India’s decision to negotiate bilateral advance pricing agreements (APAs) with the U.S. is a welcome move. Prospectively, negotiations will increase certainty and uniformity in the application of India’s transfer pricing laws to related-party transactions carried out by U.S. multinational corporations (MNCs). In this article, we discuss some of the important… – Continue reading
It’s been tough for investors in the U.S. to get much income from their portfolios from traditional sources like fixed-income investments, and so dividend stocks have gotten a lot more popular in recent years. Although there are thousands of U.S. stocks that pay dividends, many international companies also have lucrative… – Continue reading
America is experiencing a significant issue with its number of corporations, with a recent report from the Tax Foundation showing that the number is the lowest it’s been in four decades. The report, titled “America’s Shrinking Corporate Sector,” points to recently released IR data showing there were 1.6 million C… – Continue reading
NUMBER OF THE WEEK: 3,415. The number of people who renounced their citizenship in 2014 according to IRS data. This is one of the five highest totals on record since the U.S. Congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in 2010. In the past five years, more than 10,000… – Continue reading
NEW YORK â?? A founder of famed New York City restaurant Le Périgord faces a potential three-year prison sentence that could take him away from the paragon of traditional French cuisine after he pleaded guilty to hiding income in offshore bank accounts. Georges Briguet, 77, admitted during a Brooklyn federal… – Continue reading
Sen. Bernard Sanders took aim at some of America’s biggest corporations Wednesday in his crusade to raise taxes on the wealthy, accusing the companies of “legalized tax fraud” for using off-shore banks to avoid U.S. taxes. Mr. Sanders, the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, released a report that… – Continue reading
A team of journalists from 45 nations who investigated documents leaked by a former systems engineer working for banking giant HSBC’s Geneva, Switzerland branch, found HSBC managed secret bank accounts for criminals, drug traffickers, tax dodgers, politicians and celebrities. The documents, covering the period from 2005 to 2007 revealed, according… – Continue reading
News leaked late last week that Swiss banking giant UBS is again under DOJ investigation for aiding tax fraud by U.S. clients. In 2009, UBS pled guilty to a criminal tax conspiracy charge, and received a deferred prosecution agreement. UBS admitted that thousands of unreported and untaxed accounts at the… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — Bradley Birkenfeld, the former UBS Group AG banker who won a $104 million whistle-blower award after serving time in prison for tax conspiracy, won a U.S. judge’s permission to testify in France in a separate probe of the Swiss bank. U.S. District Judge William Zloch ruled Tuesday that… – Continue reading
TAX in the 21st Century is exciting and new ideas and theorems are emerging to increasingly reduce the global village into one block where information is shared and taxes are realised even from abroad. Mid last year in June, a new notion was coined in the tax world. This new… – Continue reading
Drug firm has come out fighting after allegations it engaged in tax avoidance on an industrial scale Ireland’s largest drug company has come out fighting following allegations that, with its tax adviser PricewaterhouseCoopers, it has engaged in tax avoidance on an industrial scale – as alleged by the public accounts… – Continue reading
An FCA spokesman said the regulator faced difficulty in pursuing action against HSBC because the behaviour publicised so far involved its Swiss unit, HSBC Private Banking (Suisse) SA, which the spokesman said was beyond the FCA’s jurisdiction. Britain’s financial watchdog said it was investigating HSBC following reports it helped clients… – Continue reading
Firms need clear rules, certainty to remain in compliance with tax law, says expert Heightened scrutiny of foreign companies’ tax practices is a sign of China’s effort to modernize its taxation system to keep up with the fast-changing international business environment, but there is another dimension that concerns the foreign… – Continue reading
Last month, President Obama traveled to India where he famously befriended Narendra Modi and others. There, he heralded a new era of joint cooperation on many fronts, including the exchange of offshore account information. Last week, US Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew was in India to follow up and meet with… – Continue reading
Attorneys with the St. Louis law firm Capes, Sokol, Goodman & Sarachan, P.C. are urging people to become aware of a deal between Israeli’s Bank Leumi Group and the U.S. Government, saying it could impact local account holders. The Bank Leumi Group, Israel’s second-largest bank, made a deal with the… – Continue reading
London Mayor Boris Johnson was born in New York City in 1964, and he has held dual British and American citizenship throughout his life. Recently, after months of grousing about having to pay a capital gains tax to the U.S. on the sale of his house in Greater London, Johnson… – Continue reading
Last September, I wrote that America’s business tax system is a nightmare that simultaneously undermines the competitiveness of American companies while also causing lots of irritation in other nations. Both of those bad things happen because politicians in Washington think the IRS should be able to tax income that is… – Continue reading
