Category: China

CNH Tracker- China’s overseas investment schemes set to freshen offshore yuan pool

Oct 24 (Reuters) – China is studying pilot schemes that will allow domestic investors to make overseas investments using the Chinese currency, a move that could pump fresh oxygen into the stagnant offshore yuan pool. “The central bank is designing RQDII (Renminbi Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor) and QDII2 schemes to… – Continue reading

Upcoming Nationwide Transfer Pricing Investigation Against Outbound Service Fee And Royalty Payments

On 29 July 2014, the China State Administration of Taxation (SAT) released an internal notice to the China tax authorities at the provincial levels, in the name of “Notice on Antiavoidance Investigation against Large Amount Outbound Payments” (Circular Shui Zong Ban Fa [2014] No. 146, Notice 146), urging a nationwide… – Continue reading

Tax must be paid on dividend unless rules change

Dividend represents a share of the company’s post-tax profit that is divided among its shareholders. In other words, once corporate tax has been paid on profit, the remaining earnings are distributed amongst shareholders as dividend. So far, so good. Then, this dividend is characterised as income in the hands of… – Continue reading

Foreign lending picks up in second quarter, offshore centers attract credit

(Reuters) – International banking activity expanded for a second straight quarter between April and June with banks lending more to emerging markets, particularly China, and to investment funds in offshore centers such as the Cayman Islands, data showed on Monday. Foreign lending to offshore centers rose to $2.269 trillion in… – Continue reading

Taiwan FSC to do stress tests on Chinese banks every quarter

Tseng Ming-chung at a press event in Taipei, Oct. 7. (Photo/Yen Chien-lung) Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Committee (FSC) plans to conduct stress tests to assess the credit risks of China’s banks every quarter, reports our Chinese-language sister paper China Times. FSC chairman Tseng Ming-chung said the quarterly report will be published… – Continue reading

Wealth Inequality Accelerates Worldwide on Inheritance, Tax Avoidance

Wealth inequality is growing worldwide, according to a new report by Credit Suisse. A greater share of wealth is being held by a smaller number of ultra-rich families worldwide as larger inheritances, family trusts, and similar arrangements to avoid taxes help the ultra-wealthy gain a greater portion of total capital… – Continue reading

Freeman Tax Law Is The Keynote Speaker About FATCA At The American Chamber Of Commerce In Shanghai

The presentation on October 17, 2014 will discuss how FATCA has changed the world and provide perspectives for financial institutions and expatriates  SHANGHAI, China, Oct. 14, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via PRWEB – As of June 30, 2014 China has signed Model 1 IGA (Intergovernmental Agreement) in cooperation with FATCA… – Continue reading

Failed property scheme linked to tax haven firm

A failed property development is linked to a tax haven company that triggered an alleged money laundering probe into a wealthy businessman. Albany Heights, more than 400 homes proposed to be built on Auckland’s North Shore, was marketed as an “investors’ dream” but companies connected to the project collapsed with… – Continue reading

Compliance in China for Foreign Businesses

Compliance is China’s latest Hot Topic. Until recently, many Western managers accepted that some flexibility on legal issues was needed to thrive in the complex Chinese legal environment. Practices to strengthen relationships such as luxurious dinners and karaoke evenings, sponsored travel, red-pocket money and the like, have often been regarded… – Continue reading

Mega, ICBC sign overseas expansion cooperation pact

Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀) has inked a new cooperation pact with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC, 中國工商銀行), as part of the state-run lender’s move to expand its operations overseas, the Taiwanese bank said yesterday. Mega Bank chairman McKinney Tsai (蔡友才) on Wednesday signed a memorandum of… – Continue reading

FSC to relax rules governing OSU business by end-October

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) Taiwan’s top financial regulator said Friday it will relax rules governing the business scope of Taiwanese securities firms’ offshore securities units (OSU), a move that could help the units seize more opportunities. The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said that it will seek approval from the Central… – Continue reading

Foreign manufacturers use foreign parts suppliers to avoid tax: Analysts

VietNamNet Bridge – Foreign automobile and electronics manufacturers often choose foreign enterprises for their parts and accessory suppliers instead of Vietnamese companies because it allows them to engage in transfer pricing, some analysts have claimed. Samsung, Toyota, Canon and other giants in the manufacturing industry have complained many times that… – Continue reading

