February 4: The Luxembourg tax authorities this week released a draft version of a new administrative circular for implementing the FATCA regime. The new draft guidance concerns the file format to be used for the automatic exchange of information between the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and the United States.
New Delhi, Feb. 4: The notification of a social security deal with Norway – often called totalisation agreements — may pave the way for a similar pact with the US that has been hanging fire for a decade. Under the pact, employees sent by Indian firms to Norway on a… – Continue reading
The European Commission has turned a blind eye to secretive tax deals that Ireland and other countries have been doing with multinationals for decades. Only after complaints from the US did it launch investigations into the most high-profile cases — Apple in Ireland, Starbucks in the Netherlands, and Amazon in… – Continue reading
A court in Arnhem has torn up fines imposed on a group of people with secret savings abroad because the tax office would not name the source of its information. The appeal court ruled in favour of the alleged tax evaders because the refusal ‘severely damaged their ability to refute… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The European Commission is investigating a Belgian system allowing companies to reduce their tax bills significantly, it said on Tuesday, widening its inquiry into tax deals struck with multinationals across the European Union. The Commission, which rules on competition and subsidies in the European Union, said deductions granted… – Continue reading
Samantha Cameron is creative consultant at the upmarket company Firm is is owned through a holding company in Luxembourg It is also linked to a secretive trust in the Channel Island of Guernsey David Cameron has often criticised companies who use tax havens David Cameron has often railed against big… – Continue reading
The Australian Tax Office is pushing ahead with a controversial plan to allow the country’s biggest corporations to audit themselves through their own private auditors, despite mounting public anger over corporate tax avoidance. An ATO spokesman said 56 public companies with a turnover of between $100 million and $5 billion… – Continue reading
The upmarket leather goods firm employing the Prime Minister’s wife is based in a tax haven. Smythson is owned through a holding company in Luxembourg and linked to a secretive trust in the Channel Island of Guernsey, another well-known tax haven. The store in Central London’s New Bond Street, which… – Continue reading
A Sunday Mirror investigation has found Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Ebay and Starbucks has paid less than one per cent tax Six of the world’s biggest companies paid just 0.3 per cent of their UK earnings in corporation tax last year, a Sunday Mirror probe has found. We have examined… – Continue reading
The IRS recently announced an expansion of the list of banks and advisors that trigger the highest penalty bracket within its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program. The addition of Sovereign Management & Legal, Ltd. and Bank Leumi to the increased penalty list will have repercussions in Asia, Israel and the United… – Continue reading
Microsoft denies a transfer of ownership of its New Zealand business from the United States to Luxembourg is related to the tiny European state’s favourable tax policies. Luxembourg, which has a population of less than 600,000, has been accused of facilitating large-scale tax avoidance by multinationals. Microsoft New Zealand was… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance costs developing countries billions every year. So this week 16 domestic and internationally focused organisations have joined forces to launch a campaign for a Tax Dodging Bill. When I mention in the course of a conversation that I work for an international development charity, I often get an… – Continue reading
When Cecil-based generic drug giant Mylan bought Bioniche is 2010, it didn’t simply hand over a check to the owners of the Irish pharmaceutical firm. Instead, Mylan channeled financing through Luxembourg, a small European country that is a magnet for U.S. companies seeking ways to cut their tax bills. The… – Continue reading
LUXEMBOURG – A second French suspect was charged Friday with theft and money-laundering in ongoing investigations into the leaking of secret tax avoidance deals between Luxembourg and multinational companies, a scandal dubbed “Luxleaks.” The identity of the new suspect was not released, but he is a 38-year-old Frenchman and former… – Continue reading
New Delhi, Jan. 23: India and the US have failed to make much progress in the totalisation pact that addresses the the problem of the double payment of social security taxes by Indian software professionals in America, dampening expectations surrounding President Barack Obama’s visit this weekend. Top officials said discussions… – Continue reading
Luxembourg’s business-friendly tax laws have saved companies billions. The party’s almost over. On a typical day, thousands of passengers pull into Luxembourg’s central train station and traverse the busy shopping street of Rue de la Gare, where everything from pastries to rain boots is on offer. Few, however, step inside… – Continue reading
Lobby groups representing Google, Amazon and other powerful US tech multinationals have launched a fierce attack on global plans to stamp out artificial corporate structures used to avoid tax. In responses to the latest stage of a two-year, G20-led programme of international tax reform, lobbyists for the US tech industry… – Continue reading
