George Town, Grand Cayman – For persons who want to let Government know their thoughts on beneficial ownership of companies – including if Cayman effectively maintains information on who owns the companies, and if that information is readily available to appropriate authorities – the deadline to respond is this Friday,… – Continue reading
Luxembourg has been widely hailed as an international investment center for years. The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) provides a number of reasons underlying the country’s designation as a top fund-industry choice. Its legal and regulatory framework for investment funds is recognized for its excellence by the global… – Continue reading
Ireland’s Fianna Fáil party has expressed its concern over the “seemingly snail’s pace” progress being made by the European Commission in its preliminary probe of the country’s corporate tax regime. Fianna Fáil finance spokesperson Michael McGrath said: “News of the preliminary probe by the European Commission into the corporation tax… – 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
(Reuters) – Plans to make companies reveal how much tax they pay country by country were abandoned on Wednesday, knocking back the efforts of lawmakers who had pushed to curb tax avoidance by multinational businesses. Schemes used by Starbucks (SBUX.O), Apple (AAPL.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) and other corporations operating within the… – Continue reading
Ordinarily resident’s global income is taxable in India I worked in Sweden for about two months this year. What will be the tax implication of my earnings there? —Shruti The tax implications in India of income earned in Sweden would depend upon your tax residential status in India during the… – Continue reading
Iceland has recently enacted its own transfer pricing legislation, which became effective from January 1, 2014. Prior to that date, there were no specific transfer pricing provisions in Icelandic law. Iceland’s new transfer pricing legislation, included in Article 57 of the Income Tax Law (No 90/2003), is based on the… – Continue reading
Feb 26 (Reuters) – A former UBS AG banker pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to defraud the United States by helping wealthy Americans evade taxes. Martin Lack, a 51-year-old Swiss resident, pleaded guilty in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to a single conspiracy count in a 2011 indictment… – Continue reading
The Cyprus government has announced the signature of a new double taxation agreement with Norway. Double taxation avoidance between Cyprus and Norway is currently regulated by the 1951 double tax agreement between Norway and the United Kingdom, which was extended in 1955 to include several British colonies, including Cyprus. On… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON: The U.S. has expanded its action against tax cheaters to countries such as India, Israel and Liechtenstein, a top U.S. official told lawmakers. So far, the U.S. action was primarily focused against tax cheaters on Switzerland. Since 2009, the Department has publicly charged 73 account holders and 35 professionals… – Continue reading
The Cyprus government has announced the signature of a new double taxation agreement with Norway. Double taxation avoidance between Cyprus and Norway is currently regulated by the 1951 double tax agreement between Norway and the United Kingdom, which was extended in 1955 to include several British colonies, including Cyprus. On… – Continue reading
Authorities aren’t waiting for new reporting laws to go into effect to track down Americans who they say owe money The US needs money — and it’s willing to go to the ends of the earth, including Israel, to track down deadbeats who are evading their taxes. Israel was named… – Continue reading
Montenegro held the first round of talks with the Kingdom of Spain for the conclusion of an avoidance of double taxation agreement and prevention of income tax. Montenegrin delegation was led by Mitar Bajčeta, chief of the Directorate of Customs System and Customs Policy in the Ministry of Finance, and… – Continue reading
Banking group hits out at Credit Suisse chief executive after he tells US that alleged tax schemes were due to a few dishonest employees A group representing Swiss bankers has demanded an apology from Credit Suisse boss Brady Dougan after he said the practice of helping Americans conceal their wealth… – Continue reading
Kevin Thorn of the Thorn Law Group comments on the recent guilty plea by a United States Taxpayer with undisclosed overseas bank accounts as one in a long line of ongoing IRS and DOJ investigations into U.S. citizens with hidden overseas bank accounts. Thorn observes the U.S. government’s expanded… – 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
Switzerland must adopt a position on sharing bank client data with foreign tax authorities more quickly than originally thought and cannot hold back until all other countries have introduced the practice, its finance minister told a Swiss newspaper. So far, 42 countries have declared an interest in automatically sharing information… – Continue reading