City’s offshore yuan pool under threat from trade discount

Weak inflows and expanding channels for renminbi outflows are adding to challenges faced by Hong Kong banks in keeping offshore yuan Hong Kong’s offshore yuan pool risks drying up as offshore paper trades at its widest discount in more than two years, prompting mainland importers to avoid coming to Hong… – Continue reading

THE CHATTER: Protests raise fears for Hong Kong banking sector

PEERING down from their gleaming tower blocks at pro-democracy activists on the streets, Hong Kong’s bankers and traders cannot help but worry that the island’s financial community will pay a heavy price if the city further infuriates Beijing. Hong Kong lives with the threat that its crucial role as China’s… – Continue reading

How Apple’s Cork HQ became the centre of a bitter global war over corporate tax avoidance

The Californian corporation is Cork’s largest private employer, but has not won over all local hearts and minds. Now the city is at the heart of a fight over taxation that involves not just Ireland but also the European commission and the US senate Anger is mounting in Cork. The… – Continue reading

Cabinet approves offshore insurance

The Cabinet yesterday approved deregulation plans that would allow domestic life insurers to sell policies to Chinese clients through their offshore units. The Cabinet gave its go-ahead after trimming proposed tax breaks for offshore insurance units (OIU) to 10 years, from 15 years as suggested by the Financial Supervisory Commission… – Continue reading

Billionaire Brothers Avoided Taxes by Hiding Stock

Back in the eighties and nineties, the Wyly brothers ran, and owned huge stakes in, a weird bunch of public companies, including some craft stores, some software companies, and a reinsurer. These companies were good and made the Wyly brothers a lot of money. An odd biological fact is that… – Continue reading

Alibaba’s $21.8 Billion Inversion

Inversions are technically a financial transaction where a corporation from one country, say the United States, merges with a company in a foreign country, say Ireland. Nothing changes in the United States from a business point of view, except that the value and financial sustainability of the corporation goes up significantly. Why… – Continue reading

Key Tax Considerations of Sending Employees Overseas

The issue of international assignees was, for a long time, limited to a small number of companies – meaning only those that operated on an international scale. But in recent years, global expansion has shifted into focus for the larger business community. As a result, the challenges and best practices… – Continue reading

Paul Christopher explores BVI-HK connection at Business BVI’s Annual Asia conference

On 11 September 2014, Business BVI held its Annual Asia conference in Hong Kong — ‘Pivoting to Asia: the pathway to new opportunities’. Paul Christopher, managing partner of Mourant Ozannes’ Hong Kong office, appeared as a panellist in a key panel discussion on the event’s programme, entitled ‘The BVI-HK connection:… – Continue reading

Google, Apple and Amazon under fire in OECD war on tax evasion

The OECD wants to force businesses to declare their turnover and number of employees in each country where they are active. Among the multinationals targeted are digital giants Google, Apple and Amazon. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has announced an international action plan called “Project BEPS”, to target… – Continue reading

Hong Kong Signs on to New OECD Global Tax Standards

HONG KONG – The government of Hong Kong has recently announced that it will support the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) new global standards on the automatic exchange of information for the purpose of enhancing tax transparency and combating cross-border tax evasion. Earlier this year, the OECD released… – Continue reading

ICBC to clear RMB business in Luxembourg

BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) — The Luxembourg branch of China’s largest lender, ICBC, has been appointed as a clearing bank for renminbi business in the European country, the Chinese central bank said on Tuesday. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) made the decision in accordance with a memorandum of understanding… – Continue reading

British Virgin Islands suffers amid push against money laundering

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3fbed922-3d51-11e4-871d-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz3Eo63WbfR The British Virgin Islands has long attracted Chinese companies looking to… – Continue reading

Hong Kong supports tax information exchange standard

HONG KONG, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) — China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government supports the new global standard for automatic exchange of financial account information which can enhance tax transparency and combat cross-border tax evasion, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury KC Chan said here Monday.     “It… – Continue reading

BNY Mellon backs London to lead European race for offshore RMB

London and Singapore are fast closing the gap on Hong Kong in the race to become centres for offshore renminbi business and capitalise on Beijing’s ambition to make the RMB a global currency. Fred DiCocco, Asia-Pacific head of sales & relationship management for BNY Mellon’s Treasury Services business, says London… – Continue reading

