The EU Commission should investigate why Google offers its “Android” operating system only in conjunction with other Google services and also why manufacturers allegedly may not pre-install rival products; MEPs say in a response to the Commission’s annual competition report for 2014. Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs approved the… – Continue reading
The taxman has appointed a chief analytics officer to lead its mining of taxpayer data. Daniel Sinnott has joined the Revenue Commissioners in the newly created role of chief analytics officer, having previously held a variety of private sector consulting and analytics roles. Because of the nature of its activities,… – Continue reading
As the curtain falls on Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf’s career in government, one of the most abiding legacies she leaves behind is the collapse of Swiss banking secrecy under her watch as Finance Minister. Her predecessor, Hans-Rudolf Merz, told the world in 2008 that it would “break its teeth on Swiss banking… – Continue reading
More than 50 banks which helped American clients dodge tax in Swiss bank accounts have received immunity from criminal prosecution in the US. The firms, which include UK giant Standard Chartered, Germany’s biggest lender Deutsche Bank, and France’s BNP Paribas, have reached plea bargains with the US Department of Justice…. – Continue reading
Island’s biggest employer files suit in San Juan federal court Legal challenge comes as Puerto Rico copes with debt payments The Puerto Rico unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sued the island’s government, seeking to overturn a new tax the retailer calls unfairly high. Enacted in May, Puerto Rico’s… – Continue reading
£300 penalties would be dwarfed by millions in potential profits for firms that take advantage of tax-avoidance schemes Huge multinational companies that dodge millions of pounds in tax in the UK and around the world face “laughable” fines of £300 under new rules proposed by HM Revenue and Customs. The… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: India has been an active participant in the Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) action plan, the final package of which was rolled out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in October. The action points, set down by the OECD, aim at closing loopholes that enable… – Continue reading
x MUMBAI: India has been an active participant in the Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) action plan, the final package of which was rolled out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in October. The action points, set down by the OECD, aim at closing loopholes that… – Continue reading
The Luxembourg government said on Friday that it would appeal against the European Commission’s decision ordering it to recover 20-30 million euros ($22-33 million) of back taxes from Fiat Chrysler. The Commission ruled in October that Fiat had benefited from illegal tax deals with the Luxembourg authorities, as well as… – Continue reading
The multinational has to file a legal complaint against the Secretary of the Treasury by the changes in its tax structure resulted Law 72 The Walmart Puerto Rico, Inc. corporation filed today in federal court in San Juan a legal action against the Finance Minister Juan Zaragoza, which challenges Law… – Continue reading
Bidness Etc takes a look at how Shell-BG merger is right on track, after receiving approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) is just one step away from closing a merger deal with BG Group plc. On Thursday, December 3, the Anglo-Dutch company received… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Indian banks and mutual funds have in the past fortnight started warning NRIs who hold an American passport or are working in the US that their accounts could be frozen unless they get a tax-compliant certificate from US authorities, thanks to a treaty signed by New Delhi and Washington…. – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — A retired optician who illegally avoided taxes on hundreds of thousands of dollars using multiple Swiss bank accounts was spared prison time, after his brother went to jail for hiding money in the same accounts. Peter Canale said in August that he concealed assets of more than $780,000… – Continue reading
The 400 richest people in the US have a greater collective wealth than 36 million ordinary US households, study finds Those rich enough to make it onto Forbes 400 list this year are worth as much as all the cat owners in America, according to a new study. A report… – Continue reading
Lawmakers seek late deal to scale back ‘Cadillac tax’ Lawmakers are making a late push to repeal or scale back Obamacare’s “Cadillac tax” by the end of the year, eying inclusion of changes in a broader tax package, wrote Peter Sullivan of The Hill. But lawmakers in both parties say… – Continue reading
The U.S. multinational will likely be investigated for evading taxes with Luxembourg’s help, following a report by trade unions earlier this year. McDonald’s is under investigation by European Union regulators for illegal tax deals with Luxembourg, according to sources close to the inquiry. The multinational—joining a list of EU tax… – Continue reading
Things are heating up in the economic substance doctrine area, which could lead to a U.S. Supreme Court review of the IRS’s aggressive arguments for the doctrine. Certiorari Petitions Salem Financial Inc. and Bank of New York Mellon Corporation have both petitioned for Supreme Court review of the Federal Circuit… – Continue reading
