Republicans in Maine have been talking for years about the necessity of bringing jobs to our state. And I couldn’t agree more. Maine communities and families depend on private employers creating well-paying jobs here. For this reason, our legislature and governor have instituted many incentives to bring companies to the… – Continue reading
But reports of ‘brain drain’ plague agencies investigating financial crimes under new law Police in Hong Kong received 33,000 reports of suspicious financial transactions last year – a 12-year high and a 40 per cent rise from 2012 – after Hong Kong tightened its money-laundering laws. Police have initiated more… – Continue reading
Mauritian conglomerate Ireland Blyth IBLP.MZ says uncertainty over new tax rules by key trading partner India has affected its business by putting off investors using the Mauritius financial center to invest in India. Nicolas Maigrot, chief executive of the group which has a wide range of interests in financial services,… – Continue reading
India had received in $8.17 bn during April- January 2012-13 Foreign Direct Investment inflows from Mauritius have almost halved during April-January period of last fiscal to $4.11 billion on fears of impact of GAAR and possible re-negotiation of the tax avoidance treaty. India had received in $8.17 billion during April-… – Continue reading
A tax fraudster who hid his true wealth in the UK has been jailed for four years after police discovered he was building a £2.3 million ‘PALACE’ abroad. Mohammed Suleman Khan, 42, lived a luxury life in Birmingham despite no obvious income. But he was handling huge amounts of undeclared… – Continue reading
India is set to scrap the R15-crore threshold for referring every international transaction between an MNC’s arms for compulsory transfer pricing audit, and about to embrace a more focused approach to zero in on cross-border transactions with potential for tax evasion. The proposed risk-based selection of transactions between MNC arms… – Continue reading
If Taiwan does not reach a consensus with the US on a pact that would help Taiwanese financial institutions meet requirements for reporting tax before July, the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act by the US on July 1 this year could mean a 30% tax deduction on… – Continue reading
Potato king Paul Rennie has told a court he is unable to explain why he sent millions of dollars to tax havens in transactions revealed by a Project Wickenby investigation. The Federal Court heard Mr Rennie had been raided by federal police, who seized documents related to his Griffith-area potato… – Continue reading
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Banks in Hong Kong are now offering higher interest rates than their mainland cousins on new renminbi (RMB) currency deposits as the recent sharp fall in the Chinese currency dampened investor interest in holding Chinese assets. These aggressive measures will help bolster the offshore yuan liquidity… – Continue reading
A joint effort by India and the US to amicably decide on their respective shares of taxes from IT and ITeS companies operating in both countries is threatening to unravel, owing to a big, seemingly unresolvable gap between the transfer pricing (TP) margins individually determined by them. While New Delhi… – Continue reading
They have big money and experienced staff, and operate with effortless sophistication. These are some of the features of multinational companies that use complex instruments to avoid paying taxes especially in developing countries. Mindful of this, Uganda Revenue Authority is keeping on guard. The tax body has joined a global… – Continue reading
The schedule of the Russian parliament has been updated yet again and it appears that forex dealing regulation is coming back to the fray. According to recent reports by Russian media there might be some key amendments aimed to limit the participation of brokers residing in offshore financial centres (OFCs)…. – Continue reading
Dubai: Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone is trying to attract Malaysian investments by highlighting business-friendly opportunities offering a cost-efficient and business solution zone. Today, RAK FTZ is a home to over 7,500 companies from more than 100 countries and across 50 business sectors. This zone is an ideal gateway… – Continue reading
The much-anticipated initial public offering of Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group could be a double-edged sword for the company: Investors are drooling for a piece of the action in that country’s burgeoning online payment market, but its growing use in illegal transactions could attract scrutiny from Chinese government regulators. Alibaba,… – Continue reading
April 2 — The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced that countries that have reached intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) in substance under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act before July 1 will be treated as having signed agreements through Dec. 31, 2014, winning praise from practitioners. The government also said… – Continue reading
The department had slapped a tax demand of Rs 2,080 crore on the company last year while re-opening the assessment for AY 2006-07 and 2007-08. As Finnish phone-maker Nokia strives to meet the April 30 deadline for sealing the $7.2 billion deal with Microsoft, its tussle with the Indian tax… – Continue reading
The development of free trade zones and the rise of the new offshore market for the renminbi, will continue to ensure that offshore renminbi-denominated capital grows at a relatively fast pace. Standard Chartered Bank has projected that the total renminbi-denominated capital will grow by at least 40% to 2.5 trillion… – Continue reading
