Swiss fund manager will use new Irish Icav structure to move product from the Caribbean domicile UBS has shifted a fund of hedge funds onshore to Ireland from the Cayman Islands, delivering another blow to the reputation of the Caribbean tax haven as the domicile of choice for international hedge… – Continue reading
Swiss firms have bagged major business from global brands such as GSK, Novartis and Crédit Suisse this year, while their Asia ventures have come good. The legal minds behind the Glaxo-SmithKline and Novartis asset swap, global banking investigations, Schaeffler’s €2bn high yield bond issuance and Dufry’s £1.05bn takeover of Nuance… – Continue reading
EBENE, Mauritius, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Mauritius plans to launch a trading platform to hedge African currencies against the U.S. dollar, part of a bid to expand its role as a financial hub for the continent, the financial services minister said. The Indian Ocean island is also in talks to… – Continue reading
Firm wants the new demand included in ongoing talks between India and Finland to resolve Rs 2,000-cr tax dispute Income Tax Department has slapped fresh tax notice on Nokia India, tax authorities said today. The Finnish telecom firm, however, wants the fresh demand to be included in the ongoing negotiations… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority is moving forward with its plans for implementing the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The Cayman Islands was a signatory to CRS when released in October 2014. he Cayman Islands tax authority in September 2015 released a draft version of regulations—Tax Information Authority (International… – Continue reading
NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — KPMG’s Tax Governance Institute (TGI) will examine the final recommendations from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) and discuss what they could mean for U.S. multinationals during a live video webcast on Tuesday, Oct…. – Continue reading
Emmanuel Mayah, Jeff Mbanga, Francis Kokutse and Nick Mathiason contributed to this joint investigation by the M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism (amaBhungane) and Finance Uncovered, a global reporting project involving journalists in 54 countries. Shortly after Cyril Ramaphosa left MTN to become South Africa’s deputy president last year, he lashed… – Continue reading
MTN Uganda has been accused of failing to provide evidence to justify shifting huge amounts of cash out of Uganda to a briefcase company located in Mauritius, potentially lowering its tax bill in Uganda – the subject of which remains an ongoing dispute with Uganda Revenue Authority, it has emerged…. – Continue reading
Singapore has given the thumbs up to an international plan that aims to clamp down on tax avoidance by multinational firms, reports the Straits Times. The Republic says if the plan is soundly implemented, it will help foster free and fair economic competition. Singapore agrees with the main principle of… – Continue reading
New Zealand needs to be careful not to get out of step with the rest of the world in implementing tax changes on multinational companies seeking to minimise their tax obligations, Deloitte Dunedin tax partner Peter Truman says. The Government this week released a report on Base Erosion and Profit… – Continue reading
Multinationals selling more than $75k into Australia asked to comply. The Australian government has released its revised exposure draft of legislation that would see GST added to all locally-bought digital products and services sold by overseas vendors by July 2017. In May this year former Treasurer Joe Hockey revealed plans… – Continue reading
It’s no conspiracy theory that mega-corporations benefit from dodging taxes and that there are a bevy of legal loopholes accountants use to ensure businesses lose as little money as possible to the government. Few of these loopholes sound as nefarious as shuffling money into offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands… – Continue reading
The court overruled the order of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal issued last year suggesting that the income tax dept has jurisdiction in this dispute Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday ruled in favour of the Indian arm of Vodafone Group Plc. in a Rs.8,500 crore transfer pricing tax dispute…. – Continue reading
The Australian Tax Office will open negotiations with 80 multinational companies to encourage them to “restructure” in order to pay more tax on profits generated in Australia. The move represents a near tripling of the ATO’s multinational watch list after it embedded staff inside 30 companies to learn more about… – Continue reading
There’s enough cash sitting in offshore bank accounts to wipe out the federal deficit — if only it was subject to U.S. taxes. That’s because U.S. companies are saving some $620 billion by parking profits outside the country, according to the latest accounting from Citizens for Tax Justice and U.S…. – Continue reading
Nearly three-quarters of Fortune 500 companies booked their profits to tax havens last year, with just 30 companies accounting for 62 percent of earnings stashed offshore, according to a new report. The report, “Offshore Shell Games,” released Tuesday by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Citizens for Tax Justice, found… – Continue reading
The OECD-G20 plan to stop multinational tax avoidance could put companies in the middle of border disputes between revenue authorities, tax experts have warned. But civil society groups say the plan has not gone far enough and could make it easier for some multinationals to dodge tax. Treasurer Scott Morrison… – Continue reading
