NEW DELHI: G-20, a group of developed and developing nations, is likely to press for adoption of “rapid timelines” by different countries for automatic sharing of information with a view to curb tax evasion. The issue of automatic sharing of tax information would figure prominently during the meeting of G-20… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands, an important international business competitor for Bermuda, is expressing “consternation” that they have been included on a new list of high risk jurisdictions for financial crime. There are a total of 95 countries listed including Brazil, Afghanistan, Cuba, Russia, China, Iraq, the Republic of Congo and Jamaica…. – Continue reading
Never heard of FATCA? You will. FATCA—the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act—is America’s global tax law. It was quietly enacted in 2010, and after a four-year ramp up, it’s finally in effect. What is most amazing is not its impact on Americans—although that is considerable—but its impact on the world…. – Continue reading
MOSCOW, August 5 (RAPSI) – The Russian Finance Ministry intends to exclude Malta from the list of offshore zones due to the double taxation and prevention of tax evasion convention having been ratified between the governments of Russia and Malta, RIA Novosti reports. Respective changes to the list of offshore zones… – Continue reading
Russia’s Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, has told President Vladimir Putin that a new bill to deter Russian tax residents from hiding income offshore is expected to raise about RUB30bn (USD844m) from overseas accounts in Cyprus and the Netherlands. During a Government meeting on July 30, 2014, Siluanov explained that entrepreneurs… – Continue reading
Therefore, Russia “could receive about 30 billion rubles [about $900 million] in additional budget revenues [annually], which are extremely necessary,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov noted NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 30. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s new offshore taxation rules will yield about $1 billion in tax revenues for state coffers annually, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov… – Continue reading
YEREVAN, July 17. /ARKA/. Russia’s government has approved the package of legislative changes which make offshore companies’ access to the state’s money more complicated. They no longer will be provided by guarantees and they will be obliged to reveal beneficial owners in government procurement auctions. The demands turned out to… – 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
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
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
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
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
With Russia unlikely to be able to conclude a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the United States in the foreseeable future, and subject to the country’s current law on tax information exchange, VTB has become the first Russian bank to disclose that it is reducing… – Continue reading
VTB, Russian’s second-largest banking group, will cease service to Russia-based U.S. clients to avoid falling foul of FATCA, a U.S. tax avoidance law that comes into force on July 1. Even at this late stage, Russian law and FATCA are incompatible — Russian banks will be able to comply with U.S. law or Russian law, but not both, the head of the… – Continue reading
The FATCA obliges banks to send information about US clients and their transactions to the Internal Revenue Service MOSCOW, Jun 5./ITAR-TASS/. The banks of Russia’s VTB Group will gradually cease servicing its 2,000 US clients to comply with the requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), daily Izvestia… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON – About 77,000 foreign and U.S. banks and financial institutions, including some in Russia, have registered with the United States to comply with a new law meant to fight tax dodging by Americans, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday. Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs Robert Stack… – Continue reading
Russian business is certainly facing a challenging time. The Russian Government has sights set on the offshore business of Russian entities and individuals, and when they get their way it may have wide-reaching implications not only for Russian business, but for anyone doing business with Russian partners across the globe…. – Continue reading
Russian lawmakers and banks are still squabbling about how to join the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) network after the US closed the door on talks following Moscow’s role in the Ukraine crisis. In recent weeks, Finance Minister Anatoly Aksakov pledged to Russian banks that a new law allowing… – Continue reading
The Russian government may place “limitations” on the amount of information that Russian banks can render to U.S. tax authorities under FATCA, a U.S. federal law intended to crack down on tax avoidance by U.S. citizens, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev said Thursday. Moiseyev told journalists in St. Petersburg that Russia will not become “tax agents for the Americans, that… – Continue reading
The head of the Lower House financial markets committee said that until Russia passes a law, any report to US tax authorities about a client accounts in Russian banks would be considered a violation of bank secrecy. MP Natalya Burykina (United Russia) added that bank employees who permit it could… – Continue reading
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
WASHINGTON (VR)— A US law designed to rein in offshore tax evasion by US citizens—the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA— is set to ensnare Russian banks in near chaos if Russia does not iron out how it will comply with the law in the next few weeks. The… – Continue reading
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
MOSCOW, April 11 (Reuters) – Polyus Gold, Russia’s biggest gold miner, is considering state proposals to encourage the rebasing of Russian firms currently owned by offshore entities and intends to explore these issues with the government, the company said on Friday. The comments of the Jersey-registered company, whose share listing is… – Continue reading
