Activists pressured Caffe Nero into banning milk from badger cull areas Now Coservative MPs have hit out against the coffee chain’s tax affairs Ian Liddell-Grainger said store ‘doesn’t give a stuff’ about British farmers Jacob Rees-Mogg branded bosses ‘spineless’ saying they must lift ban Furious MPs have branded Caffe Nero… – Continue reading
There has been some recent press regarding some of the procedural aspects of refund claims relating to foreign tax credits and they stand as a reminder about how significant the statute of limitations periods can be in processing tax claims. In a case decided last year on October 20, 2014,… – Continue reading
Belgium is seeking to retrieve about €540m (£390, $600m) in unpaid tax after its probe into 829 accounts in HSBC Private Suisse Bank in Geneva. Belgian finance minister Johan Van Overtveldt earlier made the estimate, which has been confirmed by various media outlets. The people, who were found to be… – Continue reading
Microsoft Corp. and the IRS are back in court, this time fighting about the U.S. tax agency’s interest in hiring David Boies, the lawyer who beat Microsoft in an antitrust case in 2000. The software company filed a federal lawsuit May 29 in Seattle, marking the latest legal flurry over… – Continue reading
On Thursday, May 28, 2015, the Department of Justice announced that pursuant to its August 29, 2013 Swiss Bank Program, it had reached settlement with four additional Swiss banks. The newest banks to settle, Société Générale Private Banking (Lugano-Svizzera), MediBank AG, LBBW (Schweiz) AG, and Scobag Privatbank AG, will pay… – Continue reading
It’s time for a complete overhaul of the global tax system to ensure each company pays their fair share, says Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. A group of leading economists — led by Stiglitz — issued a call Tuesday for countries to overhaul the system to prevent multinationals such as Apple… – Continue reading
One in six of the world’s largest companies have a subsidiary based in a tax haven According to research from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), 16.3% of the 1,612 companies in its MSCI World index are either domiciled in a tax haven or have at least one majority-owned subsidiary in… – Continue reading
Medtronic PLC reported a net loss of $1 million in its first combined quarter with Covidien, largely related to $ 880 million in charges for the Covidien acquisition and a $329 million expense from the resolution of a tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Service. The medical-device maker said healthy… – Continue reading
It is rich to see General Electric lead the pack of companies complaining about oppressive taxes. GE notoriously paid no federal income taxes from 2008 to 2013, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. In fact, its corporate tax rate was negative 9 percent; GE got back from taxpayers… – Continue reading
A full and fascinating roundtable discussion based around the island’s place as an international finance centre was held at KPMG’s headquarters in Athol Street, Douglas. Around the table were David Karran, managing director, IQE, Simon Scott, managing director, Barclays Isle of Man, Andrew Thomas, chief executive, Isle of Man Enterprises… – Continue reading
The five biggest suppliers of publicly subsidised medicines in Australia recorded sales of nearly $5 billion last year but paid an average of just $10 million each in company tax. Research by the Parliamentary Library, obtained by Fairfax Media, has disclosed the tax contribution of multinational pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer… – Continue reading
Governing and opposition MPs submitted a bill to the Hungarian Parliament yesterday that would amend legislation on the state-owned Hungarian Development Bank (MFB) to exempt a broader range of its dealings with failed brokerage Quaestor from rules on banking secrecy. The bill was designed to broaden the scope of data… – Continue reading
The Government will be unable to fund the basic services that Australians want if it fails to achieve major tax reform, PwC has said, reports Tax News. PwC has released its submission on the Government’s Tax Reform White Paper process. Tom Seymour, Managing Partner Tax and Legal, said: “Successful tax… – Continue reading
Last week, the Justice Department announced that it had reached resolutions with four more Swiss banks under the terms of the DOJ Swiss Bank Program. The latest banks to resolve their U.S. tax issues are the following: Société Générale Private Banking (Lugano-Svizzera); MediBank AG; LBBW (Schweiz) AG; and Scobag Privatbank… – Continue reading
SAN DIEGO – A former J.P. Morgan Chase banker was ordered today to serve six months in prison for her role in a commercial bribery and tax-evasion scheme. While handing down the sentence to 51-year-old Lynda Sanabria in a San Diego courtroom, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez also ordered her… – Continue reading
Ireland’s tax regime isn’t a major reason for Amazon’s presence here, according to Amazon Data Services Ireland general manager Jeff Caselden, reports the Irish Independent. Caselden was speaking to the Sunday Independent in the week that Amazon agreed to substantially alter its European tax arrangements, in a move that could… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has, during its probe into the Axact scandal, unearthed seven offshore companies that were being run by Shoaib Shaikh. According to FIA sources, the agency during the forensic inspection of the data retrieved from Axact’s computers seized by the authorities earlier has ascertained that… – Continue reading
