CORK, Ireland — As lord mayor of this quiet seaside city in southern Ireland, Chris O’Leary seems to have a situation most other local politicians can only dream about. Blue-chip international companies like Apple, Dell and IBM have all set up shop in and around this city, filling newly built… – Continue reading
Former London mayor says owners of the Mail, Telegraph, Sun and Times fear the Labour leader will make them pay more tax if he becomes prime minister Ken Livingstone has said the owners of the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Sun and Times will “do anything” to stop Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime… – Continue reading
Leaders of world’s major economies gather in Turkish city of Antalya Leaders of the world’s major economies gather in the Turkish city of Antalya this weekend for the tenth annual G20 summit. The summit takes place at a sensitive moment in international affairs. The war in Syria and the resulting… – Continue reading
By the very criteria set in the United States by the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC), several states in the US are “tax havens”. But, they have not been named in the legislation passed by the legislatures of Oregon, Montana and others. Among the MTC criteria for determining a tax haven… – Continue reading
PSDB amendment in Lower House cuts Speaker Cunha out of deal, but Senate still has final say BRASILIA — The Lower House of Brazil’s Congress has approved a controversial amnesty bill for undeclared offshore assets, despite criticism from opposition lawmakers who say it would allow the laundering of illegally gained… – Continue reading
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved, for a second time, the following income tax treaties and Protocols. 12 November 2015 Switzerland: A Protocol to amend the income tax treaty with Switzerland—the Protocol was signed in 2009. Luxembourg: A Protocol to amend the income tax treaty with Luxembourg—the Protocol was… – Continue reading
In a surprising development, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on November 10 approved without amendment eight pending US tax treaties and protocols. Proposed income tax treaties with Chile, Hungary, and Poland; proposed tax protocols with Japan, Luxembourg, Spain, and Switzerland; and a proposed protocol amending the multilateral mutual… – Continue reading
Introduction On September 30 2015 Her Majesty’s Treasury published its long-awaited consultation on two of three proposed changes to the taxation of individuals domiciled outside the United Kingdom. The three measures – announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the 2015 Summer Budget published on July 8 – are intended to… – Continue reading
Irish corporation tax returns are behaving oddly: the Department of Finance estimates that they are running €2 billion (74 percent) ahead of forecast for the year. Economist Seamus Coffey has described these figures as “very strange”. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) the global accounts of the Apple corporation revealed an increase… – Continue reading
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and development, Lenita Toivakka, has admitted being involved in a scheme to reduce tax liabilities on a multi-million euro shopping centre development in Mikkeli. She insisted that the arrangement was legal as well as commonplace for international property investors. Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and… – Continue reading
DID you hear the story about the Queen, tax evasion, a nationalised British bank for the rich and famous, a whistleblower and a £7bn under sale to ‘reward cronies and cheat the taxpayer’? Sounds like a pretty big deal, right? But last Thursday’s damning testimony from Helen Goodman MP –… – Continue reading
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has defended his country’s low rate of corporation tax, currently set at 6.25 per cent, and Dublin’s arrangements with global corporations which house subsidiaries in the country, reports Digital Look. Over the last decade, major corporations such as Google and Dell have created corporate subsidiaries… – Continue reading
The Powys tax rebellion, led by traders including the town’s salmon smokery, local coffee shop, book shop, optician and bakery, could spread nationwide When independent traders in a small Welsh town discovered the loopholes used by multinational giants to avoid paying UK tax, they didn’t just get mad. Now local… – Continue reading
Ireland is expecting European Union regulators to issue a decision on the country’s tax deal with Apple before the end of the year. The Irish finance minister said the move could force the iPhone maker to pay substantial back taxes. The European Commission has already ordered Dutch authorities to recover… – Continue reading
Over the weekend, German news magazine, Der Spiegel, reported that over many years EU member states such as Luxembourg and the Netherlands have sabotaged attempts to counter profit shifting to low tax jurisdictions via ‘patent boxes’ under the political leadership of current President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker,… – Continue reading
Small and medium-sized businesses that don’t have the resources to patent intellectual property may still be able to benefit from the Knowledge Development Box (KDP) under plans being considered by the Government. The Department of Finance is looking at allowing SMEs with patentable assets, but without the resources to get… – Continue reading
