Category: Asia

Ireland translates aviation success to ship leasing according to new report

Ireland is growing as a global maritime business hub and its strengths in asset leasing could provide an alternative source of finance for shipping, according to a new report commissioned by the Irish Maritime Development Office and authored by tax advisors KPMG and legal firm Dillon Eustace, reports Splash. The… – Continue reading

Navigating unchartered waters

Finance professionals will play a key role in dealing with changes brought about by a global project to combat corporate tax avoidance. A GLOBAL effort to tackle the problem of companies that attempt to reduce their tax burden by exploiting loopholes in tax rules will impact the way global businesses… – Continue reading

Belarus-Georgia agreement on avoidance of double taxation ratified

MINSK, 15 October (BelTA) – The House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus ratified the Belarus-Georgia intergovernmental agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital on 15 October, BelTA has learned. It is expected that the agreement… – Continue reading

Starbucks, Fiat Decisions Seen in First Wave of EU Tax Cases

Starbucks Corp. and a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV unit are set to be first in the firing line as European Union regulators issue a series of rulings over tax breaks for global companies, including Apple Inc. The EU may issue decisions against Starbucks and Fiat as soon as next week… – Continue reading

New Report Sounds Alarm on US Corporate Tax Rate

Do your individual clients howl about paying too much federal income tax? Just wait until you get an earful from your business clients. Advertisement A new report from the Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning think tank located in our nation’s capital, found that the United States has the third-highest marginal corporate… – Continue reading

Mylan CEO Heather Bresch: We needed tax inversion in order to grow

The chief of the generic drug company discussed her “counterintuitive” strategy for creating U.S. jobs. Mylan is one of a handful of U.S. companies that has recently completed a controversial tax inversion, as the generic drug company moved its official base to the Netherlands earlier this year. While the decision… – Continue reading

BEPS: CURRENT STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

Last week’s OECD release of the final package of measures for a coordinated international approach to the reform of the international tax system, under the OECD/G20 base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project, marks the end of the discussion and recommendation phase, and the start of the implementation and practical… – Continue reading

Federal Council adopts dispatch on double taxation agreement with Oman

Bern, 14.10.2015 – Today, the Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the new double taxation agreement (DTA) with Oman and submitted it to Parliament for approval. The agreement will promote bilateral economic relations and contains provisions on the exchange of information upon request in accordance with the OECD standard. Aside… – Continue reading

Conference Focuses on Intersection of Tax Law and Citizenship

Tax experts from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and Israel spoke at a two-day conference at Michigan Law about the challenges of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and a multitude of other issues at the intersection of the law of taxation and citizenship. Panel discussions at… – 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

CBDT inks 4 more advance pricing pacts

MUMBAI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on October 13 signed four unilateral advance pricing agreements (APAs), including India’s second APA with a rollback provision. The nature of the transactions covered under these agreements varied from software development to share price valuation. According to government sources, the total number… – Continue reading

A Pakistani, who has failed in Pakistan, combating tax evasion abroad

ISLAMABAD: Talent is universal, opportunities are not. A Pakistani is combating tax fraud in America and Russia using the same technology he earlier employed in Pakistan discovering 3.5 million out-of-tax-net rich individuals. Unlike the appreciation of his efforts abroad, the data he compiled in Pakistan has been thrown into the… – Continue reading

Max Biaggi Injured in MTB Crash, Uncertain for Qatar, also Under Investigation for Tax Fraud

After confirming that he would take part in the final round of the 2015 World Superbike Championship in Qatar, Max Biaggi’s presence at Losail this weekend is no longer a sure thing. The multiple World Champion has taken a fall from his mountain bike and sustained muscular injuries that may… – Continue reading

Companies prepare for BEPS with mock runs to fix potential tax problems

MUMBAI: Several multinationals, including Indian companies with a global presence, have initiated impact assessments to identify and fix potential problems in their tax reporting when countries start implementing a new international standards to check tax avoidance by multinationals. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) last week released the… – Continue reading

Beyond the Black Money Bill

No focus on stock markets and other money-laundering machines After all the noisy assertions, only Rs4,147 crore of unaccounted wealth was declared during the special 90-day compliance window of the The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Act, 2015 (Black Money Bill). Of this, just Rs2,488 crore will… – Continue reading

Dhaka, Thimphu in talks to sign double taxation avoidance deal

Staff Correspondent The National Board of Revenue on Monday started negotiations with Bhutan to sign an agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion and capital flight from the country. A five-member delegation led by NBR chairman Md Nojibur Rahman has been carrying out the first round… – Continue reading

NBR to sign deal with Bhutan to avoid double taxation

Bangladesh is set to sign an agreement with Bhutan to avoid double taxation to boost investments, trade and facilitate information exchange between the two Saarc nations, the National Board of Revenue said in a statement. A team led by NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman is now in Thimpu to take… – Continue reading

Your Taxes: OECD starts the BEPS tax revolution

Israeli importers and exporters, hi-tech and trading groups will all be in the base erosion and profit shifting firing line. On October 5 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published a final comprehensive package of measures aimed at multinational corporations, large and small, that engage in BEPS – base… – Continue reading

Geneva Bank Jobs Fall to Lowest Since Crisis Amid Regulatory Woe

Banking jobs in Geneva slipped to the lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis amid regulatory pressures, tax scrutiny and consolidation in the Swiss finance industry, according to lobby group Geneva Financial Center. Employees at banks in the city fell 3 percent to 18,855 in the 12 months through August,… – Continue reading

