The government has moved to legislate in haste to close tax loopholes. But history suggests this is unwise. One legal figure to crop up in the chancellor’s budget statement published yesterday was the ubiquitous Sir Brian Leveson. The president of the Queen’s Bench Division receives a namecheck in the budget’s… – Continue reading
UK bank HSBC is the first non-Chinese bank to take advantage of new Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) rules designed to ease foreign currency borrowing and bring down funding costs. Shanghai FTZ allows corporates to use its free trade account to conduct foreign currency borrowing from offshore markets. People’s Bank… – Continue reading
Vivienne Westwood has been axed as the guest speaker at a Kingston Young Green’s event because the group do not want to be associated with her. The veteran fashion designer had been due to speak alongside Green Party deputy leader Amelia Womack at the We Are the Revolution talk tonight… – Continue reading
The Israel Tax Authority and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs are using powerful technologies to close in on tax dodgers. In Britain, the mix of politics, the upcoming elections, the budget deficit and public pressure has provoked a whirlwind of controversy around the issue of tax avoidance and tax… – Continue reading
The UK government will press ahead with plans to create a new ‘strict liability’ criminal offence for the “worst cases” of offshore tax evasion, among a package of new measures targeting those who illegally evade tax and their advisers. Details of the plans, which include two new criminal offences and… – Continue reading
Advisers could face criminal charges under new powers for HMRC following the Budget if they fail to prevent tax evasion by inherited clients, a lawyer has warned. HMRC is consulting on a new corporate criminal offence for firms failing to prevent tax evasion, which will implicate advisers who have clients… – Continue reading
The measure The Chancellor confirmed that the new diverted profits tax (DPT) will be introduced from 1 April 2015. DPT will apply in two distinct situations, being: Where a foreign company has artificially avoided having a taxable presence in the UK; and Where a UK company (or a UK permanent… – Continue reading
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has responded to announcements in the Budget speech by the UK Chancellor, George Osborne. On the new diverted profits tax, John Danilovich, ICC Secretary General, said: “We welcome the UK Government’s efforts to consult business on the introduction of a ‘diverted’ profits tax in… – Continue reading
The UK Government has announced in today’s Budget that it will close the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) half a year earlier than expected in order to make room for a “tougher” disclosure facility. The LDF is an agreement between the Principality of Liechtenstein and HMRC which gives UK taxpayers with… – Continue reading
The disclosure period for the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) is to be shortened and will now end in December 2015 rather than April 2016, the UK chancellor announced in today’s Budget. The LDF allows those with UK tax irregularities to make a disclosure to HMRC on a voluntary basis in… – Continue reading
Irish eyes are smiling in corporate America. The Emerald Isle has emerged as the world’s top recipient of U.S. foreign direct investment, according to a report from the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland. In the first nine months of 2014, Ireland beat the likes of Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and… – Continue reading
(Seychelles News Agency) – Seychelles and Singapore are looking to increase their collaboration in a number of economic sectors from trade, financial services, port development – including transshipment and fuel bunkering – to public-private partnerships. This follows the recent official visit to Singapore by the Minister of Finance, Trade and… – Continue reading
Giving Northern Ireland politicians the ability to set the province’s rates of corporation tax will help boost the private sector, a minister has said. Baroness Randerson said the move would allow Northern Ireland’s economy to be “rebalanced” away from over-reliance on the public sector. Her comments came as she introduced… – Continue reading
Professor Douglas McWilliams’ new book The Flat White Economy – about how digital enterprise is transforming London – is in the public eye for substances rather harder than coffee. Footage recently emerged of the author allegedly smoking crack at a North London drugs den; now he has stepped down from… – Continue reading
As the OECD/EU project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) moves towards its next set of reports in autumn 2015, Ireland Inc.’s low tax offering has been, and will be, further refined. While the 12.5% corporate tax rate remains beyond approach both domestically and internationally, the BEPS initiative has… – Continue reading
Transactional work varies from jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction with the ebb and flow of various economic cycles, but a prevailing theme across the EMEA region has been that more and more advisory firms are urging taxpayers to prepare for the impact of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) action plan. Joe… – Continue reading
