Offshore tax havens came under fire after the global financial crisis in 2008. Front and center among the countries calling for transparency was the U.S., which made a stand against Switzerland in particular, by demanding release of the names of ultra-rich account holders. So it might surprise you to learn… – Continue reading
BearingPoint’s FiTAX catches on while a FATCA critic says that more Americans are renouncing their citizenship because of the controversial tax law. While controversy swirls around the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), management and technology consultancy BearingPoint reports that between March and August 2015, more than 2,000 financial institutions… – Continue reading
Global tax is set to face the biggest shake up ever that will affect every saver and investor with accounts in any of the world’s major financial centres. Financial firms and governments are readying to start the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) from January 1, 2016. CRS is a souped up… – Continue reading
MEPs grilled eleven multinational companies on their corporate tax practices in a five-hour debate with the Special Committee on Tax Rulings on Monday. These companies had declined the committee’s first invitation to appear before it, but later changed their minds and accepted its last chance invitation. Of the 13 original… – Continue reading
The Brazilian Government has submitted to Congress four tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) concluded with Uruguay, Jersey, Guernsey, and the Cayman Islands, Brazil’s Ministry of Finance said on November 11, 2015. Congress will also consider a protocol to expand and upgrade provisions for the exchange of information with India in… – Continue reading
As a reminder, the international automatic exchange of financial account information is considered by most countries as particularly efficient in the fight against tax evasion and international tax fraud and is becoming the new global standard (considering the US FATCA legislation, the OECD Common Reporting Standard). The Belgian Council of… – Continue reading
While the United States works to get tax dollars from corporations hiding assets elsewhere, they offer the same opportunity in U.S. states to businesses from other countries. To some, “tax haven’’ is a dirty word, describing as it does a place where wealthy people and large corporations can hide assets… – Continue reading
The “heads up” for Reporting Financial Institutions on foreign investors’ limited voluntary disclosure opportunities Nearly one hundred jurisdictions (Participating Jurisdictions) have already committed to participate in the CRS promulgated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Most of them have committed to be “early adopters” of the CRS… – Continue reading
Australian motor racing legend Alan Jones has become embroiled in the collapse of an online gambling company operated by notorious conman Peter Foster which owes $11.5 million to about 150 investors. The 69-year-old former winner of the Formula One Drivers’ Championship was named in a writ to be lodged in… – Continue reading
The Caribbean island says its financial system is all aboveboard, yet it remains a gateway to less scrupulous offshore havens like the Cayman Islands. BRIDGETOWN — Is there “dirty” money strewn across the pristine sands of Barbados? Does something sinister hide beneath the glistening coral reefs of this former pirate… – Continue reading
Presidency sent to Congress ratification of treaties with Jersey, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands and Uruguay; text follows the G20 guidelines The Presidency referred for evaluation of Congress four agreements for the exchange of tax information (TIEA, which stands for the English term “Tax Information Exchange Agreement”) entered into with Uruguay,… – Continue reading
Britain has done more to tackle secretive company ownership practices which facilitate corruption than other leading economies, while the United States and China are falling short of their promises, a leading anti-corruption group said. Britain has made good progress on making beneficial ownership information accessible, having legislated for a central… – Continue reading
The Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”) will impose new investor due diligence and reporting obligations on funds and other financial institutions based in “early adopter” participating jurisdictions, with effect from January 1, 2016. According to the OECD, all major financial centres have now signed up to the standard. Financial institutions should… – Continue reading
In this edition we also include the leading trustees, private bankers and accountants serving the private client industry. RBC Wealth Management leads our research in trust and advisory services with an impressive 18 names recommended. Alan Binnington specialises in establishing and administering trust and fiduciary structures for high net worth… – Continue reading
DID you hear the story about the Queen, tax evasion, a nationalised British bank for the rich and famous, a whistleblower and a £7bn under sale to ‘reward cronies and cheat the taxpayer’? Sounds like a pretty big deal, right? But last Thursday’s damning testimony from Helen Goodman MP –… – Continue reading
United States corporations avoid an estimated $US1.45 billion ($2.06b) of tax in Australia each year by shifting their profits to low or no tax countries, research shows. A joint report by advocacy and union groups Tax Justice Network, Oxfam, Global Alliance for Tax Justice and Public Services International says in… – Continue reading
