Gabriel Zucman, one of 3 French economists who in recent times have published extensive research on wealth and equality, in a book, ‘The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens,’ published this month, estimates that 8% of the world’s financial wealth — some US$7.6tn — is hidden in… – Continue reading
The court agrees to an early hearing in the case, scheduling it for 30 September New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to an early hearing in the case of Castleton Investment Ltd scheduling it for 30 September. Castleton Investment, a Mauritius-based foreign company, is contesting a case against… – Continue reading
One in five corporations with annual profits greater than $100 million paid no tax last year, the Australian Tax Office has revealed. Michael Cranston, one of the ATO’s deputy commissioners, revealed the figure to a Senate hearing into corporate tax avoidance. Corporations avoid paying tax by what is euphemistically called… – Continue reading
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore collected a total of SG$43.4bn (US$30.5bn) in tax revenue, in the 2014/15 financial year, a new annual record, reports Tax News. This record tax revenue was worth 71.3 per cent of total Government Operating Revenue. According to IRAS’s latest annual report, SG$23.4bn was collected… – Continue reading
Since its inception in August 2014, the SMU-TA Centre for Excellence in Taxation has worked tirelessly with industry practitioners, international academics and various key stakeholders to produce its first set of research works. On September 17, the Centre successfully presented its inaugural conference titled “A New Equilibrium in Tax Competition… – Continue reading
ATO to force Uber drivers to pay GST Uber is to mount a legal challenge against the Australian Tax Office after a decision to force drivers to register and pay GST. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has praised ride-sharing company Uber as part of the “agile” economy he envisages for Australia…. – Continue reading
Myanmar plans to introduce more laws and regulations to increase its tax income over the coming years, sources said. The Internal Revenue Department (IRD) currently sets polices under the Myanmar Tax Law and the Union Tax Law. Sources at the IRD said they will issue further notifications, if required, to… – Continue reading
BHP Billiton has defended the use of a Singapore marketing hub to minimise its tax payments, saying most of its Australian profits continue to be taxed in its home country. The resources giant, which came under fire earlier this year over allegations of tax avoidance, says its global adjusted effective… – Continue reading
BHP Billiton has warned any move by Australia to single-handedly combat corporate profit shifting could spark a backlash from other nations that is likely to ultimately harm local companies. Finance director Peter Beaven says while action on so-called base erosion and profit shifting is needed, it must be part of… – Continue reading
About 30 percent of foreign investors in Korea are from overseas tax havens, a lawmaker said Tuesday. Citing data from the Financial Services Commission and the Korea Customs Service, Rep. Park Kwang-on of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) said that the number of corporate or individual… – Continue reading
Labor has rejected co-operating with the Coalition on boosting the goods and services tax, whatever the outcome of next year’s tax white paper and negotiations with the states. Addressing the Australian Financial Review tax summit in Sydney, Labor treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said while any GST rise would be permanent,… – Continue reading
Global convergence towards higher tax rates globally would be a poor outcome for the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project and a severe impediment to uplifting global growth prospects, Josephine Teo, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, has said. Speaking at the SMU-TA Centre for Excellence… – Continue reading
Industry welcomes move by Singapore’s financial regulatory authority to go public with tax criticism of ARFP passport scheme. They say it could force Australia and Korea into a corner. Industry figures have welcomed a move by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to go public with the reasons it declined… – Continue reading
A small office shared with three other companies deep in the bowels of the Outsource IT Tower on Auckland’s Khyber Pass Road opposite a reservoir isn’t necessarily where you’d expect to find the global headquarters of a financial service provider that claims to be following in the footsteps of three… – Continue reading
Chevron’s tax filings face repeated challenges from the United States and other global tax authorities, according to a new union-backed report that calls on world governments to crack down on the energy giant’s alleged profit-shifting tactics. The world’s largest trade union body, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), has called… – Continue reading
SINGAPORE first entered a double taxation agreement (DTA) with Thailand in 1975. After 40 years, Singapore and Thailand signed a new DTA on June 11, 2015. The newly signed DTA has not yet been ratified by either country, and will go into force after it is. Below are some of… – Continue reading
Hong Kong’s Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) has released a report setting out recommendations on policies, including tax measures, to enhance the city’s role as a regional and global financial booking center. Financial institutions utilize such centers to enter into contracts for financial products, undertake primary obligations for delivery or… – Continue reading
‘I’m not going to buy into that’ Joe Hockey refuses to feed speculation that he could be replaced as Treasurer by Scott Morrison under the new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Malcolm Turnbull’s first full day as PM: Live coverage Joe Hockey signals he’s ready to serve on Malcolm Turnbull’s frontbench… – Continue reading
Exclusive: company faces renewed questions over its fitness as security contractor at Australian detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru Wilson Security faces renewed questions about its fitness as security contractor in Australia’s offshore detention centres in light of its corporate links to a tax haven, a corruption scandal that… – Continue reading
Stimulus unleashed by China’s central bank will cushion Chinese companies –the region’s biggest dollar debt issuers — from a potential Federal Reserve interest rate increase, making cheaper yuan funds available. Five interest rate cuts by the People’s Bank of China since November and rules to relax yuan bond issuance onshore… – Continue reading