India-Israel to sign pact on double tax avoidance

India and Israel will sign a double taxation avoidance pact and explore ways to ramp up engagement in diverse sectors during President Pranab Mukherjee’s three-day historic visit to the Jewish state, the first by an Indian Head of State, beginning tomorrow, reports NDTV. Ahead of his visit, Israel said the… – Continue reading

OECD publishes ‘Base Erosion Profit Shifting’ (BEPS) recommendations BEPS will have a broad impact on the region’s businesses, says PwC

PwC welcomes this effort to update international tax system and boost transparency. The tax landscape has been transformed by the globalisation of business and the advent of the digital age. We believe the existing international tax rules need to be modernised to reflect how business is done today, and it… – Continue reading

Record redemptions for offshore yuan debt as China opens onshore door wider

Chinese measures to steady its rocky markets are putting the future of the offshore yuan bond market at risk, prompting record redemptions from so-called dim-sum debt funds and choking new issuance, reports Reuters. Just a few years ago investors were lining up to buy these offshore bonds denominated in a… – Continue reading

Ireland wins as UBS shifts fund from Cayman Islands

Swiss fund manager will use new Irish Icav structure to move product from the Caribbean domicile UBS has shifted a fund of hedge funds onshore to Ireland from the Cayman Islands, delivering another blow to the reputation of the Caribbean tax haven as the domicile of choice for international hedge… – Continue reading

China tracks 800bn yuan in embezzled money

Authorities in China have been doubling their efforts since April to track down illicit assets exported overseas. The People’s Bank of China, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange have been working together in this operation. Chinese… – Continue reading

GSK, Novartis and Crédit Suisse put Switzerland on a high

Swiss firms have bagged major business from global brands such as GSK, Novartis and Crédit Suisse this year, while their Asia ventures have come good. The legal minds behind the Glaxo-SmithKline and Novartis asset swap, global banking investigations, Schaeffler’s €2bn high yield bond issuance and Dufry’s £1.05bn takeover of Nuance… – Continue reading

Leumi to Reclaim Bonuses From Executives After U.S. Tax Fine

An independent panel appointed by Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. recommended that a former chairman and chief executive officer both return bonuses after the lender agreed to pay a fine to U.S. authorities in a tax probe. An insurer for the former bank officials will pay an additional $92 million. Leumi,… – Continue reading

Blueprint signals thaw in India-Maldives ties

During Sushma Swaraj’s visit, the nations also sign pacts on avoidance of double taxation and tax information exchange New Delhi: India and the Maldives have drawn up a new blueprint for bilateral ties that included closer economic and defence cooperation, pointing to a thaw in the relations following the Maldives’… – Continue reading

India: Government Amends Income Tax Rules To Comply With Requirements Under Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

The Government of India, Ministry of Finance had on August 7, 2015, in order to comply with the information reporting requirements of the US’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (hereinafter referred to as ‘FATCA’), made amendments in the Income-tax Rules, 1962. WHAT IS FATCA’S BACKGROUND? FATCA is a broad set… – Continue reading

Government committed to timely implementation of AEOI in Hong Kong

Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The Government will, in the light of stakeholders’ views collected during consultation, refine the legislative proposals for implementing in Hong Kong the new international standard on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters (AEOI), a government spokesman said today (October 12). Hong Kong pledged… – Continue reading

Ministers, officials urged to submit financial disclosures – Panel recommends FATCA approval

KUWAIT: The Cabinet has called on ministers and senior officials of state bodies to submit their financial disclosure reports to the Anti-Corruption Authority as soon as possible. The call was made by the Cabinet during its customary weekly meeting held at Bayan Palace yesterday under chairmanship of HH the Prime… – Continue reading

Trouble Ahead for Hong Kong

Both internal and external factors threaten politics, economics Hong Kong’s run of good luck is running out. One obvious sign is the increasing interference of Beijing in its domestic affairs, most recently using tame Chief Executive C.Y. Leung and a clique of yes-men to interfere in a senior academic appointment… – Continue reading

Mauritius plans derivatives platform in bid for African business – minister

EBENE, Mauritius, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Mauritius plans to launch a trading platform to hedge African currencies against the U.S. dollar, part of a bid to expand its role as a financial hub for the continent, the financial services minister said. The Indian Ocean island is also in talks to… – Continue reading

Justice Department Focuing on Offshore Account

At a recent tax conference a senior Justice Department official reaffirmed the commitment of the U.S. Department of Justice to continue offshore enforcement efforts. As is widely reported the official stated: “We are well beyond Switzerland at this point,” she said, citing enforcement announcements concerning India, Israel, Liechtenstein, Panama, the… – Continue reading

Fears over money laundering in Australia

A former head of Australia’s anti-money-laundering agency wants tough rules introduced to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for foreign corrupt funds. Despite credible warnings that large volumes of illicit money leaving China are being laundered in Australia, an investigation by ABC programme Four Corners has found no… – Continue reading

Reformation: Oversight committee formed to implement tax reforms

KARACHI / ISLAMABAD: The government on Saturday constituted an oversight committee to implement tax reforms, particularly proposed by the Tax Reforms Commission (TRC), which have so far been blocked by well-entrenched forces in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Finance Minister Ishaq Dar constituted the seven-member committee to be headed… – 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

The ownership of UK property through offshore entities

The Government has expressed a commitment to improving levels of UK corporate transparency but a recent Private Eye article [1], documenting the extent of ownership of British Land through offshore entities, shows just how far there is to go. By far the most common reason for owning UK property through… – Continue reading