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is a US law, obligating banks in other countries to disclose to the American tax authorities information about the accounts of American taxpayers in these banks WASHINGTON, April 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has notified US Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew of… – Continue reading
Introduction Article 10 of the Russia-Cyprus double tax agreement grants taxing rights over dividends to the state of residence of the company paying the dividends (in addition to the state of residence of the recipient). The tax that may be imposed in the state in which the dividends originate is… – Continue reading
The Finance Ministry is drawing up legislation allowing Russian banks to give information about their clients to foreign tax authorities, after U.S. stonewalling halted bilateral negotiations on a financial information sharing agreement. At the same time, the ministry intends to oblige foreign banks to report similar information to the Russian tax service, Vedomosti reported Wednesday, citing sources in the ministry…. – Continue reading
The schedule of the Russian parliament has been updated yet again and it appears that forex dealing regulation is coming back to the fray. According to recent reports by Russian media there might be some key amendments aimed to limit the participation of brokers residing in offshore financial centres (OFCs)…. – Continue reading
People who used to know young billionaire-in-exile Serhiy Kurchenko say that if he ever started drawing his financial “chain” on a piece of paper, it would finish up on the ceiling. Kurchenko’s chain is made up of hundreds of fake Ukrainian companies, dozens of offshore firmsand more than 600 people who… – Continue reading
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The United States has de-facto suspended talks with Russia about exchanging information on taxes under 2010’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), in a sign of a deepening rift over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, Vedomosti daily reported on Tuesday. The newspaper, citing two Russian federal officials and… – Continue reading
Recent discussions about the movement of capital and offshore accounts have to be a major cause for concern. During a Central Bank seminar recently, Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, sounded the warning that compliance with the recently passed Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act… – Continue reading
MOSCOW, March 26 (RIA Novosti) – Tensions between Moscow and Washington will not derail the two countries from signing an agreement on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCA, Russia’s Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov said Wednesday. “It will be all right. We will undertake all necessary steps for… – Continue reading
A former Severstal executive has been indicted for hiding as much as $7.5 million from US tax authorities in Swiss bank accounts held at UBS AG. Victor Lipukhin, a former steel trader for Russian steel maker Severstal, hid assets in two Swiss UBS bank accounts from 2002 through 2007, said… – Continue reading
LONDON — They are the most expensive and luxurious flats in the whole of London. Their ultramodern bay windows offer an unobstructed view onto Hyde Park. An underground corridor connects them to the Mandarin Oriental, the palace where Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal has one of his prized restaurants. In total, the… – Continue reading
European Union competition watchdogs ordered Luxembourg to hand over details of tax breaks for businesses after they said the Grand Duchy was hindering a state-aid probe spanning several EU nations. Luxembourg refused to deliver details concerning the 100 largest companies benefiting from a special program for companies whose profits stem… – Continue reading
As 2008 began, the future looked brilliant for green energy giant Suntech Power and its high-flying founder, Shi Zhengrong. Suntech was one of the world’s largest makers of solar panels, the first non-state-owned Chinese company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. And Shi, born to a farm family so… – Continue reading
OECD tax director Pascal Saint-Amans has played down concerns that the United States might resist plans to make multinational companies such as Apple and Starbucks pay more tax, arguing that governments must move quickly to close multibillion-dollar loopholes or risk ordinary citizens losing faith in their taxation systems. Mr Saint-Amans… – Continue reading
The young Ukrainian ex-billionaire Serhiy Kurchenko, now widely suspected of being a front man for overthrown President Viktor Yanukovych’s family, clearly liked offshore destinations. His companies registered in offshore zones are now accused of trading in oil products using a tax evasion scheme that cost Ukraine’s government an estimated $1… – Continue reading
Russia’s Finance Ministry has received suggestions from several offshore zones on organization of negotiations on exchange of tax information, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov told a Week of Russian Business on Monday. “Lately, the finance ministry has received suggestions from the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda Islands, the Isle of… – Continue reading
Liechtenstein, one of the world’s most uber secretive tax havens, has joined Switzerland in freezing the assets of ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich’s administration. An unnamed senior Liechtenstein government source told Reuters that Liechtenstein was freezing the assets of former party officials in the Ukrainian administration after other jurisdictions launched… – 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
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
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
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
Russian Federation Council foreign committee chairman Mihhail Margelov said at his meeting with Estonian Riigikogu speaker Ene Ergma on Thursday that the agreement on avoiding double taxation between the two states is in Russia interests too, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports. Ergma expressed concerns over the halting of the ratification process of… – Continue reading