UK Government and HMRC Crack Down on Secret Bank Account Tax Evasion. Here, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde (L) chats with Osborne before the G20 round table meeting in Sydney.Reuters Britain’s government and its taxman have announced the net is closing on people who are evading tax… – Continue reading
Feb 24 (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors are widening their probe of how Swiss banks helped wealthy Americans avoid taxes to look at insurers as well, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. Insurers in Switzerland have been preparing for months for U.S. officials to investigate products known as insurance… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Swiss bank UBS is prepared to pay a fine of up to 200 million euros ($274.5 million) in an investigation of alleged tax avoidance by the lender’s German clients, a German newspaper reported on Tuesday. The German authorities originally demanded 300 million euros from UBS, but a compromise… – Continue reading
HMRC have launched a brand new offshore tax avoidance campaign, showing the strangely attractive eyes of HMRC leering at you through a map of the modern world. What do we think about this new approach from the taxman? Offshore tax avoidance was a piping hot potato in 2013, much publicised… – Continue reading
A major rebranding and restructuring of Gibraltar’s financial services industry, aimed at raising its competitive profile and increasing its focus on particular market sectors, is under way, overseen by minister for financial services and gaming Albert Isola. The restructuring is seen as having its origins in Gibraltar’s last general election,… – Continue reading
Credit Suisse Group , Switzerland’s second biggest bank, went to great lengths to assist US customers trying to open Swiss bank accounts and evade taxes, entertaining them at a Swiss-themed ball in New York and golf tournaments in Florida and opening a branch in the Zurich airport to serve Americans… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Billions of dollars in U.S. taxes are going unpaid because Americans are exploiting Swiss bank accounts, and the U.S. government has failed to aggressively pursue Switzerland’s second-largest bank, a Senate investigation has found. The bank, Credit Suisse, has provided accounts in Switzerland for more than 22,000 U.S. clients… – Continue reading
NWC calls for full and complete investigation into wrongdoing and full protection for whistleblowers Washington, D.C. February 25, 2014. The Permanent Subcommittee On Investigations will hold a hearing on “Offshore Tax Evasion” on Wednesday, February 26, 2014, at 9:30AM, in Room G-50 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. More information can be found… – Continue reading
Feb 26 (Reuters) – Swiss EFG International said on Wednesday full-year net profit was virtually unchanged after the bank made a 6.5 million Swiss franc ($7.32 million) provision related to a probe into wealthy Americans evading taxes through hidden offshore accounts. The Zurich-based private bank is one of 106 Swiss… – Continue reading
Zara’s celebrity chic helps make its Spanish parent company, Inditex SA, the world’s biggest fashion retailer. Singer Taylor Swift, reality-television personality Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton, Prince William’s wife, have all been spotted wearing the stylish, low-cost brand. Another reason for Inditex’s industry-best profit margins of almost 15 percent: the… – Continue reading
HONG KONG, Feb 20 (Reuters) – The British and Chinese governments are in active discussions about setting up a clearing bank in London for China’s currency, a milestone that will put the city in a leading position to offer yuan trade business in Europe. Taking a leaf out of Hong Kong’s blueprint in being… – Continue reading
The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing on a crackdown on offshore tax evasion that has stalled as prosecutors conduct criminal probes of 14 banks, including Credit Suisse Group AG. (C:US) The hearing will focus on “the status of efforts to hold Swiss banks and their U.S. clients… – Continue reading
The G20 finance ministers have once again agreed to cooperate to counter aggressive cross-border tax avoidance by multinationals. Many US firms are using tax avoidance schemes for their non-US earnings while they shamelessly claim they are paying appropriate taxes in the source countries in which they operate. The OECD responded to earlier… – Continue reading
New measures to combat alleged tax avoidance by limited liability partnerships will come in to force on 6 April despite protests from the legal profession and the City, HM Revenue & Customs has confirmed. A revised technical note and guidance on the ‘Salaried members rules’ appeared on the HMRC website… – Continue reading
CYPRUS and Norway on Monday signed an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation. A statement said the text agreed between the finance ministries of the two countries would contribute to the further development of trade and economic relations between Cyprus and Norway, as well as other countries. “The updating,… – 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
