(Bloomberg) — Swiss banks are making progress in negotiations with the U.S. Justice Department on an agreement that would allow lenders to avoid prosecution in return for disclosing how they helped Americans dodge taxes, the head of an industry group said. The process almost derailed in September when Swiss banks… – Continue reading
Legal & General (L&G) has sold its offshore business to Canada Life. Legal & General International (Ireland) currently has over 4,000 UK offshore bond polices and assets under administration of £2.5 billion. L&G is the latest UK life company to sell its offshore business. In November 2013 Royal London sold… – Continue reading
A majority of CFOs at multinational corporations believe that publicity about their tax-planning strategies is having a negative impact on the reputation of their companies, according to a new poll. The survey, by the tax advisory firm Taxand, found that 77 percent of the CFOs polled said that exposure to… – Continue reading
ZURICH–Swiss bank UBS AG posted a slight gain in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by a significant tax benefit and as it sharply reduced the amount of money set aside to deal with its continuing legal and regulatory issues. Zurich-based UBS said net profit in the quarter rose to 963… – Continue reading
Jeremy Grant in Singapore Clampdowns on bank secrecy in Europe and a proliferation of billionaires in Asia helped Hong Kong and Singapore attract more overseas money over the past two years than rivals such as Switzerland, according to a report by Deloitte. The consultancy’s annual ranking of wealth centres highlights… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – When a series of big U.S. companies last year moved to reincorporate abroad in inversion deals, some Republican lawmakers and tax policy critics blamed the high U.S. corporate tax rate. Lowering it, they said, would keep companies from fleeing the country. But a Reuters analysis of the taxes… – Continue reading
As countries share more information, opportunities to squirrel away cash abroad will continue to narrow AMONG the sins that have most angered the austerity-weary everywhere is the use of undeclared offshore accounts to stash the wealth of the rich. Greeks were particularly enraged when data stolen from Swiss banks showed… – Continue reading
Feb 7 (Reuters) – A former Swiss banker charged by U.S. prosecutors with helping wealthy Americans evade taxes has been arrested in Germany pending extradition to the United States, his lawyer said on Saturday. Roger Keller, a onetime client adviser in Zurich at Wegelin & Co, was one of three… – Continue reading
A swath of changes to corporation tax in the European Commission’s pipeline topped the Taoiseach’s agenda when he met the president of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker officially in Brussels. New rules that would force every country to make public the tax arrangements with larger companies, including multi nationals… – Continue reading
Accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been accused of promoting tax avoidance “on an industrial scale”, in a report by MPs. It is said to have helped hundreds of clients cut their corporation tax bills by setting up bases in Luxembourg. Earlier this week the Archbishop of Canterbury said companies should… – Continue reading
Report skewers PwC for creation of Shire tax shelter it calls ‘tax avoidance on an industrial scale’ Shire’s Ireland address has made the specialty drugmaker a prime takeover target. AbbVie was attracted but dumped the $55 billion buyout when the U.S. Treasury Department threw cold water on the deal with… – Continue reading
The group that represents most of the ASX 200 on tax issues, the Corporate Tax Association, has emerged as a surprise advocate of increasing transparency about the amount of taxes big companies pay. The Corporate Tax Association’s submission to the inquiry into corporate tax avoidance said it had concerns about… – Continue reading
A New Tax on doing business in or through the UK The UK is on course to enact a new tax (the “DPT”) with extraterritorial scope which will apply to profits arising on or after 1 April 2015 and will be applied at a rate of 25% (the UK’s main… – Continue reading
Technology giants Apple and Google have said in their submissions to the federal inquiry into corporate tax avoidance that they support international changes to global tax rules to stop profit shifting, but have warned of the risk of Australia acting alone, saying it would cost heavily in local jobs and… – Continue reading
A recent report detailing how Africa lost $US1-trillion in the last 50 years through illicit financial flows of money has raised questions about it’s abilities to curb fraud evasion and other means of corporate profit hiding. It has also sparked interest in holding multinational corporates, which are mainly responsible for… – Continue reading
Korean Gov’t to Tax Google, Facebook Like Domestic Companies orea is moving to impose taxes on foreign ICT giants such as Google, Apple, and Facebook. To this end, Ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Hong Ji-man tabled revisions to the Income Tax Act and the Corporate Tax Act in December last year…. – Continue reading
Emirates Investment Bank yesterday said its total assets under management jumped 81 per cent last year as the economy boomed and the UAE’s safe haven status continued to attract funds from politically troubled countries in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Total assets under management increased to… – Continue reading
