Category: New Zealand

New Zealand-Canada double tax agreement to help investors

New Zealand-Canada double tax agreement to help investors WELLINGTON, July 2 (Xinhua) — A new double tax agreement between New Zealand and Canada is set to facilitate investment and trade between the two nations, Revenue Minister Todd McClay said Thursday. The new agreement will lower withholding taxes on dividends, interest… – Continue reading

International tax update – July 2015

OECD common reporting standard On 3 June 2015, the Treasurer announced that Australia had signed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) common reporting standard (CRS) Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement which enables automatic exchange of CRS information between countries. Australia proposes to implement the CRS from 1 January 2017,… – Continue reading

Taxpayers Still Facing Big Challenges One Year After FATCA Goes Into Effect

June 30 — Taxpayers continue to wrestle with big questions a year after the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act opened for business. Acknowledging that the Internal Revenue Service is doing its best to implement a complex law, issues still remain as the reach of FATCA goes global, practitioners told Bloomberg… – Continue reading

Retiring overseas: a checklist before heading for your dream home

We consider the retirement options for three top expat destinations – New Zealand, Bahrain and Singapore Retiring overseas is an aspiration for many expats, especially after they have spent much of their working life outside the UK. But while you may think you know what’s involved, there are many things… – Continue reading

Define a tax haven, business lobbies tell government

Before going after multinationals that channel profits through tax havens and low-tax nations, you must define what one is, business lobbies have told the Abbott government. Treasurer Joe Hockey announced in the May budget that the government would be strengthening anti-avoidance laws to go after 30 companies with over $1… – Continue reading

FATCA – Which Countries Are In And Out

FATCA – Which Countries Are In And Out The controversial US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) law is set to start from July 1, 2014, so with less than 21 days to go, here’s a look at which countries are in and who is outside of the tax network…. – Continue reading

‘Zero tolerance’ for tax evasion, Ottawa claims

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

Birth of a New Era in Private Wealth

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

China and Chile sign DTA

On May 24, Premier Li Keqiang and a delegation of Chinese senior officials arrived in Chile. During the visit, China and Chile signed a double taxation avoidance agreement (DTA), updated their Free Trade Agreement and agreed on setting up an RMB clearing center in Chile, reports China Briefing. China and… – Continue reading

McClay visits European capitals to talk Trade

McClay visits European capitals to talk Trade and sign tax agreement Minister of Revenue and Associate Trade Minister, Todd McClay has concluded a European lobbying mission by signing a tax agreement in Paris to focus on tax avoidance by multinationals. Tax Agreement The OECD’s Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement brings New… – Continue reading

New Zealand to share multinational tax information in OECD

New Zealand has signed up to an agreement of developed nations that will enable the sharing of financial information to help fight tax avoidance by multinational companies, Revenue Minister Todd McClay said Thursday, reports the Shanghai Daily. The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement brought… – Continue reading

India joins the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI)

India joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information on 3rd June, 2015, in Paris, France, alongwith Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Indonesia and New Zealand. On our behalf, the Declaration to comply with the provisions of the MCAA was signed by H.E. Mr. Mohan Kumar,… – Continue reading

Asia: Tax & Trust Developments Taking Center Stage

Developments in Asia over the last year have been continuous with the biggest generic development relating to the exchange of information. Asian countries have put their FATCA reporting systems in place (even though not all have yet signed an inter-governmental agreement with the US IRS), and most have now committed… – Continue reading

NZ Govt considers change to tax laws

Accountants are wondering whether the New Zealand government will move to tax millions of small parcels and services bought offshore in the May 21 budget, including digital downloads. Australia acted on the issue in its budget a few days ago. New Zealand Customs does not collect goods and services tax… – Continue reading

No shock and awe, just a sedate affair

AUSTRALIANS hoping to gorge on offerings intended to stimulate the economy in Tuesday’s Federal Budget have been warned to prepare for lukewarm but at least digestible fare. Though the electorate’s appetite has been whet by the sizzling entree of another Reserve Bank rate cut this week, economists expect the main… – Continue reading

The web helps the taxman chase cheats

Deloitte managing tax partner Thomas Pippos says the IRD are using electronic payments and websites to pursue tax cheats Budget-conscious tax collectors are increasingly turning to popular websites and other e-channels to chase undeclared taxable income, a top accountant says. Inland Revenue Department no longer had capacity or interest in… – Continue reading

Craig Elliffe: Multinationals face tax change

Bold step on non-resident levy likely to be first of many. A tax policy paper released yesterday proposes changes on the taxation of non-residents in respect of New Zealand-sourced interest income. These changes, if implemented, will affect large multinationals, banks and even individual New Zealand borrowers. As the first significant… – Continue reading

Deloitte partner concerned proposed tax law changes targeting foreign corporates will sting NZ banks and thus NZers

There are fears the Government’s plans to prevent foreign controlled banks from slipping under the taxman’s radar, could end up hitting their New Zealand customers in the pocket. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is proposing to impose a higher tax burden on non-resident investors who get income from interest, dividends… – Continue reading

IRD targets the offshore-owned banks and others believed to be avoiding paying their fair share of New Zealand tax

The Government and the IRD are moving to crack-down on the big banks, overseas customers, and other offshore-owned entities that are not believed to be paying their fair whack of New Zealand tax. The IRD’s produced a 46 page issues paper making suggestions for new rules that would tighten up… – Continue reading

Kiwi shareholders face ‘unfair’ BHP breakup tax

The Shareholders Association is making “strenuous representations” to the Inland Revenue Department over what it says is an unfair tax facing possibly thousands of New Zealand investors as a result of a proposed demerger of Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton. In an effort to simplify its business, Melbourne-based BHP is… – Continue reading

