These proposals can be implemented individually or as part of other reforms that may be in the pipeline PKF wishes to contribute its part towards the next budget implementation and for this purpose it has researched new areas which in its opinion warrant attention by the government during the public… – Continue reading
The international press, especially the Italian one, has been filled these past days with stories of ‘Ndrangheta criminals who have been arrested in Italy and who seem to have links with online gaming companies in Malta which they may have been using for money laundering. This is bad news for… – Continue reading
Requiring the Land Registry to publish information about foreign companies that own property in England and Wales could ultimately speed up the recovery of money from fraudsters who have “hidden” victims’ money in a variety of corporate structures, an expert has said. UK prime minister David Cameron announced new measures… – Continue reading
The European Union (EU) doesn’t like the special tax deals that are offered to companies to entice them to set up in Switzerland. So the Swiss government is working hard to find a replacement. One element of their new plan is to offer patent boxes. A recent study by economists… – Continue reading
The Britain has commended the Zambian government for implementing the UK-Zambia double taxation agreement. British High Commissioner to Zambia James Thornton said the agreement will help promote and foster business linkages between British and Zambia companies. In a press statement issued to ZANIS in Lusaka today, Mr. Thornton said the… – Continue reading
Understanding FATCA and having a comprehensive FATCA compliance program is essential for financial firms to limit non-compliance risk and meet obligations with relevant IGA’s. The US has made inroads on the Exchange of Information front and tax havens like Switzerland have declared a willingness to meet or even exceed OECD… – Continue reading
The Britain has commended the Zambian government for implementing the UK-Zambia double taxation agreement. British High Commissioner to Zambia James Thornton said the agreement will help promote and foster business linkages between British and Zambia companies. In a press statement issued to ZANIS in Lusaka today, Mr. Thornton said the… – Continue reading
Over the past year, a number of legislative measures have been adopted to ensure that the Cayman Islands remains the leading jurisdiction of choice for structured finance and capital markets transactions and for secured lending transactions generally. This article focuses on two recent key legislative developments. The first is the… – Continue reading
Over the past year, a number of legislative measures have been adopted to ensure that the Cayman Islands remains the leading jurisdiction of choice for structured finance and capital markets transactions and for secured lending transactions generally. This article focuses on two recent key legislative developments. The first is the… – Continue reading
From five-star hotels to humble tavernas, Greek tax inspectors are fixing their attention on tax evasion at summer holiday hotspots. The government served notice on Wednesday that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s promised crackdown on tax evasion is now under way, a week after sweeping increases in value-added tax were imposed…. – Continue reading
ZURICH, July 29 (Reuters) – Shares in EFG International plunged nearly 19 percent on Wednesday after the Swiss private bank sharply missed first-half profit expectations, saying market uncertainty in the euro zone, Brazil and China hit fee income. New Chief Executive Joachim Straehle described the results, which included a drop… – Continue reading
“People have had ample opportunity to regularise their affairs”, says HMRC as it presents the next move in its “No Safe Havens” strategy. A package of measures was proposed in the Summer Budget 2015 designed to ramp up HMRC’s powers to tackle offshore tax evasion. With civil deterrents and civil… – Continue reading
There has been much recent focus on tax structures employed by multi-national corporations. This has led to an initiative, spearheaded by the OECD, to combat “base erosion and profit shifting”, or BEPS. The shipping industry is likely to be affected both directly and indirectly by the BEPS initiative – directly,… – Continue reading
Foreigners must not be able to buy UK homes with “plundered or laundered cash” as part a global effort to defeat corruption, David Cameron has said. Speaking in Singapore, the prime minister vowed to expose the use of “anonymous shell companies” to buy luxury UK properties – often in London…. – Continue reading
On July 28, 2015 the Dutch Government published the English text of the Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in respect of Aruba, and the Czech Republic for the exchange of information on tax matters (hereafter: the TIEA), which was signed in the Hague on June 29, 2015. Although… – Continue reading
In the first 100% Conservative Budget in nearly two decades, chancellor George Osborne has introduced a raft of changes, including significant revisions to UK non-dom status. On 8 July, chancellor George Osborne delivered the first Conservative Government Budget for 19 years. Many headlines had already been flagged up in advance,… – Continue reading
A Huddersfield tycoon, accused of masterminding one of Europe’s biggest tax frauds, is expected to be extradited from the USA to Germany. Mohammad Safdar Gohir has been in a Las Vegas jail for more than a year and is now awaiting deportation to Germany following a US court’s decision. Gohir,… – Continue reading