The Channel Islands is to challenge the Treasury’s decision to bring to an end a tax loophole used by major retailers to avoid VAT charges when bringing low value goods into the UK. Jersey and Guernsey will begin an application for judicial review of the change at the High Court… – Continue reading
FOCUS: As charity trustees, university governing bodies have an overriding duty to act in the best interests of their institution. However, the HMRC’s hardening stance on tax planning and the current political climate could leave them treading a fine line between their desire to maximise revenue for the university’s purposes… – Continue reading
New tax charge A new regime which will charge non-UK tax resident owners of UK residential property to capital gains tax (CGT) is due to come into force on 6 April 2015. The draft legislation was published as part of Finance Bill 2015 on 10 December 2014, after an extensive… – Continue reading
HSBC is closing all accounts on Jersey belonging to customers living in the UK. It is part of a move by UK banks carrying out checks on the identity and addresses of thousands of their customers on the Channel Islands. HSBC is among those carrying out the move, according to… – Continue reading
THE LAW SOCIETY has “denounced” HM Revenue & Customs’ plans to curb tax avoidance activity as “premature”. HMRC and the government are proposing to introduce new penalties for serial users of tax avoidance schemes and those whose planning is counteracted by the general anti-abuse rule (GAAR). In particular, the society… – Continue reading
The ongoing global initiatives around exchange of tax information and publication of beneficial ownership information, while ostensibly in pursuit of transparency, have their origins in the need for the larger, richer countries to increase tax revenues, and the perception that taxpayers are hiding assets abroad and out of the tax… – Continue reading
Proposals for tougher penalties against serial users of disallowed tax avoidance schemes are premature and could threaten fundamental rights such as that of appeal, the Law Society has said. In a hard-hitting response to a consultation on strengthening sanctions for tax avoidance, the Society’s tax law committee says it has… – Continue reading
UK offshore industry trade association Oil & Gas UK has called for “urgent action” to reduce and simplify North Sea oil and gas taxation, including a double digit reduction in the Supplementary Corporation Tax on UK producers. The trade body, led by outcoming CEO Malcolm Webb, said the right action… – Continue reading
The present French Tax Update will focus on (i) certain noteworthy tax courts decisions issued in the last months of 2014 and in the first months of 2015, and (ii) the so-called projet de loi Macron (Draft Macron Law) adopted by the Assemblée Nationale in February 2015 and now discussed… – Continue reading
UK tax authorities withdrew a fourth case from the Crown Prosecution Service as it sought justice over alleged HSBC-aided tax evasion, despite telling MPs that just three files were passed to prosecutors. HMRC has always maintained it was only able to submit three files to prosecutors following a lengthy investigation… – Continue reading
LONDON, GENEVA — The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) is narrowing the field of bidders for its Coutts International private-banking arm to focus on Switzerland’s Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), people with knowledge of the matter said. UBP is the preferred bidder and an agreement might be reached as early… – Continue reading
PwC expects that UK Chancellor George Osborne’s 2015 Budget will seek to strike a balance between ensuring fiscal responsibility and enticing support from prospective voters. On March 18, Osborne will deliver the Coalition Government’s final Budget ahead of the May 7 general election. PwC pointed out that, crucially, the resultant… – Continue reading
Our ‘special relationship’ with the US gets forgotten when America looks at threats to the dollar’s dominance For a while now the phrase “special relationship” has sounded a touch desperate when spoken in a British accent and a tad condescending if uttered by an American. The lopsidedness of this transatlantic… – Continue reading
I SUPPORT the tax-dodging bill” badges are handed to the group of 20, gathering at the Eros statue in London’s Piccadilly Circus. This is a walking tour with a twist. The two guides sporting bowler hats will avoid the traditional tourist traps. Instead, we will be touring the banks, shops… – Continue reading
Tax advisers are calling on the chancellor to make clear in this week’s Budget that while tax evasion is a crime, tax avoidance is a citizen’s right – and a good idea. In response to the recent debate on where the line should be drawn, accountancy firm Saffery Champness calls… – Continue reading
Tom Gordon Scottish Political Editor DANNY Alexander was last night at the centre of a new donations row after accepting money from a millionaire defender of tax avoidance. The LibDem Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who in 2013 said he was “livid” at companies and individuals “avoiding paying the proper… – Continue reading
The findings revealed that 76 per cent of those surveyed believe people open bank accounts in Switzerland for “underhand reasons”, and just one in 10 consider it is done for “legitimate reasons.” The UK’s The Times newspaper recently asked individuals for their thoughts as to why Britons might hold Swiss… – Continue reading
