The Mauritian Government has announced that, on August 11, a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) was signed between Mauritius and South Korea for the mutual sharing of tax information. The TIEA provide for cooperation in tax matters between the two jurisdictions. The agreement, once ratified, will allow each country to… – Continue reading
Through Notification No. 68/2016, the Government of India has ratified a Protocol to its tax treaty with Mauritius. The protocol was signed on May 10, 2016, in Mauritius, in a bid to limit abuse of the India-Mauritius double tax avoidance agreement. The protocol provides India with the right to tax… – Continue reading
The Federal Government on Wednesday inaugurated an eight-man committee tor review and update the National Tax Policy document. The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, while inaugurating the committee in Abuja, said the government was committed to the continuous improvement of Nigeria’s tax system as part of the dynamic framework to… – Continue reading
Despite Western opposition, the 134-member Group of 77 is continuing to pursue a longstanding proposal for an inter-governmental UN-affiliated tax body aimed at combating corporate tax dodging and curbing illicit financial flows, including money laundering and off-shore banking. The proposal has already been shot down twice by Western nations, first,… – Continue reading
Mauritius is looking to revive efforts to put in place a comprehensive economic cooperation pact with India, close on the heels of sorting out long-pending issues related to the bilateral tax treaty. The island nation, a major source of foreign direct investments coming into India, is also eyeing a preferential… – Continue reading
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is developing a manual on the new Income Tax (Act 896, 2015) to make it easy for taxpayers to understand the provisions of the law. The manual, known as Practice Note, which will contain examples of how to calculate taxes, is expected to give directives… – Continue reading
As many are now aware, the double tax avoidance arrangement (DTAA) between India and Mauritius was amended through the protocol released last month. The direct impact summarized in one line is as follows: India shall now tax capital gains arising from alienation of shares by a Mauritius investor acquired on… – Continue reading
Kenya will create an international taxation center to help in the global crackdown against tax avoidance, a senior official said on Wednesday. John Njiraini, the Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), said the formation of the international tax office would enable Kenya to curb tax evasion. The office… – Continue reading
The government is hell-bent on cracking down on black money and undisclosed income of Indians within the country and safely stowed away abroad. While there is no proper estimation of the actual amount of black money in the economy, the government is actively taking measures to stop it. Recent media… – Continue reading
At the recent G20 meeting in China, finance ministers stressed their support for greater tax transparency, calling for a report from the OECD on the implementation of automatic exchange of information before the end of the year, and stating that by July 2017 it wants a list of non-compliant jurisdictions… – Continue reading
The Panama Papers have put the spotlight on tax avoidance once again. This is, of course, not a new issue. Before that, we had Swiss Leaks and BVI Leaks. You may be asking: how does tax avoidance work and why have policymakers struggled to rein it in? Firstly, it is… – Continue reading
During a recent speech in Pretoria to the High Level Conference on Illicit Financial Flows, South African Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan noted that tax code improvements are required in African countries so that multinational enterprises (MNEs) “pay their fair share of taxes in the countries where they generate their… – Continue reading
Tax and prosecution bodies must build the capacity to curb illicit activities that rob countries of tax revenues, said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Thursday, speaking at the High Level Conference on Illicit Financial Flows at the University of Pretoria. Illicit money leaving Africa reduces the amount of resources available… – Continue reading
The “Big Four” global accounting firms – PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young – are the masterminds of multinational tax avoidance and the architects of tax schemes which cost governments and their taxpayers an estimated $US1 trillion a year, according to an Australian taxation expert. The controversial new claims… – Continue reading
Kenya and India will enter into a revised agreement for the avoidance of double taxation on Monday when President Uhuru Kenyatta and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India preside over the signing of several agreements on Monday. At a press briefing on Sunday, President Kenyatta’s spokesman Manoah Esipisu said other… – Continue reading
The absence of adequate data on the operations of businesses in the extractive sector continues to impede the GRA’s ability to fully implement Ghana’s transfer pricing policy. According to the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Policy Programs at the GRA, Edward Gyamerah, the issue makes it difficult to fully assess… – Continue reading
The Government seeks to curb revenue loss, prevent double non-taxation, streamline the flow of investment, and stimulate the flow of exchange of information between India and Mauritius The India – Mauritius double taxation treaty was under negotiation for the last 4 years. The Treaty has now been amended by way… – Continue reading
