Just days before the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act’s entry into force, China and the United States initialed a model one intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on June 26, 2014, to simplify the process for financial institutions in both territories to provide relevant information to support tax enforcement activities under the Act…. – Continue reading
As the new government gets to work, one key item on the agenda would be the revival of growth. The key to that objective is the revival of the investment climate in India for renewed flow of overseas investments. One aspect that has vitiated the investment climate is the tax… – Continue reading
As directed by the RBI, the IT dept has put a watch on account holders in cooperative banks in Gujarat for tax evasion. The IT dept. claims it has already recovered Rs. 5 crore from defaulters under ”Project UCB ” a special drive started sometime ago. About 1500 defaulters have… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The customs authorities have registered a case against the Shaheen Air International (SAI) and seized 12 of its aircraft, directing the airline not to sell or scrap the planes without paying taxes said to be running into hundreds of millions of rupees to the government, it emerged here on… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is preparing to examine transfer pricing cases, which have significant revenue implication for the exchequer and lead to longdrawn litigation between companies and tax authorities. The CAG has so far not been auditing transfer pricing cases, mainly because of the shortage of… – Continue reading
The agreement between China and the United States for US financial accounts registered at banks in China to send their tax reports to the US Internal Revenue Services (IRS) to curb offshore tax evasion will have positive effects for China, experts said. The agreement will also enable Beijing to obtain… – Continue reading
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said India and the US have agreed to implement a foreign tax compliance law and asked banks and financial institutions to register by this year-end to report accounts and assets held by US citizens. India and the US have agreed to implement… – Continue reading
According to sources privy to the development, the decision to serve these notices was taken in a high-level meeting, in which the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had shared the account details of the above institutions and Dr Qadri with the participants. The meeting was chaired by the former Punjab law… – Continue reading
Mainland China has been included on a list of jurisdictions co-operating with the United States on a new law to halt tax evasion. It removes the threat of blacklisting or penalties that had been hanging over Chinese financial institutions. The inclusion will also benefit institutions in Hong Kong, the US… – Continue reading
RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh commercial tax department has registered a FIR against 10 firms on Friday for allegedly evading tax worth crores of rupees by using bogus bills. The FIR against the firms based in Raipur, Durg and Bilaspur comes a day after the registration of similar cases against three other firms…. – Continue reading
Seven-year program targets deep water reserves. MILAN, Italy, June 27 (UPI) –Italian energy company Eni said it signed an agreement with PetroVietnam to explore the deep waters off the coast of Vietnam for the next seven years. “This new agreement confirms Eni’s interest to continue and consolidate its presence in… – Continue reading
The first Chinese company to issue offshore bonds under a more liberal guarantee framework has underlined the premium attached to a simplified security package. In a departure from the keepwell deeds and pledges of support featured on recent offshore financings, last week’s US$1bn issue from Greenland Global Investment came with… – Continue reading
The Indian economy today is in urgent need of measures to restore growth. A stable, clear and transparent tax regime would go a long way in improving sentiments and investor confidence. Building such a tax regime would require an integrated effort including legislative changes to bring in clarity, operational changes… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The United States has reached an agreement with China on implementing and enforcing a new U.S. law meant to combat overseas tax avoidance by Americans, a U.S. Treasury Department official said on Thursday. Long seen as a crucial step for the rollout of 2010’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance… – Continue reading
In a major coup in India’s efforts to recover untaxed wealth, Switzerland recently promised to share the details of Indian nationals “holding black money” in Swiss bank accounts. The offer to share information came after India’s Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, wrote to the Swiss authorities requesting their cooperation. Given the… – Continue reading
The unequivocal mandate given to the Modi led NDA government will allow them to take a long term perspective while making policy decisions. The finance ministry led by Arun Jaitley has close to 15 days left to put together the dream budget and at the same time address ‘inclusive growth’… – Continue reading
The Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA) will soon submit five proposals to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for its financial sector development plan, says TBA chairman Boontuck Wungcharoen. The proposals include implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), an upgrade of Thailand to a financial hub… – Continue reading
The Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA) will soon submit five proposals to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for its financial sector development plan, says TBA chairman Boontuck Wungcharoen. The proposals include implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), an upgrade of Thailand to a financial hub… – Continue reading
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC, 金融監督管理委員會) yesterday stated that Taiwan is currently recognized by the United States of America as an “Agreements in Substance” nation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The status allows Taiwanese financial institutions and their patrons to be exempted from a 30 percent withholding… – Continue reading
With regard to business operations, a resident of one country (e.g., Panamanian company) may be taxed in the other country (e.g., Israel) if it has a “permanent establishment” (PE) in the other country. Panama is famous for its canal, colorful history and cool offshore tax regime. To that we can… – Continue reading
The Swiss Government has expressed its desire to work together with the new Indian Government in its fight against tax evasion. In an e-mail response to Business Line on Swiss authorities’ reported move on sharing information, the Swiss Finance Ministry said, Switzerland is committed to resolving any open question with India and… – Continue reading
Most of the 2,110 enterprises inspected in 2013 had to admit to losses lower than initially declared and accepted to pay tax sums set by the taxation bodies after the inspection. Regarding foreign invested enterprises (FIEs), Nam said taxation bodies have completed the inspection of over 20 enterprises in 17… – Continue reading
Switzerland has denied preparing a list of tax dodgers for the Indian authorities amid mounting pressure on the alpine state. Even with a global standard on Automatic Information Exchange (AIE) in the works, repatriating money from offshore havens like Switzerland may not be easy. An investigatory body, recently set up… – Continue reading
Borrowing costs of offshore yuan in Hong Kong surged to their highest levels in a year last week as banks became more reluctant to part with their money in the run-up to the end of the half-year and demand for funds increased with the opening up of more channels for… – Continue reading
Marcel Bruehwiler, chief executive officer of UBS AG (UBSN)’s Belgium unit, was charged in Brussels as part of a probe into a multibillion-euro tax fraud, accelerating the latest tax-evasion inquiry facing the Swiss bank. Bruehwiler was charged with criminal organization, money laundering, illegal practice of the profession of financial intermediary… – Continue reading
Shiseido Co., Japan’s top cosmetics brand, was alleged by tax authorities to have failed to report 3.8 billion yen in income in Japan for five years through March 2012 by pooling profits at a U.S. subsidiary, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday. The company is planning to dispute the… – Continue reading
Not only do Indians manage global investors’ money that is invested in India, Indian nationals often hold positions of responsibility in funds that have nothing to do with India. Now, given the rapid advances that have been made in technology, why aren’t these Indian nationals residing in India? Clearly, some… – Continue reading
DELHI – After classifying Cyprus as a “notified jurisdiction” last November and suspending double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) benefits, India may soon revise its DTAA with Cyprus and restore a 10 percent withholding tax rate in light of recent progress in tax information sharing. Since the two countries signed a… – Continue reading
JEDDAH – Saudi Arabia and the US discussed ways to further enhance their existing cooperation on efforts to disrupt the financial and support networks of terrorist organizations, announced Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf at a joint press conference with US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew here on Tuesday. Assaf said that… – Continue reading
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is going to introduce transfer pricing regulations from July 1, 2014 in a bid to check tax avoidance by multinational companies. The Transfer Pricing Law, approved through the Finance Bill-2012, remained in process of preparing ground work for its successful implementation. It will help… – Continue reading
KATHMANDU: US taxpayers, including US citizens, firms and green card holders, living in or operating from Nepal will come under close scrutiny of the US taxman from now onwards. Issuing a circular today, Nepal Rastra Bank directed all Nepali banks and financial institutions to provide bank account information of US taxpayers living… – Continue reading
A Moscow City Hall official confronted with allegations of illegal business activity has sued his accuser, whistle-blowing blogger and opposition activist Alexei Navalny. Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov, who oversees transportation in Moscow, announced via Facebook on Thursday that he had sued Navalny for an unspecified sum. Data made publicly available… – Continue reading
ZIMBABWE lost about $770 million in potential revenue between 2008 and 2012 through undervaluation and transfer pricing of its gems from the Marange diamond fields. VENERANDA LANGA SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER A report by Partnership Africa Canada on illicit financial flows in the diamonds industry said the gems were being exported… – Continue reading