Financial information to be passed to IRS in September Abu Dhabi: The UAE’s financial institutes are set to comply with the US’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) before the deadline at the end of the second quarter of this year, officials confirmed on Sunday. The information will then be… – Continue reading
Some of the biggest listed Irish firms have subsidiaries in so-called ‘tax havens’, like the British Virgin Islands, Jersey or Luxembourg. They say it’s not to reduce their tax bills – so why are they there? The subsidiaries are registered in well-known offshore tax havens, such as the British Virgin… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The government plans to defer implementation of the General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) until the time the tax administration is able to rebuild trust with companies on the controversial issue. “Given the low level of confidence in tax authorities, investors fear that the provisions may result in harassment…. – Continue reading
In the last several years, a “record” number of Americans abroad have been giving up their passports: That’s supposedly due to the demands of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, known as FATCA, a US law enacted in 2010 to fight tax evasion by forcing foreign banks to share information… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Committing to boost trade ties, India and the US today resolved to enhance cooperation, remove obstacles to investment flows and work towards early adoption of FATCA to facilitate automatic flow of tax information. “We are committed to share our experiences in tackling offshore tax evasion and avoidance. We… – Continue reading
Feb 12 (Reuters) – Brazilian Trade Minister Armando Monteiro said on Thursday he does not see much chance of agreeing on a tax treaty with the United States in the short term. In an interview during a visit to Washington, his first overseas trip as minister, Monteiro said double taxation,… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India and the US on Thursday committed to take the renewed India-US partnership forward through “shared effort and progress for all” when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Jacob J. Lew, US Secretary of the Treasury, met in the Capital for the Fifth Annual India-US Economic and Financial Partnership…. – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — The backlash against acquisitions meant to skirt U.S. tax laws could spur more midsize U.S. drugmakers to sell to overseas buyers, Bill Ackman, the billionaire activist hedge fund manager, said Thursday. Takeover activity in 2014 was highlighted by U.S. companies — including Medtronic Inc. and Pfizer Inc. —… – Continue reading
Tax paperwork seen as main culprit HONG KONG (CNNMoney) —Goodbye, sayonara, ciao, Uncle Sam! The number of Americans choosing to give up their passports hit a record 3,415 last year, up 14% from 2013, and 15 times more than in 2008, when only 231 people renounced their citizenship. Experts say… – Continue reading
Some of your well-to-do clients may be thinking of moving to the “51st state.” Puerto Rico is quickly becoming a tax haven for U.S. citizens fed up with paying higher taxes on the mainland. If you qualify, the tax rate on much of your investment income – including certain capital… – Continue reading
In a recent letter to the Committee on Foreign Relations, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) requested that the US Senate urgently approve all pending bilateral double taxation agreements (DTAs) and protocols. The AICPA pointed out that the full Senate has not approved any DTA or protocol since… – Continue reading
Documents detail customers who faced allegations including drug-running, corruption, doping and money laundering This article is the subject of a legal complaint made on behalf of Anura Perera. HSBC’s Swiss bank concealed large sums of money for people facing allegations of serious wrongdoing, including drug-running, corruption and money laundering, leaked… – Continue reading
HSBC is under fire, after a large cache of leaked bank files revealed that it helped clients evade taxes and conceal millions of dollars. The files, which cover the period 2005-07, amount to the biggest banking leak in history, shedding light on some 30,000 accounts holding almost $120bn. HSBC was… – Continue reading
The number of Americans relinquishing their citizenship will drop as the world adjusts to FATCA, says Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere. Since the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was introduced in July last year, the number of citizens cutting of their US ties has jumped to 3415, 14%… – Continue reading
LONDON – The chief executive of Britain’s tax agency was questioned by politicians over leaked documents that describe how HSBC’s Swiss private banking arm helped clients, including politicians, rock stars and dealers of illicit diamonds, hide billions of dollars before 2007. Members of Parliament criticized Lin Homer, the chief of… – Continue reading
According to the analysis of clandestine files belonging to British banking giant HSBC, it appears that the Swiss banking branch of the conglomerate played a pivotal role in assisting affluent depositors evade taxes on their mega million. A report released on Sunday, Feb 8, by a cadre of reporters representing… – Continue reading