EY is hosting two breakfast seminars this week to discuss how local businesses should be preparing for the next stages of FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) implementation – the identification of reportable accounts and the reporting process itself. Led by Wendy Martin, Executive Tax Director at EY in the… – Continue reading
THE European Union (EU) will not pursue a probe of national programmes that create tax breaks for research and development, giving a boost to drug and technology companies that generate revenue from patents. The EU’s hands were tied by a 2008 decision to approve a “patent box” tax break in… – Continue reading
The European Commission has turned a blind eye to secretive tax deals that Ireland and other countries have been doing with multinationals for decades. Only after complaints from the US did it launch investigations into the most high-profile cases — Apple in Ireland, Starbucks in the Netherlands, and Amazon in… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — The European Union is investigating Belgium’s tax deals with multinational corporations, potentially dragging dozens more companies into widening probes of sweetheart fiscal pacts handed out by national governments. Building on investigations of Apple Inc. in Ireland and Amazon.com Inc. in Luxembourg, the European Commission is targeting Belgium’s so-called… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The European Commission is investigating a Belgian system allowing companies to reduce their tax bills significantly, it said on Tuesday, widening its inquiry into tax deals struck with multinationals across the European Union. The Commission, which rules on competition and subsidies in the European Union, said deductions granted… – Continue reading
Guernsey’s forward-thinking approach to international regulatory requirements has aided the success of its funds industry and raising its profile as an international finance centre, according to a panel discussion at the Guernsey Funds Masterclass in London. Panellists discussed the implementation of regulations like such as the Alternative Investment Fund Managers… – Continue reading
Panellists at a Guernsey funds technical masterclass in London have praised the jurisdiction for its “progressive nature” in tackling international regulatory developments. Delegates were told that Guernsey’s response to initiatives such as the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II, the Foreign Account Tax… – Continue reading
The Australian Tax Office is pushing ahead with a controversial plan to allow the country’s biggest corporations to audit themselves through their own private auditors, despite mounting public anger over corporate tax avoidance. An ATO spokesman said 56 public companies with a turnover of between $100 million and $5 billion… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama will propose that U.S.-based companies pay a minimum 19 percent tax on their future foreign earnings, capturing profits that are now often beyond the government’s reach. Obama will also seek a 14 percent mandatory tax on about $2 trillion in stockpiled offshore profits, said two… – Continue reading
A Sunday Mirror investigation has found Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Ebay and Starbucks has paid less than one per cent tax Six of the world’s biggest companies paid just 0.3 per cent of their UK earnings in corporation tax last year, a Sunday Mirror probe has found. We have examined… – Continue reading
Feb 1 (Reuters) – The Chinese government’s vow to increase tax scrutiny of foreign companies has sent firms rushing to tax advisors ahead of the implementation on Sunday of new rules designed to rein in cross-border tax avoidance. Tax professionals and business lobbies alike have welcomed the move as an… – Continue reading
VietNamNet Bridge –Inspectors looking for transfer-pricing cases examined 2,866 enterprises in 2014, discovering that the actual losses incurred by businesses was VND5.8 trillion lower than reported. The inspectors also attempted to collect VND1.7 trillion worth of tax arrears. The deputy general director of the General Department of Taxation (GDT), Tran… – Continue reading
LIGHTNING RELEASES (1/30/2015) – Attorney Gary S. Wolfe of The Wolfe Law Group is pleased to announce, after 12 years of research, the publication of his 10th book, Offshore Tax Evasion: The IRS and Swiss Banks, now available for immediate download through the Amazon Kindle store. Switzerland is the epicenter… – Continue reading
The EU won’t limit how much it seeks to claw back from companies including Apple and Amazon that are ensnared in tax probes if controversial deals with national governments are overturned. The European Commission is currently probing the tax arrangements between Apple and Ireland, alleging that a deal was struck… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — Senators Rand Paul and Barbara Boxer are proposing a tax incentive for U.S. companies to bring home their offshore cash stockpiles and pledging to use that revenue to fund highways. The bipartisan proposal would let companies repatriate money parked overseas at a 6.5 percent tax rate, a steep… – Continue reading
Cash reserves held outside the US for tax reasons by US multinationals are “likely to fuel a big increase in M&A activity over the next year”, said Eloise Walker a tax expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-law.com.30 Jan 2015 Corporate Tax Corporate tax International tax M&A Advanced… – Continue reading