System could collapse by next spring, say critics, as HMRC website reveals shocking tally of unanswered and terminated calls Hundreds of thousands of people who ring HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) every month to discuss their tax credits are abandoning calls in despair because they are often kept waiting in… – Continue reading
Leave.EU, supported by Ukip and financed by a multimillionaire, vies to lead Britain’s exit from Europe A leading campaign group seeking to take Britain out of the European Union was set up by an offshore company that offers tax avoidance services to “high net worth individuals”, the Observer can reveal…. – Continue reading
Abolishing the UK’s deed of variation legislation as a means of tackling tax avoidance could risk causing distress to bereaved families, warned the Association of Taxation Technicians. A deed of variation gives beneficiaries of an estate a two-year window to alter the distribution of that estate following the death of… – Continue reading
Paul Singer has a good track record as a money manager. In 1995, he bought $20 million worth of Peruvian debt at a discounted price of $11.4 million, then forced Peru’s government, through lawsuits, to eventually pay nearly five times his initial investment — some $58 million. In 2002 and… – Continue reading
British MEP Anneliese Dodds has accused national governments of hampering progress in tackling corporate tax dodging, warning that EU capitals are “far too focussed on their own self-interests”. On the anniversary of the breaking of the LuxLeaks scandal, Dodds said MEPs had made some progress in stamping out aggressive tax… – Continue reading
Malcolm Turnbull: Tax reform must be fair Fairness is critical to the success of any tax reform, says Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during his first keynote economic address in Melbourne. Courtesy ABC News 24. GST hike to hit poor hard and leave rich unscathed: research Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says… – Continue reading
The UK government has a ‘Janus-faced’ approach to tax, a new report suggests: promising an increasingly intolerant approach to evasion and avoidance while being an aggressive participant in global tax competition and tolerating the UK tax havens which facilitate financial crime across the world. The report, Fifty Shades of Tax… – Continue reading
The President of the European Council Donald Tusk and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, who are representing the European Union at the G20 summit in Antalya (Turkey) on November 15th and 16th, have set out the EU’s agenda in a joint letter sent to EU Heads of… – Continue reading
LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) – British authorities must start reporting the full scale of aggressive tax avoidance and prosecute more people for evading tax by moving money offshore, lawmakers said on Wednesday. The Public Accounts Committee of Britain’s parliament said the government’s tax agency, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), should… – Continue reading
The UK has been rated “more of a tax haven” than the Channel Islands, in a financial transparency report. The biennial study by campaign group Tax Justice Network (TJN) ranked the UK above the islands. TJN director, John Christensen, said the islands had “made significant improvements” by signing up to… – Continue reading
At the end of this year an amnesty for UK tax resident persons whose offshore income and gains have not been disclosed to HMRC closes, and it is important the implications are understood according to Michael Crowe, a director at Grant Thornton in the Isle of Man. In the UK’s… – Continue reading
Robert Stack, US Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary (International Tax Affairs), initiated a further push for ratification of the pending protocol to the US tax treaty with Switzerland at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on October 29. Tax treaties and protocols with Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Chile, Spain,… – Continue reading
Millions have pounds have gone to countries such as Belize and Anguilla UK paid out £45m to 13 countries on tax haven ‘blacklist’ in just one year Campaigners estimate use of offshore havens costs Treasury £18b a year Revelation will anger Tory backbenchers who have criticised Cameron British aid money… – Continue reading
BRITISH taxpayers forked out £45million in foreign aid spending to countries classed as tax havens in just one year, it emerged today. Nations such as Belize, Marshall Islands, Seychelles and Vanautu – which are all included on a European Commission ‘blacklist’ of international tax havens – have all received cash… – Continue reading
Republican and Democratic lawmakers vowed on Thursday to push for the ratification of eight tax treaties which have been held up for years because of one Republican senator’s objections, despite support from companies that want consistency in rules for how to do international business. U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky… – Continue reading
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) — Brazil’s Secretariat of Federal Revenue is carrying out an official investigation of Eduardo Cunha, head of House of Representatives, for tax evasion and other fiscal crimes, local daily O Globo said on Wednesday. Started in August, the investigation was based on information which… – Continue reading
After teasing the UK financial community — and the government — with a thinly-veiled threat to decamp from Britain, HSBC has continued to stoke speculation that it’s looking for more hospitable headquarters. Back in April, HSBC announced a review of whether to quit the UK, a somewhat provocative statement, coming,… – Continue reading
