HMRC and Morgan both say the proposals, announced last year in the Autumn Statement, will not be included in the Finance Bill 2014 The government has abandoned plans to introduce legislation that would make it tougher to set up a charity for tax-avoidance purposes because it would have had a… – Continue reading
Liechtenstein is betting its offer to automatically share tax data on banking clients will end the principality’s decades-long reputation as a tax haven, a top bank official said. Simon Tribelhorn, director of the Liechtenstein Bankers Association, said the announcement in November to lock in automatic-exchange agreements with five European nations… – Continue reading
MOSCOW, June 30 (RAPSI) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to allow Russian financial institutions to provide information about US taxpayers and to oblige foreign financial institutions to report Russian taxpayers to Russia’s Federal Tax Service. The document has been posted on the government website of legal information…. – Continue reading
Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) are becoming increasingly popular in America, due to the loophole represented by a double-tax treaty signed with Malta – a country in the top three jurisdictions of choice since QROPS were introduced. Previously it was largely viewed as near-impossible to arrange for a viable,… – Continue reading
NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) – The Bahamas government says it is “unable to ignore” the nuances that came to light when the island held a referendum on gaming in 2013 as it announced measures to modify its position on regulating the gaming industry. Prime Minister Perry Christie said as a result,… – Continue reading
Amendments to the double taxation convention (DTC) between France and Switzerland will bring the treaty’s information exchange provisions up to the international standard. An additional Protocol to the Convention, signed on June 25, 2014, will enable France to secure additional information from Switzerland on individual taxpayers, including their name or… – 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
(Bloomberg) — UBS AG, BNP Paribas SA, Credit Suisse Group AG and other banks providing wealthy French people a home for their money in Switzerland are being told: No more tax evasion. Ahead of French Finance Minister Michel Sapin’s visit today to the Swiss capital Bern, he briefed bankers on… – Continue reading
The judges who found Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana guilty of tax evasion in April have spoken up, saying that they believe the designers were aware of the dealings. “It is not at all believable that the designers, once made aware of the project [to avoid Italian taxes], could feel… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands and Colombia are to sign an automatic exchange of tax information agreement under the Multilateral Convention on 1 July 2014. The Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) will be in accordance with global regulatory standards. This will be Cayman’s 36th such agreement, the third in 2014, with the Seychelles… – Continue reading
Law360, Los Angeles (June 25, 2014, 10:42 PM ET) — Russia’s upper house of parliament reportedly approved legislation Wednesday that would allow Russian banks to share information about their foreign clients with the U.S., so the banks can comply with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, despite the Russian government’s… – 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
MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, on Wednesday authorized the direct exchange of information between Russian banks and US tax authorities on US taxpayers. The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires foreign banks to supply the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)… – Continue reading
ANYONE with a second residence or holiday home in Co Donegal who has not paid the taxes due on it now have an outstanding bill of €4,220. This amount, accrued from 2009-2013, will rise however to a whopping €7,230 on September 1, 2014. Donegal County Council said it is “actively… – Continue reading
France and Switzerland have agreed to meet OECD standards when it comes to data exchange between the two countries. Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, and her French counterpart, Michel Sapin, came to an agreement during his visit to Bern on Wednesday. The newly-signed deal brings the previous double taxation agreement between… – Continue reading
The Irish Government is to hike the top tax rate payable on offshore petroleum exploration and production, to ensure that the State reaps more revenue from future licensees. Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte is to act on recommendations made by sector experts Wood Mackenzie in a report commissioned by the Government…. – Continue reading
Should investors pay much heed to domicile when investing in an investment trust IPO? The first half of 2014 has very much mirrored what we saw last year, certainly from a new issues perspective. The investment trust sector is going full throttle, with the sector raising £1.8bn so far this… – 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
Facing global pressure, Switzerland today decided to relax a key legislation to make it easier to extend help to foreign countries, including India, probing cases of suspected tax crimes. The proposed revision in Switzerland’s Tax Administrative Assistance Act would do away with an existing requirement where all individuals are given… – 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
The State Duma on Friday passed legislation allowing Russian banks to pass information on their U.S. clients to the U.S. tax service, as demanded by FATCA, a law that drags banks around the world into the U.S. fight against tax evasion. But lawmakers were not keen to bend over backwards for the U.S. Under the legislation, authorities will be able to veto the transfer… – 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
Channel 5 documentary The Hunt For Hitler’s Millions reveals tax evasion schemes dictator used to amass secret fortune. A new UK documentary has exposed the secrets of Adolf Hitler’s hidden fortune, which is estimated to be worth more than £3bn. Channel 5’s The Hunt For Hitler’s Millions reveals that the… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – German customs authorities in the Port of Hamburg have confiscated documents that may contain information about the accounts of suspected tax evaders, German media reported on Saturday. Two containers with around 14,000 documents inside were confiscated at the end of May, with some coming from a branch of… – Continue reading
Pat Rabbitte, Ireland’s energy minister, has introduced a proposal to increase Irish offshore tax rates. The proposed rules will provide a higher tax take for the state, ensuring earlier revenue from developed fields, Rabbitte said at a Dublin conference. The proposed rules would charge taxes on a field by field… – Continue reading
