A legislative amendment in the UK this week will give the British government the power to publish details of tax payments made by UK-based multinational corporations on a country by country basis, as tax authorities try to clamp down on the abuse of tax laws and aggressive tax avoidance. The… – Continue reading
Denmark pays up to £1m for documents from anonymous source and plans to investigate up to 600 Danes who may have evaded tax Denmark has become the first country in the world to apparently buy data from the Panama Papers leak, and now plans to investigate whether 500-600 Danes who… – Continue reading
President Joko Widodo remarked that Indonesia supports the implementation of automatic exchange of financial information in tax matters between countries. This, he said, would lead to enhanced income for the developing countries. “Indonesia encourages an international tax system that is fair and transparent,” President Joko Widodo said in his speech… – Continue reading
European Union countries should better coordinate tax rules to avoid hitting corporations too hard, the Slovak presidency of the European Union has proposed. This would be an effort to provide more balance to an EU campaign against tax avoidance by multinational companies. The proposal will be discussed at an informal… – Continue reading
The international tax landscape has been changing rapidly and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has agreed on a base erosion and profit shifting (Beps) action plan that could affect businesses operating in the UAE. The plan addresses the issue of artificial shifting of profits and its proposals… – Continue reading
Officials said around 192 requests had been sent to a number of countries, while another dozen were being processed as part of their investigation. The Income Tax Department on Sunday said it had invoked several tax information treaties and made around 200 requests to collect banking- and finance-related evidence on… – Continue reading
One disadvantage of United States citizenship is that all income from whatever source, worldwide, is subject to taxation. This is true regardless of how one obtains American citizenship; indeed, there are many “accidental Americans” who, by dint of having been born to a person with American citizenship, are technically American… – Continue reading
After state aid inquiries into Amazon and McDonald’s, EU looks again at Luxembourg The European Commission may open a fresh investigation into tax rulings offered by Luxembourg as early as this week, as EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager continues her clampdown against corporate tax avoidance. Luxembourg is already awaiting a… – Continue reading
Malcolm Turnbull will push for a crackdown on multinational tax avoidance when he meets with world leaders at the G20 summit in China. But Labor have accused Mr Turnbull of not having a strong plan for confronting corporate tax avoidance at home, let alone abroad. The prime minister will arrive… – Continue reading
The issue of tax havens is inherently international in scope. As a result, the government can use tax agreements to fight tax avoidance schemes. Unfortunately, tax agreements haven’t been used for that purpose. On the contrary, they have facilitated the outflow of Canadian money to offshore financial centres, and have… – Continue reading
Ghana loses nearly $2.1 billion dollars to tax evasion and incentives annually, reveals a study carried out by the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), a civil society organisation. According to the study, which was conducted on behalf of the National Coordinating Council of the Public Services International (PSI), there was… – Continue reading
CRUNCHERS SOUTH LONDON, a licensee of Crunchers Accountants, has become the first accounting service in the UK to receive the Fair Tax Mark award for reporting and paying fair corporation tax. The Fair Tax Mark, established in 2014, is an independent accreditation process that assesses companies’ corporation tax practices and… – Continue reading
The Government is being blasted as weak, for not taking action on companies dodging tax. Apple has been slapped with a $20 billion tax bill in Ireland, which has led to questions about whether tax avoidance is also happening in New Zealand. Prime Minister John Key said we could face… – Continue reading
Banks and financial institutions in India have got some breather as regards compliance under the US-enacted Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The Finance Ministry on Wednesday said that banks and financial institutions need not enforce “closure” of accounts by August 31, 2016 in respect of those cases where “self-certification”… – Continue reading
All involved in tax avoidance schemes will be penalised HMRC has recently published a consultation document, ‘Strengthening Tax Avoidance Sanctions and Deterrents: A discussion document’ which proposes sanctions aimed at everyone involved in the birth of tax avoidance schemes which are defeated by HMRC. This follows the government’s announcement at… – Continue reading
Today, we see more enthusiasm for tax reform in Indonesia. Although opposed by some civil society groups, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration continues to push its fiscal framework reform — which includes a tax amnesty and more incentives for taxpayers. Last year, the Finance Ministry issued a new tax holiday… – Continue reading
A coalition of Silicon Valley tech companies has urged the Dutch Government against making changes to the most “attractive” features of its corporate tax regime, warning that it risks damaging its traditionally strong tax competitiveness by doing so. The Silicon Valley Tax Directors Group (SVTDG), which includes more than 80… – Continue reading
