The Cayman Islands as one of the leading offshore financial centres have a great level of uncertainty in its future with all the recent developments around tax compliance. One looming uncertainty is the European Union’s (EU) Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) passport. The AIFMD is one of several measures… – Continue reading
Pakistan has decided to revise obsolete convention of double taxation and provision of fiscal evasion convention with the United State of America (USA) aimed at bringing the treaty at par with neighbouring countries, well informed sources told Business Recorder. Pakistan and US signed a convention on the avoidance of double… – Continue reading
Taipei, Aug. 27 (CNA) Taiwan and Japan have nearly completed negotiations on a bilateral agreement to avoid double taxation, a Taiwanese official said Thursday. The date of its signing is still being discussed, the official said. The negotiations on the agreement have almost been concluded, Chou Shyue-yow (周學佑), deputy director-general… – Continue reading
Three-member AP Shah Committee has recommended extending minimum alternate tax (MAT) relief to foreign companies which do not have permanent establishment or public business in India. In an earlier version, the committee had sought to restrict MAT to foreign institutional investors and foreign portfolio investors. The committee had also not… – Continue reading
Tightening noose on tax evaders, the government and the Income Tax department will keep a closer eye on those with foreign assets and income, which even includes the negligible interest earned on bank deposits, small earnings while on a short trip abroad or even an online project that paid you… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Finance is making all possible attempts to resolve tax related disputes through proper dispute mechanism framework agreement with global as well as domestic companies with a spirit of equity and fairness so that the growth being aimed at is scaled and additional employment opportunities created as intended… – Continue reading
A recent Central Board of Direct Taxes (‘CBDT’) press release of August 6, 2015 announced signing of 2 unilateral APAs, including one with a rollback provision, and this has raised hopes of many MNCs, that hope to witness expeditious and reasonable closures. n July 2012, with a view to providing… – Continue reading
The Bahamas Ministry of Financial Services (MoFS) and the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) once again are collaborating on a broad outreach in Asia, using the 2015 China Offshore Summit series as an anchor event, reports The Bahamas Weekly. The Summit series (2 events annually) is designed specifically to educate… – Continue reading
This month’s feature examines proposals for new tax information reporting requirements for large multinational businesses as part of wider and ongoing changes to the international tax system – proposals which have been described by international tax experts as the most significant development in the field of transfer pricing since TP… – Continue reading
After the leak of two major secret documents from HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm that revealed names of roughly 2,000 Indian account holders, the global bank itself has done it now. For the first time ever, HSBC Singapore shared a new list of 1,200 individuals all across the globe of… – Continue reading
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted in 2010 by the Government of the United States of America (USA) (Govt. of US) with a view to combat tax evasion by U.S. citizens and residents through the use of offshore accounts. FATCA requires financial institutions globally to share information about… – Continue reading
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) producing or selling their products in China have had to contend with the commercial, legal, and tax challenges of managing how their intellectual property (IP) is used in relation to their Chinese operations. Regulatory approvals for joint ventures operating in China have often required that IP rights… – Continue reading
CHINA: MANAGING IP TAX CHALLENGES IN BEPS ENVIRONMENTABU DHABI // The UAE Embassy in Nairobi has temporarily suspended its consular services, it was confirmed on Tuesday. An employee at the embassy said that Kenyans wishing to apply for a work visa or attestations for the UAE will not be able… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Public Security has announced a state-wide crackdown on underground banking to block the funnelling of ‘grey funds’ China’s Ministry of Public Security said on Monday that it would launch a three-month crackdown on underground banking to curb money laundering and illegal funds transfers as unstable markets stoke… – Continue reading
The Revenue Department may soon come out with a circular on providing relief to FIIs from the minimum alternate tax (MAT) with retrospective effect. “Government is likely to soon issue circular giving relief to FIIs on MAT prior to April 1,” a senior Finance Ministry official said. The government-appointed AP… – Continue reading
Money laundering experts say there is no way for Canadians to know how much dirty money is being laundered in Vancouver real estate through Canadian lawyers. As a Province investigation revealed Monday, Canada’s financial intelligence unit Fintrac has ramped up an audit of Vancouver’s booming property market because of concerns… – Continue reading
