BRUSSELS — European Union authorities have accused the Netherlands of making a special deal with Starbucks that helped the company lower its taxes, creating unfair advantages over other countries in the bloc. The report by the bloc’s competition authority, made public on Friday, is a preliminary finding in a review… – Continue reading
New research from international law firm Pinsent Masons has shown that the compliance yield from HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) “Specialist Investigations” team rose by 23 percent last year to hit a record GBP3.65bn (USD5.79bn). 2013-14 was the team’s most successful year to date, according to Pinsent Masons. The GBP3.65bn… – Continue reading
Proposals to extend capital gains and investment income tax exemptions under Portugal’s Non-Habitual Residents Tax Regime have not been passed, say government officials It seems that the Portuguese government has shelved plans, at least for 2015, to extend capital gains and investment income taxation exemptions. However, officials say they are… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Regulators fined six major banks a total of $4.3 billion for failing to stop traders from trying to manipulate the foreign exchange market, following a yearlong global investigation. HSBC Holdings Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc, UBS AG and Bank of… – Continue reading
The European Union’s 28 member states are seeking agreement on the proposed introduction of a common anti-abuse clause in the Parent-Subsidy Directive (2011/96/EU). The plans were discussed at a meeting of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) on November 7, 2014. The proposed anti-abuse clause would allow member… – Continue reading
THERE IS NO single policy or solution that can prevent the occurrence of tax avoidance because there is no single cause for the phenomenon, according to Devereux Tax Chambers barrister Jolyon Maugham. Speaking at the ICAEW’s Hardman Lecture, Maugham told the institute’s members that “plugging holes” in the tax code… – Continue reading
The UK has agreed to put forward a proposal to close its patent box tax break, which allows income from the commercial exploitation of intellectual property (IP) to be taxed at 10%, in a concession to German concerns about artificial shifting of profits between European countries.12 Nov 2014 Intellectual Property… – Continue reading
Patent boxes allow firms to pay much lower taxes on profits from patented inventions, but critics say it gives UK too much of a fiscal advantage George Osborne’s move removes one of the potential flash points between the UK and Germany before this week’s G20 summit in Brisbane. Photograph: Pa… – Continue reading
The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group is concerned that government proposals designed to target tax evaders are likely to catch low-income migrants to the UK who have made a genuine mistake about the UK tax status of a source of income in their home country. In a consultation on offshore… – Continue reading
Compliance yield for most senior team hits £3.65billion – or 10% of the “tax gap” A record amount of unpaid tax has been recovered from big-ticket tax avoidance, evasion and fraud by HMRC’s top team of specialist investigators – up by almost a quarter (23%) in the last year, says… – Continue reading
The tax man is threatening fines of up to £1 million for high-earners shielding their income in tax avoidance schemes. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has published a list of hundreds of schemes and laid out in uncompromising terms the likely penalties for taxpayers who fail to pay up. Around… – Continue reading
A new taskforce has been created to target tax-dodging restaurants in Milton Keynes. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has seen an increased risk of fraudulent activity in the restaurant industry, and the taskforce is expected to recover more than £3million in corporation tax, income tax and VAT. The team will… – Continue reading
Being a non-UK resident can offer certain tax advantages however new regulation around capital gains tax proposed to take effect next year, may have implications for non-residents when they dispose of a residential property as Kirstie Carr of Mogers Drewett explains. Capital gains tax (CGT) is a tax which applies… – Continue reading
Papers show firms used internal loans and interest payments to cut tax bills Leaked tax documents show arrangements were signed off by EU state They are legal, but are predicted to trigger calls to stop firms avoiding taxes British companies using scheme include Dyson and drugs group Shire Some of… – Continue reading
Americans in Canadian plans no longer have to fill out paperwork to qualify for tax deferral The Internal Revenue Service recently simplified the filing procedures for Americans with Canadian registered retirement plans and allowed for those plans to qualify as “tax free” savings. Under the change, the IRS said that… – Continue reading
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9afd1680-52e3-11e4-9221-00144feab7de.html#ixzz3IYBSVmwd For decades, regional authorities such as Wallonia have had to show great creativity in… – Continue reading
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4cff6b02-650f-11e4-ab2d-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz3IHz72Wk5 HM Revenue & Customs is ramping up the pressure on tax avoidance by warning… – Continue reading