The IRS recently announced an expansion of the list of banks and advisors that trigger the highest penalty bracket within its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program. The addition of Sovereign Management & Legal, Ltd. and Bank Leumi to the increased penalty list will have repercussions in Asia, Israel and the United… – Continue reading
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has posted tax investigators to foreign embassies to lead a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) crackdown on suspected tax evasion. The Asia Pacific financial centres of Hong and Singapore are two of the main targets, according to industry experts. The move follows claims… – Continue reading
Billionaire retailer Gerry Harvey has accused Australia’s powerful business lobby groups of failing to represent ordinary tax-paying businesses and instead pushing the interests of profit-shifting multinationals. Speaking after the release of Apple’s Australian accounts, which revealed the tech giant had paid just $80 million in tax despite reaping $6 billion… – Continue reading
Microsoft denies a transfer of ownership of its New Zealand business from the United States to Luxembourg is related to the tiny European state’s favourable tax policies. Luxembourg, which has a population of less than 600,000, has been accused of facilitating large-scale tax avoidance by multinationals. Microsoft New Zealand was… – Continue reading
The existence of 1MDB’s RM7 billion in the Cayman Islands and its return to Malaysia must be verified. KUALA LUMPUR: Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli urged Bank Negara Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, in a statement on Wednesday, to invoke the Anti Money Laundering Act and ensure that a reported RM7 billion… – Continue reading
Almost every day brings new evidence that the era of bank secrecy for tax evaders using Swiss and “offshore” bank accounts in “tax havens” is over. Both tax authorities and banks are clamping down on unreported offshore accounts. Early in 2014, Swiss bank Credit Suisse agreed to pay fines of… – Continue reading
The IRS is harping again on the dangers of hiding money or assets in unreported offshore accounts, this time as part of its Dirty Dozen tax scams over 12 days for the 2015 tax filing season. In fact, the IRS has trumpeted the issue for over 5 years. Plainly, violations… – Continue reading
Apple’s Australian net profit after tax for the 2014 financial year increased, despite the company paying more tax. In documents filed to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Cupertino-based tech giant reported that net profit after tax for the group during the 2014 financial year was AU$171.5 million,… – Continue reading
Summary:Apple has reported that it paid AU$80.3 million in income tax during 2014, up from the AU$36.4 million that was paid during the 2013 financial year. This is despite the company paying more than double in income tax for the year. During 2013, Apple had only paid AU$36.4 million compared… – Continue reading
A total of 97% of respondents to a Deloitte consultancy survey over the major obstacles to doing business in Portugal identified the “inconsistencies” and changes in the information made available by the taxation authorities as a problem. The Deloitte European Tax Survey also reported that that 97% resulted from what… – Continue reading
A few days ago we posted a warning to folks that opened offshore bank accounts through a company called Sovereign Management & Legal, Ltd. Based in Panama, the company offers to help Americans open offshore bank accounts with nominee corporations. Knowing that many people who do take these actions are… – Continue reading
The tech industry is ramping up its lobbying efforts on tax reform, seeking to make sure it doesn’t end up the loser if Washington can finally find a consensus on rewriting U.S. tax laws. The Tax Innovation Equality Coalition, or TIE, a group that counts both technology and pharmaceutical titans… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Shareholders in Israel’s Bank Leumi are seeking to file a class action lawsuit worth about 475 million shekels ($119 million) against the bank over its handling of a U.S. probe into alleged tax evasion, Bank Leumi said on Sunday. Leumi, Israel’s second largest lender, said the lawsuit argues… – Continue reading
This edition of the Tax-News monthly feature takes in noteworthy events in the international tax arena, including attempts to inject new life into the campaign for comprehensive tax reform in the United States, and developments in the areas of free trade, indirect taxation, BEPS and tax transparency and compliance. US… – Continue reading
LUXEMBOURG – A second French suspect was charged Friday with theft and money-laundering in ongoing investigations into the leaking of secret tax avoidance deals between Luxembourg and multinational companies, a scandal dubbed “Luxleaks.” The identity of the new suspect was not released, but he is a 38-year-old Frenchman and former… – Continue reading
BENGALURU: US President Barack Obama’s visit to India could help unlock over $10 billion stuck in tax disputes between India and various countries. The move will largely benefit American technology companies as a big chunk of the disputes involve software development and IT-enabled services (ITeS) sectors. India’s competent authority Akhilesh… – Continue reading
The governor of the Bank of England has said powerful technology firms are among those who take advantage of international tax deals. Mark Carney said: “The amount of tax that’s actually paid by technology companies is very small relative to the returns.” He was speaking at a BBC-hosted debate at… – Continue reading