Tax season is daunting enough at home – let alone in a foreign country. That’s why expats David and Carrie McKeegan started Greenback, the tax company designed specifically for American expats. The Local talked to the couple about how to handle taxes in Switzerland. Taxes are complicated enough in your… – Continue reading
The Revenue Agency has confirmed that it has finalized its instructions for Italian financial institutions (FIs) to transmit their data to comply with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) inter-governmental agreement (IGA) between Italy and the United States. FATCA, enacted by the US Congress in 2010, is intended to… – Continue reading
White-collar criminals who launder billions by buying luxury UK properties must be tackled, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday. Experts warn these fraudsters are distorting the UK property market and pushing up house prices in the process. Cameron’s criticism of money laundering formed part of a broader speech on… – Continue reading
Former Attorney-General Mark Pettingill describes the suggestion he had someone seeking payment of a bribe on his behalf as “ridiculous” A developer’s allegations of Government corruption over the development of the Hamilton waterfront are “farcical” and based on “hearsay, innuendo and lies”, according to Mark Pettingill, the One Bermuda Alliance… – Continue reading
A senior GOP lawmaker will roll out a plan Wednesday to cut taxes for income spurred by intellectual property, as House Republicans lay the groundwork for a potential major highway and tax reform deal. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) said his so-called “innovation box” would be a central part of the… – Continue reading
Introduction The regulatory framework in Cyprus is all-encompassing but still attractive to investment funds for varied investor requirements. An investment fund may be set up in Cyprus either as an Alternative Investment Fund (“AIF”), or as an Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (“UCITS”). Cyprus administers all internationally recognized… – Continue reading
This article deals with the manner in which Canada has complicated, and rendered controversial, what in most other countries is straightforward — the deductibility of business related interest expense. The reasons to write about it are threefold: the almost-concurrent issuance of the Canada Revenue Agency’s administrative views on the matter… – Continue reading
With the focus of 2014 being international tax competition, 2015 shows signs of continuing this trend. The European Commission (COM) and European Parliament (EP) are starting to debate and extensively investigate Member States’ tax ruling policies, partly as a result of the LuxLeaks revelations and partly in relation to the… – Continue reading
Singapore’s fight to stem illicit fund inflows has shoved private bankers into a new quandary – finding enough qualified compliance specialists to ensure the money passing through their accounts is clean. Like other wealth management centres around the world, Singapore is forcing banks to make more stringent checks on their… – Continue reading
The IRS released the fourteenth FATCA GIIN list of foreign financial institutions (FFIs) that have registered with the IRS through its FATCA portal. The IRS provides these FFIs a Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN). The FFI may then use its unique 19 digit GIIN to complete the IRS tax self… – Continue reading
Over the past few weeks the European Union has published a list of 30 countries which have been listed as non-cooperative jurisdictions. This publication was part of a wider publication: the “Action Plan for Fair and Efficient Corporate Taxation in the EU” which also includes the Re-Launching of the CCCTB…. – Continue reading
Manama, July 27 (BNA): The cabinet has strongly condemned all forms of interference by Iranian officials in the domestic affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, noting that such meddling is a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and the norms of International Law. The weekly session reiterated Bahrain’s keenness on… – Continue reading
July 27: Japan’s Ministry of Finance announced the exchange of diplomatic notes concerning application of Article 7 (Business profits) under the new income tax treaty between Japan and the United Kingdom. Background Provisions of the amended Japan-UK income tax treaty (signed 17 December 2013) generally were effective 1 January 2015…. – Continue reading
With different tax laws, exemptions, double taxation treaties and free trade zones for services exports affecting outsourcing operations across Latin America, gaining a solid understanding of the distinct tax obligations in each country is imperative. In a bid to attract investment, several Latin American countries have introduced double taxation treaties,… – Continue reading
According to a recent report from National Crime Agency’s Economic Crimes Unit showed a recent spike in the receipts from a tax on homes purchased by companies, trusts or investment funds. In a report from theguardian.co.uk, this may be a clear indication that foreign criminals are using the London housing… – Continue reading
Six people, one a financial adviser, have been arrested as part of an investigation into a suspected £4 million tax evasion and money laundering fraud. Officers from HM Revenue and Customs searched six premises in Telford and Wolverhampton last week and arrested the four men and two women. During the… – Continue reading
