Category: Indonesia

Companies give positive responses to govt tax cuts

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – The government step to offer cuts on income tax for firms willing to revaluate their assets, as promised in its economic policy package, has received positive responses from many companies. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro is convinced that numerous companies have been interested in conducting asset revaluations… – Continue reading

Bermuda: Day Of The Deed

Article by Patrick W Martin and Ashley Fife With a net worth of USD77.1 billion, Mexican telecoms businessman Carlos Slim Helú was ranked the second richest person in the world in a 2015 survey.1 At the end of 2014, 16 of Mexico’s citizens were on Forbes’ billionaires list.2 As for… – Continue reading

Trust company ‘ready to move on’ from controversy

The founder of a Singapore-based trust company that came under fire in 2013 for data breaches and allegations of aiding tax evasion said it is “time to move on”. Mr David Chong said his Portcullis TrustNet, which has since been renamed Portcullis Group, is busy planning for the future after… – Continue reading

Thousands of Defiant Foreign Investment Companies Probed

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said that a total of 4,000 foreign investment (PMA) companies were under scrutiny over tax evasions. “Mostly, [the companies] practiced transfer pricing,” Bambang said at his office on Tuesday, October 27, 2015. Bambang explained that the probe was not about the potential of… – Continue reading

UPDATE 1-Indonesia’s Lippo to shift REITs from Singapore to Indonesia-CEO

JAKARTA, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group plans to shift two real estate investment trusts (REITs) with 35 trillion rupiah ($2.6 billion) in assets from Singapore to Indonesia next year in order to benefit from new tax breaks offered by Jakarta. Lippo’s move could be followed by at… – Continue reading

Govt Drops Double Taxation Rule for REITs

Jakarta. The Indonesian government revealed its fifth stimulus package on Thursday in a bid to prop up the economy by, among others, scrapping double taxation imposed on companies called real estate investment trusts to improve property investment. The package was announced by Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Coordinating Minister for Maritime… – Continue reading

Mauritius eyes Africa as pressure mounts on offshore business

Mauritius beats Singapore as the world’s top route for foreign investment to India and is a hub for thousands of firms managing half a trillion dollars in assets. But there are only a sprinkling of office blocks in Ebene Cybercity, the heart of the tiny Indian Ocean island’s financial services… – Continue reading

Banking Secrecy Law Must Be Revised: Observers

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Perkumpulan Prakarsa (Center for Welfare Studies) executive director Setyo Budiantoro viewed that the government must revise the banking secrecy provisions in the Law on Banking to reduce illicit outflows from Indonesia. According to Budi, Indonesia applies regulations that require citizens to report their wealth in all… – Continue reading

OECD lists the top 10 toughest countries on tax evasion

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is behind the new measures to automatically exchange tax information between nations and manage the differences on how tax issues are dealt with. Top ten countries The contractor management specialist CXC Global has identified the ten countries with the most aggressive approach… – Continue reading

Transnational laws needed to curb fires

To solve the problem of the haze afflicting Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, extraterritorial action is needed to quench the forest fires in Indonesia that are generating the haze. A cross-border solution is a necessary answer even if it raises questions of national sovereignty. The Singapore Government should implement laws that… – Continue reading

TODAY, SHANGHAI; NEXT UP, TORONTO

Bloomberg BNA’s first transfer pricing conference in Asia—the latest offering in our Global Transfer Pricing Conference series with Baker & McKenzie—could not have been better timed. The day the conference opened, Sept. 17, China issued a revised draft circular on transfer pricing that completely changed the game for multinational companies… – Continue reading

Practice Transfer Pricing Cause Indonesia Loss Rp 100 T

JAKARTA – Indonesian Institute of Accountants (IAI) considers Indonesia may not completely avoid the impact of the practice of transfer pricing. Therefore, Indonesia must prepare regulatory and law enforcement strong to protect the interests. The practice of transfer pricing is one of the activities of neo-liberalism. According to the National… – Continue reading

Private banking: Singapore, Indonesia in private banking tug-of-war

Indonesians hold $300 billion in Singapore; controversial tax amnesty on the cards. Indonesia’s finance minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told Euromoney earlier this year that tax collection falls way short of targets and must improve to provide funding for infrastructure and other projects It doesn’t take much for Indonesia’s government officials to… – Continue reading

Indonesia and the Netherlands sign Protocol to amend existing Tax Treaty

On July 30, 2015, the Netherlands and Indonesia signed a protocol (the “Protocol”) amending an agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion, originally signed on January 29,… – Continue reading