Latin-American politicians Horacio Cartes (president of Paraguay), Álvaro Noboa (former president of Ecuador), and Alejandro Andrade (Venezuela’s ex-national treasurer) have one thing in common: they all possessed, until at least 2007, secret accounts with HSBC’s private Swiss bank. This according to the Swissleaks report published on Sunday, February 8, which… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON DC — An international banking giant, HSBC, made huge profits by allegedly engaging in shady deals of over $270 million with some Zimbabwean citizens seven years ago, in the process, disadvantaging the poor southern African nation of the much-needed foreign currency, documents in Studio 7’s possession have revealed. BY… – Continue reading
Davidson Iriekpen with agency report New records obtained by the Paris-based Le Monde newspaper and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have unveiled more details on the $182 million Halliburton bribery scandal in Nigeria that indicted several top government official, in the country who received the bribes, but for… – Continue reading
UBS has today confirmed it is involved in a fresh investigation by American authorities after it allegedly sold products to help US citizens evade tax. The Swiss bank said it is being investigated for selling “bearer bonds” and other unregistered securities, which are banned in the US. Last month it… – Continue reading
A Welsh Scout leader wanting to open a bank account was astonished when he was told he could only do so if he filled in a form for the United States tax authorities. Darren Stockton, who has run a Scout troop in Usk for six years, approached his local branch… – Continue reading
Bermuda’s well-documented financial services regulation, international partnership treaties, and lack of bank secrecy legislation ought to be recognised by the UK Labour Party, the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) said today. The BDA echoed the Bermuda Government’s weekend response to UK Opposition Leader Ed Miliband following a warning letter issued… – Continue reading
There are millions of Americans with unreported offshore bank and financial accounts. Under the new FATCA legislation, foreign financial institutions will soon be required to report account holders with ties to the United States. (FATCA is short for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a 2010 Obama initiative designed to… – Continue reading
Call it the pass-through revolution. The U.S. has been losing about 60,000 conventional corporations a year, according to the Tax Foundation. It’s lost 1 million since 1986, the foundation said. Meanwhile, the number of pass-through entities has exploded. “More than 60 percent of U.S. business profits are now taxed under… – Continue reading
Australia’s largest banking and finance institutions have defended their corporate tax affairs and have rejected claims the tax system is “fundamentally flawed”, in submissions to a Senate inquiry. On Monday an international investigation exposed how the Swiss arm of the HSBC bank helped wealthy clients dodge taxes around the world…. – Continue reading
ZURICH–Swiss bank UBS AG posted a slight gain in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by a significant tax benefit and as it sharply reduced the amount of money set aside to deal with its continuing legal and regulatory issues. Zurich-based UBS said net profit in the quarter rose to 963… – Continue reading
The charitable foundation run by Hillary Clinton and her family has received as much as $81m from wealthy international donors who were clients of HSBC’s controversial Swiss bank. Leaked files from HSBC’s Swiss banking division reveal the identities of seven donors to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation with… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – When a series of big U.S. companies last year moved to reincorporate abroad in inversion deals, some Republican lawmakers and tax policy critics blamed the high U.S. corporate tax rate. Lowering it, they said, would keep companies from fleeing the country. But a Reuters analysis of the taxes… – Continue reading
Bulgaria’s cabinet has approved an agreement with the United States on the US’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which targets tax non-compliance by US taxpayers with foreign accounts, Sofia Globe wrote. The cabinet approved the agreement, reached in December 2014, and said that it would ask the National Assembly… – Continue reading
After several years of delays, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) finally took effect on July 1, 2014. Congress enacted FATCA as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act in 2010 to stop U.S. taxpayers from evading U.S. taxes through undisclosed offshore accounts and investments. FATCA requires… – Continue reading
The US giant trying to take over Britain’s biggest drinks can maker in a £4.3billion deal is a serial user of tax havens. Ball Corporation is in talks to buy FTSE 250-listed Rexam that would create an industry goliath. The deal could be finalised as early as this week, and… – Continue reading
The nation’s largest organization of accounting and tax professionals is urging the Senate to approve income tax treaties between the U.S. and various countries. In a February 3 letter to Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the committee’s ranking… – Continue reading
Guest Post by Andrew Blair-Stanek, Assistant Professor of Law at University of Maryland Carey School of Law Patent owners routinely tell the IRS, under penalties of perjury, that their patents have little value. Litigators representing defendants should take advantage of these remarkable admissions. IP has become the world’s leading tax… – Continue reading