The Treasury Department added 19 nations to its list of countries that have reached agreements with the U.S. on carrying out a far-reaching law aimed at preventing offshore tax dodging by American citizens. The Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service said the 19 nations – including Australia, Brazil, South Africa… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON, DC: As the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) opened its doors to this year’s round of H-1B visa applications, data show that about 50% of last year’s H-1B visas were granted to offshore companies, and the top two of those are based in India – Infosys and Tata… – Continue reading
The decision by Luxembourg and Austria to automatically exchange tax data with other European Union countries has isolated Switzerland in the global crusade against banking secrecy, a Tax Justice Network (TJN) expert tells swissinfo.ch. The two European Union states caved in to demands last month by signing up to the revised… – Continue reading
The Bahamas needs to position itself as a ‘low tax’ jurisdiction to access potential benefits from tax and investment treaties with other countries, a Tax Coalition co-chair warning yesterday that a ‘flat’ or ‘no tax ‘ posture would “cause problems”. #Robert Myers told Tribune Business that the Bahamas needed to… – Continue reading
A call to tax technology companies such as Apple and Google in the countries where they have substantial activities has re-ignited concerns companies may be taxed twice and stop business altogether. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which is working on a global plan to prevent companies from avoiding paying… – Continue reading
Hong Kong may feel affect of any new law to uncover financial information China is expected to impose its own version of the new US tax law which requires financial institutions around the world to provide Washington with information on US taxpayers, analysts say. On March 25, the Secretary for… – Continue reading
It would be surprising if Union finance minister P. Chidambaram’s threat to his Swiss counterpart — to declare Switzerland an uncooperative nation for not sharing information on the 562 Indians who allegedly stashed their black money in Swiss banks — is actually carried out. The threat has trade implications. These… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Seeking to reduce litigations and promote foreign investments, the Income Tax department has signed Advance Pricing Agreements with 5 multinational firms and plans to enter into more such pacts. “We have signed 5 APAs so far. We will be signing more in the coming days. Foreign companies are eager to… – Continue reading
Recent discussions about the movement of capital and offshore accounts have to be a major cause for concern. During a Central Bank seminar recently, Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, sounded the warning that compliance with the recently passed Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Indian Tax authorities and the Swiss government could be headed for a showdown over what the Indian side regards as lack of co-operation from the Alpine country over access to information on bank accounts. Last week Finance Minister P Chidambaram wrote to his Swiss counterpart – officials… – Continue reading
Drowning in a sea of new financial regulations, and with IRS audits on the rise, some American citizens in Israel say they are weighing expatriation. That won’t work Tax attorney JoAnne Adlerstein has received some unusual phone calls of late. They’re from American clients living in Israel who are thinking… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Caterpillar Inc’s offshore tax strategies will come under scrutiny on Tuesday at a U.S. Senate hearing expected to examine dealings by the world’s largest mining and construction equipment maker in Switzerland, Bermuda and Luxembourg. With many multinationals being criticized for tax avoidance, veteran tax sleuth Senator Carl Levin… – Continue reading
The U.S. and Indian competent authorities are famously at loggerheads over the principles to be applied in transfer-pricing double-tax cases. Some of the important issues involved are: the appropriate markup on costs for services; when and how to reward location savings; and whether marketing intangibles exist. Virtually all of these… – Continue reading
The long arm of the American tax man has officially reached its way to Hong Kong. The question is, will it extend to the rest of China? Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, signed an agreement with the U.S. on Tuesday to share tax information about Americans who… – Continue reading
Hong Kong and the United States Tuesday signed an agreement on exchange of tax information. Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury,K C Chan, on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region( HKSAR) government, signed the agreement with the US consul general to Hong Kong and Macao,… – Continue reading
FATCA was enacted in the US in 2010 in an effort to combat tax evasion by US persons holding investments in offshore accounts. Isreli currency. Photo: Reuters This article is relevant to US citizens and green card holders living in Israel. The Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act is due to be… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, MARCH 25: In what could be a source of comfort to multinational companies, the Income Tax Department is set to ink the first set of advance pricing agreements (APAs) with MNCs on March 31. Seven-eight agreements may be signed by the month end, informed sources said. An advance… – Continue reading