* PBOC extends $8 bln in pilot scheme for Swiss investors * Sydney, London, Frankfurt among global yuan trading centers * Swiss bankers welcome the move to tap China growth DAVOS/ZURICH, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Switzerland’s central bank said on Wednesday it had agreed with the People’s Bank of China… – Continue reading
SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL STRUCTURES in most cases begin with choosing the right jurisdiction to host a company that will form part of an international business. Depending on the company’s activities, the choice will depend on the range of double taxation treaties and the availability of tax reliefs followed by a host… – Continue reading
Outlook: The OECD’s work on corporate tax avoidance has proceeded at a faster rate than many expected According to Oxfam, on current trends the richest 1 per cent of the world’s population will have a greater share of its wealth than the remaining 99 per cent within two years. The… – Continue reading
Voltaire wrote “If you see a Swiss banker jumping out of a window, follow him, there is sure to be a profit in it”. Following this train of thought India is seen to be ruined by a cartel of Swiss bankers, terrorists and corrupt industrialists. Unlimited black money is apparently… – Continue reading
LuxLeaks revelation shows that the company 3, which has over one million customers in Denmark, hasn’t paid Danish taxes. The company insists it has followed “the ppropriate tax rules” and defends its investments in Denmark. EU commissioner to use Luxleaks docs (21 Nov 14) Danish firms in ‘fairyland’ tax deals… – Continue reading
Competition commissioner urging swift conclusion to open investigations The European Commission has said it will publish the result of its investigation into the Government’s tax arrangements with Apple by the spring. Speaking in Brussels, a commission spokesman said competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager “wants to focus on the four open in-depth… – Continue reading
Amazon made its bones avoiding taxes, and its tax history could bear on its current EU troubles. Amazon got bigger and more nimble than anyone else by betting on America’s love of tax avoidance.By edging the competition with no sales tax, Amazon grew to become the poster child of sales… – Continue reading
We commissioners have vowed to clamp down on evasion and fraud to make sure all companies pay their fair share 2014 was the year the world discovered there is no whisky in a double Irish and no cheese in a Dutch sandwich. Discussions about fair taxation and tax avoidance featured… – Continue reading
Brian Hayes: Ireland has nothing to apologise for Ireland is not a tax haven and should not allow itself to be “scapegoated” by larger European countries, Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes has said. Ireland had nothing to apologise for and was critical of the approach taken to a number of member… – Continue reading
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. Luxembourg’s unorthodox tax deal with Amazon was laid bare by European Commission investigators on Friday, who believe it artificially lowered and “capped” the online retailer’s tax bill,… – Continue reading
On 19 December 2014 the Luxembourg Parliament enacted Bill n° 6720 (theBudget Law) and Bill n°6722 (the Zukunftspack – Action Plan for the Future) introducing new Luxembourg tax measures applicable for corporations and individuals as of 2015. Looking back at 2014, and especially the last couple of months during which… – Continue reading
The debate of the last couple of years about corporation tax in Europe resembles a popular ‘whodunnit’: point at an obvious suspect before realising that things are not as they seem. The storyline is still being written, but it risks taking a shortcut by identifying some politically convenient suspects, without… – Continue reading
The Greens/EFA group has succeeded in its bid to set up a special enquiry committee into tax evasion and dumping, after gaining the support of over 25 per cent of MEPs, as required by parliament rules. This comes on top of an enquiry report currently being drafted by parliament’s economic… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS– Amazon.com Inc.’s “cosmetic” tax arrangements in Luxembourg may give the U.S. online retailer an illegal advantage over competitors, European Union regulators said Friday, marking the latest phase of a widening crackdown on alleged sweetheart tax deals for multinationals. Amazon is one of four companies whose tax affairs are being… – 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.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3e5cbbfa-9bff-11e4-b6cc-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz3OtSPx5Gf The European Parliament is poised to launch a full inquiry into sweetheart… – Continue reading
The European Parliament’s Green Party cleared the first legal hurdle in its push for a probe of tax evasion in the wake of revelations about hundreds of sweetheart deals for companies in Luxembourg. The proposal gathered the backing of more than the required 188 EU lawmakers in order to seek… – Continue reading
The European Parliament’s Green Party has cleared the first legal hurdle for the creation of a committee to look into tax evasion in the wake of revelations about hundreds of secret deals for companies in Luxembourg. The proposal gathered the backing of more than the required 188 MEPs to seek… – Continue reading