Recent developments in the global business environment which are characterized by intense competition and rapid growth of multinational enterprises have led to new business models and structuring of business operations in order to meet the increasing demands of expansion on a global scale. Agency arrangements, as a way for enterprises… – Continue reading
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) entered into twenty (20) Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) with Indian taxpayers. Many of these agreements also have a “Rollback” provision in them, Ministry of Finance said. The 20 APAs signed in these two days pertain to various sectors of the economy like… – Continue reading
A bill containing measures to combat tax evasion is close to being endorsed by Costa Rica’s legislature, according to the country’s Ministry of Finance. The proposals in the Bill are to remove existing legal loopholes used to avoid paying taxes. Among the proposals is a requirement that businesses providing services… – Continue reading
For the last three years, the international debate on tax policy was all about consensus. Led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, countries across the globe agreed that aggressive tax planning by multinational corporations which pushed profits into low-tax countries – or indeed took profits outside the charge… – Continue reading
Gov’t sends bill to Congress to force banks to share account data automatically Described by government officials as a “lethal blow” to bank secrecy, Uruguay has sent a bill to Congress that will force banks to automatically provide the DGI tax bureau information on the accounts held by individuals and… – Continue reading
Talks have begun between the US and Irish governments about updating certain elements of the Double Tax treaty between the two countries. The existing treaty was signed in 1997 and a Protocol to the treaty was signed in 1999. The Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners are calling for… – Continue reading
Five more governments have signed up to an international convention on cooperating with tax authorities around the world, bringing the number of participating jurisdictions to 103. The OECD’s Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters is a wide-reaching agreement to exchange information about taxpayers between authorities either on request… – Continue reading
Trade relations between Singapore and Africa are set to deepen, with several agreements signed on Wednesday (Aug 24) at the fourth edition of the Africa Singapore Business Forum. These include the signing of the Avoidance of Double Taxation (DTA) with Ethiopia, a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with Mozambique and an… – Continue reading
In the latest move to revamp the tax system in Indonesia, the government is considering setting up tax haven areas to entice home money that was stashed abroad. The idea was initiated by former finance minister Bambang Brodjonegoro who believed that the distinct region could facilitate the investment of funds… – Continue reading
The taxman plans to crack down on people who hide earnings from offshore investments, with greater powers to impose tougher penalties. People who do not reveal income from foreign accounts and investments to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) could be hit with penalties of three times the amount of tax… – Continue reading
Regulators in Europe and the US say that the value Amazon places on the technology behind user experience varies radically depending on which appraisal will lower its tax bill. Jeff Bezos’s relentless focus on user experience has helped him make Amazon the most valuable e-commerce company in the world. But… – Continue reading
Tougher stance follows Theresa May’s leadership campaign promise to be more punitive of tax evasion and avoidance The Treasury is proposing new rules to punish offshore tax evaders who fail to come clean about their finances before September 2018, with fines of up to 200% of the amount owed. Published… – Continue reading
New research shows that financial institutions are generally confident about meeting existing and incoming automatic exchange of information obligations. However, the study also found that a significant proportion of the industry is facing higher costs and risking fines by being under-prepared for new compliance requirements. The research by Aberdeen Group… – Continue reading
The UK’s crown dependencies and overseas territories are unlikely to suffer following the Brexit vote, and may even be a model for a post-EU UK says Richard Wilson QC Even before the UK’s decision to leave the EU, offshore jurisdictions faced a number of significant challenges: increased pressure to provide… – Continue reading
The U.K. government has been consulting on a proposed “Interest Restriction” rule which will limit the amount of interest expense U.K. companies will be allowed to offset against their income for tax purposes (to 30% of their taxable earnings before interest, tax and amortization). The second consultation phase on the… – Continue reading
Twenty of the nation’s largest companies have voluntarily signed up to a comprehensive new code to disclose more details of their tax affairs in their latest ¬annual accounts following a series of scandals involving local and offshore firms. In the May budget, the federal government announced it was committed to… – Continue reading