UK Disclosure Facilities – Background HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has offered several opportunities over the past seven years to encourage errant tax payers to come forward in order to regularise their tax affairs on relatively benign terms. In 2007 HMRC offered the Offshore Disclosure Facility (ODF) which afforded taxpayers… – Continue reading
An overhaul of the Grand Duchy’s corporate tax law and administration is required Occupying a damp 1,000 square miles where the French, German and Belgian borders meet, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a far cry from the palm-fringed tropical island tax haven of popular imagination. In fact the country… – Continue reading
It was anticipated that with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, uncertainty over FATCA implementation would come to an end. However, the Indian government is yet to make any announcements on the FATCA implementation after giving an in-principle approval to FATCA Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) -Model -1, few… – Continue reading
PENSION-SAVERS face big penalties after the Revenue Commissioners announced a clampdown on retirement funds that have been moved offshore to avoid tax. The Revenue Commissioners said moving pension funds abroad to avoid big tax bills may “fall foul” of the conditions under which they have approved schemes. They said approval… – Continue reading
Private sector arm of DfID and other EU development institutions channel significant investments to offshore havens, study finds More than two-thirds of the investments made by the private sector arm of the UK’s aid programme last year were channelled through “notoriously secretive” tax havens, according to a report that calls… – Continue reading
Vodafone sign in India. Photo: Ishan Khosla. Used under Creative Commons license. Vodafone recently won a rare – but potentially very significant – victory over Indian tax authorities. The Bombay High Court dismissed the government demand for the company to pay 30 billion rupees (about $490 million) for a share… – Continue reading
Update on Accelerated Payments HMRC have recently published a briefing on the requirement of tax avoidance scheme users to make upfront payments of tax, known as ‘Accelerated Payments’. The briefing explains why HMRC believe it was necessary for them to be granted the power to demand tax ahead of the… – Continue reading
Top UK regulator says threat of fines is scaring banks and poses risk of cutting off financial services to emerging economies Andrew Bailey, the UK’s most senior banking regulator, has highlighted a ‘serious international coordination problem’. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images There should be more international cooperation on money laundering rules to… – Continue reading
Public institutions providing finance to businesses in developing countries are channelling billions of euros through secretive tax havens, a report published today (4 November) has found. Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in Europe and the World Bank’s lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), are playing an increasingly dominant role in… – Continue reading
The taxation of a person is based on two principles: Source and Residence. A person for tax purposes includes an individual, trust, company, partnership and any form of business arrangement one chooses to take on. It should be noted that with globalisation, there is a constant mix of these two… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): Tax havens will no longer exist in five years as a result of new rules aimed at combating tax abuse, the OECD has said. In the wake of the agreement signed last week by over 50 countries, including the Cayman Islands, Grace Perez-Navarro, from the Organisation for Economic… – Continue reading
NEW YORK — Shifting the address of his Liberty Global Inc. from Colorado to London last year didn’t just put billionaire John C. Malone in a position to reduce his company’s tax bill. He also took precautions to avoid the capital-gains hit that the so-called inversion would trigger for him… – Continue reading
Ingenious v HMRC, the case which begins at the Competition Tribunal in Bloomsbury Place London today, marks the culmination of almost a decade of wrangling between the blue chip British media investment company and the Revenue. Newspapers have been intrigued by the case because of the celebrity investors involved. David… – Continue reading
London is an increasingly important hub for offshore law firms, which are winning business from City-based financial institutions, and clients in Russia, western Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Offshore law firms are constantly evolving, it seems. Traditionally, they operated in one offshore territory: whether the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey… – Continue reading
Property purchases in Ireland help Liberty Global chairman John Malone avoid tax Billionaire Irish American businessman John Malone, who owns a number of prestigous properties in Ireland, didn’t just reduce his company’s tax bill when he shifted the address of UPC parent Liberty Global from Colarado to London last year…. – Continue reading
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e56ca00c-6010-11e4-98e6-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz3I617l1GT It is no secret that Apple, Starbucks and Amazon are among several high-profile companies… – Continue reading
We are witnessing profound changes in the way that the world economy works. As a result of the growing pace and intensity of globalization and digitization, more and more economic processes have an international dimension. As a consequence, an increasing number of businesses are adapting their structures to domestic and… – Continue reading
