Unlike China, Japan‘s manufacturing activities rose in December. Flash PMI from HSBC came out at 52.1, up from 52 in November. A reading over 50 signals expansion. Meanwhile, the Nikkei newspaper reported that Japan’s government is considering lowering the corporate tax rate by 2.5 percentage points starting next April. Among… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Bilateral investment treaties that the government will enter into from now on will have a provision preventing foreign investors to drag India to arbitration on any issues that have been settled by a judicial authority. Wiser from being dragged to arbitration in numerous cases, such as the Vodafone… – Continue reading
HONG KONG (CNNMoney) — He left America at the age of seven, has never earned a penny there, but might owe the U.S. government $6,000 in taxes. Meet Elad Shahar, who was born in 1969 to Israeli parents in New York when his father was posted there for work. Anybody… – Continue reading
Abu Dhabi, 16th December, 2014 (WAM) – The Central Bank of the UAE organized a workshop on the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), to which banks and other financial institutions in the UAE were invited, on Monday, 15 December 2014 at its Head Office in Abu Dhabi. Squire… – Continue reading
Vodafone India’s tax problems have once again worsened after a tribunal arbitrating a dispute ruled last week that the tax authorities have the power to demand the operator pay tax in a transfer-pricing case. The case involves the sale of a call-centre business back in 2007, from which the country’s… – Continue reading
(MENAFN – Arab News) Ernst & Young one of the world’s leading professional services organizations hosted the 12th annual tax seminar on recent updates on Saudi Arabian zakat regulations and corporate income tax Law and its bye-laws in Jeddah on Thursday. Over 100 executives bankers and accountants attended this Seminar…. – Continue reading
If tax crimes remain civil in nature, foreign governments will not cooperate,” M.B. Shah, chairman of the Special Investigation Team on black money, said. Tax evasion needs to be made a serious “criminal offence” to force foreign countries to reveal names and account details of Indians stashing illicit wealth abroad,… – Continue reading
The latest World Bank quarterly report on Indonesia’s economy estimates that 50 percent of tax potential in the country remains untapped, causing the tax ratio — tax receipts as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) — to be very low at only 12 percent, among the lowest in the… – Continue reading
The debate on the goods and services tax (GST) in India has now grown beyond the merits of the tax and forayed into the question of its proper implementation. The unanimous support for the idea of a national tax seems to be based on the benefits of a nation-wide, single… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: The capital market regulator has plugged the loophole that allowed savvy mutual fund investors to lower tax by bonus stripping. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has spelt out that it’s not in favour of fund houses launching new schemes with bonus option in their arbitrage funds…. – Continue reading
Among 175 countries included in the Corruption Perceptions Index, Myanmar is ranked the 156th – being on par with Cambodia. According to Transparency International, which released the index earlier this month, both countries scored 21. Among Asia Pacific nations, Myanmar is the third most corrupt nation. The 2014 ranking showed… – Continue reading
A collection of valid points of view 1.The Island Editorial says 2. Further Analysis by Nalliah Thayabharan 3 More observations by Christie 4. Some more observations by Nimal 5. A Possible Solution by NeelaMahaYoda The Island Editorial says; “Opposition presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena claims that the government leaders’ corrupt deals… – Continue reading
They never really lived in U.S., but still have to pay taxes HONG KONG (CNNMoney) —He left America at the age of seven, has never earned a penny there, but might owe the U.S. government $6,000 in taxes. Meet Elad Shahar, who was born in 1969 to Israeli parents in… – Continue reading
JAKARTA, Dec 15 — Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to step up efforts to share tax-related information to tighten loopholes on tax evasion in each other’s countries, Indonesia’s finance ministry said. The commitment came after Indonesia’ Finance Minister met his counterpart Tharman Shanmugaratnam in Singapore today, the ministry said in… – Continue reading
The wise thing is to forget the past, bring reforms to prevent generation of black money Considering other man’s point of view is Decency — George Orwell This quality seems to be in short supply in India although it is the most needed even to understand any black money retrieval…. – Continue reading
A secret deal with the Swiss government negotiated by media group Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd when James Packer was chief executive set a tax rate of less than 2.15 per cent on PBL’s intra-company loans. “We do have good news for you!” Ernst & Young Swiss partner Markus Huber wrote… – Continue reading
Around the world, countries are desperately seeking ways to stop multinational companies from earning profits within their borders without paying taxes on them, while stashing trillions in tax havens like the Cayman Islands. The British government, after a search, says it knows how to tax the profits Google earns in… – Continue reading