In an assessment of money laundering and terrorism financing risks, Luxembourg scored in the bottom half of a ranking of 152 countries carried out by the Basel Institute on Governance, reports the Luxemburger Wort. The institute says that its AML (Anti-Money Laundering) Index is the only such review carried out… – Continue reading
Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood’s recent comments over the call drops seems to have snubbed the government officials. Sood, off lately had said that “The (telecom) minister’s and secretary’s comments don’t count as the view of the entire government”. The matter has now been raised with the company (Vodafone) says… – Continue reading
India will soon settle international tax disputes with close to 120 American companies as well as entities from Japan and other such countries, according to the nation’s Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das. Earlier this month, India announced a Framework Agreement under the mutual agreement procedure provision of the India-US tax treaty… – Continue reading
Aug 24 (Reuters) – Switzerland expects to adopt a new law by the end of the year that will speed restitution of illicit funds stashed in the Alpine country, where thousands of ‘politically exposed persons’ are believed to hold bank accounts, a top Swiss official said on Monday. Swiss authorities… – Continue reading
Investigator says Canadian real estate market has developed reputation as a place to launder money A report prepared for Canada’s anti-money laundering watchdog points to offshore cash in the real estate sector as a “significant risk” for criminal wrongdoing. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, commonly known… – Continue reading
The multinational companies in Latin America demand security, efficient services, infrastructure and good educational standards, but they are not very willing to contribute themselves by paying their fair share of tax. Honduras is a case in point, and is one of the most unequal countries on the continent. The government,… – Continue reading
As another corporate reporting season in Australia draws to a close, the broad trend has been moderately underwhelming earnings results, combined with a rise in the earnings repaid to shareholders in the form of a dividend. During this recent reporting period Australian firms returned, on average, 73% of their profits… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: The contribution of withholding taxes in direct tax revenue surpassed 75%, and brought in more than Rs860 billion to the government’s kitty in 2014-15. On the other hand, the number of tax return filers went down considerably from 1.8 million in 2006 to 0.85 million in 2014-15. Is there… – Continue reading
Fuzhou, China, Aug. 24 (CNA) Lin Join-sane (林中森), chairman of Taiwan’s semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), arrived in the southeastern Chinese city of Fuzhou on Monday in preparation for the next round of high-level meetings with his Chinese counterpart. Lin and the SEF delegation were greeted by Chen Deming (陳德銘),… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: As it steps up its crackdown on tax evasion and laundering of black money through stock markets, regulator Sebi has busted an ‘innovative’ scheme wherein HNIs were incurring ‘bogus losses’ to offset tax liabilities. The probe, which has resulted in an interim ban on 59 entities, including HNIs and… – Continue reading
A round of capital flight is taking place in China, with many of the country’s wealthy rushing to send their assets abroad to dodge an imminent introduction of inheritance tax. A significant example is the recent purchase of a luxury house in Hong Kong by Alibaba founder Jack Ma for… – Continue reading
A new paper shows that British banks engaged in more offshore banking than any other financial centre. Researchers examining the resilience of the world’s financial centres after the global economic crisis conclude that the future stability of the UK is perhaps the most uncertain of all. The paper concludes that… – Continue reading
India opposed the proposal saying it impinges on the sovereign rights of developing countries in taxation New Delhi: An international proposal to make arbitration mandatory and binding under mutual agreement procedures (MAP) in tax treaties has been dropped after India strongly opposed it. Last year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation… – Continue reading
Hopeful of settling disputes with 120 US companies in next 3 months NEW DELHI, AUG 23: India will, in the next three months, settle tax disputes involving 120 US companies, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das has said. This will be done under the new framework agreement on Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP)… – Continue reading
Ireland has made “little or no” effort over the past four years to create a corruption-free playing field for global trade, violating its “obligation to combat cross-border bribery”, reports the Irish Times. The Transparency International Exporting Corruption report, released on Thursday, found that Ireland, along with countries such as Russia,… – Continue reading
To check black money generation, the government today approved signing and ratification of the agreement between India and Seychelles for exchange of information with respect to taxes, reports the Economic Times. The agreement will stimulate the information exchange between India and Seychelles for tax purposes, which will help curb tax… – Continue reading
