Measures to discourage Jersey companies engaging in “abusive tax schemes” for UK residents have been welcomed by industry body Jersey Finance. Geoff Cook, Jersey Finance CEO, said new rules were “pro-active and forward thinking”. He also said he supported tax competition and legitimate tax planning. In July the Times newspaper… – Continue reading
Property in England and Wales worth £122bn or more is held through companies in offshore tax jurisdictions where ownership is tricky to establish, according to Land Registry data analysed by the Financial Times. The detailed report showed that around two-thirds of the 91,248 foreign-company owned properties were held through the… – Continue reading
A £100m charity tax avoidance scheme similar to the Cup Trust has been defeated at a tax tribunal by HM Revenue & Customs.According to the judgment handed down this week by the first tier of the tax tribunal, the Bluebox scheme used a method where government bonds were given to… – Continue reading
1. I am a ‘relevant person’ under the Jersey/UK MOU but am fully UK tax compliant. Do I need to take any action? No. The JDF is only relevant to persons who are not UK tax compliant and need to make a disclosure for past tax liabilities. 2. I believe… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands continue to be the pre-eminent offshore jurisdiction for hedge funds. Around 85 per cent of the world’s hedge funds are domiciled in the Cayman Islands, enabling the jurisdiction to outrank competing offshore centres (the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Jersey among them) as the top spot for… – Continue reading
MOSCOW, April 11 (Reuters) – Polyus Gold, Russia’s biggest gold miner, is considering state proposals to encourage the rebasing of Russian firms currently owned by offshore entities and intends to explore these issues with the government, the company said on Friday. The comments of the Jersey-registered company, whose share listing is… – Continue reading
1. The traditional attitude to tax avoidance is encapsulated in the judgment of Lord Tomlin in the English case of IRC v Duke of Westminster (1936): “Every man is entitled if he can to arrange his affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it… – Continue reading
Quebec Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard opened an offshore account in a tax haven on the island of Jersey while he worked as a neurosurgeon in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, a Radio-Canada report says. While Mr. Couillard did nothing illegal, the news report raises questions about his credibility to demand… – Continue reading
The Tax Office is allowing Australians with money parked in offshore accounts to avoid harsh penalties by coming forward, in an amnesty program worth up to half a billion dollars. ATO Commissioner Chris Jordan will announce the program today, which will reduce the penalties for taxpayers who hand over information… – Continue reading
A report by the Government Accounting Office details who took part in the first voluntary disclosure program for offshore accounts. If you made an honest mistake and failed to keep up on international account reporting requirements, it is important to spe March 25, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ — Congress has been on… – Continue reading
Switzerland and Argentina have recently signed a new agreement for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and on capital. The treaty replaces the provisional agreement of 1997 and provides for the exchange of information upon request, in line with the current international standard. This is… – Continue reading
DESPITE George Osborne’s platitudes to last month’s G20 meeting in Australia – “It is not fair if big companies avoid their taxes by shifting their profits around artificially” – the Eye has discovered that the government has signed its most significant PFI deal to date (a new £190m children’s hospital… – Continue reading
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. The British Virgin Islands, Liechtenstein and Jersey are among 44 countries that have set… – Continue reading
Jersey Finance has welcomed the signing of the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with Belgium which took place in London on Thursday (March 13, 2014). The new agreement brings the total number of tax agreements Jersey has now signed with EU Member States to 20, which includes both TIEAs and… – Continue reading
Jersey and the Kingdom of Belgium signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) at the Residence of the Ambassador for the Kingdom in London today (13 March 2014). The TIEA was signed for Jersey by the Minister for External Relations, Senator Sir Philip Bailhache. The Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and… – Continue reading
Recent news stories, past reports and current anecdotal evidence suggest the flight of capital from Nigeria is reaching epidemic proportions. Nigeria is fast becoming a net exporter of students, patients and financial capital. Last week, news about Nigerian millionaires, the freezing of stolen assets, the flying habits of wealthy Nigerians… – Continue reading
Jersey Finance has welcomed the signing of the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with Belgium which took place in London on Thursday (March 13, 2014). The new agreement brings the total number of tax agreements Jersey has now signed with EU Member States to 20, which includes both TIEAs and… – Continue reading
Russia’s Finance Ministry has received suggestions from several offshore zones on organization of negotiations on exchange of tax information, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov told a Week of Russian Business on Monday. “Lately, the finance ministry has received suggestions from the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda Islands, the Isle of… – Continue reading
This was an appeal to the Court of Appeal from the decision of the Royal Court of Jersey, by which the Royal Court dismissed an appeal brought under Article 14(1)(c) of the Taxation (Exchange of Information with Third Countries) (Jersey) Regulations 2008 (the “Regulations”) and upheld the decision of the… – Continue reading
The Russian Finance Ministry will offer companies based offshore but with operations in Russia a choice: either disclose their ultimate beneficiaries and maintain their zero tax rate, or pay taxes at the higher Russian rate. Under Russia’s current corporate tax structure, offshore beneficiaries of Russian companies are treated as de-facto… – Continue reading
The chickens are quietly coming home to roost. In Europe, that is. For a long time, multinational companies have created shell companies – those offices where, beyond furniture and a teapot, there is hardly any business going on – to mainly pay lower tax and move illicit funds. These opaque… – Continue reading
Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK has welcomed further recognition of the Isle of Man’s commitment to the evolving international tax agenda. Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has praised the Island for its action to combat tax evasion. During a debate at the… – Continue reading
The Manx government has asked S&P to stop its ratings after the agency warned of risks to the island’s financial services industry from international regulation The Isle of Man government has told Standard & Poor’s to stop rating its debt after the agency downgraded the island’s credit rating. S&P cut… – Continue reading
Mirror investigator Nick Sommerlad says this is the fourth time in a row HM Revenue and Customs has defeated the firm’s complex tax avoidance schemes This is the latest victory for HMRC against a notorious tax avoidance firm. London-based NT Advisors have been behind a string of schemes which would… – Continue reading
INTRODUCTION On 31 January 2014 the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey jointly issued draft Guidance Notes (in conjunction with the Isle of Man) on the implementation of obligations arising under the intergovernmental agreements (“IGAs“) signed by each island with the UK in October 2013 and with the US in… – Continue reading
Jersey and Hungary signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) at the Hungarian Embassy in London on Tuesday, 28 January, 2014. The Agreement was signed by the Minister for External Relations, Senator Sir Philip Bailhache, and the Hungarian Ambassador, His Excellency Janos Csak. Senator Bailhache said: “We attach great importance… – Continue reading
