Tax administration is experiencing a global upheaval. The 2010 passage of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) – which includes costly demands on foreign financial institutions to report information on US clients to the IRS and large penalties for noncompliance – marked a new era of fiscal imperialism. Wealthy… – Continue reading
SEJONG, March 13 (Yonhap) — South Korea is expected to gain access to financial information on its nationals from the U.S. as the two countries are close to an agreement on sharing related data, finance ministry officials said Thursday, a move expected to help Seoul’s crackdown on offshore tax evasion…. – Continue reading
The largest U.S.-based companies added $206 billion to their offshore profit stockpiles last year in order to put earnings in low-tax countries, Bloomberg reported. Multinational companies accumulated $1.95 trillion outside the U.S., which was up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, according to securities filings from 307 corporations reviewed by Bloomberg. Governments… – Continue reading
12 March 2014: In its 2013 Annual Report, the Luxembourg Direct Tax Authorities reported that they have negotiated new tax treaties with Hungary, New Zealand, the UK and Uruguay. It is also reported that 659 exchanges of information upon request, spontaneous information exchanges and automatic exchanges of information have been… – Continue reading
France’s disgraced former budget minister Jerôme Cahuzac, who was sacked after admitting he hid funds in a Swiss account, also had a €2.5 million stashed in a secret bank account in the Isle of Man, a British tax haven, it was claimed on Thursday. Cahuzac’s estranged wife Patricia admitted the… – Continue reading
OECD tax director Pascal Saint-Amans has played down concerns that the United States might resist plans to make multinational companies such as Apple and Starbucks pay more tax, arguing that governments must move quickly to close multibillion-dollar loopholes or risk ordinary citizens losing faith in their taxation systems. Mr Saint-Amans… – Continue reading
A new bill before the state Assembly aims to ensure businesses in Wisconsin must pay the appropriate state taxes. State Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, introduced the “End Tax Havens Abuse Act” and said in a statement Thursday the bill would require Wisconsin businesses to pay taxes in the state could… – Continue reading
MoUs on joint committee and cooperation in higher education Tirana: UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan met in Albanian capital Tirana Ditmir Bushati, Albania’s Foreign Minister, and discussed with him avenues of joint cooperation between the two friendly countries. The two ministers signed an agreement on avoidance… – Continue reading
The largest US-based companies added $206 billion to their stockpiles of offshore profits last year, parking earnings in low-tax countries until Congress gives them a reason not to. The multinational companies have accumulated $1.95 trillion outside the US, up 11.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to securities filings… – Continue reading
LONDON — Four of the biggest U.S. technology groups collectively hold an estimated $124 billion in U.S. Treasury debt, much of it offshore, earning them tax-free interest, the UK’s Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) said on Thursday. The finding means Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Google Inc and Cisco Systems Inc… – Continue reading
Andreas Bachmann of Credit Suisse helped Americans hide $3 billion from Uncle Sam A former Swiss banker pleaded guilty Wednesday to his role in a fraud scheme that prosecutors say helped U.S. taxpayers hide as much as $3 billion in assets from the IRS. Andreas Bachmann, 56, a Swiss citizen,… – Continue reading
The young Ukrainian ex-billionaire Serhiy Kurchenko, now widely suspected of being a front man for overthrown President Viktor Yanukovych’s family, clearly liked offshore destinations. His companies registered in offshore zones are now accused of trading in oil products using a tax evasion scheme that cost Ukraine’s government an estimated $1… – Continue reading
The rich are not like the rest of us, and neither are their offshore bankers. Court documents filed in a big tax evasion case in Northern Virginia provide just a glimpse of the extra services available if you have the means and will to maintain secret accounts with large banks in Switzerland… – Continue reading
The Taxation (Annual Rates, Employee Allowances, and Remedial Matters) Bill contains proposed legislative amendments to give effect to the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) New Zealand is currently negotiating with the United States in respect of the United States’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The Commentary to the Bill states that… – Continue reading
FATCA drives up demand for overseas pension schemes Dubai: The looming implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), a law designed as a tool to counteract tax evasion, is prompting a growing number US expatriates to look for tax efficient investment options. An estimated 7.2 million American expatriates… – Continue reading
Dubai: The US and UAE governments are in the process of signing the FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). Under this agreement, banks and financial institutions in the UAE will be required to annually compile data for submission to the UAE regulatory authorities. The UAE Ministry of Finance would then send this… – Continue reading
Many UK advisers believe that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) only applies to UK trusts if there are US beneficiaries, settlors or investments. This is not true. FATCA will apply to all financial institutions (banks, brokerage firms, trust companies and all financial accounts) in the UK and will… – Continue reading