In the light of the recent revelations about Luxembourg tax avoidance schemes for multinational corporations, a quarter of the European Parliament on Wednesday (14 January) backed the Greens’ proposal to set up a full inquiry committee on tax evasion and dumping. Managing to get the required support of 188 MEPs… – Continue reading
Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitão said in December he would ask Revenu Québec to look into whether Bombardier Inc. used Luxembourg as a way to avoid paying provincial taxes. What he didn’t say was that the results of those inquiries would remain secret. Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists discovered… – Continue reading
Outlook A missive from Amazon drops into my inbox. The retailer, tech giant, delivery drone developer and candidate to replace Spectre in the next Bond movie, wants to trumpet the thousands of new jobs it created last year. Six thousand, in case you were interested, and apparently that is the… – Continue reading
Luxembourg’s fund management industry has responded to proposals put forward by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on preventing treaty abuse, with a particular focus on the treatment of collective investment vehicles (CIVs). The response, from the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), concerns proposals put forward… – Continue reading
Other bodies announce similar probes; bank agreed to pay $400 million to US he Attorney General’s Office will open an investigation into the Bank Leumi Group, it revealed Thursday, weeks after the bank agreed to pay $400 million to United States and New York authorities for helping American taxpayers hide… – Continue reading
Outlook PwC’s request the Luxembourg authorities prosecute the whistleblower who lifted the lid on the vast extent of tax avoidance there is ill-judged and unpalatable. Antoine Deltour did the world a service in leaking the details of thousands of PWC-arranged tax deals in the tiny country. The result is likely… – Continue reading
Countries are competing to lower their tax rates to please the corporate giants, but the result is a massive collective loss of revenue. Only international coordination can wipe out the practice and defeat the negative influence of the Big Four accounting firms. Tax havens have long existed in the popular… – Continue reading
(CS/vb) A former PwC employee could face up to 10 years in prison for leaking thousands of documents in what has become known as the LuxLeaks scandal, his lawyer has said. Informant Antoine Deltour spoke on French television station Canal+ on Tuesday, saying that among experts, tax avoidance schemes via… – Continue reading
Europe’s tax showdown could be headed straight to people’s wallets. With the new year, a change in fiscal rules in the European Union is increasing the tax on many purchases of digital content like e-books and smartphone applications. Under the new rules, first approved in 2008, the tax rate on… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS – As political honeymoons go, it was short and ended abruptly. Just one week into his job as European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker was broadsided by a series of newspaper articles outlining the depth and breadth of corporate tax avoidance schemes in Luxembourg. Schemes thought up and enacted while… – Continue reading
There’s an interesting letter in The Guardian arguing that the LuxLeaks leaker should not be prosecuted for what they did is of such public interest that, well, they shouldn’t be prosecuted. The letter is, of course, from the usual suspects and manages, quite heroically, to miss the basic point about… – Continue reading
A mixed success record has been notched up by the US Justice Department when it comes to prosecuting offshore bankers, advisers and lawyers accused of assisting American taxpayers cheat their taxes. The United States Government, from 2008, has charged 38 individuals, including Swiss bankers like the top three managers of… – Continue reading
Margrethe Vestager has made clear that the commission is treating the LuxLeaks papers as ‘market information’ and is reviewing these tax rulings to decide whether or not they should be made the subject of further illegal state-aid cases.’ Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/Getty We deplore the decision by Luxembourg to bring criminal… – Continue reading
Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. (LUMI) agreed to pay $400 million and admit it helped American clients evade taxes for a decade, in a case showing that U.S. prosecutors and New York regulators are extending their probes of offshore tax evasion beyond Switzerland. The Justice Department filed a conspiracy charge today… – Continue reading
The Luxembourg Government is to provide the European Commission with a list of the tax rulings issued by its tax authorities, along with a list of the beneficiaries of its concessionary tax regime for intellectual property (IP) income. Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel announced that the decision had been made… – Continue reading
The disclosure of thousands of pages of confidential documents on Luxembourg tax deals was a “game changer” that led European Union regulators to expand their probe of such accords to all 28 nations in the bloc, Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna said. The EU’s expanded investigation “is not a surprise… – Continue reading