HSBC, the giant UK bank, is so slow it’s dangerous. The bank, hammered in 2012 for its lax anti-money-laundering safeguards, is still “under serious money-laundering and sanctions risk” because it hasn’t tightened up parts of its operation, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said Monday. Without top-flight safeguards, HSBC could still be… – Continue reading
State Street Corp. was ordered by regulators to revamp its compliance programs after deficiencies were found related to internal controls, customer due-diligence procedures and transaction monitoring. The Boston-based bank had warned last month that it would likely face a public enforcement action from the Federal Reserve and Massachusetts Division of… – Continue reading
From today, negotiation on the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) between Nigeria and Singapore will start in Abuja, aimed at enhancing business between the two countries. Revealing this in an interview with the African Independent Television (AIT), Nigerian High Commissioner to Singapore. Mrs. Nonye Rajis-Opara, said there would be… – Continue reading
Barclays has launched an internal review into whether its accounts were used for corrupt payments by FIFA officials, a banking source told AFP on Sunday. Standard Chartered has also said it was investigating payments cited in the US indictment. UK-headquartered Barclays, Standard Chartered and HSBC were among more than a… – Continue reading
British Virgin Islands, Caymans and Turks & Caicos feature heavily in justice department indictment of senior football officials British overseas tax havens play a key role in what US authorities have called “rampant, systemic and deep-rooted” corruption in the world of football, analysis by the Observer reveals. The 164-page US… – Continue reading
Even 30 years would not suffice for the existing mechanisms to complete their investigation of all seven lists of suspected tax dodgers and money launderers that financial prosecutors have in their hands, accounting for billions of euros. The sum of the tax ID numbers (AFM) included on the lists –… – Continue reading
UBS Global Asset Management (Taiwan) Ltd (瑞銀環球資產管理台灣) has received Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) approval to launch a consulting service in Taiwan via an offshore banking unit, which might help generate US$3 billion in three years for its asset management business. UBS Taiwan, which is to launch the service in July,… – Continue reading
The leadership of Costa Rican football has circled the wagons around their embattled president, Eduardo Li, after Li was arrested in Zurich, Switzerland, Wednesday on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering. Jorge Hidalgo, acting president of the Costa Rican Football Federation, FEDEFÚTBOL, told the website Amelia Rueda that… – Continue reading
A unit of Societe Generale SA based in Switzerland and three other banks agreed to pay a total of $2.2 million in penalties for helping American clients avoid taxes. The settlement comes under a U.S. program that lets Swiss banks avoid prosecution if they agree to cooperate with prosecutors and… – Continue reading
KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Unless proven innocent, it must be assumed that the management of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) had misappropriated the funds invested in Cayman Islands, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today in his continued tirade against the troubled state investment firm. The former prime minister said although… – Continue reading
Ireland’s corporate tax regime is not transparent, the head of the European Parliament’s special committee on tax rulings said. On a visit to Dublin yesterday, Alain Lamassoure said Ireland’s regime may be transparent for “the experts, for the big four [audit firms], for Apple, probably”. But he added: “The simple… – Continue reading
The company that runs a swathe of Britain’s internet service is being bought by an American predator that plans to fold it into a giant international tax haven. Telecity operates data centres all over Europe – which house the wires that make the internet work – including sites in London… – Continue reading
The State government has initiated the process of attending to the long-standing issue related to taxing e-commerce companies in the State. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday held a meeting with representatives of global online retailer, Amazon, and senior officials of the Commercial Taxes and Finance Departments. The department, in last… – Continue reading
■ Barclays and HSBC have been named in legal papers filed in the US ■ Documents have also named London-based Standard Chartered Bank ■ Allegedly moved suspect transactions linked to Fifa through their accounts ■ Britain’s Serious Fraud Office is understood to be monitoring situation Two of Britain’s biggest High… – Continue reading
The Swiss government and hundreds of Swiss banks have been roiled by the U.S. crackdown on American tax evaders. With six years of almost non-stop hits to the country and its bankers, it may be no surprise that now Switzerland is publishing the names of foreign tax evaders. Some observers… – Continue reading
SHARES in the health outsourcing firm Synergy Healthcare saw sharp losses yesterday as reports circulated that US authorities were going to block its proposed takeover by Steris, a rival American company. The FTSE 250 company’s shares finished the trading day down 15.8 per cent, to 1,822p, having recovered slightly from… – Continue reading