United States taxpayers make large interest payments to the top four technology firmsfor the $163 billion in US government debt the companies own and shelter in tax-freeoffshore accounts. Apple, Cisco Systems, Google, and Microsoft legally hold $124 billion in US Treasury securities and $39 billion in US government agencydebt in accounts overseas, allowing them to avoid the 35… – Continue reading
Apple Inc., IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have been picked out as some of the main culprits of stockpiling profits abroad in order to avoid huge tax bills, according to Bloomberg. Last year, the largest U.S. firms collectively added an extra $206 billion to their offshore profit stockpiles based in low-tax countries. Together the… – Continue reading
With 5 April only a few weeks away, it is time for long-term UK residents to think about whether they are coming up to their deemed domicile date for UK inheritance tax purposes. Those who arrived between 6 April 1998 and 5 April 1999 will become deemed domiciled on 6… – Continue reading
The British Virgin Islands and the United States are close to signing an agreement on implementing the US’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act financial law (FATCA). Last week, the two sides concluded their talks on the agreement, initialing the final text of an agreement. In a statement, the British Virgin… – Continue reading
Apple, famous for its innovative products, is equally creative in its tax structure. From 2009 to 2012, it successfully sheltered US$44 billion from being taxed anywhere in the world, including sales generated in Australia. While there are probably some sound reasons for Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, to claim in a US congressional… – Continue reading
The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) will be implemented on July 1 this year, and it would be better for Taiwan’s financial institutions not to speculate any more, a prominent accountant has said in an interview our sister paper Commercial Times. Chou Sih-ci said several financial operators still… – Continue reading
The Brazilian government has been trying to catch up on a number of areas of the digital economy, one of them being online cross-border taxation – but not without controversy. During the Mobile World Congress (MWC) last month, the Brazilian communications minister Paulo Bernardo said Brazil is a “tax haven”… – Continue reading
Recent news stories, past reports and current anecdotal evidence suggest the flight of capital from Nigeria is reaching epidemic proportions. Nigeria is fast becoming a net exporter of students, patients and financial capital. Last week, news about Nigerian millionaires, the freezing of stolen assets, the flying habits of wealthy Nigerians… – Continue reading
A prominent tax lawyer says that proposed federal legislation relieving Canadian financial institutions from onerous obligations under the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act “eviscerates” an intergovernmental agreement signed between Canada and the U.S. earlier this month. “The U.S. Treasury Department may view the legislation, if passed in its current form, as an… – Continue reading
Some states are going after multinational corporations which avoid state taxes by stashing some of their earnings in offshore tax havens, an effort aimed at recouping some of the more than $20 billion states lose to such gimmicks each year. Shifting income to subsidiaries in places like the Cayman Islands… – Continue reading
BEIJING – Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprises (WFOEs) are able to repatriate funds out of China in a variety of forms, for which tax implications vary according to the form of repatriation used and the Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) in place between China and the recipient country. The four most commonly… – Continue reading
As far back as the early stages of the global financial crisis in 2007, Nick Mathiason citing the African Union (AU) reported: “More than $150 billion a year is looted from Africa through tax avoidance by giant corporations and capital flight using ‘a pinstripe infrastructure’ of Western banks, lawyers and accountants.”… – Continue reading
The inevitable march towards automatic exchange of information (AEI) as the Organization for Economic and Cooperation’s (OECD) global standard was just one of the issues discussed at a recent international tax conference held in Liechtenstein. During his address, Head of the OECD International Cooperation and Tax Administration Division, Achim Pross,… – Continue reading
Former American Peter Dunn wants Americans living in Canada to ask themselves an important question. “Am I really an American citizen?” Dunn, 50, has recently co-founded the Isaac Brock Society, a group raising awareness about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Dunn settled permanently in Canada in 1994. FATCA,… – Continue reading
March 7 — The Internal Revenue Service released instructions for Form W-8ECI for use by foreign taxpayers in telling the agency that their income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business, updated to reflect the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Posted to the IRS’s website late March 6, the instructions followed… – Continue reading
(FINNBAY) – 10 March 2014. Finland along with other 49 countries around the world engaged with the US government to implement the information reporting and withholding tax provisions commonly known in the US as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA aims to establish a common intergovernmental approach to… – Continue reading
