Category: Europe

Barrister calls for full inquiry into ATO’s ‘Keystone cops’

A decision to drop tax and money laundering charges against three high-profile Sydney businessmen is ”another humiliating defeat for the Project Wickenby Keystone Cops”, according to a lawyer close to the trio. Charges attracting jail of up to 25 years, laid against former CVC Limited chairman Vanda Gould, former Sunland… – Continue reading

Gabby Logan invested in tax avoidance scheme used by Gary Barlow and two Take That bandmates

World Cup presenter Gabby Logan invested in the tax avoidance scheme used by Gary Barlow and two Take That bandmates. Gabby, who is on the BBC’s frontline team for Brazil, ploughed cash into part of a £12.3million partnership which aimed to shelter earnings from the taxman. The TV star, who… – Continue reading

Russian banks will be able to provide information under FATCA statute

MOSCOW, May 14 (RAPSI) – The Russian government has approved a bill 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, reads a statement on the government’s website. The bill has been submitted to… – Continue reading

Brazil’s Scolari under investigation for alleged tax evasion in Portugal

Luiz Felipe Scolari is the subject of a criminal investigation in Portugal, authorities said Wednesday, bringing an unwelcome distraction for the Brazil coach as his country prepares to host the World Cup. Officials wouldn’t say what the investigation is about. In Portugal, ongoing investigations fall under the country’s judicial secrecy… – Continue reading

Charges over Cayman Islands tax haven dropped

Tax avoidance and money laundering charges against former CVC Limited chairman Vanda Gould, former Sunland chairman John Leaver and Swiss resident Peter Borgas have been dropped. The trio were arrested by Federal Police in October on allegations they used a complex network of companies in tax havens to avoid millions… – Continue reading

Now tax what I call music – the fantasy festival line-up

Three members of Take That are reported to have invested in a tax avoidance scheme – so will they join our festival line-up of stars who, through schemes or leaving the country, have avoided tax? Whether by moving country or through schemes and accountants, celebrities finding ways to avoid tax… – Continue reading

Tax dodgers in Germany rush to come clean after Hoeness trial-paper

The tax evasion trial and conviction of former Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness triggered a wave of self-disclosures resulting in 16,926 tax dodgers turning themselves in during the first four months of the year, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The Welt am Sonntag newspaper said it had surveyed finance authorities in Germany’s… – Continue reading

Costa Rica, 46 countries commit to automatic exchange of tax, financial info

May 7th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) Tax evaders and privacy advocates beware – Costa Rica and 46 other countries signed up yesterday to automatically share banking, financial, and tax information in what the OECD is touting as a major step towards cracking down on global tax evasion. The Declaration on Automatic Exchange… – Continue reading

Switzerland May Share Bank Information to Trace Chinese Black Money

Switzerland is no longer considered as a “tax haven”. Being the world’s largest offshore financial center, Switzerland has agreed automatically to share foreigners’ account information with other countries. Analysts say that this is good news for the other countries, however, for the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) corrupt officials, it seems… – Continue reading

Asian logging companies ‘use British islands for tax dodging’

Calls for crackdown as investigation finds huge Indonesian corporations evading tax through network of secret shell companies in British Virgin Islands and other tax havens Giant Asian logging companies that make billions from destroying rainforests use a labyrinth of secret shell companies based in a UK overseas territory, the British Virgin… – Continue reading

Singapore and Switzerland sign up to automatic exchange of tax information

Forty seven countries, including Singapore and Switzerland have endorsed a declaration agreeing to automatically exchange tax information at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) annual Ministerial Council Meeting which took place on 6 May. The declaration commits the signatories to implement a new single global standard on automatic… – Continue reading

Wealthy in China need new tax haven as Switzerland U-turns on banking privacy

The agreement of Switzerland to disclose information on banking accounts in its territory, at the risk of its time-honored status as the world’s foremost tax haven, may prompt the wealthy worldwide, including Chinese nationals, to search for new shelters for their fortunes. Switzerland, the world’s largest offshore financial center, announced… – Continue reading