The government has signed a deal to swap bank account information with 50 countries By Michelle McGagh, Nov 1, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne is looking happy this week. Along with 50 other countries he has signed an agreement to share individuals’ tax details in an effort to get those who… – Continue reading
Multinational firms which exploit loopholes to avoid paying tax in the UK will be pushed to “damn well pay,” David Cameron said on Thursday. The PM’s statement was denounced as disingenuous by global tax expert and UK economist Richard Murphy. Cameron’s comments follow recent controversy over the manner in which… – Continue reading
Financial institutions based in certain British Overseas Territories (BOTs) and Crown Dependencies (CDs) will be subject to stricter reporting requirements covering accounts held with them by UK resident non-UK domiciled taxpayers from 2016 if specific “carve outs” are not negotiated, an expert has said.31 Oct 2014 Private wealth tax Tax… – Continue reading
International tax rules have not kept pace with globalisation and the mismatches need to be fixed, a special conference has heard. A conference on tax reform at both national and international level took place in London yesterday. Experts agreed that tax systems across the world were outdated and extremely complicated…. – Continue reading
Taxes are the price of a civilised society and without them no state can provide social infrastructure, alleviate poverty, subsidise corporations or rescue distressed banks. But tax revenues are under relentless attack and corporate ingenuity in avoiding taxes shows no limits. Companies have become very adept at shifting profits to… – Continue reading
Public Accounts Committee chair Margaret Hodge has called for a tougher tax regime that closes loopholes exploited by companies and prosecutes avoidance schemes. Speaking at a debate on tax reform at national and international level yesterday, Margaret Hodge said it was ‘unfair’ and ‘offensive’ that companies and individuals could take… – Continue reading
As the OECD’s proposals for global reform of corporate taxation advance, the challenge facing the Government is how best to adapt to major change, while ensuring Ireland remains competitive and continues to attract foreign direct investment. In the budget, Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan took a bold first step by… – Continue reading
The automatic exchange of information on financial accounts around the world is coming. More than fifty countries have committed to this at an international tax conference hosted by Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. The exchange of information now agreed will make it easier for fiscal authorities to obtain information about… – Continue reading
Billionaire and Formula 1 head Bernie Ecclestone likes paying Swiss taxes. (Keystone) Formula 1 head and billionaire Bernie Ecclestone denies using Switzerland as a tax haven. In an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper, he says he did not come here to optimise his tax burden. The 84-year-old, who lives in… – Continue reading
Some 51 countries, including the UK, have signed a new agreement at the Global Forum in Berlin to automatically exchange tax information, in an attempt to clamp down on tax evasion. Under the agreement, “unprecedented levels” of information, including account balances, interest payments and beneficial ownership, will be shared with… – Continue reading
Ireland’s Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton is undertaking his first investment mission since the Government announced major changes to the corporate tax regime as part of Budget 2015. Bruton is visiting the East Coast of the US as part of a program of engagement by the Government with multinational companies on… – Continue reading
European prosecutors and tax authorities are intensifying an investigation into a huge tax avoidance trading scheme costing European countries hundreds of millions of euros. The investigation centres on complex stock trades that major banks allegedly use to earn tax rebates. The practice was revealed by the Bureau three years ago…. – Continue reading
Geneva: A huge global pressure to break secrecy veils of Swiss banks notwithstanding, Switzerland remains the world’s largest offshore financial centre with client assets totalling over USD two trillion, a new study said. Besides the country is expected to remain “the biggest offshore centre for private banking in 2018,” with… – Continue reading
Financial institutions including fund managers will need to up the ante on client due diligence and bolster investor reporting following the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) agreement on the automatic exchange of information. The OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) will force national authorities in the 51 signatory states… – Continue reading
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has launched a new web site for financial institutions required to make reports about US taxpayer clients under the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) laws. The online portal offers advice and access to a reporting hub for financial managers sending information about their… – Continue reading
Tabcorp is pushing the Federal Government to even the playing field when it comes to wagering. Tabcorp’s chairman Paula Dwyer wants a ban on rival offshore betting companies operating in Australia. An estimated 14 per cent of betting by Australians is with non-licensed offshore operators, Ms Dwyer told shareholders at… – Continue reading