BOSTON – Tax havens are legal, but proponents of tax reform say eight companies headquartered in Massachusetts are using them and costing the state millions of dollars in revenue. The MassPIRG Education Fund and Citizens for Tax Justice released a report on Tuesday saying 72 percent of Fortune 500 companies… – Continue reading
72% of Fortune 500 companies have offshore subsidiaries PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — More than 72% of Fortune 500 companies have subsidiaries in offshore tax havens to take advantage of tax loopholes, a new study by the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group showed. Oregon-based companies in the Fortune 500 are… – Continue reading
The 500 largest American companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid U.S. taxes and would collectively owe an estimated $620 billion in U.S. taxes if they repatriated the funds, according to a study released on Tuesday. The study, by two left-leaning non-profit groups, found that… – Continue reading
The Irish government is set to make further changes to the country’s corporate tax regime as it seeks to align itself with a global initiative to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance, reports the Financial Times. The change being considered will oblige companies that have global headquarters in Ireland to… – Continue reading
NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — The following statement is being issued today by KPMG LLP on the final recommendations released on Oct. 5 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on its coordinated Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS): “The OECD’s final recommendations… – Continue reading
With the final draft of the OECD’s BEPS initiative – Base Erosion and Profit Shifting – out later today, the taxman’s ability to tax international transactions as well as those of foreign firms operating in India will go up dramatically; the idea behind the initiative is to treat all cross-border… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, OCT 4: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today warned that those who did not declare overseas black money during compliance window will face the consequences as the government will receive information about their wealth under automatic exchange of information, while others who took advantage of the scheme to come… – Continue reading
The world’s richest nations will launch a huge crackdown on multinational tax avoidance on Monday as part of the biggest shake-up of international tax rules for decades. The move could lead to a multi- billion pound gain for Chancellor George Osborne and higher tax bills for a raft of blue-chip… – Continue reading
An offshore bank account is a must for many internationally mobile expats operating in the UAE and Middle East. But finding the right bank with the right extras as well as high service standards isn’t easy. There are plenty of big names to choose from, including the global operators Barclays,… – Continue reading
A new report by global consulting outfit, Price¬waterhouseCoopers (PwC), released on Monday has indicated that expanding com¬pliance burden, more audits and the potential for increased and double taxation remain key hurdles facing companies due to the rapidly evolving global tax landscape. The report’s findings showed that the demand for greater… – Continue reading
At least 25 multi-millionaire Canadians used an offshore “sham” set up by accounting firm KPMG, a document filed Tuesday in Federal Court shows. For more than two years, KPMG has been fighting a court order to provide the list of names of multi-millionaire clients who had used what the CRA… – Continue reading
Tax laws are lagging behind the digital economy. As changes in the digital realm continue to outpace the speed at which legislators can work, and borders increasingly blur because of the internet, SA needs to play catch-up when it comes to tax. Currently, the only digital tax of any consequence… – Continue reading
Moving overseas to cut tax burden remains a viable option for some firms, though the presidential candidates may have other plans. With the long haul of a presidential election campaign just beginning, companies that leave the U.S. to lower their tax bills are once again political targets. Donald Trump this… – Continue reading
Pretoria – Trade between African countries remains low, despite efforts to harmonise taxation to allow for the free movement of goods and services. Tax experts this week warned mistrust between countries remains the greatest detractor to achieve harmony and increase intra-trade. Intra-Africa trade was only 11.3 percent of the continent’s… – Continue reading
NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) — Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to make efforts to quickly resolve the issue of double taxation avoidance with South Korea. South Korea and Nigeria signed a double taxation avoidance agreement in 2006 to help boost two-way investment and trade, though the West African… – Continue reading
ESPN FC’s Fernando Palomo previews the upcoming UCL action, highlighting that Barcelona will have to learn to play without Messi. Also Mou faces his old Club, while Bayern may be playing at their best. Barcelona star Javier Mascherano was charged with two counts of defrauding the Spanish tax authorities of… – Continue reading
French economist Gabriel Zucman, a protégé of Thomas Piketty, has a new book outlining how to avoid this. To Gabriel Zucman, protégé of rock star French economist Thomas Piketty, the United States is starting to look a lot like Europe in the late 1800s. “There’s been this great reversal where,… – Continue reading
