The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in a recent report that improving taxpayer services, while making non-compliance harder, is helping revenue bodies increase their efficiency and allowing governments to finance important programs that will further benefit their citizens. According to Tax Administration 2015, which looks at 56… – Continue reading
Introduction In 1934 distinguished US jurist Judge Learned Hand famously opined that “one may so arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to… – Continue reading
Artisan goods marketplace Etsy Inc., which promised to be a beacon for transparency as a public company, recently implemented a strategy that shrouds its offshore tax-cutting arrangements in secrecy. Because of a change in how its Irish subsidiary is registered, Etsy no longer needs to publicly disclose basic financial information… – Continue reading
U.S. COMPANIES HOLDING CASH ABROAD WAITING FOR TAX REFORM. The high U.S. tax rate continues to encourage companies to stash cash and profits offshore while executives wait for tax reform. The Street has an interview with computing giant Cisco’s CFO Kelly Kramer on the company’s plans for more the more… – Continue reading
Revenue authorities need to be “vigilant” in monitoring the super-rich, according to research that called on many of them to improve their scrutiny of their richest taxpayers, reports the Financial Times. The study by the Paris-based OECD is a further sign of the pressure on tax departments to squeeze more… – Continue reading
On August 11, 2015, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its annual report addressing global tax administration. The OECD’s stated mission is to “promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.” The OECD describes its annual report as follows: Tax… – Continue reading
The nonprofit Korean American National Coordinating Council has provided support to U.S. citizens for travel to Pyongyang. NEW YORK, Aug. 13 (UPI) — A Korean American organization that previously has helped Americans travel to North Korea is under investigation for tax evasion and political activities that violate U.S. tax laws…. – Continue reading
A good test of a fair and just law is that the people who have to comply consider the rules fair and just. Now and then a law sparks controversy and one such law is the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Five years after the law hit the… – Continue reading
The IRS today released two revenue procedures that that provide guidance regarding the advance pricing agreement (APA) program, and that offer guidance on the process for taxpayers to request and obtain the assistance of the U.S. Competent Authority under the U.S. network of income tax treaties. Rev. Proc. 2015-41 [PDF… – Continue reading
FATCA refers to provisions contained in the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (the ‘HIRE’ Act) signed into law on 18 March 2010 in the United States. The main purpose of FATCA is to identify and gather information on US persons who may be evading tax through the use of… – Continue reading
Only 23 percent of business leaders feel that recommendations from the OECD on base erosion and profit shifting will be successfully implemented, according to the findings of a new survey by Grant Thornton. Three quarters of business leaders would pay more taxes in exchange for greater clarity from authorities on… – Continue reading
Many tax practitioners will meet holders of foreign accounts who have either deliberately or unintentionally failed to accurately report their foreign accounts and will need to advise them on the best way to make the disclosure to the Internal Revenue Service. Due to the fact that many U.S. taxpayers have… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WDAM) –This is a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Two tax return preparers with offices located in California, Maryland and New York were sentenced today in Los Angeles for facilitating an offshore tax fraud scheme, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the… – Continue reading
The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat is calling on an American fertilizer company to keep its official address in the U.S. CF Industries, now based in Deerfield, Ill., announced last week that it would buy a range of facilities from a Dutch competitor, OCI, in an $8 billion deal. As part… – Continue reading
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has further updated its guidance material on the Australia-US FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). This is especially important in relation to self-certification requirements. The ATO has followed the US interpretation that a FATCA self-certification must be obtained before a new individual account is opened. The OECD… – Continue reading
Following successful conferences in the Isle of Man in 2014 and in Gibraltar in March 2015, leading offshore law firm DQ Advocates and global law firm Latham & Watkins will be hosting their latest Global Tax Investigations Conference in the Isle of Man on 11 September 2015. The conference is… – Continue reading
On 6 August 2015, Portugal and the United States signed a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Agreement. FATCA seeks to obtain information on accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in other countries. It requires U.S. financial institutions to withhold a portion of certain payments made to Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs)… – Continue reading