United Kingdom: Recent Chinese Tax Changes Affecting The Shipping Industry

On 1 August 2014, the “Provisional Measures on the Collection of Tax on Non-Resident Taxpayers Engaged in International Transportation Business” (2014 No.37 Notice, the “New Regulations”) came into force. The New Regulations could have a significant impact on owners as they seek to streamline and tighten up the regulations in respect of… – Continue reading

India losing $1 trillion annually to corruption: Study

Last year, $20 trillion disappeared into secret off-shore tax havens across the world — an amount that can save 3.6 million lives annually. A study conducted by the UK-based NGO, ONE, has found that corruption, tax evasion and corporate malpractices is leading to monetary losses of the scale that could… – Continue reading

Hallyu star Jang Keun-suk probed for offshore tax evasion

South Korea’s tax agency is looking into allegations that actor-singer Jang Keun-suk, who is popular throughout Asia, evaded paying taxes on income he earned in China, sources said Tuesday. The National Tax Service (NTS) launched an investigation after obtaining documents from the prosecution regarding suspected tax dodging by an agency… – Continue reading

The Real Tax Benefits of Inverting to Canada

On August 26, Burger King announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire Tim Hortons, Inc., the Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain, in a transaction that will be structured as an “inversion” (i.e., Burger King will become a subsidiary of a Canadian parent corporation).  The deal is expected to close in 2014… – Continue reading

China’s SAT Investigates Transfer Pricing

In its ongoing efforts to control tax evasion, China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) has recently published an instruction (Tax Office General Fa [2014] No 146), calling on national and local tax bureaus to investigate transfer pricing practices of Chinese enterprises. Under scrutiny by the SAT are all transactions involving… – Continue reading

101 Countries Sign Up For FATCA Network

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) has been in force for a month and still more countries are joining the tax network. So far, 101 countries and financial jurisdictions have either signed or agreed to join FATCA. FATCA is aimed at identifying US taxpayers with offshore bank accounts and investments. Overseas… – Continue reading

Double Tax Arrangements in Nigeria: Imperatives for a wider network

THE National Tax Policy (NTP) has identified double taxation as one of the major hindrances to the growth of the Nigerian economy. Double taxation has become an issue paramount to investors and top executives of multinationals as income is generally taxable both in source and residence countries. In order to… – Continue reading

G20 to press for ‘rapid timeline’ for exchange of tax information

NEW DELHI: G-20, a group of developed and developing nations, is likely to press for adoption of “rapid timelines” by different countries for automatic sharing of information with a view to curb tax evasion. The issue of automatic sharing of tax information would figure prominently during the meeting of G-20… – Continue reading

Offshore incorporations up in Cayman and worldwide

Despite the political and media pressure on offshore financial centers, new incorporations of offshore companies worldwide continue to grow. A new report on offshore company incorporations by law and fiduciary firm Appleby shows that new company registrations increased in most offshore jurisdictions in the second half of 2013. “As the… – Continue reading

Cayman included on FCA high-risk list

The Cayman Islands, an important international business competitor for Bermuda, is expressing “consternation” that they have been included on a new list of high risk jurisdictions for financial crime. There are a total of 95 countries listed including Brazil, Afghanistan, Cuba, Russia, China, Iraq, the Republic of Congo and Jamaica…. – Continue reading

10 Facts About FATCA, America’s Manifest Destiny Law Changing Banking Worldwide

Never heard of FATCA? You will. FATCA—the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act—is America’s global tax law. It was quietly enacted in 2010, and after a four-year ramp up, it’s finally in effect. What is most amazing is not its impact on Americans—although that is considerable—but its impact on the world…. – Continue reading

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Identifies Data Collection and Reporting Requirements to Assist with FATCA Compliance

U.S.-China Agreement Requires Financial Institutions to  Increase Transparency and Enhance Reporting  Wolters Kluwer Financial Services recommends that financial institutions in China should take steps toward enhancing their data and reporting capabilities on financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in China as part of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. This recommendation… – Continue reading

Taiwan Strengthens Its Position as Offshore Yuan Banking Hub

Chinese yuan-denominated transactions in Taiwan have increased, according to central bank data. Increased business activity is expected to bolster ties between the two Asian economies. Chinese yuan-denominated deposits in Taiwanese banks increased on a month-on-month basis, for the month of July. The move highlights the growing interest in transactions related to the… – Continue reading