Representatives of more than 80 countries and jurisdictions met in Kyoto on Thursday for a two-day conference aimed at going after corporate tax avoidance in the first-ever effort of its kind to include developed and developing countries. The meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Committee on Fiscal… – Continue reading
The industry has been demanding that GAAR provisions should apply prospectively To clear the air on retrospective applicability of the stringent anti-avoidance GAAR rule, the I-T department has said the same will not apply to income from transfer of investments before April 1, 2017. General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR), which will… – Continue reading
Foreign private equity investors typically set up offshore pooling vehicles for routing investments into India, which offer them twin advantages of ease of administration and single window compliance with the Indian regulatory regime. Setting up such pooling vehicles in a tax favourable jurisdiction ensures that the interposition of the pooling… – Continue reading
To check abuse of double taxation, India signs agreement with Belgium. The decision regarding this was taken in a meeting chaired by Narendra Modi. The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the signing of a protocol amending an agreement between India and Belgium for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal… – Continue reading
The quest by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria and diversify the nation’s economy on Wednesday received a boost. This followed the passage of “a Bill for an Act to Provide for the Domestication and Enforcement in Nigeria of the Avoidance of… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The government has constituted a working group to examine the “consequential issues” arising out of the changes in India’s tax treaty with Mauritius.The India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Convention was amended last month to introduce a levy to prevent investors from using the island nation as a shelter to… – Continue reading
Tax authorities and African governments have been urged to adopt effective information exchange systems based on proper implementation of international standards of transparency. This is necessary because exchange of information among member countries ensure that corporate bodies and individual taxpayers would have no safe haven to hide their income and… – Continue reading
Last month the government announced an amendment to the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement between India and Mauritius. The DTAA was signed between the two countries in August 1982 and notified in December 1983. For the past thirty-three years it has been a key factor affecting foreign investment flows into India…. – Continue reading
Sydney-A new report by Oxfam said Australia’s federal government lost an estimated 5 billion US dollars in revenue in 2014 as a consequence of tax avoidance by multinational corporations with Australian operations. The non-governmental organization said in its report that investments from Australian-based big companies in tax havens globally grew… – Continue reading
Ahead of India’s rolling out of anti-tax avoidance regulations, Cyprus has shown eagerness to amend the bilateral tax treaty allowing New Delhi to tax capital gains. In turn, has pitched to be taken off the blacklist or being considered a “notified jurisdiction” for not sharing tax information, which implies increased… – Continue reading
The Indian government has signed up to a scheme to clamp down on tax evasion and corruption launched by Europe’s biggest nations, Britain’s government said on Wednesday. Signatories to the scheme – announced in April by Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – undertake to give one another free access… – Continue reading
Recent news of India and Mauritius signing a Protocol to amend their 33 year old tax treaty caused seismic changes in the tax world. Though not completely unanticipated, the change is significant for foreign investors to go back to the drawing board and reassess their structures. The tax treaty between… – Continue reading
SANTIAGO, June 7 (Xinhua) — The Foreign Relations Committee of the Chilean Senate approved Monday legal proposals to eliminate double taxation with China and three other countries. Chile and China first signed an agreement over the matter on May 25, 2015 in Santiago. “China is our main trading partner and… – Continue reading
In a step forward, Cyprus has said it is “very close” to revising the bilateral tax treaty with India as the island nation has accepted “in principle” proposals made by the Indian side on taxing capital gains. Cyprus, a source of significant foreign fund flows into the country, said rising… – Continue reading
The FBR has proposed powers through Finance Bill 2016-17 for entering into treaty with bilateral or multilateral forums for exchange of information to ensure prevention of tax evasions in the aftermath of Panama Leaks disclosure that many Pakistani influential owned offshore companies abroad. In totality, the FBR took tax measures… – Continue reading
An Algerian-UK treaty to end double taxation has been announced to come into effect by next year, according to a British Treasury Minister. Speaking in Algiers last week, Greg Hands announced that the Double Taxation Treaty, which will ensure that tax isn’t charged on the same income in both countries,… – Continue reading