Ireland still offers unfair tax deals to multinationals despite its claims of being fair and open, Alain Lamassoure, the head of the European Parliament’s tax committee has said, reports the Irish Examiner. His allegation comes as the European Commission announces it wants every member state to agree to adopt the… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: A special service provided by HSBC Geneva may help some Swiss bank account holders to escape penalty and prosecution by the Indian tax office. The British bank had advised and helped them to hold unaccounted wealth through complex structures that have no apparent links with resident Indians. Money was… – Continue reading
Avago Technologies Ltd.’s pending takeover of Broadcom Corp. taps an arcane tax structure that has being dusted off amid a rise in cross-border mergers. Avago said it is prepared to offer Broadcom shareholders special partnership units that would defer any taxes triggered by the $37 billion tie-up, which was announced… – Continue reading
The executive chairman of Walgreens Boots Alliance said the Deerfield-based drugstore chain was made a “whipping boy” by the Obama administration and elected officials opposed to corporate tax inversions. “The Obama administration and (Treasury Secretary Jack Lew) were taking the opportunity to select any company that was even thinking about… – Continue reading
A South Florida man who ran a $15 million pill mill operation that sold hundreds of thousands of addictive painkillers to drug dealers and addicts was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in federal prison. Joel Shumrak, 67, of Boca Raton, has been locked up since June when federal agents raided… – Continue reading
Sluggish syndicated loan dealflow is proving to be good news for small and mid-cap privately-owned Chinese companies like Golden Eagle Group and Xinyi Solar, which are finding themselves able to enjoy pricing levels usually reserved for better known names. And so great is bank demand for assets that looser structuring… – Continue reading
Half the 30 such cases, worth Rs 10,000 crore, to be addressed India is set to sign agreements with Japan to resolve as many as 15 transfer pricing disputes. These agreements follow the one recently signed with the US. The agreements will be for cases that fall in the ambit… – Continue reading
Bern, Switzerland: As India tries to uncover who has stashed untaxed money abroad, Switzerland is, in an unusual deviation from its super-secretive banking rules, releasing the names of people who are being investigated for alleged tax evasion in their countries of origin. Among the seven Indians named so far by… – Continue reading
Tax affairs of billionaire Bulgari heirs Nicola and Paolo in the spotlight as authorities target luxury brands When Bulgari, the luxury Italian jeweller, set out to celebrate its 130-year anniversary last year at its flagship store on Rome’s Via Condotti – where Richard Burton once bought Elizabeth Taylor a suite… – Continue reading
Bangladesh Bank will take all possible measures to liberalise country’s foreign-exchange rules and regulations for attracting foreign investors to a number of proposed economic zones. The decision was taken at a meeting between the central bank and the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) at the BB headquarters Tuesday. Presided over… – Continue reading
An appeals court ruled Wednesday that Lone Star Funds should pay some 64.8 billion won ($58 million) in a corporate tax refund suit filed by the U.S. buyout fund against a regional tax office. The Yeoksam Tax Office levied some 104 billion won in corporate tax on Lone Star over… – Continue reading
Fortescue Metals Group established a company in Singapore that could buy and sell its iron ore more than a year before it started attacking its rivals for doing the same thing. The company, called Fortescue International Marketing, is incorporated and domiciled in Singapore. Still dormant, it is ready to be… – Continue reading
Operator’s CFO Nick Read tells Mobile News it doesn’t make the profits to justify paying it Vodafone says it can not “justify” paying corporation tax in the UK despite posting earnings of £1.3 billion and operating profits of £41 million in its full year financial results (ending March 31). The… – Continue reading
In a bid to fight tax avoidance by international business behemoths like Amazon and Apple, the European Commission is proposing mandatory rules to make companies pay taxes to all the countries in which they generate profit. The Commission on Wednesday unveiled plans to overhaul the European Union’s outdated tax system,… – Continue reading
The U.S. is examining banks’ conduct as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe of international soccer that has led to charges against 14 people, including officials with the sport’s organizing body. Money involved in the two-decade-old bribery scheme passed through U.S. banks including Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.,… – Continue reading
Britain’s banks have in recent years paid a third of the corporation tax they were paying less than a decade ago despite a rebound in profits, a study showed yesterday, reports the Times of Malta. The study comes as HSBC and Standard Chartered assess whether to move their headquarters to… – Continue reading
Switzerland and the European Union have signed an agreement providing for the automatic exchange of banking information, effective 2018. On Wednesday, Swiss State Secretary for International Financial Matters Jacques de Watteville signed the accord in Brussels along with EU Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici and Latvian Finance Minister Janis Reirs. Before… – Continue reading
