On June 17, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved the markup of three bills dealing with interstate tax rules in the United States on individual income tax, business activity taxes, and sales tax on digital goods. The Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act is a bipartisan measure that… – Continue reading
Introduction The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires entity account holders to document their status for US withholding tax purposes (Chapter 3 status) and their status for FATCA due diligence purposes (Chapter 4 status). In the case of a non-US entity account holder that has made an entity classification… – Continue reading
A disgraced senior FIFA official has agreed to forfeit 50 per cent of the $1 million he had stashed away in a secret CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) account, court documents have revealed. The plea agreement between the US federal authorities and Charles (Chuck) Blazer, which was unsealed late on… – Continue reading
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — A law signed by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will allow some active duty Airmen who list their official home of record as Colorado to return Colorado as their legal residency without being obligated to pay state income taxes for their military pay. The Colorado… – Continue reading
The European Union has published its first list of international tax havens as part of a crackdown on multinational companies trying to avoid paying tax in the 28-nation bloc. The list of 30 territories includes Hong Kong and Brunei in Asia, Monaco, Andorra and Guernsey in Europe, and a series… – Continue reading
CBDT chairperson Anita Kapur said that the income tax department will ensure that chronic evaders are not able to get away without facing court cases. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday said that the tax department will not resort to coercive methods to recover the minimum alternate… – Continue reading
Julius Baer of Switzerland became the latest bank to start an internal probe of money transfers linked to an investigation of FIFA, world soccer’s ruling body. Julius Baer joined banks including the U.K.’s Standard Chartered Plc in reporting that it began an inquiry. The Zurich-based firm was named as one… – Continue reading
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. owns more than $76 billion of assets through a web of units in offshore tax havens around the world, though you wouldn’t know it from reading the giant retailer’s annual report. A new study has found Wal-Mart has at least 78 offshore subsidiaries and branches, more than… – Continue reading
US companies have regained their appetite for controversial foreign takeovers that allow them to move overseas and escape US taxes, in spite of a White House crackdown to restrict so-called tax inversions last year, reports the Financial Times. According to several senior corporate advisers in the US and Europe, demand… – Continue reading
Odds improve for online gaming Regulate or delegate — that’s the question facing Pennsylvania legislators as bills to legalize online gambling gain traction. A new bill in the state Senate — SB 900, allows the state, among other things, to license operators to conduct Internet gaming. It’s a practice many… – Continue reading
The United States is through trying to needle the OECD’s base erosion and profit-shifting project with pinpricks. Last week, Robert Stack, U.S. Treasury deputy assistant secretary (international tax affairs), abandoned the subtle digs Treasury had been using to attack BEPS and flat-out said the United States is extremely disappointed in… – Continue reading
HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co are in talks to relocate parts of their businesses to Luxembourg from the UK as they weigh the possibility of a British exit from the European Union, the Times reported. JPMorgan is close to setting up a bank based in Luxembourg to… – Continue reading
The Bahamian financial industry is concerned it will have to start reporting information for the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) without the necessary legislation being in place, Tribune Business can reveal. Lawrence Lewis, a Deloitte & Touche (Bahamas) partner and accountant, confirmed to Tribune Business that there was… – Continue reading
Following the implementation of the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive (2011/61/EC) and associated legislation, Cyprus now lays claim to being a growth jurisdiction within the European Union for the establishment and servicing of boutique and low cost alternative investment funds based locally or offshore. The choice of fund… – Continue reading
Report on ‘poor’ neighborhoods full of mansions sparks calls for tax enforcement, residency documentation OTTAWA — The Canadian government takes a “zero tolerance” stand on tax evaders and is currently conducting audits on property owners in B.C., according to the Canada Revenue Agency. But Vancouver immigration lawyer Samuel Hyman said… – Continue reading
As the financial world continues its march towards a more transparent and open environment, regulations governing private wealth are under scrutiny. The traditional is changing for good while new players emerge. Once was a time, not too long ago, the words “Swiss bank” conjured up evocative imagery: secret deals; bank… – Continue reading
Senior Republicans voice concerns over Obama administration’s response to plan Political divisions are opening up in Washington over the US response to the overhaul of international tax rules by the global powers, an initiative with big implications for Ireland’s corporate tax regime. The Republican leaders of the two tax-writing committees… – Continue reading