The European Commission’s use of state aid rules to challenge corporate tax agreements is causing uncertainly for businesses in Europe, Luxembourg finance minister Pierre Gramegna has said. Gramegna told the Financial Times this week that the situation “raises so many issues about predictability and certainty”. The Commission announced in October… – Continue reading
Former UBS bank executive Raoul Weil believes the United States tried to use him to batter down Swiss banking secrecy by having him arrested and placed on trial last year. In an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Wednesday, Weil said the US Department of Justice intended to “lead me… – Continue reading
On 17 September, 2015, China State Administration of Taxation (“SAT”) released the Discussion Draft of Implementation Measures for Special Taxation Adjustments (“Discussion Draft”), as a complete revamp to the existing trial version of the Implementation Measures, i.e., Circular 2. Circular 2 has been serving as a backbone transfer pricing (“TP”)… – Continue reading
“Luxembourg is famous for two things: its steel industry and its rose cultivation industry”. This quote from an Italian guidebook of the 1930s was uttered by Luxembourg’s Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna at the annual conference of the Luxembourg Directors’ Association on 17 June 2015[1]. The economic outlook of the tiny… – Continue reading
The 28 nations of the European Union lose up to $1 trillion per year in revenue thanks to multinational corporations that use a spider’s web of completely legal constructs to lower their taxes. Now, Europe’s law enforcers and lawmakers want to wipe away these intricate tax-avoidance systems. If they have… – Continue reading
The yuan jumped in late offshore trade on Monday on suspected intervention by Chinese state banks on behalf of the central bank but the onshore spot yuan closed weaker. Traders said the onshore spot yuan weakened because the People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s official midpoint at a three-month… – Continue reading
The current international tax regime was developed in the last century when the internet was not yet invented. At that time, a foreign company would typically require a substantial physical presence in Australia before it could be in a position to earn significant amount of income from Australian customers. This… – Continue reading
Sean Connery has not played James Bond for years, but is still a public figure prosecutors might like to attack. He was cleared, but Mr. Connery’s wife, Micheline Roquebrune, has been charged with taking part in an alleged plot to defraud the Spanish treasury of millions in taxes. It is… – Continue reading
WELCOME to Switzerland. A mountainous country where nothing comes cheap but many of the world’s filthy rich come to grow their fortunes. The ongoing relationship between the wealthy and Switzerland looks set to only strengthen as the super rich get richer, according to a report released on Friday. That’s despite… – Continue reading
Mumbai: India will allow offshore insurance companies, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds to lend to local companies for the long term, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday, easing rules for offshore borrowing. The RBI said it was taking a “more liberal approach” for long-term foreign currency… – Continue reading
Edward Snowden is not in jail, but his namesake soon could be. Switzerland has sentenced Hervé Falciani, a former HSBC Swiss bank employee, to five years in prison. He is the whistleblower and leaker often called the “Edward Snowden of tax evasion.” Leaks bank records and tax documents has helped… – Continue reading
Australian punters will be thrilled to know that when they do their shirts gambling their post-tax dollars, those very same dollars, which become the pre-tax dollars of the British online betting giants, are funnelled off to places like Gibraltar, pre-tax. University of NSW accounting academic, Jeff Knapp, and Fairfax Media… – Continue reading
When it comes to planning for tax season, corporate tax reporting should be considered as part of Enterprise Performance Management. As Margaret Mitchell exclaimed in the classic novel, Gone with the Wind: ‘Death, taxes and childbirth! There’s never any convenient time for any of them.’ And while I hope that… – Continue reading
The Kenya-South Africa double taxation agreement comes into force from January 1. An announcement in the November 19, South African government gazette says the agreement applies for taxes withheld at source. “A resident of Kenya will not be taxed on any South African business profits, unless it carries on business… – Continue reading
The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a suite of corporate tax reforms that will ensure multinational companies pay taxes where profits are made and increase transparency. A total of 508 MEPs voted in favour of the adoption of recommendations put forward by the Special Committee on Tax Rulings last month…. – Continue reading
The Dutch government said Friday it will appeal an EU ruling that the Netherlands gave Starbucks an illegal tax break and ordered the coffee giant to pay some 30 million euros ($34 million). “The government is of the opinion that the Commission does not convincingly demonstrate that the tax authority… – Continue reading
PRESS RELEASE Mauritius and Morocco signed on November 25 in Port Louis a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) that will provide for greater tax certainty for businessmen of the two countries. The signatories were the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom… – Continue reading