Democrats are likely to object to the House GOP’s and Donald Trump’s plans for sharply lower rates President Ronald Reagan once chided government’s approach to the economy as following this mantra: “If it moves, tax it.” Today’s Republicans are following Mr. Reagan’s ideas by trying the exact opposite approach. The… – Continue reading
Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli, has extended the e-tax system to all government bodies as he bids to slash fraud. Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli, has been in office for less than a year, but he is already making a name for himself as a staunch opponent of fraud and corruption. Magufuli… – Continue reading
Seeking better tax compliance, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the government can usher in lower tax regime only when more and more people pay taxes and tax evasion is down. Responding to calls for keeping the good and services tax (GST) rates in 17- 18 per cent… – Continue reading
The State of Kuwait has joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for swapping taxation information according to criteria of the Development and Economic Cooperation Organization (OECD), becoming the first Arab country to ink the relevant international treaty. Kuwait Finance Undersecretary Khalifa Hamada said in a statement that he led the… – Continue reading
Assessing the Hong Kong – Russia Double Taxation Agreement: Another Step Towards Amplifying China’s Eurasian Connection The long-awaited Comprehensive Double Taxation Agreement (CDTA) between Hong Kong and Russia entered into force on July 29, 2016. The agreement will take effect on April 1, 2017 in Hong Kong and January… – Continue reading
Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati warned tax dodgers that an eight-month tax amnesty programme was their last opportunity to have all of their “sins deleted” or face “hell” afterwards. In her first interview with the foreign media since returning as minister, the former World Bank managing director also told… – Continue reading
Apple is a major part of why the United States is the world’s leading innovator on new technologies, particularly those involving telecommunications and computers. The company has over 66,000 domestic employees, and a large percentage of its customers are here — at least 40 percent, according to its latest annual… – Continue reading
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is likely to issue show cause notices to owners of about 20 industrial units for not paying infrastructure development cess, according to sources. They said that provincial government had levied one per cent infrastructure development cess on imported items. “Now majority of the businessmen have… – Continue reading
On June 7, AEI hosted two panels on how the US could reform the corporate tax code, the first focusing on business-level taxation and the second focusing on shareholder-level taxation. Christopher H. Hanna of the Senate Finance Committee delivered the symposium’s opening remarks, with a major focus on how the… – Continue reading
City firms that help businesses run tax avoidance schemes could face huge financial penalties under fresh Government proposals. Banks, accountancy firms and lawyers could be forced to hand over underpaid tax if they are found to have broken the law. Currently, advisers who facilitate tax avoidance by exploiting loopholes and… – Continue reading
Companies doing business in Luxembourg will be required to file global tax information now that the nation has released draft legislation to implement new international tax reporting rules. The rules—known as country-by-country reporting—would require companies to submit a global blueprint outlining the location of their operations, taxes paid, income earned,… – Continue reading
Last Wednesday August 10 at Germany’s Federal Foreign Ministry Office, Costa Rica and Germany celebrated the ratification of the establishment of legal instruments as part of an agreement to eliminate double taxation of income and assets, stated Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Relations in a press release Friday. The agreement… – Continue reading
Coles has urged its German rival Aldi to sign up to a new tax transparency code that will lead to more big businesses, particularly multinationals, releasing detailed information about the tax they pay. Aldi has yet to sign up to the Voluntary Tax Transparency Code, which targets more than 1500… – Continue reading
The U.S. has used judicial might to successfully pursue offshore tax cheats all over the world. A little-noticed new rule introduced by Barack Obama’s administration gets tough on U.S. states such as Delaware and Nevada, which are notorious for murky shelters often used for illicit purposes. But there is a… – Continue reading
Indonesia has defined two islands near Singapore as its own tax havens to prevent taxpayers from keeping their assets offshore – in Singapore, for example. The two islands identified by Indonesia are Bintan and Rempang, according to a report on Monday in the Singaporean daily «Straits Times» and a story… – Continue reading
SCOTLAND has formally called on the UK to close a legal loophole that allows Scottish firms to be used as secret offshore tax shelters. Holyrood politicians have been demanding action on Scotland’s limited partnerships (SLPs) ever since some of the unique corporate arrangements were exposed as Eastern European money-laundering vehicles… – Continue reading
Apple CEO Tim Cook struck back at critics of the iPhone maker’s strategy to avoid paying U.S. taxes, telling The Washington Post in a wide ranging interview that the company would not bring that money back from abroad unless there was a “fair rate.” Along with other multinational companies, the… – Continue reading