Before the 2008 financial crisis, Mexican banks had a big problem: too many dollars. Tourism and businesses in the northern border areas near the US, as well as remittances, brought greenbacks flowing into Mexico. This left Mexico awash with dollars — a massive US$14bn in surplus US bank¬notes — which… – Continue reading
Six Indicia of Offshore Tax Criminality United States taxpayers need to be aware that a number of danger areas around offshore foreign financial accounts can be construed as evidence that could constitute criminal offenses. Some of these may seem trivial, but all the more warrant a heads-up due to the… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — Credit Suisse Group AG, the Swiss bank that paid $2.6 billion last year to settle a U.S. tax dispute, illegally sent a former employee’s details to U.S. authorities to help resolve the probe, a Geneva court ruled. The ex-employee, an assistant relationship manager at the bank’s North America… – Continue reading
A group promoting Canadian sovereignty has raised 80% of the funds required to take the Canadian Government to court for providing residents’ details to the US for its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The lawsuit was filed by the Alliance for the Defence of Canadian Sovereignty (ADCS) on 11… – Continue reading
South Korea signed a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the United States on June 10, 2015. FATCA is intended to ensure that the US obtains information on accounts held abroad at foreign financial institutions (FFIs) by US persons. Failure by an FFI to disclose information… – Continue reading
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced Monday the Bank of Mingo has been charged with failing to develop, implement and maintain an effective anti-money laundering program. According to a news release, the bank failed to implement internal controls that would have resulted in the bank obtaining “know-your-customer” information, failed to prevent… – Continue reading
The amount of money paid to informants by HMRC in its attempts to crack down on tax evasion has leapt by more than 50% in a year to a record high of £605,000. The tax authorities are increasingly rewarding tip-offs in an attempt to recoup the tens of billions lost… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Several amendments have been proposed to the tax laws in the Finance Bill 2015-16 to empower the federal government to enter into agreements for exchange of tax-related information with provinces and other countries. The new sections proposed to be inserted in the Finance Bill will empower Islamabad to enter… – Continue reading
The last time the US tried repatriation – in 2004 – companies took the tax breaks and fired American workers. Better to close loopholes and invest in infrastructure If you had a spoiled 10-year-old at home who you found rifling through your wallet, what would you do? Would you spank… – Continue reading
The Maltese Commissioner for Revenue has announced a further extension in relation to the deadline on reporting for FATCA purposes from 15 June 2015 to 3 July 2015. The FATCA reporting deadline in Malta is normally 30 April. The Commissioner has confirmed that this exception will apply for reporting in… – Continue reading
Cite ambiguity over assessing officers’ power to withdraw tax demand and pending appeals Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have decided to not file an application seeking exemption from the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) by citing DTAAs (Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements). FPIs decided to not apply for an exemption because of the… – Continue reading
The Bank of Israel audit finds failures and negligence in oversight at Bank Leumi. Failures, mistakes, negligence in oversight: these are only some of the terms used by Supervisor of Banks David Zaken to describe the findings of an audit conducted in recent months on the conduct of Bank Leumi… – Continue reading
Financial institutions around the world must ‘get their act together’ for the introduction of the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) in seven months, Linedata has warned. Justin Hayes, product manager at the international software provider, dubbed the automatic exchange agreement between an initial 58 countries “FATCA on steroids’ and an… – Continue reading
He has distorted the facts about the nation’s current tax system. Chris Christie repeatedly has said that U.S. corporations are taxed twice on income earned abroad, claiming in one speech that IRS officials “don’t recognize the tax you paid to a foreign country.” That’s false. It’s true that the U.S…. – Continue reading
Governments around the world could find themselves under-resourced when the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act deadline for collecting information on US clients arrives in September, one expert has said. Ellen Zimiles, managing director, head of global investigations at US firm Navigant, said governments will be handed an “unprecedented” amount of… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service Wednesday reminded taxpayers with offshore accounts of two important June deadlines related to Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts filings and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. All taxpayers with a FBAR filing requirement must report their foreign assets by June 30, with those taxpayers living abroad… – Continue reading