Recent revelations that Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest corporation, is maintaining secret subsidiaries in well-known offshore tax havens are outrageous but far from surprising to small business owners. That’s because we’re used to seeing large corporations abuse the tax system in ways that hurt our businesses, communities and families. Wal-Mart’s hidden… – Continue reading
Following the trends of countries such as Spain and Mexico, among others, Brazil has begun to amend and introduce new legislation to reflect BEPS recommendations in its internal legislation. Provisional Measure (PM) 685 was issued this month, determining a disclosure procedure as a result of BEPS Action Plan 12 (Mandatory… – Continue reading
HSBC could have to relinquish its membership of the FTSE-100 index if it moves its HQ to Hong Kong, Sky News understands. HSBC is wrestling with the potential loss of its membership of London’s blue-chip share index if it moves its headquarters back to Hong Kong after a 23-year absence…. – Continue reading
Anyone running a business online through an app store, listings site or similar services could face new scrutiny on tax as part of a government crackdown on tax evasion. Under the new terms, Airbnb, Apple, Amazon eBay and Gumtree could all be required to hand over user information to the… – Continue reading
Russian businesses are preparing to issue a blitz of foreign debt, despite financial sanctions that have all but closed the country’s access to international capital markets for the last year, according to the head of one of its leading banks, reports the Financial Times. Igor Vayn, chief executive of investment… – Continue reading
It is widely recognized that offshore banking secrecy is fast becoming a thing of the past. The signing of bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements between jurisdictions and the fast approaching Common Reporting Standard (CRS) under which jurisdictions will automatically exchange financial information has seen to that. The UK’s voluntary disclosure program… – Continue reading
MADRID: Many of Spain’s five million unemployed dream of finding a steady job in the economic recovery vaunted by the government — but a legion of undeclared workers still scrape by cash-in-hand. “Nowadays the phrase ‘steady job’ means nothing in Spain,” said Paloma Sotillo, 43. She is one of 1.7… – Continue reading
A new report says house prices in the United Kingdom have been on the rise over foreign criminals’ purchasing of British property. According to the Times report, foreign crime lords are pushing up house prices in Britain by laundering billions of pounds through the purchase of expensive properties. The report… – Continue reading
Amazon has topped a poll to find Britain’s favourite retailer – despite being dogged by allegations of tax avoidance and not paying staff well. The online retailer, which is also embroiled in a row over authors’ rights, came first in a huge survey of British consumers carried out by media… – Continue reading
Gang is suspected of large-scale tax evasion Prague, July 24 (ČTK) — Daniel Rudzan, a right-hand man of Shahram Abdullah Zadeh, an influential Iranian oil dealer, both suspected of a huge tax evasion, has been released from custody in the Czech Republic, Lidovky.cz server reported today. Along with them, another… – Continue reading
Bahamas Supreme Court rejects Baha Mar’s Delaware chapter 11 application In a ruling by Justice Ian Winder on Wednesday of this week, The Bahamas Supreme Court Denied Baha Mar’s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Recognition Petition. This paves the way for the Supreme Court to appoint a provisional liquidator on the 31st… – Continue reading
London, United Kingdom, July 25, 2015 –(PR.com)– A Secure On-line Reporting System which provides a cost-effective method for financial institutions’ FATCA and Common Reporting Standard (CRS) reporting requirements has been successfully deployed. Developed by Webtech Limited in conjunction with Russell Bedford’s Isle of Man member firm SMP Partners, the solution… – Continue reading
Kenya signed several pacts with the US during talks between US President Barack Obama and Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, signalling a deepening of bilateral relations in trade and investment. Addressing a joint press conference, President Obama said discussions on the prospects of introducing direct flights between the two countries were… – Continue reading
The Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team on black money has called for clamping down on betting in cricket and stringent checks to prevent rampant use of unaccounted funds in educational institutions by way of donations and capitation fee. The panel has also called for a cash holding limit of Rs… – Continue reading
Corporations, usually based in offshore tax havens, are sometimes used by buyers keen to hide ownership of assets, says National Crime Agency spokesman Foreign criminals are using the London housing market to launder billions of pounds, pushing up house prices for domestic buyers, a senior police officer has warned. Donald… – Continue reading
Wealthy investors in multiple tax avoidance schemes are being leaned on to settle what the tax authority sees as due, or risk reputational damage, reports the Financial Times. Although the government has yet to legislate for powers to “name and shame” tax avoiders, HM Revenue & Customs has warned a… – Continue reading
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has won a case against £29 million ‘sham’ tax avoidance scheme in a tribunal case, reports Citywire. The First-Tier Tribunal rules against tax avoidance scheme the Brain Disorders Research Limited Partnership and partner Neil Hockin’s attempts to claim £29 million in tax relief. The investors… – Continue reading