India is said to be seeking a revision to its 1994 double tax agreement with Cyprus before the territory can be declassified as a notified jurisdictional area. In November of last year, the Indian Government invoked powers under Section 94A of the Indian Income Tax Act (ITA) 1961 to levy… – Continue reading
With the end of banking confidentiality, many Israelis are fleeing the long arm of the Israel Tax Authorityto the tax haven of Dubai, which has no bank reporting. Tightening tax regulations in many countries, beginning with the US, requiring banks to provide information about their customers, or face sanctions, has caused people… – Continue reading
The UAE has reached an initial agreement with the US to carry out a financial data-sharing programme aimed at curbing offshore tax evasion by US citizens. The Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday that the two countries had negotiated an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) in substance to implement the US’s Foreign… – Continue reading
Experience from Australia and New Zealand shows that these rules do not give a tax authority a carte blanche to attack tax arrangements that it does not like The Narendra Modi administration’s high-octane economic charge will be widely welcomed but, perhaps tax policy discretion will indeed be the better part… – Continue reading
Government’s recent initiative to allow unlisted companies to list on offshore markets through the depository receipt (DR) mechanism without the requirement of simultaneous listing in India is likely to be a major shot in the arm for many sectors, and also offer exits to private equity players looking to monetize… – Continue reading
Cyprus and India will have a new double taxation avoidance agreement signed by September the latest, an insider in Nicosia told The Cyprus Daily on Thursday. He dismissed reports in The Indian Express newspaper saying that Cyprus would be off the blacklist only when it agrees for a complete revamp… – Continue reading
US federal and state tax may then be creditable against any Israeli tax on US-source income and gains, pursuant to comprehensive rules of the US-Israel tax treaty. But US penalties cannot be credited in Israel. irstly, for international businesses. We have often commented on the pressures facing growing international businesses…. – Continue reading
New agreement The new double tax agreement between Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates took effect from January 1 2014. For the most part, the agreement reproduces the corresponding provisions of the latest Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Model Tax Convention verbatim. The principal departures from the OECD… – Continue reading
More South Korean conglomerates have been registering subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, according to corporate researcher Chaebul.com. The number of South Korean companies established in the top 10 offshore tax havens last year jumped nearly 60 percent on-year from 54 to 86, indicating more conglomerates taking advantage of lower tax… – Continue reading
HANOI – On May 7th, New Zealand’s double tax agreement (DTA) with Vietnam went into effect. The DTA agreement was originally signed on August 5, 2013. New Zealand’s Revenue Minister, Todd McClay, stated that “the new double tax agreement which was signed in August 2013 brings our network of tax… – Continue reading
BEIRUT, June 9 (KUNA) — Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL) Riad Salameh said Monday the recently-imposed US sanctions do not target the Lebanese banks, but rather the banks that helped finance the Lebanese group Hezbollah.The BDL has repeatedly cautioned the local banks against violating the banking laws… – Continue reading
South Korea’s largest business conglomerates have been setting up more paper companies in tax havens around the world, a report by a local corporate research firm showed Monday. With the exception of holding companies for shipping lines, the number of South Korean companies located in the top 10 offshore tax… – Continue reading
Vietnamese tycoon and former banker Nguyen Duc Kien, a co-founder of Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), was sentenced to 30 years in prison for fraud and tax evasion and two other charges at a high-profile trial that wrapped up Monday in Hanoi. Kien, 50, who was once listed as one of the… – Continue reading
All financial institutions in the UAE must comply with the agreement signed with the US Financial institutions in the UAE will start sharing extensive data of account holders with a US nationality from July 1st with the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), or the American tax collecting authority. On May 23rd… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: UK-based telecom major Vodafone is facing tax claims and interest totalling more than Rs 27,000 crore in India, which includes Rs 14,200 crore for acquiring Hutchison’s stake in 2007, the company said in its annual report. Vodafone said that its Indian subsidiary had received a letter in January… – Continue reading
New Delhi: Tasked with the job of recovering illicit wealth stashed away by Indians, the SIT on black money has decided to look into the contentious issue of secrecy clauses in India’s tax treaties with Switzerland and other countries. India has signed tax information exchange treaties with many countries, but… – Continue reading
Vodafone is increasingly using the tax haven of Luxembourg as a base to manage its global spending, in a move that will reignite the controversy about its tax practices. The company’s annual report, which showed the mobile giant is managing spending of €10.2bn (£8.6bn) through Luxembourg, also revealed Vodafone paid… – Continue reading