Hundreds of millions of tax dollars are flooding into exchequers across the world, as governments offer evaders a last chance to own up to undeclared accounts, reports the Financial Times. Taxpayers with funds stashed offshore are coming forward voluntarily in their tens of thousands ahead of new transparency rules that… – Continue reading
Would businesses really be willing to pay more tax if they had more certainty on what is acceptable for cross-border tax planning? According to a recent Grant Thornton International Business Report, three quarters of business leaders would in fact be ready to pony up more taxes in exchange for greater… – Continue reading
While CIBC FirstCaribbean and Heritage Bank are working to formalize the sale of assets, another offshore institution operating from Belize is yet to secure a correspondent bank. As we’ve reported previously, Bank of America has severed ties with Atlantic International Bank Limited as part of an ongoing de-risking exercise. The… – Continue reading
NASSAU, Bahamas — This past week, a bill to enact The Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was passed in the Senate to ensure that The Bahamas continues to remain aligned with the most recent international financial standards. In an earlier debate within the House of Assembly Minister of Financial… – Continue reading
India follows common approach for implementation of FATCA and CRS New Delhi, Aug 8: The Finance Ministry has come up with the rules for information reporting under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), spelling out the timelines and the entities have to comply with the new requirements. The new… – Continue reading
Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to offer much more than just his best intentions to clean up India’s whimsical tax regime to help convince insurers. Companies from Allianz SE to American International Group Inc. are avoiding offering tax-liability coverage in India’s cross-border mergers and acquisitions market because of a relatively… – Continue reading
The Stunning Altera Case Employee stock options are an important part of compensation—both as income to the executives and as a deduction for the employer. But when stock options are used by multinational companies, the tax implications are complex and sometimes baffling. A new Tax Court case has just given… – Continue reading
Britons in the US who have retained bank accounts at home are having to submit a raft of forms to satisfy the US Internal Revenue Service British expats living in America are being threatened with having their UK bank accounts shut down if they fail to comply with rigorous new… – Continue reading
A FATCA issue that has recently bubbled up relates to the differing approach to FATCA compliance by the U.S. Treasury and the governments of some countries, notably, the United Kingdom and Canada, with respect to the self-certification requirements for new individual account openings under an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). Both sides… – Continue reading
On Monday, Puerto Rico defaulted on its debt for the first time in history, repaying only $628,000 of a $58 million portion of the total $73 billion it owes. The White House said on Tuesday that it had no plans to bailout the small island nation, which is an unincorporated… – Continue reading
In a new update on the financial status of the UAE, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised additional taxation among several options for the UAE government to further strengthen its revenue base in order to minimise dependence on the fluctuating global oil price, reports the Emirates 24/7. The UAE… – Continue reading
Senate Republicans insist they’re deeply skeptical of Rep. Paul Ryan’s push for an agreement on international tax reform, but acknowledge a plan with bipartisan support would be hard to turn aside. With the Senate’s own highway bill is only funded for half of its six-year span, Republicans said this week… – Continue reading
LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Three quarters of business leaders would pay more taxes in exchange for greater clarity from authorities on what is acceptable, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), a global survey of 2,580 businesses in 35 economies. And while few expect a global agreement any time soon, the… – Continue reading
MONTRÉAL, Aug. 5, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ – Three quarters of business leaders would pay more taxes in exchange for greater clarity from authorities on what is acceptable for tax planning, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), a global survey of 2,580 businesses in 35 economies. And while… – Continue reading
Introduction The Cayman Islands have an extremely open, accountable and transparent government and regulatory system. Despite the dated stereotype, the Cayman Islands have promoted transparency regulations and initiatives for many years. In May 2000, the Cayman Islands made commitments to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (the “OECD“) to… – Continue reading
A “glimmer of hope” has emerged in the US for reform of the controversial Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), which has caused extensive financial headaches for millions of American foreign assignees and even prompted 7,000-plus expats to renounce their US citizenships. The post-crisis act, originally intended to expose details… – Continue reading
