Category: Jurisdiction

BIR padlocks main office, 2 branches of tax-dodging POGO service provider

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) padlocked simultaneously Wednesday the main office and two branches of one of the biggest Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) service providers in the country for alleged failure to register and pay the corresponding deficiency taxes amounting to P2 billion. Shuttered were the headquarter of… – Continue reading

Australian tax office advises on transfer pricing for offshore drilling

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on September 27 set out its approach to analyzing transfer pricing issues associated with the use in Australian waters of non-resident owned mobile offshore drilling units such as drill-ships, drilling rigs (including but not limited to submersibles, semi-submersible and jack-up rigs), pipe-laying vessels, and heavy-lift vessels. ... - Continue reading

Armenia, Malta sign double tax treaty

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on September 24 met with Malta’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Armenian ministry told Armenpress. The officials praised the current dynamic… – Continue reading

Mexico 2020 tax reform: big changes proposed for foreign companies doing business in Mexico

On September 8, the executive branch of the Mexican government introduced Mexico 2020 tax reform, proposing far-reaching changes to the Mexican income tax, value-added tax, and Federal Tax Code. ... - Continue reading

Wealth managers not ready for rise in HNWI demand for offshore investments: GlobalData

Wealth managers will have to review their offshore service propositions in lieu of an expected rise in high net worth (HNW) demand, according to GlobalData, a data and analytics company. GlobalData’s 2019 Global Wealth Managers Survey noted that 50.2% of industry participants expect HNW demand for offshore investments to rise… – Continue reading

BSP study dismisses risks of POGOs pullout

Initial results of a study conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show that an immediate pullout by Philippine offshore gaming operators from the country will not have an impact on the financial stability, Governor Benjamin Diokno said Tuesday. Diokno asked the BSP’s Financial Stability team and the Anti-Money Laundering… – Continue reading

VAT on online purchase must if not paid by cos during sourcing: NBR

Value-added tax on online purchase of goods and services will be applicable if the e-commerce company concerned collects those from the original suppliers and manufacturers without paying VAT, according to the National Board of Revenue. ‘There will be no VAT on online purchase of any goods and services if the… – Continue reading

Foreign investors inject $143.6 million in t-bills since July

KARACHI: Foreign portfolio investors invested $143.633 million in treasury bills from July onwards as the present government started betting on overseas funds into debt securities to finance budget deficit and refinance maturities. The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) latest data showed that outflow from portfolio investors amounted to $5.808 million… – Continue reading

Russia may stop automatic tax data exchange with Britain, dependencies: media

MOSCOW, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) — The Russian Federal Tax Service (FTS) may stop the automatic exchange of financial information with Britain and its dependencies — the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey, TASS news agency reported Friday, quoting an FTS draft order. According to the news report, the draft order… – Continue reading

Declaration must for Pakistanis having foreign assets, income

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will tighten noose around offshore illicit money and assets as Pakistanis having undeclared assets abroad are required to file statement by September 30, 2019. “The FBR will launch proceedings against persons having offshore assets on the basis of available data,” an official at… – Continue reading

Nigeria: The FIRS Has Published Regulations On Common Reporting Standard

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has issued the Income Tax (Common Reporting Standard) Regulations, 2019 (CRS Regulations). This follows Nigeria's signing of the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAC) and the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information, signed by Nigeria on 17 August 2017. ... - Continue reading

FATCA blamed for one in five US expats planning to give up passport

One in five US citizens living abroad are on the verge of giving up their passports according to a survey published by US tax consultants Greenback. The Greenback survey – which was conducted by more than 3,000 US expats – studies the expat community’s opinions on taxation, citizenship renunciation, and… – Continue reading

Villanueva urges DILG to crack down on tax-evading POGOs

Senator Joel Villanueva has urged the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to order local government units and police to crack down on Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) that refuse to comply with the country’s tax laws. Villanueva also backed the Department of Finance’s (DOF) order to shut down… – Continue reading

EU Commission to investigate 39 Belgium “excess profit” tax rulings for potential State aid violations

The European Commission today announced that it has opened 39 in-depth investigations to assess whether Belgian “excess profit” tax rulings granted to multinationals between 2005 and 2014 provided benefits that are contrary to EU State aid rules. ... - Continue reading

IRS offers tax break to some American expats

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has outlined new procedures for some “accidental Americans,”, giving them the chance to comply with their US tax and filing obligations and in turn qualify for relief from back taxes, penalties and interest. The changes would allow people with less than $2m in net worth… – Continue reading

Tax avoidance drives nearly 40% of global FDI: IMF

Nearly 40% of worldwide foreign direct investment (FDI), amounting to $15trn, “passes through empty corporate shells” with “no real business activities”, a study by the IMF and the University of Copenhagen reveals. According to the report, ten economies including Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, BVI, Switzerland, Singapore, Ireland, the Cayman… – Continue reading

US-born British citizen launches crowdfunding campaign to stop FATCA

A US-born British citizen has started a crowdfunding campaign to stop HMRC sharing her personal information with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Law firm Mishcon de Reya has taken on the UK case for a client who alleges HMRC is… – Continue reading

Colombia: Colombia Publishes Guidelines On Advance Pricing Agreements

Colombia's National Directorate of Taxes and Customs (DIAN) released detailed guidelines (the Guidelines) to clarify the procedure for Advanced Transfer Pricing Agreements (APAs) requests in order to ensure certainty between the parties regarding their transfer pricing arrangements. ... - Continue reading

Ukrainian government approves bill ratifying FATCA

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a bill to ratify the Agreement between the governments of Ukraine and the United States to improve tax compliance and application of provisions of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and related bills, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry’s press service reported. “On September… – Continue reading

Switzerland: Italian Tax Authorities Request Information From Switzerland On UBS Bank Customers

In the past ten years, Switzerland has undertaken significant efforts to combat international tax fraud and tax evasion and to fight for the strict observance of foreign tax laws. In order to do so, a number of tax laws were enacted, allowing Switzerland to comply with international standards issued by the OECD (acting on behalf of the G20). In this respect, Switzerland ratified the Multilateral Convention on Administrative Assistance originally issued by the CoE and the OECD in 1988 and amended in 2011 ("OECD MC"), and it renegotiated numerous Double Taxation Conventions ("DTC"), amongst them also the DTC with Italy, in order to comply with the international standard introduced by the OECD MC in the version of July 2010. ... - Continue reading

OECD sees progress in 116 nations’ implementation of country-by-country reporting

The OECD said its initiative to have minimum standards on the collection and exchange of country-by-country (CbC) reports on large multinational businesses has reached 116 jurisdictions and has shown major progress in the delivery of international tax transparency. The OECD’s second annual peer review report on the base erosion and… – Continue reading