India has asked the Netherlands to resume negotiations on amending their bilateral tax treaty as the government extends its efforts to plug loopholes in such accords to curb misuse. The Dutch tax treaty , which allows exemption from capital gains and a lower rate of tax on dividends, has led… – Continue reading
Foreign portfolio investors based out of the US have collectively approached the India with a request to amend the India-US tax treaty, exempting them from paying capital gains tax , people close to the development said. These investors — mainly pension funds —are those who had invested in Indian equities… – Continue reading
PANAMA, widely recognised as one of the world’s tax havens, declined a request by the South African government to enter into a bilateral arrangement for the exchange of information. However, the refusal was made before the huge leak of information about the offshore holdings of wealthy individuals and entities disclosed… – Continue reading
The new tax treaty between India and Mauritius may achieve what last year’s budget tried to do, albeit unsuccessfully—encourage offshore fund managers to relocate to India, in the process making the country a fund management hub, much like London, Dubai or Singapore. With the new agreement restoring parity between domestic… – Continue reading
The finance ministry expert panel is expected to pre-empt any potential confusion, assuage foreign investors facing twin changes in the tax regime New Delhi: The finance ministry is setting up an expert group to work out the modalities of implementing changes in the tax regime stemming from the withdrawal of… – Continue reading
Tax Treaty between India and Mauritius for avoidance of double taxation had become a double non-taxation treaty. Under this treaty, India could not tax the gains from sale of shares in Indian companies by a Mauritius resident, who is also not subject to any tax in Mauritius as such gains… – Continue reading
In its fight against black money stashed abroad, India has signed a protocol with European Union member nation Slovenia to make changes to the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention between the two countries, an official statement said in New Delhi on Thursday. The protocol, for avoidance of double taxation and preventing… – Continue reading
Georgia and Kyrgyzstan are stepping up bilateral cooperation to avoid double taxation, boost investments and increase economic cooperation. A delegation from Kyrgyzstan is currently in Georgia and holding meetings with Georgian authorities to discuss a cooperation agreement on avoidance of double taxation, prevention of evasion of income and capital taxes…. – Continue reading
MUMBAI India’s capital market regulator on Thursday took steps to stop suspected illegal money flowing into the country by making issuers of securities known as offshore derivative instruments register their customers. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) also tightened rules for transferring ownership of these offshore instruments to… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Now that loopholes in the tax treaty with Mauritius have been plugged, the Indian government is gearing up to apply the same fix to its accord with Cyprus. Talks to amend the double taxation avoidance treaty are at an advanced stage and the two sides will soon exchange… – Continue reading
The closure of a tax loophole could hit UAE firms planning to invest in India through Mauritius. The Indian government this week amended a long-standing treaty that helped foreign investors to avoid capital gains tax by routing their investments through Mauritius. Mauritius is the biggest source of foreign direct investment… – Continue reading
On 10 May 2016, the Government of India issued a press release1 stating that India and Mauritius have signed a protocol (New Protocol) amending the double tax avoidance treaty between the two countries (the Treaty). Based on the press release and the New Protocol, following are the key changes to… – Continue reading
After renegotiating the tax treaty with Mauritius to get the right to tax capital gains, India will go in for a similar amendment with Singapore, the second closest destination through which foreign funds are routed to India. “Sooner or later, the process will commence and hopefully conclude,” Finance Minister Aruna… – Continue reading
India had in August 1982 signed the treaty with Mauritius to eliminate double taxation of income and capital gains to encourage mutual trade and investment. Investors must pay taxes on money they earn in India and the domestic economy is now strong enough to depend on any “tax-incentivised route” to… – Continue reading
East African Community member states have failed to reach a deal on a common tax rate as the bloc’s smaller economies worry about significant revenue losses. The failure to harmonise value added tax, income tax and excise tax rates has left the regional bloc deliberating on how to harmonise legislation… – Continue reading
A group of tax havens have accused larger countries like the United States of “hypocrisy” when it comes to cracking down on tax avoidance. With the issue of offshore finance high on the agenda in light of the fall out from the so-called Panama Papers scandal, world leaders convened in… – Continue reading
New Delhi, May 11 (IANS) Following the revision of India’s bilateral tax treaty with Mauritius, the government on Wednesday said the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR ) provisions, with effect from April next year, will override the Double TaxationAvoidance Agreement (DTAA) in case of abuse. “GAAR being anti-abuse provision can prevail… – Continue reading