A looming global crackdown on aggressive tax avoidance is set to stop internet companies slashing bills by routing profits to havens. Plans to “restore taxation” in the countries where digital companies make their sales and base their headquarters were set out on Monday in the first international response to the… – Continue reading
RIYADH, March 24 (KUNA) — Saudi Arabia and Hungary have signed an agreement for double taxation avoidance and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital, and its related protocol. The deal was signed by Saudi Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf and Hungarian… – Continue reading
Caterpillar (CAT:US) Inc. began defending its international tax maneuvers as a U.S. Senate investigative panel set an April 1 hearing to examine the company’s “offshore tax strategy.” Representatives from Caterpillar and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP will testify, according to the hearing notice posted today by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The committee, led… – Continue reading
LONDON — They are the most expensive and luxurious flats in the whole of London. Their ultramodern bay windows offer an unobstructed view onto Hyde Park. An underground corridor connects them to the Mandarin Oriental, the palace where Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal has one of his prized restaurants. In total, the… – Continue reading
A report by the Government Accounting Office details who took part in the first voluntary disclosure program for offshore accounts. If you made an honest mistake and failed to keep up on international account reporting requirements, it is important to spe March 25, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ — Congress has been on… – Continue reading
As 2008 began, the future looked brilliant for green energy giant Suntech Power and its high-flying founder, Shi Zhengrong. Suntech was one of the world’s largest makers of solar panels, the first non-state-owned Chinese company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. And Shi, born to a farm family so… – Continue reading
Despite bilateral trade touching $83M in 2012, the two countries have greater ambitions given the untapped opportunities that the destinations offer. UAE Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri stressed that the bilateral relationship between the UAE and Luxembourg is witnessing significant progress across the economy, trade and investment… – Continue reading
Both sides express interest in collaborating on small and medium enterprises and the renewable energy sectors Abu Dhabi: Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, has reaffirmed the importance of economic relations between the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Malta during the visit of Dr. Christian… – Continue reading
An inability to open a bank account is not news for everyone in Hong Kong. Just ask the long-suffering American residents. “Nobody wants to deal with the US citizen account signatory, whether it is a company account or an account for my own financial needs,” said Ross Feingold, a director… – Continue reading
SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s tax office said Thursday it has launched an investigation into the country’s largest entertainment agency amid rumors of offshore tax evasion by the company that manages some of the top K-pop celebrities. The National Tax Service (NTS) recently sent dozens of auditors to… – Continue reading
Mar 21, Colombo: Sri Lanka will sign a revised agreement with Singapore for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income, the government media unit said. The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval for the President, in his capacity as the… – Continue reading
Argentina’s tax agency head is meeting FIFA President Sepp Blatter today to tell him how soccer teams are evading taxes in the $3.7 billion player trading market. Ricardo Echegaray has traveled to the soccer ruling bodyâs headquarters in Zurich to inform Blatter that his agency has detected techniques used by… – Continue reading
More bits of information have emerged regarding China’s secretive, young billionaire Perenna Kei. After Forbes Magazine put Kei on their list of the world’s youngest billionaires, the search for details began. Most publications could not confirm her identity, as several photos were published mistakenly labeling Kei. A new photo of… – Continue reading
The Canada-BVI Tax Information Exchange Agreement (“TIEA”) came into force on 11 March 2014. The TIEA was signed in May 2013, and the effective date provisions are set out in Article 13 of the Agreement. The BVI is now party to 25 TIEAs. What are the benefits? The BVI/Canada TIEA is significant due… – Continue reading
Vice Prime Minister Liviu Dragnea declared on Thursday after his meeting with the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region K.Y. Leung that Romania and Hong Kong will start negotiations for the signing of the double taxation agreement that was already discussed last summer during Prime Minister Victor… – Continue reading
NAIROBI (Xinhua) — The Kenyan government on Monday signed an agreement with the Seychelles to phase out double taxation on companies from the two countries. Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Treasury Henry Rotich said the elimination of double taxation will promote flow of investments, trade and labor between the two countries. “ Kenya has… – Continue reading