SINGAPORE, Dec 15 (IFR) -China Construction Bank Corporation said its board had approved a proposal to sell up to Rmb80bn (US$12.9bn) in preference shares. It will sell up to Rmb60bn onshore and up to Rmb20bn offshore. Chinese banks have been selling preference shares to raise Additional Tier 1 capital, with… – Continue reading
Financial institutions around the world including those in Asia are struggling to stay compliant with local privacy regulations that restrict the sharing of client data, whilst at the same time trying to meet the demands of costly FATCA reporting requirements. FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which came into… – Continue reading
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is suffering massive revenue loss of Rs 361 billion per annum on account of estimated tax expenditure in direct taxes, ie, equivalent to 1.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a result of exemptions and concessions to various sectors. Former Finance Minister… – Continue reading
Tax evasion needs to be made a serious ‘criminal offence’ to force foreign countries to reveal names and account details of Indians stashing illicit wealth abroad, the Special Investigation Team on black money has said. ET SPECIAL: Save precious time tracking your investments NEW DELHI: Tax evasion needs to be… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: A major reshuffle has been effected in the CBDT, with the board’s Chairperson Anita Kapur deciding to assume exclusive charge of Income-Tax department investigations in order to personally spearhead ongoing probes into cases of tax evasion and blackmoney. The charge of I-T investigations, usually, is handled by a… – Continue reading
Dubai: Hong Kong and the UAE will soon start negotiations to sign an investor protection agreement on a bi-lateral basis, John C Tsang, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong told Gulf News during his visit to the UAE. “The agreement will create a lot more comfort for people who are investing… – Continue reading
On Dec. 12, 2014, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook on the Kingdom of Bahrain to negative from stable and affirmed its ‘BBB/A-2’ long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings. “At the same time, we revised our outlook on the Central Bank of Bahrain to… – Continue reading
The Income Tax Department has informed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money that prosecution proceedings for non-furnishing of account details by Indians stashing black money abroad are in progress in 27 cases (under Section 276 D of the I-T Act) and has even filed a case in court… – Continue reading
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated that Moscow does not intend to “physically drag money” to Russia in the framework of amnesty for capital returning to country suggested by Russian President Vladimir Putin. MOSCOW, December 13 (Sputnik) — Moscow does not intend to “physically drag money” to Russia in the… – Continue reading
Fiji is looking at reviewing its existing taxation agreements with other countries in the coming months. Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority chief executive, Jitoko Tikolevu, said these reviews are long overdue. As a consequence, negotiations for the review of Fiji’s Double Tax Agreement (DTA) with Malaysia was completed this week…. – Continue reading
RBI says it has no information on any offshore accounts, allegedly held by three industrialists as per list ‘released’ by Washington NGO; This list doesn’t mention any Swiss bank account PANJIM: There is no evidence in public domain of any of the three industrialists named by Goa Foundation Director Claude… – Continue reading
On 9 December 2014, the Government of Singapore and the Government of the United States signed an intergovernmental agreement (“IGA“) to facilitate the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA“) in Singapore. The IGA is based on the United States Department of the Treasury’s Model 1 IGA and… – Continue reading
This is a United World interview for USA Today for a report on Antigua and Barbuda. Brian Stuart-Young, CEO of Global Bank of Commerce and Non-resident Ambassador to China, spoke about opportunities for American investors in the energy sector, Antigua’s robust framework for financial services, and the potential for the… – Continue reading
Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, has said that tax legislation should remain unchanged for the next four years, and that he wants a one-off tax amnesty for individuals who repatriate capital to Russia. Addressing the Federal Assembly, Putin said that there is a need for stable legislation and predictable rules, which… – Continue reading
Stocks rose today for the first time in four trading days in the wake of a report showing strong retail sales in November and as oil continues its sharp decline. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 63.19 points to 17,596.34, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 9.19 points to… – Continue reading
The Swiss banking sector, which has been forced to give up its traditional secrecy, is now looking to China for new financial investment. “One of the first ports that the Swiss financial center is steering for is the port of China,” Claude Alain Margelisch, chief executive of the Swiss Bankers… – Continue reading
