(ECNS) – Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s restructuring of his business empire is not a retreat from the city or tax avoidance, said Chen Jingwei, chairman of the Hong Kong China Chamber of Commerce. Li surprised the market by reorganizing his business empire into two new groups, one for property-related… – Continue reading
* PBOC extends $8 bln in pilot scheme for Swiss investors * Sydney, London, Frankfurt among global yuan trading centers * Swiss bankers welcome the move to tap China growth DAVOS/ZURICH, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Switzerland’s central bank said on Wednesday it had agreed with the People’s Bank of China… – Continue reading
2014 was a year replete with new legislative and regulatory initiatives impacting federally regulated financial institutions. The key initiatives introduced or implemented in 2014 are outlined in our annual year in review. PRUDENTIAL REGULATION: GUIDANCE FROM OSFI Proposed New Bail-in Regime for Large Banks On August 1, 2014, the Government… – Continue reading
SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES in most cases begin with choosing the right jurisdiction to host a company that will form part of an international business. Depending on the company’s activities, the choice will depend on the range of double taxation treaties and the availability of tax reliefs followed by a host… – Continue reading
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese property companies are having to turn to more expensive sources of finance as problems at developer Kaisa Group make it increasingly difficult for them to get credit in the offshore market. Kaisa’s failure this month to make an interest payment on a dollar bond has… – Continue reading
The thrust of the Indian government’s economic policy is encouraging, particularly the tax reform of proposed introduction of goods and services tax. NEW DELHI, JAN 20: Germany has made a case for ‘respecting the secrecy’ of any information shared with India for tax administration purposes. This stance assumes significance given… – Continue reading
Voltaire wrote “If you see a Swiss banker jumping out of a window, follow him, there is sure to be a profit in it”. Following this train of thought India is seen to be ruined by a cartel of Swiss bankers, terrorists and corrupt industrialists. Unlimited black money is apparently… – Continue reading
Voltaire wrote “If you see a Swiss banker jumping out of a window, follow him, there is sure to be a profit in it”. Following this train of thought India is seen to be ruined by a cartel of Swiss bankers, terrorists and corrupt industrialists. Unlimited black money is apparently… – Continue reading
The Tax Story in 2015: Myths, Misconceptions and Reality Checks by Aswath Damodaran, Musings on Markets Each of us believes that we pay our fair share in taxes and that it is other people that do not, and not surprisingly, we find evidence to back up our priors. I find… – Continue reading
Jan 20 (Agencies): The Modi government has decided not to divulge details of the 627 account holders being probed in the black money case. On Monday, the centre filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court asking it to dismiss senior advocate Ram Jethmalani’s petition that seeks details of the 627… – Continue reading
Observers of offshore financial centres will know that post 2008 they have been weathering a perfect storm. Firstly, reduced transactional flows, simply because there is less money available for structured finance and investment generally. Secondly, a constant barrage of negative publicity, which deliberately seeks to conflate tax evasion and tax… – Continue reading
A recent clarification issued to Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) clarified that fund managers of FPIs who are present in India would not be treated as permanent establishments in India, addressing the concern that the FPIs may be taxable in India to the extent attributable to permanent establishments. An extension of… – Continue reading
A person who earns income must pay tax in the country he earns in as well as the country he resides in. In order to avoid this, India has signed Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with many countries so that the income is taxed only once. To claim this benefit,… – Continue reading
Asia’s ultra-high-net-worth-individuals (UHNWIs) are expected to hang onto their wealth for longer, as succession planning becomes an increasingly pertinent issue among this investor demographic elsewhere in the world. According to a new report by consultancy Wealth-X, around US$16 trillion of global UHNWI wealth is expected to be handed over to… – Continue reading
Although the Swiss authorities are poised to initiate formal talks for the return of the plundered money, the Pakistani government remains dilatory to sign a formal agreement for the purpose; it was learnt here on Saturday. Sources said that government in order to avoid face-off with Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP)… – Continue reading
Jan 19 (Reuters) – Chinese companies that have borrowed heavily in dollars face sharply higher currency hedging costs at a time when the yuan’s rising volatility means they need to hedge more. The yuan unexpectedly weakened 2.4 percent against the dollar in 2014, its first significant loss since the landmark… – Continue reading
In the world of offshore asset protection and personal finance, you regularly come across the claim that there are only two countries that actively tax their residents’ worldwide income: the United States and Eritrea. All other countries only tax income earned at home. That’s apparently no longer true. It turns… – Continue reading
New Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has dismissed concerns from business and tax experts that changing the international tax rules could result in Australia losing mining tax revenue to nations like China, describing it as a “furphy”. Mr Frydenberg has also raised Australia’s competitiveness internationally as a concern, saying corporate taxes… – Continue reading
New Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has dismissed concerns from business and tax experts that changing the international tax rules could result in Australia losing mining tax revenue to nations like China, describing it as a “furphy”. Mr Frydenberg has also raised Australia’s competitiveness internationally as a concern, saying corporate taxes… – Continue reading
Taiwan’s central bank said that the nation’s Chinese yuan remittances rose 44% at the end of last December Taiwan’s central bank said on Jan. 16 that Chinese yuan-denominated remittances from Taiwanese banks at the end of December last year rose about 44% from a month earlier, amid warming business ties… – Continue reading
SINGAPORE: A revised Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation (DTA) was signed between the Republic and France on Thursday (Jan 16). The revised DTA offers improved terms for businesses such as lower withholding tax rates for dividends and includes anti-abuse provisions, according to a joint press release on Friday…. – Continue reading
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) information exchange network has gone live and is receiving the first reports on the financial affairs of US taxpayers. The online network links tax authorities in 110 countries and more than 145,000 financial institutions with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Financial institutions outside… – Continue reading
Potential impact on American citizens and Israeli citizens living in the United States should not be ignored January 14, 2015, St. Louis, Missouri…A historic agreement between Israel’s second-largest bank and the United States government could lead to substantial financial penalties or even potential criminal prosecution for United States citizens and… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Despite an acceleration of terrorist activity and attacks in Pakistan, the government appears to have gotten worse at tracking terrorism financing in the last four years, flagging just 34 transactions – out of hundreds of millions in that period – as suspicious. This startling revelation was made by Mansoor Ali,… – Continue reading
Earlier this month, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) released revised transfer pricing guidelines, providing a better defined view of how the IRAS will handle transfer pricing matters. IRAS has explicitly noted that the arm’s length principle should be applied on a transaction-by-transaction basis, which suggests that each transaction… – Continue reading
It explains how recent amendments to the Singapore-UAE Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement will translate to more savings for UAE tax residents when they fund Singapore companies. Singapore (PRWEB) January 14, 2015 With the recent signing of the protocol to amend and improve the Singapore-UAE Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Top officials from IT, BPO and eCommerce sectors today requested Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to address certain issues related to taxation in the Budget 2015-16, and provide incentives for setting up data centres in the country. They also suggested that the minister look at ways to help in… – Continue reading
Under Kazakhstan law, generally, both resident and non-resident legal entities may own shares in a Kazakhstan bank. National Bank Pre-Transaction Consent. Generally, there are two thresholds entailing the necessity to obtain the National Bank of Kazakhstan (the ‘NBK’) (financial regulator) pre-transaction consent: (i) “large participant”, whereby an entity controls ≥10%… – Continue reading
With foreign investment, energy security and strategic partnerships at the top of his agenda, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi criss-crossed eight countries, including the US, Australia, Japan and Nepal, meeting more than 40 international leaders in the first six months of his tenure. Mr Modi is riding high on… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) -– So how did the previously obscure term tax inversions become part of Washington parlance, fodder for the next presidential campaign and the issue that helped derail a U.S. Treasury nominee? Thank, or blame, depending on your perspective, cutting-edge tax lawyers, populist Democrats, a banana seller, a drugmaker, a… – Continue reading
While Chinese officials aren’t required to disclose their assets publicly, citizens have remained largely in the dark about the parallel economy that can allow the powerful and well-connected to avoid taxes and keep their dealings secret. By some estimates, between $US1 trillion and $US4 trillion in untraced assets have left… – Continue reading
Top officials from IT, BPO and eCommerce sectors today requested Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to address certain issues related to taxation in the Budget 2015-16, and provide incentives for setting up data centres in the country. They also suggested that the minister look at ways to help in growth of… – Continue reading
On 6th January 2015, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS”) released revised transfer pricing guidelines, providing a better defined view of how the IRAS will handle transfer pricing matters. These guidelines call for taxpayers to prepare and maintain contemporary transfer pricing documentation. In addition, they specify thresholds for related… – Continue reading