Business executives are giving mixed predictions on when and if tax reform will finally happen in Washington, in a new survey, reports Accountancy Today. The latest Business Tax Reform Barometer survey from the Tax Council and Ernst & Young polled approximately 1,000 business executives, tax directors, government relations representatives and… – Continue reading
Until 2009 Switzerland had the questionable reputation of being the ideal parking spot for all kinds of money. The USA action against the UBS was the start of a series of actions to change old practices. Being the world number one in offshore money management, inevitably resulted in Switzerland being… – Continue reading
Microsoft Corp.’s stockpile of offshore profits rose to $108 billion, with a 17 percent increase over the past year as the company continues reaping profits in low-tax foreign jurisdictions. The company crossed the $100 billion mark, making it just the second U.S. corporation — after General Electric Co. — to… – Continue reading
On May 20, 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department (“Treasury”) released five sets of proposed revisions to the U.S. Model Income Tax Convention (“Model Treaty”) for public comment. The Model Treaty was last updated in 2006. The purpose of the proposed revisions is to ensure that the United States maintains the… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: HSBC has been asking all “politically exposed persons” (PEP) having accounts with the bank to disclose their source of fund and income. The bank is also refraining from opening accounts of US-based non-resident Indians and persons of India origin in the wake of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act… – Continue reading
REPRESENTATIVES of the US and Slovakia signed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA) on July 31 in Bratislava. Based on this agreement, the countries will exchange information for tax purposes, the SITA newswire reported. “The objective of the agreement is to prevent tax evasion and tax frauds and improvement… – Continue reading
After a hectic period in which every biopharma seemed to be seeking to relocate its way to a lower tax rate, the furor over who pays what and where has died down a little in recent months. But the number crunchers are still working away in the background–and in the… – Continue reading
Vancouver International Airport is the major port of entry for millions in hidden cash being smuggled into North America by mostly Chinese citizens, a federal document investigation by The Province reveals. And according to money laundering investigators, the amounts identified in Canada Border Service Agency cash seizure data, obtained by… – Continue reading
Two Canadian women begin their Federal Court case in Vancouver on Tuesday, seeking to have a judge declare that Canada’s cooperation in supplying financial information to U.S. tax collectors is unconstitutional. Gwen Deegan, 53, a Toronto graphic designer, and Ginny Hillis, 68, a retired lawyer living in Windsor, were both… – Continue reading
The Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) has announced that the system enabling financial institutions to report information about their American clients under the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) went live on July 31, 2015, although it is not yet possible for FIS s to upload the necessary data…. – Continue reading
When it comes to opening its $5.7 trillion bond market to global central banks, China is rolling out the red carpet. The world’s top underwriters are struggling to get in the back door. Morgan Stanley set up a joint venture that’s helped manage 30.2 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) of note… – Continue reading
NEW YORK, USA — On the heels of revelations earlier this year about questionable Clinton family activities in Haiti, the Wall Street Journal revealed last week that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her husband accepted cash from Swiss bank UBS, after she intervened to help it out with the IRS,… – Continue reading
An agreement signed between Kenya and the American government could introduce new drastic measures in curbing corruption and help seal loopholes in the dwindling war against the vice in the government. But the initiative could dampen hopes of Cabinet secretaries mentioned in various corruption scandals of ever getting back to… – Continue reading
On July 30, 2015, the Justice Department’s Tax Division announced that three more Swiss banks — PKB Privatbank AG, Falcon Private Bank AG and Credito Privato Commerciale in liquidazione SA (CPC) – have cut deals with the U.S. to resolve allegations that those institutions assisted their U.S. customers in hiding… – Continue reading
This article is the third in our current three part series discussing various impacts of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) efforts to address the perceived global tax problem of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The first article provided an overview of the key aspects of the… – Continue reading
Maples and Calder and Maples Fund Services representatives explain how US and UK Fatca will impact Cayman-based funds. The implementation of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (US Fatca) and the less well-known but equally applicable UK equivalent (UK Fatca) have been a topical and core focus for Cayman… – Continue reading
A Laguna Beach doctor was sentenced today to probation and ordered to pay about $235,000 in fines and restitution for hiding an offshore bank account. Baruch Fogel, an obstetrician and gynecologist, diverted at least $8 million to an undeclared bank account in Luxembourg through the Israel-based Bank Leumi, according to… – Continue reading