The Department of Justice announced today that Migros Bank AG (Migros) and Graubündner Kantonalbank (Graubündner) have reached resolutions under the department’s Swiss Bank Program. These banks will collectively pay penalties totaling more than $18 million. “It is abundantly clear from the agreements reached to date that for decades, many foreign… – Continue reading
ATO to force Uber drivers to pay GST Uber is to mount a legal challenge against the Australian Tax Office after a decision to force drivers to register and pay GST. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has praised ride-sharing company Uber as part of the “agile” economy he envisages for Australia…. – Continue reading
Reading companies’ annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission is a reliable cure for insomnia. Every so often, though, there is a significant revelation in the paperwork. Last year, one of the most important revelations came from Microsoft’s filings, which spotlighted how the tax code allows corporations to enjoy… – Continue reading
The increasingly international nature of business will lead to complications and disruptions that may plague the future of audit, according to PwC. A recently-released PwC report, Global Tax Transparency and Risk Management – part of the ‘Tax Function of the Future’ series – notes that the number and size of… – Continue reading
Two more Swiss banks will pay fines to the United States as part of settlements that mean they will not face criminal charges for helping Americans avoid taxes, U.S authorities said on Friday. Migros Bank AG will pay approximately $15 million and Graubündner Kantonalbank will pay $3.6 million, the U.S…. – Continue reading
The government in the tiny Swiss canton of Zug has been forced to admit the previously unthinkable: its famously low tax rates, which have attracted a host of companies and celebrities, may have to rise. Facing a series of financial blows — including the effects of a strong Swiss franc… – Continue reading
Honda’s manufacturing plant in India, one of the emerging countries where many Japanese companies are in disputes with local tax authorities. TOKYO — Many Japanese companies operating in emerging countries are grappling with taxation problems they would never face in major industrial nations. Honda Motor, for instance, has gotten embroiled… – Continue reading
(Seychelles News Agency) – The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) says it is engaging with Barclays Bank Seychelles to ensure that clients have sufficient time to shift their deposits in their offshore bank accounts, following a recent decision by Barclays to discontinue its banking services for non-residents in foreign currencies…. – Continue reading
Measures aimed at ensuring companies disclose more information to authorities Ireland is to become one of the first countries to introduce measures aimed at ensuring multinationals disclose more information to tax authorities. In the upcoming budget, the Government will introduce moves obliging multinationals to draft country-by-country reports on their global… – Continue reading
Oil and gas multinational Chevron has come under fire in Australia for using Bermuda for tax avoidance. US-based Chevron, along with Anglo-Dutch firm Shell and the American ExxonMobil, is set to begin production at the massive Gorgon gasfield off the coast of Western Australia. But Chevron has been grilled by… – Continue reading
Unpredictable and excessive taxes are pushing the British banking sector to the brink, according to a major new report by a leading industry body, reports City AM. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) and PwC reveal that the UK banking sector contributed an estimated total of £31.3bn in taxes last year,… – Continue reading
Companies would save €1bn per year in administrative costs if the European Union adopts a common approach to corporate taxation, EU Economic and Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has claimed. The former French finance minister has posted an article to his online blog calling for a mandatory EU common consolidated corporate… – Continue reading
Industry welcomes move by Singapore’s financial regulatory authority to go public with tax criticism of ARFP passport scheme. They say it could force Australia and Korea into a corner. Industry figures have welcomed a move by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to go public with the reasons it declined… – Continue reading
Accounting firm joined revenue minister at speech while fighting court order Top Conservative cabinet ministers met publicly with senior staff from KPMG’s tax division, and one went so far as to promote the firm, even as the Canada Revenue Agency was alleging the company set up an offshore tax “sham”… – Continue reading
New Delhi, Sept. 20: A bilateral investment treaty between India and the US is unlikely to be finalised before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to America later this week. Both Modi and US President Barack Obama have been pushing their respective bureaucracies to prepare the pact. Modi will be in… – Continue reading
China’s State Administration of Taxation on 17 September 2015 released a discussion draft of proposed guidance relating to “special tax adjustments”—including those concerning transfer pricing—for public consultation. It is anticipated that this guidance could be finalized by the end of 2015, and once final, would replace the existing transfer pricing… – Continue reading