RI to adopt financial data exchange globally

The government is looking to adopt a global standard on exchange of financial information in 2017 in the hope of addressing the country’s tax revenue issues, according to a Cabinet minister. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said the move would enable the government to collect financial data on accounts belonging to… – Continue reading

Promoting FDI through a tax treaty

In addition to its main function to eliminate double taxation, a tax treaty is also intended to promote foreign direct investment (FDI). Investors normally consider the treaty networks of a targeted investment country in deciding their investments. The more extensive the treaty networks, the more attractive for the investors. Extensive… – Continue reading

Asian economies need to increase tax revenues, OECD says

The governments of emerging Asian economies need to look at new revenue streams to make their economies more competitive and boost living standards, the OECD said in a new report, reports Tax News. The report, Revenue Statistics in Asian Countries: Trends in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, notes these countries’… – Continue reading

Singapore bankers rattled by Asian moves to chase hidden wealth

Singapore-based wealth managers, already under pressure from a global move towards tax information sharing, face a more immediate threat as Asian countries including Indonesia and India look to chase undeclared money in the low-tax city state. A global crackdown on tax evasion launched during the 2008 financial crisis has already… – Continue reading

Singapore shipowners seeking more double taxation agreements

The Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) is pushing for the city-state to have more double taxation agreements. Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, Rene Pedersen, chairman of the SSA International Committee said, “Singapore today has some 65 double taxation agreements and that’s actually not a lot.” By comparison the UK… – Continue reading

Taiwan, China to sign taxation, air safety agreements (update)

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Taiwan and China will sign two agreements on taxation and aviation safety in their next high-level meeting to be held in Fuzhou, China later this month, a senior official of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced Tuesday. The meeting between the chiefs of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange… – Continue reading

Tax authorities urged to be more vigilant over the super-rich

Revenue authorities need to be “vigilant” in monitoring the super-rich, according to research that called on many of them to improve their scrutiny of their richest taxpayers, reports the Financial Times. The study by the Paris-based OECD is a further sign of the pressure on tax departments to squeeze more… – Continue reading

Growing trend: Islamic finance goes offshore

The rise of Islamic finance and sukuk issuances have brought with it a growing phenomenon: Shariah banking is increasingly taking advantage of offshore banking jurisdictions, and this for a number of reasons, reports the Gulf Times. Many offshore centres around the world meanwhile offer a wide range of features allowing… – Continue reading

Labuan IBFC Targets Indonesian Businesses

The Labuan International Business and Financial Centre is attempting to encourage more Indonesian companies to register in the jurisdiction to take advantage of its low-tax regime and trading and investment links with key economies in the Asia-Pacific region. The Labuan IBFC held the Jakarta chapter of its ASEAN (Association of… – Continue reading

Singapore’s easiest days as a finance hub are over

SINGAPORE’S easiest days as a financial hub are over. The city remains a gateway to Asia, a great base for basing multinationals, settling lawsuits and parking money. But elsewhere, the city is being sidelined; the worry is that is a sign of things to come. In just 50 years, the… – Continue reading

US$21tril to US32tril stashed away in tax havens pose economic challenge

CAPITAL flight to offshore tax havens, estimated at between US$21 trillion to US$32 trillion, poses a major challenge especially in tackling income inequality, poverty and debt issues. In total, 10 million individuals around the world hold assets offshore, with almost half of the minimum estimate of US$21 trillion to US$9.8… – Continue reading

George Osborne visits Paris for two-day talks — EU reform

The Prime Minister took small bites as he tucked into the Indonesian street food alongside a local celebrity, singer and actress Maudy Ayunda. “London is not a place to stash your dodgy cash”. Transparency worldwide says shell companies are a common way for moving corrupt money around the world. Some… – Continue reading

David Cameron: UK property no safe haven for ‘dirty money’

Foreigners must not be able to buy UK homes with “plundered or laundered cash” as part a global effort to defeat corruption, David Cameron has said. Speaking in Singapore, the prime minister vowed to expose the use of “anonymous shell companies” to buy luxury UK properties – often in London…. – Continue reading

Double taxation in the AEC and tax credits in Thailand

The long-awaited formation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) is just over five months away. Drawn by the promise of a freer flow of goods, services, investment, capital and skilled labour, many businesses need to study how to prevent or reduce the effects of double taxation. Double taxation results from… – Continue reading

Indonesia Chasing Overseas Money

Jakarta, GIVnews.com – The Indonesian government is mulling over a tax amnesty plan that is projected to add billions of dollars to the state’s tax revenue. This huge amount of money, if realized, could help boost development and government spending in a country which have recently undergone its slowest economic… – Continue reading