A wave of wealthy Asians is hurriedly moving assets to the United States – to school their children, invest in property or even avoid political uncertainty in China. But few of those immigrants know just how much of their money will eventually end up in the hands of the feds…. – Continue reading
A government committee on financial sector reforms has finalised a report, broadly outlining the amendments required in financial laws and taxation to make domestic sector more competitive in the international market. Sources in the know said the report was submitted on Tuesday by the Standing Council of Experts, which was… – Continue reading
Indonesians hold $300 billion in Singapore; controversial tax amnesty on the cards. Indonesia’s finance minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told Euromoney earlier this year that tax collection falls way short of targets and must improve to provide funding for infrastructure and other projects It doesn’t take much for Indonesia’s government officials to… – Continue reading
Recently the Curaçao Minister of Justice, Mr. Nelson Navarro, approved the so-called Investor’s Permit to accommodate bonafide high net worth persons and entrepreneurs who seek admission to Curaçao. The purpose of the Investor’s Permit is for the investor to provide real economic benefit to Curaçao by increasing employment opportunities and… – Continue reading
In September 2014, the Hurun Research Institute published its annual listing of the richest people in China. It showed that IT tycoon Ma Yun had increased his personal fortune during the last year by 500% to $25 billion and in doing so, had climbed to first position on the list…. – Continue reading
Glencore pays virtually no tax on Australian coal operations Glencore is in trouble and took drastic action today to shore up its finances. One place they won’t find sympathy is in the court of public opinion. Last year, the Sydney Morning Herald revealed that Glencore paid virtually no tax over… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Indian tax authorities will ignore conventions to pierce trust structures used by most people to stash black money abroad. Persons who are named as beneficiaries in overseas discretionary trusts are likely to face enquiry even if they do not receive any money from such trusts. The taxman will look… – Continue reading
Labour leadership front-runner Jeremy Corbyn has suggested a party run by him would consider a ban on the purchase of homes by non-UK based entities or by companies and offshore trusts. With the result of the party’s leadership campaign to be announced in only eight days time, Corbyn acknowledges that… – Continue reading
SEJONG, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) — More South Koreans reported their overseas financial accounts to authorities in 2015 than a year earlier as the government turns up the heat on individuals and companies to disclose hidden assets, the tax office said Thursday. The government has taken a firmer stance toward people… – Continue reading
For hedge funds in most jurisdictions, the first wave of registration and reporting deadlines surrounding the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is now in the rearview mirror, but a significant amount of work likely remains. Due to the staggered approach regarding the definition of a reportable investor in 2014… – 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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) Taiwan and China will sign two agreements on taxation and aviation safety in their next high-level meeting to be held in Fuzhou, China later this month, a senior official of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced Tuesday. The meeting between the chiefs of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange… – Continue reading
Large South Korean companies have sent more than $400 billion to offshore tax havens over the past eight years, with nearly 40 percent of the amount yet to be returned home, data showed Sunday. According to the data by the Bank of Korea and other government agencies, local big firms… – Continue reading
Luxembourg currently has 76 income tax treaties in force, and there are 29 treaties under negotiation. Tax treaties can provide a legal framework not only for the avoidance of double taxation and fiscal evasion, but also for international administrative cooperation between Luxembourg and its treaty partners in terms of mutual… – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in a recent report that improving taxpayer services, while making non-compliance harder, is helping revenue bodies increase their efficiency and allowing governments to finance important programs that will further benefit their citizens. According to Tax Administration 2015, which looks at 56… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Large foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have voiced concerns before Indian capital market regulator Sebi about the fate of the Mauritius treaty which the government is renegotiating with the tax haven. Officials of more than 20 offshore asset managers, belonging to top banking groups and fund houses, met Sebi chairman… – Continue reading
On August 11, 2015, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its annual report addressing global tax administration. The OECD’s stated mission is to “promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.” The OECD describes its annual report as follows: Tax… – Continue reading
The first reporting cycle for the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) kicked off with the 31 March deadline set by the US Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) for countries and territories such as Hong Kong that have a Model 2 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). Although the IRS has granted… – Continue reading
FATCA refers to provisions contained in the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (the ‘HIRE’ Act) signed into law on 18 March 2010 in the United States. The main purpose of FATCA is to identify and gather information on US persons who may be evading tax through the use of… – Continue reading
City-state has long excelled at attracting international headquarters but now it aims to do even better by combining programmes in a more holistic approach. Singapore first established its Operational Headquarters (OHQ) programme in late 1992 to encourage multinational companies to use the city-state as a base for their incursions into… – Continue reading
