HSBC Swiss unit to pay $192 mln in latest U.S. tax evasion deal
Trouble for the Swiss private banking unit of HSBC Holdings Plc HSBA.L. ... - Continue reading
Category: Corporates
Deutsche Bank slapped with €15m fine in money laundering case
German authorities raided Deutsche Bank's offices, including its Frankfurt base, in connection with the probe in 2018. ... - Continue reading
Tax obligations of permanent establishments
The Philippines generally follows the “source of income” rule in identifying the income that are taxable to corporations in the Philippines. ... - Continue reading
Amazon most ‘aggressive’ in $100bn global tax avoidance
Amazon has been accused of being the most ‘aggressive’ in avoiding tax, compared with other tech giants, by tax transparency campaign group Fair Tax Mark. ... - Continue reading
New study deems Amazon worst for ‘aggressive’ tax avoidance
The big six US tech firms have been accused of “aggressively avoiding” $100bn (£75bn) of global tax over the past decade. ... - Continue reading
Tax evasion arrests down 11 per cent
The number of arrests made in the UK for suspected tax evasion has dropped to the lowest level in five years ... - Continue reading
China simplifies procedure for claiming tax treaty benefits
China’s State Taxation Administration on 14 October published “Administrative Measures for Non-resident Taxpayers Claiming Tax Treaty Benefits” [Announcement (2019) No. 35]. ... - Continue reading
When A New York Exempt Resident Trust Meets The Sale Of A Business
Insights into the functioning of a trust ... - Continue reading
Will Samsung, Hyundai have to pay digital tax overseas?
Big changes ahead : Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and other top-tier South Korean companies might have to pay corporate taxes even in countries where they have no physical presence. Here's how. ... - Continue reading
U.S. govt deficit hits 7-year high
The U.S. government ended fiscal year 2019 with the largest budget deficit in seven years as gains in tax receipts were offset by higher spending and growing debt service payments, the Treasury Department said on Friday. It is the first time since the early 1980s that the budget gap has… – Continue reading
China’s firms report shrinking tax burdens: survey
China’s efforts to cut taxes have taken effect as firms reported lighter tax burdens, a new survey showed. The ratio of the total taxes paid by firms to their business revenue stood at 2.3 percent in 2018, down from 2.62 percent in 2017 and 3.41 percent in 2016, according to… – Continue reading
African authorities strive to reduce tax leakages
African tax bodies will mark the 10th anniversary of their umbrella organization, the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), in their efforts to reduce tax leakages. A total of 38 African countries are members of the ATAF, making the organization Africa’s largest body that collectively deals with global tax issues affecting… – Continue reading
‘Who is buying Seattle?’: New report issues warnings on Seattle’s luxury housing boom
Seattle’s luxury housing boom will worsen inequality and affordability in the city, according to a new report, which calls for officials to require more transparency on who is actually buying luxury real estate in the area. The report — “Who is Buying Seattle? The Perils of the Luxury Real Estate… – Continue reading
Airbnb probed by UK tax authorities
A note in newly filed accounts for Airbnb UK said it had been contacted by HMRC over "tax laws or regulations impacting the company's business". ... - Continue reading
United States: Webinar: Supreme Court’s reconsideration of Auer Deference may undermine FFIEC manual.
Regulations governing BSA/AML compliance are often ambiguous, leading to disagreements with regulators about whether financial institutions are in compliance with those regulations. ... - Continue reading
G20 finance ministers reaffirm support to tax digital companies
G20 finance ministers support taking the 'Unified Tax Framework' a notch higher - Multinational enterprises like Google, Facebook and Amazon with huge customer base to retain share of profits in concerned countries. ... - Continue reading
Canada: TFSA Non-Residence Contribution Tax Cancellation – A Toronto Tax Lawyer Analysis
For Canadians who are planning their retirement by investing their savings, the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) has become an important supplement to the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) since its introduction in 2009. ... - Continue reading
Nigeria: Unprecedented Global Drive For Tax Transparency – The Nigerian Perspective
In the last few years, the international tax space has experienced an unprecedented drive to achieve increased transparency in the tax practices of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and individuals in order to curb tax avoidance and evasion. ... - Continue reading
OECD proposal on taxing MNEs to benefit countries like India, say experts
The OECD Secretariat has published a public consultation paper to advance international negotiations ... - Continue reading
The Fiat and Starbucks state aid tax cases: an absolute loss for legal certainty.