Indonesia considers tax amnesty for financial crimes – tax office head

Indonesia’s tax office is considering a tax amnesty for financial crimes, in a move that could bring at least 100 trillion rupiah (US$7.5 billion) into state coffers, the director-general of taxes said on Wednesday, reports the Swiss Info. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is grappling with its weakest growth in six… – Continue reading

Indonesia hopes tax amnesty will lure back capital

Indonesia hopes to bring billions of dollars in financial assets parked overseas back home – by pardoning past financial crimes. A Bill on tax amnesty is expected to be discussed in Parliament this year, said Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro. “A tax amnesty should not be seen simply as pardoning those… – Continue reading

LPC-Turkish borrowers target Asian loan investors

Turkish banks and companies are trying to sell syndicated loans to Asian investors after a drop in Asian lending but investors are wary of increasing Turkish exposure due to political instability following June’s elections, bankers said. Turkish borrowers are targeting Asian investors in a bid to extend loan maturities after… – Continue reading

New transfer pricing law aims to counter tax planning

Tax avoidance can be defined as aggressive tax-planning strategies and structures by multinational companies that take advantage of the gaps or mismatches in tax rules to shift profits to low-tax locations. While many countries around the world have either general or specific anti-avoidance legislation to tackle this problem, the current… – Continue reading

India joins the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI)

India joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information on 3rd June, 2015, in Paris, France, alongwith Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Indonesia and New Zealand. On our behalf, the Declaration to comply with the provisions of the MCAA was signed by H.E. Mr. Mohan Kumar,… – Continue reading

Indonesia to tighten corporate debt financing rules

May 13 Indonesia’s finance ministry plans to tighten a tax regulation to ensure firms’ have sufficient cash buffers against the amount of debt they take in a bid to better manage their foreign debt exposure and boost the government’s tax revenue. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told a press conference on… – Continue reading

Govt’s will to bring back black money is on test

India’s stand will show many nations in Asia and Africa the way to regain ill-gotten wealth stashed outside their countries “We have no information on any accounts held by Indian citizens in banks in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Dubai or any other country. We have no information on the names of persons… – Continue reading

Corporate Investigations & White Collar Defense – April 2015

In This Issue: • It’s Stifling in Here! SEC Rules That Companies Can’t Put Restrictive Language in Confidentiality Agreements That Could Potentially Stifle Whistleblowers • An Opinion on Opinions: U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Omnicare • Is OFAC the New Black? Schlumberger and PayPal—The Rise in the Enforcement of Sanctions… – Continue reading

Government of India versus FPI: Is there a solution?

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Markets fell 500 points on Monday. Punters’ worries about current tax disputes between Modi Sarkar and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) being one reason why the Sensex dived. There has been a battle of phrases between FPIs and North Block. And it looks as if this will be a… – Continue reading

Firms may raise record $20 bn via offshore bonds in ’15: Vijayan Subramani

Indian companies had raised a record $18.6 billion in 2014 through offshore bonds. This year, it may cross $20.50 billion, says MD, Treasury and Markets, India, at DBS Bank Vijayan Subramani. In an interview with Bhavik Nair, Subramani indicates Singapore dollar-denominated bond issues from India are likely to make a… – Continue reading

China: Asia Tax Bulletin – Spring 2015

CHINA Tax Free Reorganisations • With circulars 109 and 116 jointly issued in December 2014 by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation, the Chinese authorities have relaxed the conditions for internal reorganisations. • Circular 109 deals with internal reorganisations. Provided the pertinent requirements are met, the… – Continue reading

China helps Indonesia track $500 million of ill-gotten assets

Chinese authorities will cooperate with Indonesia to confiscate more than $500 million of ill-gotten assets illegally transferred to China by corrupt Indonesian banking officials. Under the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between China and Indonesia that took effect in 2006, the Ministry of Justice will “give support… – Continue reading

OECD: employment tax burdens rise despite static income tax rates

Taxes have risen by around one per cent on the average worker’s wage in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries since 2014, although the majority of governments have not increased income tax rates, the OECD has said. In its Taxing Wages 2015 report, the OECD looks at the… – Continue reading

Individual Tax Burdens Continued To Rise In 2014

Taxes on wages have risen by about one percent for the average worker in OECD countries between 2010 and 2014, even though the majority of governments did not increase statutory income tax rates, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) Taxing Wages 2015 report. According to the… – Continue reading