Alexander Lukashenko approves a draft agreement with USA on compliance with international tax rules

The President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, approved a draft agreement between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the United States of America on the improvement of compliance with international tax rules and the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) as a basis… – Continue reading

iCreate and Convey team up to help global banks fast-track FATCA compliance

• Partnership creates end-to-end solution for enabling and ensuring FATCA compliance, including: data consolidation, indicia identification, additional KYC data/document capture, alerts/notifications and dashboards to monitor compliance, withholding calculations and remittance, and tax reporting. Banking analytics, risk and compliance pioneer, iCreate, today announced a strategic partnership with tax information reporting leader,… – Continue reading

Multinationals escape tax due to ‘exceptional’ rules, study claims

Large subsidiaries of multinationals, such as Apple and Google, which are based in Ireland are able to escape paying corporation tax due to an “exceptional” interpretation of tax laws by the Revenue Commissioners, a new study claims. A research paper by James Stewart, associate professor in finance at Trinity College… – Continue reading

Cayman Islands, Belgium Sign Tax Information Exchange Agreement

The Cayman Islands and Belgium have officially signed a tax information exchange agreement. Cayman Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton and Belgian Ambassador Godelieve Van den Bergh signed the agreement last week at the Government Administration Building in Grand Cayman. The tax information exchange agreement is the 35th into which the… – Continue reading

Cayman Islands: A Legal Overview Of M&A In The Cayman Islands And British Virgin Islands

Against global trends, gradual growth in both the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) merger and acquisition (“M&A”) activity continued through 2013, led by flagship deals in both established and emerging markets. The flexibility, certainty and efficiency of the statutory merger regimes make both of these leading offshore… – Continue reading

U.S. plans to unleash IRS on Russian banks

Washington • As the United States attempts to punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine, the Treasury Department is deploying an economic weapon that could prove more costly than sanctions: the Internal Revenue Service. This summer, the U.S. plans to start using a new law that will make it more… – Continue reading

Centre gives names of all account holders in Liechtenstein Bank to Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: After resisting for more than three years, the Centre on Tuesday revealed names of 18 people in the Supreme Court who allegedly stashed black money with LST bank in Liechtenstein and against whom prosecution have been launched by the income tax department. Centre also placed in a sealed… – Continue reading

British Virgin Islands: BVI FATCA – Update US And UK

United States Intergovernmental Agreement The British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) Government on 6 March 2014 initialled a “Model 1 intergovernmental agreement” (the “BVI-US IGA”) with the government of the United States of America with respect to the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (“FATCA”), designed to… – Continue reading

Oman, Spain sign agreements

MoUs cover defence, tourism, archives and double taxation — MUSCAT — Oman and the Kingdom of Spain signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the field of archive and documentation at Al Alam Palace within the framework of the Spanish monarch’s visit to the Sultanate, yesterday. The Government of Oman… – Continue reading

India’s top court told names of 26 alleged tax evaders with bank accounts in Liechtenstein

New Delhi – The government Tuesday disclosed to the Supreme Court the names of 26 people who had accounts in banks in Liechtenstein, revealed to India by German authorities. A bench of Justice H.L.Dattu, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice Madan B. Lokur were given these names by Solicitor General… – Continue reading

Guernsey: Stepping Up To FATCA

Laila Arstall of Carey Olsen charts Guernsey’s path to automatic exchange of information. In 2013, UK Prime Minister David Cameron turned the political spotlight on international tax compliance, with his focus on trade, tax and transparency at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He was riding the current trend towards… – Continue reading

Trial of ex-Bayern president Hoeness prompts surge in number of Germans confessing tax evasion

BERLIN — The high-profile tax evasion trial against former Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has prompted a surge in the number of Germans turning themselves in to authorities for failing to properly declare their taxes. Munich daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Wednesday that some 13,000 sought to escape prosecution by submitting… – Continue reading