In late September, the EU General Court released its decisions in two long-awaited state aid appeals: Fiat (cases T-755/15 Luxembourg v Commission and T-759/15 Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe v Commission) and Starbucks (cases T-760/15 Netherlands v. Commission and T-636/16 Starbucks and Starbucks Manufacturing Emea v. Commission). ... - Continue reading
Financial resources hit P31 trillion as of March
The country’s total financial resources reached P31.044 trillion as of end-March 2019, according to the latest survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Preliminary results of the Other Financial Corporation Survey showed the total assets of depository corporations reached P23.068 trillion while the combined resources of other financial corporations hit… – Continue reading
Worldwide: Financial Institutions And Personal Data
Combating Tax EvasionIn recent years, there have been several high-profile prosecutions for the crime of tax evasion (for example the actor, Wesley Snipes, and the footballer, Lionel Messi). Governments around the world have been making a concerted effort in an attempt to tackle this problem. Their objective is for their respective tax administrations to work together so that taxpayers pay the correct amount of tax in the correct jurisdiction. ... - Continue reading
Africa needs disruptive tax policy to tax digital businesses
Panelists of the 7th Pan African Conference on tax and Illicit financial flows, stress that Africa needs disruptive tax policies that respond to the positively disruptive digital businesses such as uber. ... - Continue reading
Ireland must prepare for international tax turbulence
It looks like the world’s leading economies are determined to claim a bigger slice of the global corporate tax pie which will lead to tricky times ahead for Ireland, according to PwC tax policy leader Peter Reilly ... - Continue reading
Despite big corporate tax cut gains, ITC’s stock has not fired up enough
- News flow on the potential sale of an 8% govt stake in ITC held by SUUTI has weighed on sentiments, say analysts
- Sure, the tax cut gives ITC room to delay price hikes and that may prove helpful
EU court backs use of arm’s length principle to assess Starbucks, Fiat APAs for state aid violation
The EU General Court today released long-awaited rulings in the Fiat and Starbucks tax state aid cases, concluding in both decisions that it is appropriate for the European Commission to assess whether an advance pricing agreement (APA) confers a selective advantage to a taxpayer for state aid purposes by referring to the arm’s length principle. ... - Continue reading
Dutch tax office demands £902m in back taxes from British American Tobacco
The Dutch tax authorities have issued British American Tobacco with a €1bn bill for back taxes after a tax evasion investigation, website De Onderzoeksredactie has reported. ... - Continue reading
Apple to challenge EU over record $14 billion tax dodging case
A panel of judges in Luxembourg on Tuesday will begin hearing arguments concerning the US tech giant Apple and the world’s biggest tax case. The EU General Court (EGC) will begin hearing the appeals lodged by Ireland and Apple against the EU tax ruling. It has to weigh up whether… – Continue reading
The 2020 Dutch budget and tax plan: key takeaways for multinational enterprises
The Dutch government on September 17 presented the 2020 Dutch budget and tax plan, proposing modifications to the taxation of multinational firms. ... - Continue reading
German finance minister endorses public country-by-country reporting of MNE tax information
German finance minister Olaf Scholz is in the midst of a campaign tour for the social democrats (SPD) presidency. ... - Continue reading
India: Whether A Foreign Company Is Required To File Its Tax Return In India?
A question arises is whether a foreign company which has earned income from a source in India is required to file its tax return in India. ... - Continue reading
DoF: Tax perks should be reviewed every 2 yrs
FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd is pushing for tax perks to be reviewed every two years as he reiterated that the Philippines had been too generous in granting incentives to select companies. In a statement on Thursday, the Department of Finance (DoF) quoted its chief as saying the government must… – Continue reading
Mexico proposes new rules to tax highly digitalized businesses
A bill was introduced to the Mexican Congress on August 21 to tax digital platforms. ... - Continue reading
Canada, Switzerland ratify instrument to tackle tax avoidance
Canada and Switzerland on August 8 deposited with the OECD their instruments of ratification for the Multilateral Convention to implement tax treaty-related measures to prevent base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS MLI). The BEPS MLI, negotiated by over 100 countries and jurisdictions, updates the existing network of tax treaties and… – Continue reading
Bermuda Monetary Authority: 50 Years Later
As the Bermuda Monetary Authority [BMA] celebrates 50 years in 2019, we take a look back at the last five decades. From providing sound policy advice to pushing Bermuda forward as a reputable place to conduct business, the BMA has had an incredible impact on Bermuda’s financial landscape. 1990-1999 Exchange… – Continue reading
Australia’s tax office can use Paradise Papers data to pursue multinationals: Court
