues of greatest concern for foreign investors in Vietnam, said Bui Ngoc Tuan, Deputy General Director of the Audit and Advisory firm Deloitte Vietnam at a workshop on in Hanoi on July 10. Themed “Investment incentives, related… – Continue reading
Tax & benefit data to speed ‘settled status’
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
Experts Seek Tax Holiday For Startups
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
Australian Government planning on digitally taxing Google and Facebook
The Australian federal government has proposed a tax on digital advertising that could raise up to $200 million each year but could have serious consequences for corporate Australia. Scott Morrison, Australia treasurer, mentioned in his budget speech that the $7 billion in sales from Australians to United States owned media… – Continue reading
Deloitte: Romania faces growing fiscal competition as 8 EU member states cut corporate tax rates since 2017
Romania will be able to count less on the low taxation advantage in order to attract investments due to growing competition, after eight EU member states have reduced their corporate tax rates since 2017, according to a study released by Deloitte Romania. “Even in the new context, the Romanian corporate… – Continue reading
EU Digital Tax Sees Opposition
BRUSSELS – Despite initial support, EU ministers are backing out of support for an international tax on digital companies. Over the weekend at a meeting of the Finance Ministers of the EU discussed the recent proposal to levy a tax on the revenues major international online businesses. The taxation of… – Continue reading
Apple Will Start Paying Back Taxes to Irish Government Next Month Amid Legal Battle With European Regulators
Apple will start paying 13 billion euros in back taxes to the Irish government from May, according to the Financial Times, nearly two years after the European Commission ruled that the company received illegal aid from the country that saw its tax bill significantly reduced over the past few decades…. – Continue reading
Opportunity Zone Program turns blight sites into tax havens for asset-rich investors
The rich are getting richer in America but that prosperity is not trickling down the economic food chain, with investment capital pooling up in thriving portions of big cities. One reason for this, experts believe, is the amount of wealth tied up in assets—real estate holdings and stock portfolios, primarily—that… – Continue reading
Coinsecure India Down After $3 Million in Bitcoin Missing
In what appears to be an attempt to test their ability to distribute Bitcoin Gold (BTG), a Coinsecure weakness was apparently exposed, and over 3 million dollars worth of bitcoin were stolen as a result. The large crypto exchange based in India filed a First Information Report (FIR) with police,… – Continue reading
Activists stage ‘die-ins’ at French Apple stores to protest impact of tax avoidance on social services
The Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Citizen’s Action —or Attac for short —staged “die-in” protests at two French Apple stores on Saturday, once again charging the company with exploiting loopholes to avoid paying its fair share of taxes. Around 70 members participated in an action at the… – Continue reading
TAX TALK: BEPS & ATAD RESHAPING INT’L TAX LANDSCAPE
Speakers corner: Delano asked Raymond Krawczykowski, partner and tax leader at Deloitte Luxembourg, “In your view, what have been the key changes in EU & Luxembourg tax rules in 2017, and what major shifts could be in store for 2018-19?” His response was clear: Beps and Atad. The Base Erosion… – Continue reading
Professional Fee paid by Deloitte India to Its US and Singapore Entities Not Taxable in India, No TDS: ITAT [Read Order]
Granting tax relief to Deloitte India, the Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) held that the provisions relating to Tax deduction at Source (TDS) are not applicable to the professional fee paid by them to its Group Entities in US and Singapore. The division bench of the… – Continue reading
Brussels raises new 3% tax on technology sales
The assessment to companies like Google, Facebook or Apple would raise 5 billion a year Google, Facebook and Apple have specialized in locating in a fictitious way their operations in microaffiliates located in territories or countries where corporate tax is low or even practically nil. And they have thus turned… – Continue reading
Coinbase Opens A Banking Account At Barclays
Coinbase has announced that it is the first crypto exchange to obtain a U.K. bank account. According to CNBC, the account is with Barclays. Coinbase, which has nearly 12 million users, also announced it was granted an eMoney license by the U.K. regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). “The license… – Continue reading
Amazon, Google and Facebook in line for new EU tech giant tax
SUMMARY: The European Union has come under increasing pressure from the public to force global technology companies to pay their fair share of tax. Whilst Amazon is facing renewed criticism in the US for its tax structures, with reports that will effectively play zero federal tax this year, the European… – Continue reading
Insurers dodged Tk345 crore tax using five means
‘The companies think that they have not evaded any tax and went for legal help. But they will pay the claimed dues if they lose the legal battle’ Eight insurance companies have allegedly avoided around Tk345 crore in Value Added Tax (VAT) in four years, according to officials at the… – Continue reading
Amazon Inc. Paid Zero in Federal Taxes in 2017, Gets $789 Million Windfall from New Tax Law
From a decades-long strategy of exploiting state sales tax loopholes to its ongoing “HQ2” sweepstakes, Amazon’s leaders have rarely turned down a chance to use the tax system as the source of their competitive advantage. The online retail giant has built its business model on tax avoidance, and its latest… – Continue reading
Singapore to help brick-and-mortar stores compete against Amazon
Singapore is considering introducing a levy on e-commerce to give traditional vendors a fighting chance in the face of increased online competition The Singaporean government is expected to introduce a new e-commerce tax in its budget next Monday, in an attempt to level the playing field between online and offline… – Continue reading