More than 1,600 new financial institutions have signed up to the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) List. The list now covers 177,147 institutions in 226 financial jurisdictions – up 1,604 from the last list published on October 1. The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) keeps the list to… – Continue reading
Ghana’s financial secrecy – the tendency to facilitate tax evasion, money laundering and illicit financial transfers – has been rated at a fairly high 67 per cent. The Tax Justice Network, an organisation concerned with tax havens and tax evasion, ranked Ghana 48th out of 92 territories, in its 2015… – Continue reading
In a time of fiscal austerity, it is breathtaking to learn that Congress has allowed Fortune 500 companies to avoid an estimated $620 billion in federal taxes on earnings they are holding offshore. While the inaction by lawmakers on this issue may create the impression that there is nothing to… – Continue reading
Two decades after Ken Dart renounced his U.S. citizenship and took his tax attorney with him to the Caribbean, the billionaire bond investor and local kingpin is reinventing himself as the Cayman Islands’ biggest real estate owner. In a rare glimpse into Dart’s holdings, Mark VanDevelde, chief executive of the… – Continue reading
Paul Singer has a good track record as a money manager. In 1995, he bought $20 million worth of Peruvian debt at a discounted price of $11.4 million, then forced Peru’s government, through lawsuits, to eventually pay nearly five times his initial investment — some $58 million. In 2002 and… – Continue reading
Exclusive More than 100 victims of notorious conman Peter Foster have moved to freeze funds held in offshore tax havens after more than $10 million was siphoned from his online gambling company Sports Trading Club. Fairfax Media can reveal Foster and at least eight associates have been served with freezing… – Continue reading
(MENAFN – Gulf Times) The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is eyeing more financial and professional services firms, including Islamic finance firms from Asia and South East Asia as part of its strategic move to reach out to the untapped promising markets. The QFC, an onshore platform with a unique offering,… – Continue reading
The Companies (Amendment) Law 2015 (the Law) has now come into effect in the Cayman Islands and will have potential application to all Cayman Islands companies. The Law amends sections 55 and 56 of the Companies Law (2013 Revision) which deals with appointments and notification of changes to directors. Previously,… – Continue reading
The UK government has a ‘Janus-faced’ approach to tax, a new report suggests: promising an increasingly intolerant approach to evasion and avoidance while being an aggressive participant in global tax competition and tolerating the UK tax havens which facilitate financial crime across the world. The report, Fifty Shades of Tax… – Continue reading
Whilst the growth of India as an emerging market for foreign investment is nothing new, we are seeing some new trends in the way in which offshore Cayman vehicles are being used as an avenue for investing in that market – specifically, voluntarily registering master funds as regulated master funds… – Continue reading
Hong Kong is the world’s second least transparent financial center, making it vulnerable to tax evasion, money laundering and other wrongdoing. It is topped only by Switzerland in a global survey by Tax Justice Network, a coalition of researchers and activists focused on tax avoidance issues. The United States ranks… – Continue reading
The US has overtaken Singapore, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands as an attractive haven for super-rich individuals and businesses looking to shelter assets behind a veil of secrecy, according to a study by the Tax Justice Network (TJN), reports The Guardian. The US is ranked third, behind Switzerland and Hong… – Continue reading
The U.S. government’s refusal to take part in a global system for exchanging bank data has moved it above the Cayman Islands in a financial secrecy list compiled by the Tax Justice Network. The U.S. trails only Switzerland and Hong Kong in a league of offshore havens after refusing to… – Continue reading
New Zealand still has some work to do to stop the country being used as a safe haven for illicit funds, a new survey shows. The 2015 Financial Secrecy Index has been released, which ranks countries on their ability to promote fiscal transparency. The index is produced by the Tax… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Switzerland has retained its top spot in the financial secrecy index (FSI) 2015, unveiled by the Tax Justice Network (TJN) on Monday. Switzerland is followed by Hong Kong, the US, Singapore and the Cayman Islands. The biggest surprise is the US, which has climbed to third place from… – Continue reading
Australia hosts significant quantities of illicit funds from outside the country, according to the 2015 Financial Secrecy Index. The Tax Justice Network’s index, released every two years, rates countries based on financial transparency. The latest index rates Australia 44 out of 100 (from 47 in the previous survey) meaning it… – Continue reading
Over the last seven years, America has flexed its muscles at tax havens everywhere. With Schwarzenegger-like bulk, the U.S. has crushed Swiss banks and rooted out U.S. account holders worldwide. With its ambitious FATCA undertaking, the U.S. has cowed the world into submission. making foreign banks and foreign governments hand… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): Despite the constant criticism of the Cayman Islands as a so-called tax haven by US politicians and media, in the latest edition of the Financial Secrecy Index, compiled by the Tax Justice Network, the United States is placed above the Cayman Islands in its rankings. The report, which… – Continue reading