British Virgin Islands Government Launches FATCA & AEOI Portal with Vizor Software

British Virgin Islands through its International Tax Authority (BVI ITA), went live last week with the Vizor for FATCA & AEOI solution, the “BVI Financial Account Reporting System”. Today, Vizor Ltd. announced that BVI went live with the Vizor for FATCA & AEOI solution. The British Virgin Islands Government (BVIG)… – Continue reading

New Zealand returns world class results

Offshore investors look to New Zealand property markets New Zealand is emerging as one of the preferred property markets for global investors. This is a key finding in Colliers Internationals’ Capital Markets Report where prime average commercial, retail and industrial yields in Auckland and Wellington proved higher than their global… – Continue reading

The “Netflix tax” – coming to a country near you

The arrival of Netflix in Australia has brought into sharp relief the GST base erosion problem caused by global digital commerce. Along with the non-taxation of low-value imported goods, the absence of GST on services and digital products imported by consumers represents an omission from the tax base that is… – Continue reading

New trade policy to be launched

The Ministry of Trade will be launching a trade policy that will re-ignite Fiji’s interest in the Australian and New Zeaand markets in the next few months. Minister for Trade Faiyaz Koya says this single reference document will identify the trade capacity, constraints and needs of each sector. ‘’The policy… – Continue reading

OECD: employment tax burdens rise despite static income tax rates

Taxes have risen by around one per cent on the average worker’s wage in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries since 2014, although the majority of governments have not increased income tax rates, the OECD has said. In its Taxing Wages 2015 report, the OECD looks at the… – Continue reading

Individual Tax Burdens Continued To Rise In 2014

Taxes on wages have risen by about one percent for the average worker in OECD countries between 2010 and 2014, even though the majority of governments did not increase statutory income tax rates, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) Taxing Wages 2015 report. According to the… – Continue reading

Europe slow to adopt new accounting standard despite Greek crisis

In the five years since the eurozone crisis exploded, the European Union has adopted a great number of measures to improve its fiscal governance. Yet amazingly, it still does not have a robust, harmonized way of measuring and monitoring the financial activities of its member states, reports the Wall Street… – Continue reading

Senate tax inquiry: Google, Apple, Microsoft policies highlight golden days of tax laxness

There was a moment on Tuesday evening – hours before the first public hearing of the Senate inquiry into corporate tax evasion – when Treasurer Joe Hockey and his advisers should have sensed a firestorm approaching. Sandwiched between a story on a Gold Coast diet blogger accused of pinching other… – Continue reading

Apple, Google and Microsoft grilled over Australian tax avoidance

Apple, Google and Microsoft have faced an Australian Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance on Wednesday. The tech giants have given evidence to a committee regarding the low amounts of tax paid locally in comparison to their profits. From the coy responses of the big three, one may come to… – Continue reading

The ultimate pension freedom: Retire in Portugal and reduce your tax

New freedoms mean you can move your pension abroad. We show you where you’ll pay the least tax It is the ultimate dream for many people – to work hard, build up a nest egg and retire abroad to a climate with year-round sunshine. Now there is an added financial… – Continue reading

Global Tax Transparency Goes Live in 2016

Cross border tax fraud and tax evasion by High Net Wealth Individuals (HNWI) are serious problems for many jurisdictions. For many years exchange of information between countries has been solely upon request. In practise this procedure is not efficiently working as it requires foreseeable relevance, thus ‘fishing’ for information is… – Continue reading

Dividend imputation clears an early tax review hurdle

Government questions dividend imputation and company tax rate Australian investors appear to have dodged a bullet, with the government’s first paper on tax reform discussing the dividend imputation system but falling short of attacking it outright as an idea that has outlived its usefulness. David Murray’s inquiry into the Australian… – Continue reading

UPDATE 1-Leaked Pacific trade pact draft shows investment carve-outs sought

(Reuters) – Australia’s medicine subsidies, Canadian films and culture, and capital controls in Chile would be carved out from investment protection rules being negotiated in a Pacific trade pact, according to a draft text released by Wikileaks on Wednesday. An investment chapter, dated Jan. 20, from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership… – Continue reading

Simon Moutter says offshore online rivals enjoy an unfair tax advantage and should have to make an equal contribution to NZ society

It has been said taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society. So what happens when some of the wealthiest companies in the world don’t pay toward the upkeep of the societies they operate in? No one likes paying taxes. In my opinion taxes should be as low… – Continue reading

Australia Rethinks Publicizing Company Tax Details

Tough tax disclosure laws introduced by the former Labor Government represent “an invasion of privacy and intrusion for Australian private companies,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said. Abbott made the comment during a joint press conference with the Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. The press conference followed a meeting of the… – Continue reading

Bank profits to stay strong but risks seen, S&P says

A resurgence in property prices means loan to value ratio ‘speed limits’ are like to stay, Standard & Poor’s says in a report that predicts banks will continue to post strong earnings growth while trading in the shadow of a ‘heightened risk’ of a future property crash. “The relatively low… – Continue reading

New Zealand Planning Response To BEPS

On March 13, 2015, New Zealand’s Minister of Revenue, Todd McClay, announced the Government’s tax policy work program for 2015/16, which includes key international tax reforms aimed primarily at countering base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). In particular, the Government intends to focus on the following areas of reforms: •… – Continue reading

Doing business in NZ: taxation

New Zealand has a broad-based tax system consisting principally of: income tax fringe benefit tax resident and non-resident withholding tax (RWT and NRWT) goods and services tax (GST) Accident Compensation levies import tariffs and miscellaneous excise duties, and local authority rates on property. Stamp duty, gift duty and death duties… – Continue reading