Recent rating agency downgrades seem to underestimate the underlying strengths of the Barbadian economy, Euromoney magazine said in its 2014 guide to Barbados released during the week ending April 4. Euromoney said: Barbados is one of the most diverse economies in the Caribbean. It’s certainly the most robust, drawing in… – Continue reading
Monrovia — Liberia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described as a misrepresentation suggestions that a recent decision by a banking institution in the US to shutdown the bank accounts of Liberia’s mission in America may have been tied to violations of flaunting US banking regulations. FrontPageAfrica recently came in possession… – Continue reading
A correspondent told me that last week’s column on Caribbean response to the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was puzzling. Why didn’t the column expose those wimps – Caribbean ministers of finance and governments? How could they accept this bullying US imposition? My response was that I expressed… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday gave foreign financial institutions 10 extra days to register with the U.S. government, under a new law to combat offshore tax dodging by Americans that goes into effect on July 1. Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), foreign banks,… – Continue reading
The National Treasury and the SA Revenue Service are discussing entering into an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) with the United States on a foreign tax compliant act, Sars said on Thursday. “The wording of a draft IGA has now been agreed upon and will be signed at governmental level as soon… – Continue reading
Every foreign entity must take steps immediately to determine whether FATCA will apply to it and, if so, whether FATCA registration will be required by April 25, 2014. FATCAi will go into effect on July 1, 2014. Foreign entities that must be FATCA-compliant by July 1, 2014 must register with… – Continue reading
The United States Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have announced that foreign jurisdictions that have reached agreement on the terms of intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) can be treated as having such agreements in effect until the end of… – Continue reading
Deadlines are fast approaching for funds to comply with FATCA, the IRS announced an April 25 deadline for fund managers to register their offshore funds and offshore master funds with the IRS. Funds have until May 5 2014 to get their Global Intermediary Identification Numbers. Notably, the IRS has also… – Continue reading
Canadians who spend their winters in the warmer climates of the United States may be attracting some unwanted attention starting this year. A new tax treaty between Canada and the United States has spawned a cozy relationship between the Canada Revenue Agency and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The two… – Continue reading
Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The U.S. is waiting for Azerbaijan’s response on the agreement on the exchange of tax information on the FATCA rules. The U.S. Embassy reports that the US has engaged the Azerbaijani government on this issue. “Now we’re waiting for their response. The US government is negotiating similar arrangements… – Continue reading
Bloomberg news reports that on March 18, 2014, U.S. Senators Carl Levin and John McCain wrote a letter urging the Justice Department to seek extradition of about 30 Swiss bankers and others who are charged with enabling offshore tax evasion and failed to appear in federal courts. McCain and Levin,… – Continue reading
Texas tycoons Sam and Charles Wyly employed a labyrinthine system of offshore trusts to conceal stock trades in four companies on whose boards they sat, netting themselves more than $550 million in undisclosed profits, a U.S. government lawyer told a federal jury on Thursday. “This is a case about lies,… – Continue reading
The Treasury Department added 19 nations to its list of countries that have reached agreements with the U.S. on carrying out a far-reaching law aimed at preventing offshore tax dodging by American citizens. The Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service said the 19 nations – including Australia, Brazil, South Africa… – Continue reading
Canada is clamping down on off-shore tax shelters used by private-equity funds, in a move that may curb investment in the oil and gas industry by KKR & Co. and Blackstone Group LP. (BX) The government has given private-equity firms and other interested parties until April 11 to respond to proposals tucked… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday gave foreign financial institutions 10 extra days to register with the U.S. government, under a new law to combat offshore tax dodging by Americans that goes into effect on July 1. Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), foreign banks,… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON, DC: As the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) opened its doors to this year’s round of H-1B visa applications, data show that about 50% of last year’s H-1B visas were granted to offshore companies, and the top two of those are based in India – Infosys and Tata… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON — Caterpillar Inc. executives defended a tax strategy Tuesday that has saved the manufacturing giant billions in U.S. taxes. They got support from Republican senators, including one who said the company deserves an award. Caterpillar has avoided paying $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes since 2000 by shifting profits to… – Continue reading
Outlook Caterpillar is the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment. It’s really good at building big and complicated bits of kit. It’s even better at ducking paying tax on the profits from doing that, at least according to a report issued by a US Senate sub-committee which reckons Uncle… – Continue reading
April 1, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) has directed all commercial banks in the country to implement provisions of the of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by 1 July. FACTA is a US law designed to crack down on offshore tax evasion by… – Continue reading
The decision by Luxembourg and Austria to automatically exchange tax data with other European Union countries has isolated Switzerland in the global crusade against banking secrecy, a Tax Justice Network (TJN) expert tells swissinfo.ch. The two European Union states caved in to demands last month by signing up to the revised… – Continue reading
Caterpillar channeled 85 percent of its international parts profits into what amounts to a tax shelter. The dictionary defines the caterpillar as a “wormlike larva” and a “crawler.” Also, that “pillar” part of the word is derived from a French verb that means to “pillage, abuse, mistreat.” Good to know…. – 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
On Friday the Conservative government tabled legislation to implement key elements of this year’s Budget. But it contains more than tax credits. Buried within is a revised version of draft legislation implementing the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the U.S. on FATCA. A Department of Finance press release makes no mention of this… – Continue reading
Caterpillar avoided $2.4 billion in federal taxes between 2000 and 2012 by shifting $8 billion in profits from international parts sales to a tax haven in Switzerland, said Chairman Carl Levin, (D-MI), of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Monday. Joining Microsoft (MSFT), Hewlett Packard (HPQ) and Apple (AAPL),… – Continue reading