* Bonds up around seven points * Kaisa missed bond coupon payment last week * Case could be test of China’s bankruptcy law (Adds comments, updates price) By Umesh Desai HONG KONG, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Bonds issued by Kaisa Group rose sharply on Tuesday after the embattled Chinese property… – Continue reading
RAMALLAH, January 12, 2015 (WAFA) – Premier Rami Hamdallah slammed Monday Israel’s ongoing withholding of Palestinian tax revenues as illegal. “Israel’s ongoing withholding of Palestinian tax revenues is illegal and stands in violation with international laws and norms,” said Hamdallah during a meeting with Representative of India to Palestine Mahesh… – Continue reading
Jurisdictionally speaking, the Internal Revenue Code attempts to cast a broad net. The United States taxes its citizens’ income on a worldwide basis, regardless of residency. As every American expat knows all too well, this means overseas earnings must be reported to the IRS as taxable income. It matters not… – Continue reading
By next year, the US Internal Revenue Service will require all Israeli businesses to declare whether any shareholders are US citizens. The US Foreign Account Compliance Act (FATCA) regulations are being more broadly applied by Israeli banks. Now that banks in Israel have completed signing up private customers on declarations… – Continue reading
Globally, the sphere of taxation has witnessed a constant tussle between its primary players – while governments continually strive to maximise revenue and widen the tax base through successive amendments to tax laws and streamlining tax administration, taxpayers seek to arrange their affairs in a manner so that the incidence… – Continue reading
A senior Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officer attached to the investigation wing of the Income Tax department here is under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is probing a multi-city income tax evasion scam involving senior Income Tax (I-T) officials, chartered accountants and businessmen, The Hindu… – Continue reading
Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou said Tuesday that the Republic of China and Ireland have enjoyed close exchanges in recent years and that the two sides are now negotiating on signing an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation to further boost bilateral trade. The president noted that… – Continue reading
In its recent Asia-Pacific Residential Review, global property consultancy Knight Frank has said that Hong Kong and Singapore have the highest tax burdens on foreign property investors. It notes Singapore and Hong Kong have imposed taxes on foreign property buyers, such as additional duties, as a “macro-prudential tool … to… – Continue reading
Bonds issued by Kaisa Group rose sharply on Tuesday after the embattled Chinese property developer said it had received a waiver from HSBC Holdings on a loan it failed to repay in late December 2014. Kaisa, which is struggling with the sudden departure of senior executives, government officials blocking sales… – Continue reading
CDE Op-Ed CommentaryGiven the recent problems American trading companies are having in establishing bank accounts in Hong Kong, viable alternatives need to be found. These issues, which are directly related to the American IRS carrying out extensive investigations in Hong Kong concerning breaches of the new FATCA regulations, have made… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — Australia is set to become the newest entrant to the Islamic debt market this year as a solar-power joint venture seeks to sell a debut sukuk in Malaysia’s offshore tax haven of Labuan. SGI-Mitabu, run by The Solar Guys International and Mitabu Australia Pty, has revived a plan… – Continue reading
The man who blew the whistle on the HSBC tax scandal tells Sky he first raised concerns seven years ago, when Labour was in power. Herve Falciani, the man who exposed a tax scandal at HSBC by leaking thousands of account details from a Geneva branch, says he first raised… – Continue reading
Bangladesh central bank has summoned local HSBC officials over recent reports in global media alleging the bank’s involvement in helping clients to evade taxes. The multinational bank’s Dhaka officials have been asked to come to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Thursday. “Recent media reports claim that a lot of people… – Continue reading
Some Indian financial intermediaries are looking to no less than the US President to ease recent regulatory pangs. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) created a headache for many local intermediaries, even as they rang in the New Year. The law requires intermediaries abroad to provide information on clients… – Continue reading
India has pushed for fast implementation of the automatic exchange of information that would help to trace transactions of money illegally stashed abroad. The issue was raised by minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha at the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors. “The minister advocated for… – Continue reading
Chinese nationals and companies operating overseas, who hold their fortunes outside of China, will soon be required to pay taxes on their worldwide earnings come Feb 1. Part of Beijing’s New Year resolution to crack down on tax avoidance and evasion, the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) and new penalties will… – Continue reading
New Delhi, Jan. 11: US President Barack Obama’s visit during Republic Day is expected to set the tone for closer engagements with India as the two nations look to boost bilateral trade to a targeted $500 billion. Obama is the first US President to not only attend the 26th January… – Continue reading