The number of voluntary disclosures of offshore income and assets to Canada’s tax authority nearly doubled in the year ended March 31 from the previous 12 months, the first time such figures have been gathered since the Canada Revenue Agency put in a whistleblower reward system to root out tax… – Continue reading
Speaking at the Insurance Day 2015 Summit on 10 June 2015, Minister of Finance Bob Richards told attendees that “the more we drive home that the insurance sector in Bermuda is not a stereotypical tax haven gimmick to key onshore decision makers the less the threat from IRS and other… – Continue reading
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican has agreed to share tax information with the United States in its latest move to improve the reputation of its scandal-marred bank and crack down on tax cheats. Vatican and U.S. officials signed an agreement Wednesday in which the Holy See committed to comply with… – Continue reading
The Luxembourg Tax Authorities have confirmed that the deadline for FATCA reporting with respect to financial accounts as of 31 December 2014 has been extended from 30 June 2015 to 31 July 2015. The FATCA Agreement (Model 1) between Luxembourg and the United States was signed on 28 March 2014…. – Continue reading
Maryland residents who pay income tax to other states may be entitled to a refund of local income taxes paid in prior tax years. The U.S. Supreme Court in Comptroller of the Treasury of Maryland v. Wynne et ux. recently affirmed a Maryland Court of Appeals ruling that the state’s… – Continue reading
Individuals who renew their US passport need to take into consideration that their Social Security Number (SSN) and country of residency will be forwarded to the IRS. Since July 2014, the passport renewal instructions forms have dedicated a specific paragraph detailing this new procedure: “Section 6039E of the Internal Revenue… – Continue reading
A new report from the Internal Revenue Service indicated that the upper-echelon of wealth is hoarding more money than we initially thought, reported The Washington Post. We all know how much money the one-percent hoards, but what about the top one-thousandth percent? To be apart of that group, one must… – Continue reading
In a year when technology deals are set to break records, U.K. targets are proving popular. About $20 billion of deals were struck for British technology companies in the last 12 months, almost double the amount spent a year earlier. U.S. buyers accounted for about half the acquisitions. They included… – Continue reading
Shire is considering a move to acquire Swiss biopharma company Actelion in a move that would boost its rare disease portfolio. According to a report in the Sunday Times, Shire made an informal approach to Actelion about a possible £12.4bn takeover several weeks ago, but the opening bid was turned… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s government wants banks to toughen up checks to avoid accepting untaxed assets, possibly including a refusal to do business with a client who can’t show the money has been regularized, reports Bloomberg. For clients from countries that aren’t covered by automatic exchange of information agreements, banks will need to… – Continue reading
An organisation that represents American expats has called on the United States Treasury to amend tax regulations to exempt those living abroad from the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FACTA was introduced in 2010 to tackle what was seen as a growing number of wealthy US citizens living abroad… – Continue reading
Top congressional lawmakers have ramped up discussions over international tax reform as the outlook for business and comprehensive reform has dimmed. The president has flatly rejected individual rate cuts, and efforts toward business-only reform have flagged as the pass-through community has rejected most proposals that would leave it out of… – Continue reading
U.S. agricultural and crop chemicals giant Monsanto (MON) could shift its headquarters to Europe in a tax-savings strategy if the company succeeds in its $45 billion unsolicited bid to merge with rival Swiss rival Syngenta. Details of the tentative plan came Monday as Syngenta reiterated its opposition to the transaction,… – Continue reading
Where a foreign company renders professional services to a South African company, it is important that the foreign entity considers whether, as a result of rendering such services, the foreign company will create a permanent establishment in South Africa. The reason why this becomes important is that where a foreign… – Continue reading
MUNICH — Leaders of the Group of Seven nations are set to agree on the creation of a system to counter tax evasion and tax avoidance by multinational enterprises, during the G-7 summit meeting to be held in Germany on Sunday and Monday, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. G-7 leaders… – Continue reading
MiFID II – FCA Issues Discussion Paper on MiFID II Implementation Measures The FCA issued a discussion paper (DP15/3) on 26 March 2015, asking firms for their views on a range of MiFID II implementation measures, including on: The revised inducements standards. Receipt of commissions and other benefits by discretionary… – Continue reading
“In Liberia for example, illicit financial outflows reached 61.6 percent of gross domestic product on average between 2008 and 2012, and 80.6 percent of total trade volume. The money lost could have funded its health budget four and half times over, in a country where 63.8 percent of the population… – Continue reading