The Irish Government has launched its strategy for Ireland’s International Financial Services Sector for the next five years (IFS2020), which seeks to consolidate and grow Ireland’s position as the global location of choice for specialist international financial services (IFS). The strategy includes a comprehensive overview of the existing strengths of… – Continue reading
Many Islamic financial institutions like Qatar Islamic Bank have caught up to their Western counterparts in terms of efficiency and technology and are targetting new clients abroad. Also, given Doha’s expertise in the sector and its close ties with the UK, Qatari banks are well positioned to tap into British… – Continue reading
[Market Watch] Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (NYSE:RBS)(TREND ANALYSIS) is accelerating its plans to dismantle its investment banking franchise, with expectations that the firm will deliver as many as 14,000 pink slips in the group at the sprawling U.K. financial institution, according to the Financial Times report Tuesday. As… – Continue reading
Things just got worse for HSBC. Its private banking arm faces new criminal charges after a French magistrate officially requested that the Swiss bank be brought to trial over a suspected tax-dodging scheme for wealthy customers, the Guardian reports. The request for trial comes after a series of allegations against… – Continue reading
Hundreds of jobs at the Wrexham tax office have been thrown into doubt with uncertainty surrounding the future of the facility. As part of an ongoing process to centralise facilities HMRC are looking to potentially axe the Wrexham Technology Park office and move the service to Liverpool or Manchester. The… – Continue reading
The UK’s HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is increasingly unwilling to believe that any error in a tax return can be the result of an ‘innocent error’, said Fiona Fernie, a tax investigations expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-law.com. New powers introduced in recent years to allow… – Continue reading
HSBC Holdings plc’s (LON:HSBA) shares were down 0.23 percent to 559.00p as of 13:13 GMT yesterday, after earlier on Friday the French financial prosecutor’s office announced it had formally requested that the lender’s Swiss private banking unit be put on trial for helping French citizens to aggressively avoid taxes. HSBC… – Continue reading
The public accounts chair has been accused of being a bully, but she has rocked the tax world by asking difficult questions about how taxpayers’ money is spent Her verdict on HMRC’s efforts to prosecute tax evaders: pathetic. The gagging of civil service whistleblowers: outrageous. And as for tax-avoiding Google,… – Continue reading
Pharmacy chain Boots Alliance has been under scrutiny from the British public since it first relocated to Switzerland in 2008. The contentious move involved the chain’s headquarters moving to a country that generated little income for the company, but provided low taxes. Yesterday at a retail industry conference, the issue… – Continue reading
On 23 February 2015, the Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (“DITC”) announced that the Governor in Cabinet of the Cayman Islands had approved an extension to the notification deadline contained in Regulation 14(3) of the Tax Information Authority (International Tax Compliance) (United States of America) Regulations, 2014 (the… – Continue reading
A Sheffield MP has revealed how much was lost to tax evasion and avoidance in one year. Paul Blomfield spoke in Parliament about how £7.2 billion was lost to the practices in 2012-2013 – £2 billion more than was spent on Jobseekers’ Allowance, according to figures from the House of… – Continue reading
Accountancy firms predict that a new offence of aiding and abetting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance will be announced in next week’s Budget It is expected that George Osborne will outline proposals to introduce special measures, aimed at professional service firms, to deter serial avoiders and scheme promoters. The… – Continue reading
The Chancellor will take credit for the improving state of the economy and public finances, but real policy changes will have to wait until after the election. Chris Sanger, Head of Tax Policy at EY, comments: “With this Budget announced in the dying embers of the coalition, next week’s event… – Continue reading
Harold Crooks had an epiphany Tuesday afternoon. Asked where he gets his social consciousness from, the New York-based filmmaker recalled something he had never told anyone, a memory from his childhood growing up in Westmount. “I was probably 11 or 12 years old,” he said. “I lived in the middle… – Continue reading
Ruling by the European Court of Justice means France is liable to reimburse tens of millions of euros to British and other EU non-resident owners who let out or sold their properties France has lost its tax war against British second home owners after the European Union’s top court deemed… – Continue reading
Your Isa investments don’t have to be limited to the UK. It’s also possible to hold shares in foreign firms in one. However, the rules for this are a little more complicated, and you need to be aware of an extra cost that can outweigh the tax benefits if you’re… – Continue reading
According to a recent poll, voters in the United Kingdom don’t see a distinction between tax avoidance and tax evasion, at least not a moral one. According to a YouGov survey, 59 percent considered avoidance “unacceptable,” while only 32 percent thought it was legitimate. The pollsters took pains to emphasize… – Continue reading