According to recent estimates, Estonia, which is situated halfway between Stockholm and St. Petersburg, currently has more than 350 start-up technology companies – one for every 3,700 citizens – and the government expects this number to reach 1,000 by the year 2020. This makes Estonia the number one start-up technology… – Continue reading
A case is pending before an appellate court in South Korea that could allow refunds of certain amounts of tax withheld on payments distributed to Luxembourg SICAVs. If the appeals are ultimately decided in favor of the SICAVs, they could be entitled to a refund of the difference between the… – Continue reading
Management and procurement services not taxable as “fees for technical services” under the India-UK income tax treaty: India’s Authority for Advance Rulings concluded that services rendered by a group director to its group company in India were “managerial services” that, as rendered by the UK procurement team, did not make… – Continue reading
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
Banks overseas, spooked by India’s stringent new black money law, are asking tough questions of people and entities from the country looking to open accounts with them, reports the Economic Times. That’s because it’s not just those who possess unaccounted wealth who will get punished, those found guilty of helping… – Continue reading
Aug. 19 — Tax authorities and practitioners around the world are awaiting a Canadian court’s ruling on the legality of Canada’s legislation to comply with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. The Federal Court of Canada is due to issue by Sept. 30 a ruling on the validity of the… – Continue reading
Many have, mistakenly, confused the prime minister (PM)’s recent remark that Rs 6,500 crore had been disclosed by holders of hitherto unaccounted money with disclosures under the compliance window in the recent law on the subject. However, this money has nothing to do with the latter’s three-month window. These came… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: In a bid to persuade legislators to withdraw their opposition, the government on Wednesday hinted at reviewing the Rs10 million limit that it proposed for treating tax evasion as an offence under Anti-Money Laundering Act. The government showed this flexibility during a meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Finance and… – Continue reading
19/08/2015 – Increasing tax revenues and ensuring sustainable domestic resource mobilisation will be critical as emerging Asian economies seek to boost the provision of public goods and services and improve economic growth and living standards. Revenue Statistics in Asian Countries: Trends in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines shows that the… – Continue reading
Turkmen parliament ratified the country’s convention with South Korea on double taxation avoidance and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to income taxes, the Turkmen government said August 19. Aside from that, according to the government message, the parliament ratified the country’s convention with Austria on avoidance of double taxation… – Continue reading
International finance centers play a significant role in Russian foreign direct investment (FDI). For example, in 2012 it was observed that 11 of the 40 main recipients of Russian FDI were IFCs. Of these finance centers, the largest recipients were the BVI, the Cayman Islands and Cyprus. Despite the popularity… – Continue reading
In May of 2012, and soon before Facebook’s IPO, Eduardo Saverin renounced his U.S. citizenship. Saverin was a co-founder of the social-networking site, and the consensus was that he gave up his citizenship to avoid U.S. taxes that would be levied after the offering. Saverin was widely denounced for his… – Continue reading
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
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
Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Chinese yuan-denominated deposits held by banks operating in Taiwan were lower at the end of July from a month earlier on rising awareness of the downside risks in China’s economy, according to analysts. Analysts said recent volatility in share prices in China’s equity markets and interest… – Continue reading
With the objective of long-term sustenance of wealth created both inside as well as outside India and continuous revenue generation, high net-worth individuals (HNIs) in India have decrypted and adopted innovative methods for asset protection and estate planning. The latest addition to the existing gamut of methods are offshore investments… – Continue reading
Commercial banks have been facilitating tax evasion for choice clients by misusing their inter-bank tax-free facilities and have cleared billions of rupees in July without deducing the 0.3% withholding tax. According to sources in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and commercial banks, these banks have misused the mechanism of… – Continue reading
A Protocol to Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between India and Denmark that has entered into force on February 1, 2015, has been notified by Notification No. 45/2015/F No. 503/02/1998-FDI-I, to expand the scope of Exchange of Information (EOI) clause under Article 26 by substituting the same with a new Article… – Continue reading