In the second half of the current calendar year, issuances had slowed. Most companies had front-loaded their fund-raising plans, in anticipation of a rise in US interest rates Fund raising by Indian companies through the offshore debt market is expected to rise in 2015 for refinancing of old loans and… – Continue reading
On December 10, Hong Kong and Japan exchanged notes regarding the exchange of information (EOI) provisions in their existing double taxation agreement (DTA) dated November 9, 2010. “The purpose of the exchange of notes with Japan is to expand the coverage of tax types under the EOI arrangement of the… – Continue reading
THE CONCLUSION of an air services agreement and training opportunities for Barbadians were among the areas discussed, when India’s High Commissioner, Subashini Murugesan, paid a courtesy call on Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Charles Burnett. Burnett received the High Commissioner on behalf of the Minister of Foreign… – Continue reading
Dubai, 11 December 2014: The UAE signed today the final agreement for the avoidance of double taxation on income with Hong Kong, during a meeting between businessmen and commercial banks from both parties in Dubai. The agreement was signed by HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial… – Continue reading
Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. (LUMI) expects to reach an accord with the U.S. government by next month over accusations Israel’s second-largest bank helped Americans evade taxes. “The management believes it is right to reach an agreement with authorities, just as global banks have done,” Leumi’s legal adviser Hanan Friedman said… – Continue reading
THAILAND has offered tax incentives for regional operating headquarters and international procurement centres for more than 10 years, but there are fewer than 300 companies operating ROHs or IPCs. Recently, the Cabinet approved a measure promoting Thailand as the shared-services hub of the Asean Economic Community. It is expected that… – Continue reading
A new UK tax on the ‘diverted profits’ of multinationals operating in the UK “is probably not needed, will be hard to apply and will raise little money” according to one expert. 10 Dec 2014 Corporate tax Tax International tax UK Europe Heather Self of Pinsent Masons, the law firm… – Continue reading
Hutchison Whampoa had profit of €429.6m but paid just €65,067 tax in Luxembourg A Luxembourg company that provides indirect financial support to 3 Ireland, is among the latest batch of entities found to be availing of secret tax deals in Luxembourg. Hutchison Whampoa Europe Investments Sarl (HWEI) – part of… – Continue reading
China set up a website to collect tips about officials who have fled with ill-gotten gains, as leaders press ahead with a campaign that’s resulted in the arrests of hundreds of alleged economic fugitives so far. The Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, encouraged whistle-blowers at… – Continue reading
This transfer pricing dispute arose from transactions involving Vodafone in 2007-08. The I-T department had red flagged the sale of call centre business to Hutchison Whampoa Properties India and the assignment of Call Options. n the latest from Vodafone’s Rs 8,500 crore trasfer pricing case versus the Income Tax department,… – Continue reading
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region today (December 10) exchanged notes with the Government of Japan regarding the Exchange of Information (EoI) Article in the Agreement between the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and… – Continue reading
Indian corporates are likely to increasingly access the offshore debt capital markets for their funding requirements once the investment cycle restarts, according to Fitch Ratings. “The growth is likely to be driven by the need to refinance debt and fund capex once the investment cycle restarts and as many corporates… – Continue reading
A senior figure is suspected of secretly keeping accounts in a Swiss bank that were not reported to the tax authorities in Israel, in an affair called the “Swiss Bank Affair,” sources inform “Globes.” Israel Tax Authority investigators conducted a search of the senior figure’s home. As in the information… – Continue reading
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 (Bernama) — Awareness of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) among local financial institutions remains low, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said. “I’d venture an educated guess that there are more than 1,000 local financial institutions, which fall under the FATCA purview, some of which may not… – Continue reading
The Bombay High Court had in February directed the tribunal to hear both parties expeditiously and pass a ruling at the earliest. The heated debate between Vodafone India and the Income Tax Department on the Rs 8500 crore transfer pricing case will be put to rest as The Income Tax… – Continue reading
China and Turkey have fallen in international rankings of perceived corruption, according to a new report released by the Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI).09 Dec 2014 Regulatory Europe Asia Pacific Gulf Africa According to the latest edition of TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2014, which scores countries on a… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Singapore said on Tuesday that it has finalised an information-sharing agreement with the United States that is aimed at combating offshore tax dodging. The deal will make it much easier for financial institutions in one of Asia’s biggest wealth management centres to comply with U.S. tax law. The… – Continue reading