Australia’s High Court ruled unanimously that giant Glencore could not rely on “legal privilege” to prevent the Australian Tax Office (ATO) from accessing emails, bank records, PowerPoint presentations and other files from the 2017 Paradise Papers investigation. Typically, documents marked “privileged” do not have to be disclosed in court. Companies… – Continue reading
Canadians for Tax Fairness concerned about inaction on Panama Papers
It is estimated that the use of tax havens is costing federal and provincial governments at least $7.8 billion in lost tax revenue. Low and middle income Canadians are the ones paying for that missing $7.8 billion in tax revenue. Ottawa (11 Aug. 2016) — The leak of the Panama… – Continue reading
Gaming Companies Call for Reaching USA-Croatia Double Taxation Avoidance Deal
ZAGREB, August 21, 2019 – Computer gaming is the most propulsive segment of the IT industry worldwide, and this trend is present in Croatia, too, where local gaming companies export all their products, however the biggest challenge in doing business is the absence of a Croatia-USA double taxation avoidance agreement,… – Continue reading
CIAT’s transfer pricing “Cocktail” provides solutions for transactional net margin method overuse
In recent years there has been a major public outcry for governments to take action to force multinational groups to pay a fair share of tax in the jurisdictions where their economic activities take place and to stop shifting profits to offshore tax havens. ... - Continue reading
CBI Dominica: Leading with Transparency
19 August 2019, Since 1993, Dominica has been at the forefront of the citizenship by investment (CBI) industry, setting high standards in due diligence, processing times, and most recently, transparency. Indeed, this month the nation liaised with prominent international professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to release a report clarifying the… – Continue reading
US appeals court sides with Amazon in $1.5 billion transfer pricing dispute
A US federal appeals court on Friday affirmed the Tax Court’s decision in Amazon, ruling that cost sharing buy-in payments made by Amazon’s Luxembourg subsidiary in exchange for Amazon’s transfer of intangible property should not include compensation for transferred residual business assets such as workforce in place, goodwill, and going concern value. ... - Continue reading
What happened to the proposed amendments to Bank Secrecy Act?
The news is replete with discussions on the refiling of the proposed bills for the other TRAIN Packages with the 18th Congress. However, there seems to be no discussion yet on any proposed amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act, Republic Act (RA) 1405, as amended, particularly the proposed amendments to… – Continue reading
UK: HSBC Is Paying Hundreds Of Millions To Settle Tax Fraud Allegations
HSBC's Swiss private banking arm has agreed to pay nearly 300 million euros to settle a tax fraud case in Belgium. The settlement comes six months after a French court ordered another Swiss lender, UBS, to pay 4.5 billion euros for illegally solicitin ... - Continue reading
High Court confirms ATO can use information from data leaks
Today the High Court confirmed that the ATO may use information obtained from data leaks, even if leaked from a law firm. Second Commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn said today’s decision in Glencore International v. Commissioner of Taxation means the ATO can continue to use the ‘Paradise Papers’ and other similar data… – Continue reading
Will a new direct tax law push up compliance?
- Numerous amendments over five decades, as well as the influence of case laws, often made it difficult to interpret the rules
- India is rewriting its direct tax law to make it simpler, more sophisticated and less prone to disputes.
Uber looks to the Netherlands to reduce its tax bill by $6,1bn
Uber is moving its intellectual property arm from Bermuda to the Netherlands to save $6.1bn from its tax bid, Bloomberg reported on Friday. ... - Continue reading
Mauritius leaks latest reminder of how much we lose to tax havens
Mauritius leaks latest reminder of how much we lose to tax havensA report by Canadians for Tax Fairness Bay Street and Tax Havens revealed how over 90% of Canada’s largest corporations have subsidiaries in tax havens. Ottawa (06 Aug. 2019) — Last month Canadians for Tax Fairness reported that, while… – Continue reading
Cyprus: Permanent Residence Permit
The Law Firm of G. Vrikis & Associates LLC has been representing numerous clients in their application for Permanent Residence Permits in Cyprus. The below is a brief outline of the key provisions and documentation required for such an application to proceed further. ... - Continue reading
Tighten scrutiny of tax exemption claims on farm income: CAG to I-T Departement
The CAG report also flagged the issue of abuse of tax exemption granted to charitable trusts and institutions ... - Continue reading
Taxpayers given six months to challenge Denmark transfer pricing assessments based on insufficient documentation
A Danish tax administration decree, published 12 July in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Microsoft case, establishes a new practice for determining whether transfer pricing documentation must be available at the time the taxpayer is required to file its tax return. ... - Continue reading
