A new initiative to monitor MNCs moving headquarters to evade taxes promises success Largely unnoticed, India has come out strongly supporting an international initiative for plugging tax avoidance by multinational corporations (MNCs). The initiative has been endorsed at the last meeting of G20 finance ministers at Cairns in Australia. Known… – Continue reading
The NDA government is sending a high-level delegation to Switzerland in a bid to persuade them to assist with details of the 700-odd Indians who have bank accounts with the HSBC Bank in Geneva. This is being seen as the last-ditch attempt by the Indian government since the Swiss authorities… – Continue reading
Foreign investors, not to mention the country itself, need a more stable and predictable regime Foreign companies are depressingly used to run-ins with the Indian taxman. A string of groups, including Vodafone, IBM and Cairn Energy, have been hauled into the dock for not paying their dues in recent years…. – Continue reading
Chennai: Issues relating to Nokia erupted during the UPA regime at the Centre and the company disputes escalated when the DMK was in power, said industries minister P. Thangamani. He was responding to the DMK president M. Karunanidhi’s statement about the Nokia debacle. The minister said it was the Congress-led… – Continue reading
India may have to wait longer for joining “selected” countries with whom Switzerland plans to do automatic exchange of information on tax matters, even as Indian and Swiss officials will meet soon to iron out their bilateral arrangements on suspected tax evasion cases. Switzerland has started a process for putting… – Continue reading
Tax Justice Network Africa, which campaigns against harmful tax policies that favour the wealthy and perpetuate inequality, has moved to the High Court to stop a double-taxation treaty between Kenya and Mauritius. Mauritius is a popular tax haven for companies with multinational operations, tilting scales against countries that sign bilateral… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Vodafone welcomed an Indian court ruling in favor of the British mobile giant which was engaged in a $490-million tax battle with local authorities. The tax fight is one of several embroiling the British company that has become a symbol of problems facing foreign firms doing business in… – Continue reading
Vodafone has emerged victorious against the Indian taxman in the latest bout of litigation between the two. The important point for the rest of us being what it tells us about those endless claims of tax avoidance and tax evasion by large companies. It’s not just that large amounts of… – Continue reading
A tax civil society has sued National Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich over an ‘illegal’ agreement signed with Mauritius, in a major litigation that could affect thousands of companies operating in Kenya. The suit filed at the High Court by Tax Justice Network-Africa (TJN-A) demands that Rotich withdraws a taxation treaty… – Continue reading
The Hackett Group predicted in a 2012 report that this year would be the start of an eight-year death of offshoring to India Yahoo! just made about $9 billion in cash from Alibaba Group’s initial public offering, and investors are licking their lips at the thought of how Marissa Mayer… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India and Japan will soon sign an advance-pricing agreement (APA), a move that will provide certainty to investors at a time the country is looking to attract big Japanese investment. “I am happy to mention here that APA between India and Japan in a particular company’s case has… – Continue reading
Yahoo! just made about $9 billion in cash from Alibaba Group’s initial public offering, and investors are licking their lips at the thought of how Marissa Mayer might spend it. Snapchat? AOL? Well, here’s one area you shouldn’t expect her to invest in: offshoring more jobs to India. The company… – Continue reading
BANGALORE, India — One of the world’s biggest cellular phone manufacturing plants, located in the southern India city of Chennai, will stop production of mobile phones and down shutters after Nov. 1. Microsoft, its lone customer, has terminated a subcontract agreement. “Microsoft has informed Nokia that it will be terminating… – Continue reading
American NRIs who invest in India are up in arms that since April this year a large number of Indian mutual funds have stopped accepting investments from them. Some mutual funds’ websites explicitly say so, while others have opted for quietly discouraging any such investors that turn up. And this… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India’s largest realty firm DLF today said it has not received any findings from authorities on alleged service tax evasion of about Rs 30 crore. The company was replying to the clarification sought by stock exchange NSE on reports that DLF has come under the scanner of central revenue officials for… – Continue reading
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) are conducting their business operations in India. Former BJP leader, Govindacharya has filed a case, raising concerns against the usage of e-mail services by offshore providers for official purposes by government officials. His Public Interest Litigation (PIL) also mentioned the tax evasion by… – Continue reading