LONDON — If you don’t want something, giving it back is often an option. That’s precisely what some Americans, frustrated at what they see as onerous U.S. tax filing obligations for Americans living overseas, are doing with their citizenship. “I felt like I had gotten a divorce,” says Donna-Lane Nelson,… – Continue reading
London: Schroders is the latest UK group to set aside millions of pounds for potential fines arising from a US investigation into companies that helped American clients evade taxes. Schroders, the UK’s second-biggest listed fund house, has reserved £15 million (Dh92 million) for a possible penalty in connection with the… – Continue reading
Think your taxes are confusing? Ha! Try living and working abroad as a U.S. citizen. As the following guest column details, even something as seemingly ordinary as participating in a pension plan can create huge tax complications. (For less esoteric advice on preparing your 1040 for 2013 and minimizing your… – Continue reading
Bankers at Credit Suisse helped their affluent American clients hide billions in assets from the IRS, according to a Senate investigative report released Tuesday. The Swiss banking giant is currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly aiding tax evasion by its rich clients, is even accused of… – Continue reading
Bankers at Credit Suisse helped their affluent American clients hide billions in assets from the IRS, according to a Senate investigative report released Tuesday. The Swiss banking giant is currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly aiding tax evasion by its rich clients, is even accused of… – Continue reading
Cayman is continuing preparations for the implementation of the US Foreign Accounts Compliance Act (FATCA). So far the island has signed two inter-governmental agreements (IGAs), and legislation is currently being drafted to meet the requirements of the new law. Chief Compliance Officer at DMS Offshore Investment Services Don Ebanks says… – Continue reading
As Canadian snowbirds and visitors in Costa Rica were following the performance of their compatriot athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, their Finance and National Revenue Ministers announced that anintergovernmental agreement with the United States had been reached on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) of 2010. What… – Continue reading
As concerns about crumbling roads and bridges mount, one Congressman believes he has an answer. Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-CO) has introduced a bill, Partnership to Build America Act of 2014 (S. 1957), that would provide for investments and improvements in infrastructure projects. To make it more palatable, funding would… – Continue reading
Small business owners can feel a little bit like ping-pong balls when elected officials start talking about taxes. I’m a board member of the Maine Small Business Coalition, to which 3,600 Maine small business owners belong. I’m also a registered nurse and owner of a home child care center where… – Continue reading
MANILA – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is mulling over sanctions on local banks that fail to comply with a US tax evasion law. “The BSP will study what sanctions, if any, we will impose if a local bank decides it wishes to handle US persons but exposes itself… – Continue reading
A tightening noose around the necks of tax avoiders in some parts of the world saw Guernsey’s financial regulator approve 103 new investment funds in the crown dependency during 2013. There is no capital gains tax or inheritance tax in Guernsey. The corporation tax on financial firms is just 10%,… – Continue reading
A tightening noose around the necks of tax avoiders in some parts of the world saw Guernsey’s financial regulator approve 103 new investment funds in the crown dependency during 2013. There is no capital gains tax or inheritance tax in Guernsey. The corporation tax on financial firms is just 10%,… – Continue reading
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) — Credit Suisse Group AG moved to blame a small number of employees after a U.S. Senate report said the Swiss lender helped clients hide as much as $10 billion of assets from tax authorities. “Some Swiss-based private bankers went to great lengths to disguise their bad… – Continue reading
American Citizens Abroad (ACA) has provided testimony to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Investigations Subcommittee following its recent hearing on offshore tax evasion, and has recommended that the United States should implement a residence-based tax (RBT) system to avoid penalizing American expatriates. The ACA, as the principal… – Continue reading
The Australian press is incandescent with rage after it discovered that the fruit themed cargo cult Apple has worked out a way of avoiding giving billions to its taxman. Apple is already in hot water for overcharging Australians for its shiny toys and now it seems that it is refusing to pay tax…. – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Amazon’s tax affairs could come under more scrutiny in Britain, tax experts said, after a judge questioned whether it really was organized in the tax efficient way it said it was. The ruling comes as big technology groups, including Amazon, face increasing scrutiny in Britain over their tax… – Continue reading
France’s 2014 Finance Act (No 2013-1278) requires that the additional amount of tax assessed by the tax authority upon the launch of a Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) must be paid in advance of an outcome. This measure was introduced by repealing Article L. 189 of the Tax Procedures Code (LPF), with effect… – Continue reading