The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, will meet on November 5 to take stock of the economic situation. Fiscal situation, external sector environment, financial sector reforms, rising non-performing assets and regulatory issues are likely to figure in the meeting, sources said. FSDC is… – Continue reading
Ireland has announced a new 6.25 per cent corporate tax rate for intellectual property research Ireland’s 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate is already one of the lowest in Europe, Economia reports. Now, companies investing in research and development (R&D) will be able to avail of the even lower rate… – Continue reading
Lawmakers at the European Parliament are set to vote on a controversial series of proposals to harmonize the corporate tax system in Europe in a move that will put them on a collision course with some member states which favor sovereignty over taxation. The EU lawmakers on the TAXE committee… – Continue reading
A company controlled by Mayor of Belgrade Sinisa Mali and his family obtained more than 10 hectares of agricultural land worth anywhere from €123,000 to € 250,000 (US$140,000 to US$290,000) for free from a privatized state company. Problem is, the land wasn’t the company’s to give, but was still owned… – Continue reading
The European Commission and the World Bank urged Romania on Monday to push ahead in its anti-corruption crackdown by recovering stolen assets following court convictions. Corruption in Romania has deterred foreign investors, while tax evasion and bribery put a further strain on the public finances. Anti-corruption prosecutors have launched investigations… – Continue reading
The EU tax rulings against Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler are but trifles compared to the ones extant against Apple and Amazon. Everyone lies about tax. Holland said it followed international tax standards when everyone knows it’s a corporate tax haven. That’s why ST has its HQ there. Ireland and Luxembourg… – Continue reading
The key corporate tax measures in the Finance Bill show clear signs of the international scrutiny now surrounding multinational tax. The main new measure, the knowledge development box offering a lower tax rate on profits earned as a result of research and development, has been strictly drawn up to comply… – Continue reading
David Cameron threw the proverbial cat among the pigeons in July when, with a steely glare at the UK property industry, he warned that the UK must not become “a safe haven for corrupt money from around the world” and that “there is no place for dirty money in Britain”…. – Continue reading
The entire multi-billion euro aircraft leasing industry here paid Irish corporation tax of only €23m last year, reports the Irish Independent. That is according to figures provided by the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, who confirmed that the €23m paid in corporation tax last year was down from the €29m… – Continue reading
Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) Taiwan and Japan have made progress on negotiating a double taxation avoidance agreement, and are expected to sign more bilateral economic and trade-related pacts in the next few months, a Taiwanese foreign affairs official said Thursday. “The two sides have continued to negotiate the agreement on… – Continue reading
The negotiations conducted by the Ministry of Finance and the Internal Revenue Service (SII) for Chile to sign the agreements to avoid international double taxation with Italy and Japan have concluded successfully. “The successful completion of negotiations with two of the world’s major economies crown an exceptional year in strengthening… – Continue reading
Wealthy investors have snapped up at least £100 billion of property across London using overseas companies in the past six years, new figures reveal today. Official data seen by the Standard shows that since 2008 there have been 27,989 purchases of homes, buildings and land in the capital by shadowy… – Continue reading
Former chair of the UK public accounts committee Margaret Hodge, who has repeatedly attacked the use of offshore tax avoidance schemes, has called for an overhaul of the British tax system. Speaking during an annual Professional Fee Protection (PFP) tax investigations conference, Hodge said the current tax regime in the… – Continue reading
Hillary Clinton is repeating the Democrat trope about “offshore tax havens” that immorally divert profits from workers and the taxman. Closing these is a central plank of her promised agenda as President, she explains in an op-ed laying out her economic agenda. Setting aside the economic merits of her plan,… – Continue reading
Three years ago, Chinese officials said U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron had “seriously damaged” relations by meeting with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader. As planned talks between the two countries were canceled or failed to take place, worries emerged that Britain would miss out on building deeper economic… – Continue reading
Companies face multimillion-euro repayment bills after EC’s 15-month investigation. Rulings on Amazon and Apple will follow Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler are expected to be billed for tens of millions of euros in additional taxes as the European commission prepares to rule that they had unlawful deals with the Netherlands and… – Continue reading
Facebook was last night accused of insulting British taxpayers as it emerged staff in London have been lined up for a £250million shares jackpot. The huge windfall will be paid out over the next three years if the US social media firm, which paid just £4,000 in corporation tax last… – Continue reading