Port Louis: Pitching itself as the gateway for Africa, the scenic Mauritius is looking to attract more Indian investments across diverse sectors, including education and deep sea mining segments.The island nation provides “liberalised investment procedures and ease of doing business” while film shooting is another area that offers benefits for… – Continue reading
The Delhi High Court has sought clarification from the Union Government on the issue of tax evasion by Internet companies with regard to their business operations in the country. The Court also asked whether the recipients of services would be liable to pay tax if the service provider was outside… – Continue reading
PORT LOUIS: Mauritius has provided details on majority of information requests received from Indian authorities in the last one year, according to a government official. India has concerns that Mauritius, which is one of the top sources of foreign direct investments into the country, is being used for round-tripping of… – Continue reading
PORT LOUIS: Dispelling ‘misperceptions’ that Mauritius is a tax haven, its financial sector regulator has said the island nation is in discussions with India to address concerns and make changes to the bilateral tax treaty. Emphasising that the country provides stability and predictability for investors, Mauritius’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) sought to… – Continue reading
Vittorio Colao, who is currently on an India visit, said he would be open to listing his company in the country Vodafone Group chief executive officer (CEO) Vittorio A Colao does not rule out the possibility of a settlement of his company’s Rs 16,000-crore tax dispute with the Indian government… – Continue reading
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to rollout a red carpet for investors during his visit to the US at a time when his ambitious “Make in India” campaign, which is aimed to turn the country into a global manufacturing hub, needs huge investments. In meetings over the past month… – Continue reading
High-tax countries unable to compete with tax havens have instead opted to subjugate them Rivalry between governments to attract capital and labour can lead to pro-growth policies. That this comes from the power of people to “vote with their feet” has been known for long. For instance, it was the… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The administration of M/s Shaheen Air International Limited and other respondents have moved Sindh High Court (SHC) and filed a Constitutional Petition (CP) against Pakistan Customs in order to defend themselves in their alleged involvement in tax evasion of Rs 4145 million. According to details, the Model Customs Collectorate-… – Continue reading
India’s desire to have a global system, which will ensure tax-evaders will have no sanctuary anywhere, received a shot in the arm when finance ministers of G-20 nations took a concrete step in this regard. At their meeting in Australia on Sunday, they endorsed a plan to exchange tax information… – Continue reading
Multinational companies could be robbing Uganda of billions of shillings through double taxation treaties (DTTs), a new survey has revealed. The study, DTTs in Uganda: Impact and Policy Implications, by Seatini Uganda and ActionAid, shows that many companies are extracting resources and selling their goods and services in Uganda, but not… – Continue reading
The new global standard, as formulated by OECD in July, would be common for all countries The G20 on Sunday decided to put in place a mechanism for automatic exchange of tax information between various countries by 2017, a development which will help India in dealing with the menace of… – Continue reading
The finance ministers of the G20 nations on Saturday resolved to tackle Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) to make sure companies pay their fair share of tax. “We have also agreed to increase transparency and crack down on tax evasion,” said an official statement after the first day of… – Continue reading
CAIRNS/AUSTRALIA: India may have scored a big win in its efforts to receive information on black money stashed away overseas as the G20 grouping of nations is set to endorse on Sunday a framework for automatic exchange of information on bank accounts, putting an end to global bank secrecy. A… – Continue reading
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
Cyprus has accepted a key condition put forward by India on effective exchange of information on tax avoiders Cyprus has accepted a key condition put forward by India on effective exchange of information on tax avoiders, hoping its move, which comes amid continuing talks on amending their mutual tax treaty,… – Continue reading
Tax authorities in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka state, are looking into why Amazon India does not pay value-added taxes – as required under the VAT Act, 2003 – on goods stored in its warehouses. The investigation was first reported by Deccan Herald late last month. Now the matter has… – Continue reading
India has seemingly reached an impasse with both Cyprus and Mauritius over the re-negotiation of their respective double taxation avoidance agreements (DTAA). For the former, the disagreement relates to Cyprus’s status as a notified jurisdictional area (NJA) in India, whilst for the latter, it pertains to the update of their… – Continue reading