In an era when many companies seek international solutions that in simpler times might have been openly labeled “tax evasion,” governments around the world are seeking to ensure they are not cheated of legally due taxes by what is now euphemistically called “profit shifting.” Apple Inc. (AAPL) has been keeping… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The European Commission has told Ireland it may investigate more companies as part of a probe into the country’s tax practices, after announcing a formal probe into Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) Irish subsidiaries, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. The EU is investigating whether Ireland, Luxembourg… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands and Colombia will sign a tax information exchange agreement on July 1, the government announced. The TIEA will “be in accordance with global regulatory standards.” The agreement will be the 36th signed by the Cayman Islands, and the British Overseas Territory’s third in 2014, following similar pacts… – Continue reading
The Russian authorities are ready to provide the U.S. internal revenue service with information on American depositors, but have drafted a bill for similar measures in the United States. All foreign banks that work with Russian clients will be obligated to disclose information about such clients to Moscow. Primarily, the… – Continue reading
For more than a century, Geneva has provided wealthy French families a convenient and safe place to stash their money. Switzerland’s political neutrality, stability, and tradition of bank secrecy have kept their fortunes beyond the reach of warring powers and the most determined tax collectors, even though Geneva is less… – Continue reading
Belgian investigators detained the head of UBS Belgium on Thursday for questioning in connection with an alleged multi-billion euro tax fraud by the Swiss bank’s Belgian unit. Belgian police carried out raids on Thursday morning at the bank and at the homes of a client and of UBS Belgium chief… – Continue reading
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is to set to have tax fraud charges against him dropped, but the Spanish judicial system will continue to push for a conviction for his father.The 26-year-old had been hit with allegations in the past year which suggested he was guilty of tax avoidance to the sum of €4.1… – Continue reading
GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Cayman Islands and Colombia are to sign a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (“TIEA”) on 1 July 2014. The TIEA will be in accordance with global regulatory standards. This will be Cayman’s 36th such agreement, the third in 2014, with the Seychelles agreement being signed in… – Continue reading
Irish and shareholder eyes may be smiling at the prospect of medtech giant Medtronic acquiring Covidien and moving its headquarters to Ireland, where Covidien is based, but the $42.9 billion deal is causing at least a few frowns, as well. Minneapolis-based Medtronic is the largest U.S. company to try to… – Continue reading
A Spanish prosecutor recommended that Lionel Messi, the captain of Argentina’s national soccer team, be cleared of tax evasion while keeping his father an official suspect. “Messi didn’t participate in the decision making of the management and use of his earnings,” prosecutor Raquel Amado said in a presentation, a copy… – Continue reading
US multinationals incorporated in Ireland should have their entire global operations taxed here, a leading academic has claimed. Addressing the Oireachtas sub-committee on global taxation yesterday, Jim Stewart, associate professor in finance at Trinity College Dublin, said that existing tax residency rules, for multinational firms, are “extremely ambiguous” and suggested… – 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
The organisations making the payments are required to withhold tax from such payments and pay over the withheld amounts to their respective relevant Tax Authorities within 30days of receipt of payment or credit by the person or entity suffering the Tax. The relevant tax authorities to receive the WHT tax… – Continue reading
The Spanish government has announced that the double tax agreement between Cyprus and Spain, which was signed on February 14 2013, entered into force on May 28 2014, on expiration of the three-month period from the date of receipt of the last notification referred to in Article 27, Paragraph 1… – Continue reading
Here in Ireland we can puff up our breasts and deny that there is anything tax haven-like about this country but the rest of the world believes otherwise. Poor Enda Kenny, who is chief theologian on the not-a-tax-haven side needs the Medtronic announcement like a hole in the head. There… – Continue reading
Just as water flows downhill, so do the profits of multinational corporations travel toward the countries with the lowest tax rates. That’s a fact of life in an era of global markets and businesses; there will always be countries that set unusually low corporate tax rates in the hope of… – Continue reading
The European Commission has opened an investigation to examine whether the taxes paid by Starbucks in the Netherlands comply with the EU rules on state aid. The investigation is one of three, with Apple being investigated in Ireland and Fiat in Luxembourg. This comes after revelations that the Netherlands is… – Continue reading
(CS) The Luxembourg Finance Ministry on Thursday published a statement defending its tax regime, following the launch of an EU probe into deals with multinationals in several members states. The investigation aims to determine whether special tax deals could amount to illegal state aid. Affected companies include Apple, Starbucks, Google,… – Continue reading
Measures to block abuse of ‘transfer of rights’ rules expected to bring in more than £160m, taxman says. Measures to block abuse of ‘transfer of rights’ rules expected to bring in more than £160m, taxman says. The High Court has rejected an attempt to bring a judicial review to challenge… – Continue reading
Tax officials snooping around secret Swiss bank accounts may be a decade too late, with criminals constantly one step ahead of authorities. In Australia, Treasury is taking submissions on an updated tax treaty with the Swiss, in an attempt to crack down on the notorious tax haven. But the new… – Continue reading
The European Commission has opened an investigation to examine whether the taxes paid by Starbucks in the Netherlands comply with the EU rules on state aid. The investigation is one of three, with Apple being investigated in Ireland and Fiat in Luxembourg. This comes after revelations that the Netherlands is… – Continue reading
Tens of thousands of Irish people and foreign nationals who have worked and lived in the UK or US and still have investments, property or pension funds there, are particularly vulnerable to those countries’ tax regulations. Soon, one group in particular – the nearly 12,000 American citizens living in Ireland… – Continue reading
While the UK government continues its battle against tax evasion and tax avoidance, the authorities have received welcome support from the High Court with a ruling backing last year’s bid to stop investors avoiding stamp duty. In simple terms, savvy investors were transferring ownership of property to an offshore company… – Continue reading
On June 5, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down a joint ruling concerning two Dutch companies’ objections to the imposition of withholding tax on dividends paid to their respective holding companies based in the former Netherlands Antilles. In X BV, TBG Limited vs Staatssecretaris van Financien (C-24/12… – Continue reading
Botswana and Ireland have signed an agreement on double taxation avoidance to enable free tax income flowing between the two countries.Speaking at the signing agreement in Gaborone on Wednesday, finance and development planning minister, Kenneth Matambo said the agreement was a commendable move because it was only when there was… – Continue reading
