Category: Alibaba

Ad tax to boost digital sovereignty

Google has since last year been collecting tax information related to the US earnings of Taiwanese YouTubers and withholding the share of their proceeds that they owe in taxes, complying with a US government directive. In contrast, Taipei has not been able to tax the online advertising revenue Google generates in Taiwan. ... - 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

Australia Urged To Scrap GST On Digital Imports

An Australian taxpayer advocacy group has joined forces with a coalition of international taxpayer organizations and academics to condemn the Government’s plans to abolish the low-value goods and services tax threshold on imports. In separate submissions to the Senate inquiry into the proposes GST changes, the Australian Taxpayers Alliance and… – Continue reading

Chinese Official: Turn South China Sea Island into Cayman Islands-Style Bank

China’s chess game to seize control of the South China Sea may take an interesting turn if an influential businessman’s suggestion is followed and Beijing turns one of the disputed islands into its very own Cayman Islands-style offshore bank. The idea, as explained by The Washington Post, is to establish… – Continue reading

Abandoned Yahoo Spinoff a Sign That Tax Is Fading as a Deal Driver

Yahoo has reportedly abandoned its plan to spin off its stake in Alibaba. Yahoo’s proposed spinoff had been driven by tax concerns. In a world without taxes, Yahoo could have simply sold its Alibaba shares and distributed the proceeds to shareholders. Yahoo will now concentrate on other strategic options, including… – Continue reading

Tax system slow to adapt to digital economy’s rise

LOST REVENUE:A lack of regulations on taxing cross-border Web-based content and services providers puts their local peers at a disadvantage, Ernst & Young said The nation’s tax system is relatively behind developed markets in adapting to the proliferation of the digital economy, which has resulted in lost revenues for the… – Continue reading

Jersey: The Offshore Dragon: The Increasing Popularity Of IFCs In The PRC

Using companies incorporated in international financial centres (IFCs) in structuring financial transactions, capital raisings and corporate structures has long been popular in Asia, particularly Hong Kong (itself an IFC). Following the energetic expansion of the PRC economy and assisted in part by the relaxation of PRC regulations in relation to… – Continue reading

Treasurer Joe Hockey says United States is looking to take share of Australia’s tax base

Treasurer Joe Hockey has taken aim at the United States for dragging its feet on taxing multinationals such as Google, and says the Obama administration now wants to come after Australia’s tax base. Australia has been working with the United Kingdom on a local version of Britain’s ‘Google tax’ to… – Continue reading

Global tax war looming and US won’t be backing down

The United States won’t give up its right to tax multinationals, and nations will go to war soon with countries like China on taxing rights, a US tax head says. Grant Thornton’s national managing partner of tax in the United States, Randy Robason, is in Australia this week for a… – Continue reading

China’s offshore empires go from help to headache

When is a Chinese company not Chinese? When it’s a complex web of offshore vehicles rooted in anonymous tax havens. That description includes some of the People’s Republic’s most successful and innovative companies. It will make the country’s apparent new push on tax evasion hard to enforce. Authorities have extracted… – Continue reading

Alibaba’s $21.8 Billion Inversion

Inversions are technically a financial transaction where a corporation from one country, say the United States, merges with a company in a foreign country, say Ireland. Nothing changes in the United States from a business point of view, except that the value and financial sustainability of the corporation goes up significantly. Why… – Continue reading

Alibaba IPO Appeal Could Make It Target For Scutiny From Beijing

The much-anticipated initial public offering of Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group could be a double-edged sword for the company: Investors are drooling for a piece of the action in that country’s burgeoning online payment market, but its growing use in illegal transactions could attract scrutiny from Chinese government regulators. Alibaba,… – Continue reading