TORONTO, Nov 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Switzerland, Hong Kong and the United States have the world’s worst records on combating financial secrecy that allows the wealthy to dodge taxes or hide their money, according to a study released on Monday. Most countries’ secrecy score improved in recent years as… – Continue reading
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Externally imposed requirements have had unintended and undesired consequences on Jamaica’s financial institutions, says Tasha Manley, Executive in charge of Compliance for Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS). Miss Manley was addressing this year’s annual conference co-hosted by the Jamaica Bankers’ Association (JBA) and the Jamaica Institute of… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): The use of Cayman Islands funds as a wealth management tool for high net worth Latin American families was debated last week at the STEP LatAm Conference in Brazil, where kidnapping is a constant worry for the wealthy and demand for outbound investments is fuelled by privacy and… – Continue reading
Lawmakers at the European Parliament are set to vote on a controversial series of proposals to harmonize the corporate tax system in Europe in a move that will put them on a collision course with some member states which favor sovereignty over taxation. The EU lawmakers on the TAXE committee… – Continue reading
Coca-Cola might owe an additional $3.3 billion in federal income taxes following an audit, says the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Following a five year audit of the company, the IRS concluded that the company’s strategy of lowering its taxable income through transfer pricing, underestimates the amount the company should’ve been… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority (International Tax Compliance) (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations, 2015 (the “CRS Regulations”) were issued on 16 October 2015. Cayman Islands Government Industry Advisory – CRS Regulations Are in Effect The CRS Regulations, which are the first part of two in the roll-out of the Cayman… – Continue reading
Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development shows that at 39%, the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate among the 20 most developed economies. Yet, the average rate of taxation imposed on the 100 biggest S&P corporations was 28.4% in 2014. Apple and Alphabet paid even lower… – Continue reading
Luxembourg and the Netherlands lost a bit of luster as tax havens for some of the world’s biggest companies this week, as the European Union fired its latest salvo aimed at multinational tax dodging. Yet the Netherlands is on pace to maintain its attractiveness as a tax-friendly address for multinationals,… – Continue reading
“He hath founded it upon the seas…” Psalm 24:2 From an ancient decree The motto on the Cayman Islands flag has profound meaning for all residents, whether indigenous or not. At 3:00am on 7 February 1794 the Royal Navy Frigate HMS Convert and its convoy of nine merchant ships were… – Continue reading
AUSTRALIA’S Future Fund has money invested in funds based in a notorious tax haven. FUTURE Fund Management Agency managing director David Neal told a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday the fund – which stood at $117.8 billion at the end of September – had money invested in funds that used… – Continue reading
Facebook was last night accused of insulting British taxpayers as it emerged staff in London have been lined up for a £250million shares jackpot. The huge windfall will be paid out over the next three years if the US social media firm, which paid just £4,000 in corporation tax last… – Continue reading
EY: Four out of 10 Czech businessmen asked for bribe Four out of 10 Czech entrepreneurs have been explicitly asked for a bribe and up to six out of 10 have encountered the possibility of gaining an advantage in their business in exchange for a bribe, according to a survey… – Continue reading
A little over a week ago the British parliamentarian, Sir Eric Pickles – a cabinet member until May of this year and a former Chairman of the Conservative Party – told the London Guardian that the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was determined to have the BVI and the Cayman… – Continue reading
The federal government will be seeking the opposition’s support for new laws that crack down on tax-dodging multinationals but Labor looks to be on its own pursuing Malcolm Turnbull over his offshore investments. There are hopes that the four-day sitting of the lower house starting on Monday will also bring… – Continue reading
Labor has urged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to sell out of his hedge fund investments in the Cayman Islands, in an escalation of its attack in Parliament this week. Despite criticism his party had stooped to the “politics of envy”, NSW Senator Sam Dastyari told Fairfax Media on Friday that… – Continue reading
The central government is stepping up its anti-graft drive by cracking down on illegal lending and money-laundering operations in a bid to prevent outbound flows of stolen assets. The Ministry of Public Security says “black banks” and illegal currency exchanges have facilitated the flights of a number of former government… – Continue reading