A strong end to 2013 marked a notable increase in transactional activity and underlined positive trends which had emerged during the year, according to the latest Offshore-i Report released by Appleby, one of the world’s largest providers of offshore legal services. The report, which provides data and insight on merger… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s because the ratings company said the offshore financial center is vulnerable to growing regulatory pressure. The island administration, which sits in the Irish Sea off the north-west coast of Britain, was cut to AA from AA+, S&P said in a statement. It was ranked AAA by… – Continue reading
Back in April 2013, the G5 Governments agreed to work together on a pilot scheme on multilateral and standardized exchange of tax information, with a new initiative on information exchange, based on the so-called FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) exchange model. Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Malta, Greece, Iceland and Colombia have… – Continue reading
Parliament unanimously approved new legislation on Friday that will dramatically expand Gibraltar’s network of agreements for the exchange of tax information. The legislation implements the OECD’s Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in Gibraltar ahead of the March 1 deadline. The move is part of the Government of… – Continue reading
THE G20 and the OECD are taking steps to put an end to global tax havens and make sure multinationals and digital companies pay their fair share of tax to governments. International tax evasion is a serious problem worldwide and is reflected in the $US2 trillion ($A2.2 trillion) of accumulated… – Continue reading
Group-of-20 nations agreed to implement a global standard for automatically exchanging information between tax authorities by the end of 2015, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said. The endorsement is a step toward putting an end to “banking secrecy as we know it,” Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the OECD’s… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department plans to rebut Vodafone’s notice under BIPA saying that the pact between India and Netherlands does not cover taxation issues. The response to the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) notice was finalised after a meeting of the inter-ministerial group, headed by the Finance Secretary. The other… – Continue reading
Barbados’ financial-services sector is rated as the second-largest source of foreign exchange earnings, behind tourism, for which new markets are being sought outside of Canada. On Thursday, central bank governor, Dr DeLisle Worrell, said the country has been losing business in its International Business and Financial Services Sector (IBFS), which… – Continue reading
Winston Churchill said there is “no such thing as a good tax.” Surely, then, it follows that no good can come from double taxation. While it’s difficult to feel sympathy for Conrad Black, who earned approximately $3.39 million with another $1.7 million of taxable benefits in 2002, the underlying principles… – Continue reading
Today the Minister of Education and Economic Development, Dr. the Hon. Grant Gibbons JP MP, announced that the Registrar of Companies’ full-year 2013 results revealed the largest number of new company incorporations since 2008 and a very healthy increase over the 2012 results. “The good news is incorporations continue to… – Continue reading
The days of multinational companies being able to use the Double Irish Dutch Sandwich to avoid taxation may soon be coming to an end, with the G20 group of nations looking to create a reporting standard to allow for automatic exchange of tax information. In the official communique coming at the end… – Continue reading
Kiwis could be forced to surrender their private details to United States authorities as part of a deal to combat tax-dodging. Those affected could include high-profile New Zealanders in entertainment, sports and business who have previously lived in the US. The Government has stressed the law changes to override New… – Continue reading
A tribunal has found that a tax avoidance scheme which involved celebrities, fund managers and other high earners claiming that they were second-hand car dealers in their spare time did not work. The decision, which will save the country £290 million, is the fourth consecutive win by HM Revenue and… – Continue reading
News of corporations taking advantage of tax loopholes to avoid paying their fair share toward the cost of government continues to flow in. Usually, closing these loopholes requires legislative action by a divided Congress, but there’s one $10 billion a year loophole that can be closed with a Treasury Department… – 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
NASSAU, The Bahamas – Minister of Financial Services Ryan Pinder said, on February 20, 2014, that the international landscape for financial services continues to change extremely rapidly and his Ministry continues to actively follow and engage on issues emanating from the Global Forum, OECD, G-8, G20, the European Union and… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man is kind of like the United Kingdom’s version of the Caymen Islands. Technically it’s a crown dependency, and the British government is responsible for its defense and foreign relations. But it’s also completely self-governing with one of the oldest Parliaments in the world. The “island administration,” which… – Continue reading