The US and Luxembourg governments have signed an agreement to improve international tax compliance and to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). On 27 February 2014, the Luxembourg and US negotiating teams agreed on the substance of the Model 1 Agreement. ALFI – the Association of the Luxembourg… – Continue reading
The Bahamas suffered a 40.6 per cent fall in UK stopover arrivals in the six years to 2013, with a senior hotel executive expressing hope that London’s aviation tax cuts will have an “overarching positive impact” in reversing this trend. #Stuart Bowe, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president,… – Continue reading
MEXICO CITY—Mexico and Panama have finished negotiating a free-trade agreement, which the two governments expect to go into effect once it is approved by their respective legislatures. The document was signed Monday by Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and Panamanian Trade and Industry Minister Ricardo Quijano during a visit to… – Continue reading
Québec Solidaire on Saturday asked Pierre Karl Péladeau, the Parti Québécois candidate for Saint-Jérôme, to confirm or deny the registration of more than 60 Quebecor affiliates in Delaware, a state considered by many to be a popular tax haven. Amir Khadir, Québec Solidaire’s candidate in the Montreal riding of Mercier, described Delaware as a known tax haven for… – Continue reading
It would be surprising if Union finance minister P. Chidambaram’s threat to his Swiss counterpart — to declare Switzerland an uncooperative nation for not sharing information on the 562 Indians who allegedly stashed their black money in Swiss banks — is actually carried out. The threat has trade implications. These… – 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
This report provides an update on the progress of on-going efforts by the ECCU Working Group on FATCA (Working Group) towards stablishing a compliance framework for the region. The report concludes with a synopsis of the planned way forward for ensuring compliance by the implementation date.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA and CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – March 27, 2014) – Tax announcements don’t usually get the same attention as the Olympics, politics or other stories that commonly hit the front page of newspapers. But if you are a US person who has not complied with your annual US tax filing… – 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
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, March 26th 2014 (CUOPM) – The Member Governments of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) have commenced discussions with the United States of America (US) towards executing an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for the implementation of the provisions of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The… – Continue reading
Drowning in a sea of new financial regulations, and with IRS audits on the rise, some American citizens in Israel say they are weighing expatriation. That won’t work Tax attorney JoAnne Adlerstein has received some unusual phone calls of late. They’re from American clients living in Israel who are thinking… – Continue reading
Quebec Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard opened an offshore account in a tax haven on the island of Jersey while he worked as a neurosurgeon in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, a Radio-Canada report says. While Mr. Couillard did nothing illegal, the news report raises questions about his credibility to demand… – Continue reading
The Tax Office is allowing Australians with money parked in offshore accounts to avoid harsh penalties by coming forward, in an amnesty program worth up to half a billion dollars. ATO Commissioner Chris Jordan will announce the program today, which will reduce the penalties for taxpayers who hand over information… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Caterpillar Inc’s offshore tax strategies will come under scrutiny on Tuesday at a U.S. Senate hearing expected to examine dealings by the world’s largest mining and construction equipment maker in Switzerland, Bermuda and Luxembourg. With many multinationals being criticized for tax avoidance, veteran tax sleuth Senator Carl Levin… – Continue reading
The Luxembourg and US governments have today signed an agreement to improve international tax compliance and implement the so-called Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). As a result of this agreement, the Luxembourg Tax Administration has set up two working groups including… – Continue reading
The British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (the “FSC”) is advising the public that on 5 March, 2014, The Ukraine (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2014 was ratified and extended to the Territory by virtue of article 1 and Schedule 1 to the Order. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that this Order… – Continue reading
The U.S. and Indian competent authorities are famously at loggerheads over the principles to be applied in transfer-pricing double-tax cases. Some of the important issues involved are: the appropriate markup on costs for services; when and how to reward location savings; and whether marketing intangibles exist. Virtually all of these… – Continue reading
Aleaked document appears to reveal the Department of Finance and CRA may deviate from a tax deal struck with the U.S. Leaked by the Isaac Brock Society yesterday, the document purportedly presents the agency’s interpretation of draft legislation which, if passed, would give force to the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on FATCA signed… – Continue reading
The long arm of the American tax man has officially reached its way to Hong Kong. The question is, will it extend to the rest of China? Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, signed an agreement with the U.S. on Tuesday to share tax information about Americans who… – 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
Hong Kong and the United States Tuesday signed an agreement on exchange of tax information. Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury,K C Chan, on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region( HKSAR) government, signed the agreement with the US consul general to Hong Kong and Macao,… – Continue reading
As part of a plea agreement, an ex-Credit Suisse banker recently disclosed how U.S. customers avoided offshore account disclosure requirements. In an effort to crack down on offshore accounts, federal prosecutors have stepped up investigations of the largest Swiss banks, their bankers and account holders. The most recent bank to… – Continue reading
Caterpillar (CAT:US) Inc. began defending its international tax maneuvers as a U.S. Senate investigative panel set an April 1 hearing to examine the company’s “offshore tax strategy.” Representatives from Caterpillar and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP will testify, according to the hearing notice posted today by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The committee, led… – Continue reading
Ghana and Denmark have signed a Double Taxation Agreement, moving the bilateral cooperation between the two countries to another level. A Double Taxation Agreement regulates the tax treatment of income or capital gains in situations where the same taxpayer is subject to tax in two states with respect to the… – 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
A report by the Government Accounting Office details who took part in the first voluntary disclosure program for offshore accounts. If you made an honest mistake and failed to keep up on international account reporting requirements, it is important to spe March 25, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ — Congress has been on… – Continue reading