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
The Centre is likely to take a final call on the controversial General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) only by next February. The decision may well be announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley in his next Budget presentation. “The finance ministry has started holding discussions on the issue but no hurried… – Continue reading
New Delhi: Talks between India and Cyprus on amending their bilateral tax treaty appear to be deadlocked over India’s demand to include a limitation of benefit (LOB) clause, which restricts benefits under the agreement to genuine resident investors of the Mediterranean island-nation. As a result, it may take longer than… – Continue reading
Using foreign stocks to diversify your portfolio can be a good move for investors looking to collect dividends and protect capital. But owners of dividend paying foreign stocks can find themselves being hit by another type of tax: foreign dividend withholding tax. Keeping as much of your dividends as possible… – Continue reading
Lagos, Sep 12 (IANS): In yet another sign of India’s growing trade ties with Africa, India’s High Commissioner to Nigeria A.R. Ghanashyam has said that trade between his country and this West African nation is likely to rise beyond $20 billion this year. “The last figure I have of trade between… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 11: Indian companies looking to raise money abroad through offshore bond issuances to overseas investors are in a bind, thanks to the new company law requirement around private placement of securities. They are now looking up to the Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA) to provide clarity on whether… – Continue reading
Minister, Embassy of Japan Mr. Isomata Akio asked India to exempt Japanese manufacturers, operating in India from withholding tax and Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) so that these do not evolve into being one of the trade barriers and stagger Japan from becoming India’s largest trade partner in times to come. Japan investments and technology… – Continue reading
The verdict serves as reference for invoking treaty abuse provisions in the absence of General Anti-Avoidance Rules Mukesh Butani September 7, 2014 Last Updated at 22:33 IST In a ruling demonstrating wise judicial discipline, the Delhi High Court (HC) recently upheld non-taxability of sale of shares in an offshore company… – Continue reading
(India and Switzerland are…) NEW DELHI: India and Switzerland are finding it difficult to break a deadlock over sharing information on secret bank accounts held in the European nation but both sides are close to finalising the first accord on a bilateral advance pricing agreement that will allow taxpayers to… – Continue reading
SUMMARY As per estimates, about 1-2% of the existing industry AUM of Rs 10 lakh cr comes from Canada and US-based investors. Indian AMCs have to register with the US SEC to market their funds in the US and follow SEC regulations to take fresh investments from the US citizens… – Continue reading
Audits may now be based on risk of tax evasion The government has dropped the Rs 15-crore threshold for referring transactions between a multinational company and its Indian subsidiary for compulsory scrutiny by the tax department. It might, instead, move towards a risk-based approach to identify international transactions prone to… – Continue reading
Fund houses have started asking foreign investors and distributors to furnish necessary details to comply with Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Fund houses have started collecting necessary information from foreign investors about their tax residency status in order to comply with the requirement of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act… – Continue reading
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
The Indian government’s bid to unearth black money stashed away in hidden offshore accounts is starting to pay off. The government believes around £350 billion is hidden in undeclared bank accounts and investments outside the country and wants to bring the tax owed on the money back to India. Nine… – Continue reading
Amazon has been accused of violating Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) laws in India by setting up business in the country. Seattle based Amazon.com, operating its business from Bangalore, is in confrontation with the Karnataka government’s commercial taxes department. While, the department argued that Amazon.com has violated FDI, regulations by making… – Continue reading
More to the point, extant global financial architecture facilitates transfer of illicit money through the Hawala route first to a Tax Haven, only to launder it in specialised locations like London. “There are 42,800 persons – let me repeat, only 42,800 persons – who admitted to a taxable income exceeding… – Continue reading
The Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the money laundering aspect of the multi-crore Saradha scam, has for the first time found evidence of the money being parked in offshore accounts. The ED sleuths, sources said, have found that Santanu Ghosh, chairman of Xenitis Group and an accused in the scam,… – Continue reading