‘Offshore exposure should be a part of any well-balanced investment portfolio, regardless of the rand’s value’ – Duane Gilbert. Fund managers are very much aware of the impact of the weaker rand on investments, but for consumers not dealing with asset management on a daily basis it is a huge… – Continue reading
Shriram Asset Management Company gets Sebi nod for offshore fund management Shriram Asset Management Company Ltd today said it has got market regulator Sebi’s approval to manage offshore funds. “The company has recently got the go-ahead from Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to undertake ‘offshore fund management’,” Shriram… – Continue reading
FOCUS: Significant changes to the international tax system planned for the next five years, coupled with a major shift in attitudes towards tax avoidance, has all but killed off the traditional tax scheme. So what does the future hold for businesses seeking to engage in tax planning? To celebrate Out-Law’s… – Continue reading
Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said that he no longer expects that the European Commission will release its decision on the legality of a tax ruling provided to Apple before Christmas. Noonan confirmed that the Commission had requested additional information on the ruling. He said it will take the… – Continue reading
Bermuda has been in the spotlight in Australia as senators examine the tax affairs of big business. An Australian senate committee set up to look at the tax affairs of major companies heard that oil giants Chevron had 200 companies registered in Bermuda and a further 200 registered in the… – Continue reading
German prosecutors have launched an investigation into suspected tax evasion in connection with cheating on emissions tests by Volkswagen, adding to the intense scrutiny of Europe’s biggest carmaker. The investigation focuses on five Volkswagen employees, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in the northern German city of Braunschweig, near Volkswagen’s… – Continue reading
India’s Supreme Court has asked Vodafone to pay $302 million to the Indian government as part of its plans to merge four of its operating businesses ahead of a public listing in India. Vodafone is contesting charges of around $1.1 billion that the government is seeking to allow the merger… – Continue reading
Transfer pricing adjustment cannot be made in a case where the tax rate in the country of the Associated Enterprise is higher than the Indian rate and where, accordingly, establishment of tax avoidance or manipulation of prices or establishment of shifting of profits is not possible. Only after proper application… – Continue reading
The offshore yuan strengthened the most this month on speculation traders are paring bets the currency will weaken after a surprise drop in U.S. consumer confidence pushed down the greenback. A gauge of the dollar’s strength fell for a second day as an index of consumer sentiment slumped to the… – Continue reading
Veteran banker says India purchase reflects client demand for onshore private banking advice. Julius Baer’s Asia Pacific head Thomas Meier is preparing to leave Asia after 20 years, but he isn’t leaving Asia behind. The veteran banker, who also worked at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, will continue to oversee… – Continue reading
Expats savers will have some fixed feelings at the changes in interest rates on offshore fixed and instant access accounts. Conister Bank has notched up a couple of rate increases on fixed rate accounts – the three year fix rising 0.5% to 2.30% and the one year fix up 0.10%… – Continue reading
Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci says the country is set to follow in the footsteps of Spain, Portugal and Cyprus and launch its own Golden Visa scheme to grant citizenship to those foreigners who invest from €500,000-€1m in property, reports Property Showrooms. Leading Istanbul agent, Universal21, says the move could… – Continue reading
A pending Protocol, that would amend the income tax treaty between Luxembourg and France, may not be effective until 2017. RATIFICATION PENDING The Luxembourg Parliament passed a bill to ratify the fourth Protocol to the income tax treaty (1958) between Luxembourg and France. However, it currently appears that the ratification… – Continue reading
Mutual-fund giant Vanguard Group underpaid taxes on its income in Texas for 2010-14, according to records of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. State-sponsored audits found payment “deficiency” for all four years in Vanguard’s payments of the state’s corporate franchise tax, which charged companies 1 percent percent of a company’s… – Continue reading
Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan has become more picky about entering agreements with multinationals aimed at giving companies certainty about their tax payment requirements in Australia in future years. Taxpayers can lock in their tax payment for a period of about three years via an “advanced pricing agreement”, or APA. Technology… – Continue reading
Failed tax avoidance business Welbeck hired young actors to push schemes onto City big earners, and reaped millions in commissions that fuelled lifestyles of fast cars and exotic holidays, according to a whistleblower who worked at the firm. Welbeck Solutions sold pensions and financial products, but it specialised in tax… – Continue reading
