Category: Expatriates

Philippines lands in Forbes’ Top 25 Best Places to Retire in 2020

The Philippines was recognized as one of the best places where US expatriates (expats) could retire in 2020, according to a recent newsletter from Forbes. It was among 25 countries chosen by the American business magazine. The Philippines was described to be an “English-speaking Pacific Ocean nation of 7,400 islands”… – Continue reading

Countdown to the amended South African Expatriate tax law

The announcement by National Treasury and SARS in 2017 that the tax exemption on South African expatriates is set to change, has resulted in the lifestyle of many South Africans, who are employed by companies abroad, to rapidly change from a South African tax liability point of view. By Claudia… – Continue reading

Banks may declassify expatriate client data

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 13: The Fatwa and Legislation Department has submitted to the Council of Ministers a draft law that allows banks to declassify the data of their customers, as provided by the CRS Convention on Join Reporting, reports Al-Rai daily quoting sources. The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is an… – Continue reading

Remittance tax on agenda – Fee in exchange for providing services to Expats

IMF Section 2 – Article 8 “No member may impose restrictions without the approval of the International Monetary Fund on payments and remittances in respect of current international transactions” KUWAIT CITY, April 15: The thirty-first report of the National Assembly’s Finance and Economic Committee on bills on taxation of expatriate… – Continue reading

New tax law sees increase in financial emigration

The government’s planned changes to the tax law for South Africans working abroad – either permanently or on a long-term contracts – has brought financial emigration into sharp focus. Financial emigration is a formal process with the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to change your tax status from “resident” to… – Continue reading

Cooked in cheap oil? ‘Tax-free’ Gulf states to introduce VAT to revitalise economy

Gulf states are planning to introduce value-added tax starting next year following the hit faced by the energy-rice countries due to a drop in oil prices. Gulf states are planning to introduce value-added tax starting next year following the hit faced by the energy-rich countries due to a drop in… – Continue reading

Thousands of British expats could face tax penalties for undeclared cash: report

The first set of ‘hidden’ financial data about Britons living abroad is set to be handed to the UK’s Revenue & Customs later today, as part of the global transparency drive that has been introduced via a series of information sharing agreements across the world’s financial centres. As a result,… – Continue reading

Tax burdens prompt more Americans to ditch their citizenship

Some 9 million Americans reside abroad. More than 4 in 10 wouldn’t rule out renouncing U.S. citizenship, according to a survey. Americans abroad have just about had it with Uncle Sam’s tax filing requirements. Those were the findings from a recent survey of more than 2,100 U.S. expatriates, according to… – Continue reading

Individual Income Tax in Malaysia for Expatriates

Malaysia uses both progressive and flat rates for personal income tax, depending on an individual’s duration and type of work in the country. As expatriates may fall into either tax category depending on their work, it is important to understand Malaysia’s basic tax structure. The Income Tax Act of 1967… – Continue reading

Understanding the taxation of international and expatriate assignments

(Second of two parts) In last week’s article, we discussed how or why taxpayers working on international assignments have to consider the impact of different tax jurisdictions on their individual tax obligations. We also explained how most companies implement a tax equalization (TEQ) arrangement for the employees so that they… – Continue reading

Can current offshore wealth management centres survive?

After recent scandals, many financial and wealth management centres are losing their allure and ‘mid-shore’ options are taking their place, argues Philip Marcovici. Will all existing financial and wealth management centres survive? Are tax-free secrecy havens (the “offshore world”) a feature of the past? Is there room for entry of… – Continue reading

Residence-Based Taxation Put Forward For Americans Abroad

With regard to the increasing talk in the US Congress on tax reform, American Citizens Abroad (ACA) has provided the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee with a full reform proposal for the enactment of residence-based taxation (RBT) for American expatriates. ACA has said lawmakers should enact RBT instead… – Continue reading

UK expats face ‘double whammy’ over tax affairs

The government is ready to restrict British expatriates’ tax benefits in a bid to get agreement with the European Union over renegotiating the UK’s terms of membership, according to press reports. The Guardian has reported that expats could be banned from claiming tax credits for up to four years as… – Continue reading