The European Commission is currently conducting in-depth investigations into whether national tax rulings breach the EU’s competition rules. Whilst the spark for these investigations was the “Luxleaks” scandal, in December 2014 the Commission sought information from all Member States as part of a much larger campaign to attack what the… – Continue reading
The DTA between Cyprus and Iceland took effect on 1 January 2015 The new double taxation agreement between Cyprus and Iceland, which was signed on 13 November 2014, entered into force on 22 December 2014. The agreement is based on the OECD Model Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation… – Continue reading
As middle class flees, Puerto Rico tries luring rich people The towering 38-year-old native of Arkansas is one of at least 250 people who’ve accepted Puerto Rico’s invitation to well-heeled U.S. citizens to move to the island and enjoy life without taxes on capital gains, an enticing offer for those… – Continue reading
A New Tax on doing business in or through the UK The UK is on course to enact a new tax (the “DPT”) with extraterritorial scope which will apply to profits arising on or after 1 April 2015 and will be applied at a rate of 25% (the UK’s main… – Continue reading
Ed Miliband insists no hypocrisy over offshore donation and admits he will ‘probably’ have to pay the Mansion Tax, which affects houses worth more than £2million Ed Miliband has faced allegations of hypocrisy after it emerged that the Labour party has accepted a donation from a company registered in the… – Continue reading
LEND Lease has denied claims it shifts profits from Australia through tax havens such as Luxembourg in its submission to the Senate Inquiry into Corporate Tax Avoidance. Lend Lease was named last year in the “Lux Leaks” scandal, in which former employees of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Europe blew the whistle on… – Continue reading
The latest numbers are in and they are impressive. Since 2009, over 50,000 taxpayers with delinquent FBAR forms have come forward. Although many taxpayers are now seeking to take advantage of the IRS’ offshore account amnesty program, the IRS continues to ramp up enforcement efforts against the stragglers that ignore… – Continue reading
The latest numbers are in and they are impressive. Since 2009, over 50,000 taxpayers with delinquent FBAR forms have come forward. Although many taxpayers are now seeking to take advantage of the IRS’ offshore account amnesty program, the IRS continues to ramp up enforcement efforts against the stragglers that ignore… – Continue reading
Details have emerged this week that the company Samantha Cameron – the prime minister’s wife – works for is based in a tax haven. Smythson – a luxury leather goods retailer with a Royal Warrant from the Queen – is owned through a parent company in Luxembourg and connected to… – Continue reading
Croatia and the UK have signed an Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital gains. The Agreement was duly signed on January 15th, 2015 and it shall enter into force when both countries complete their… – Continue reading
Offshore yuan bond issues are set to fall this year for the first time since the Hong Kong market began in 2007 as funding costs have become more expensive than in mainland China. The dim sum market, as the offshore yuan bond market is known, had expanded rapidly since its… – Continue reading
More than half of Australia’s trade is money being sent offshore by companies to their overseas arms – with almost a third going to Singapore and Switzerland. Australian companies sent more than $100 billion to related parties in the low-tax nation of Singapore and another $15.6 billion to “hubs” in… – Continue reading
The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) has welcomed the government’s plan to introduce a tax amnesty, a fiscal incentive expected to encourage individuals or corporation that have not fully paid their taxes to comply with tax regulations. The association’s deputy chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani said that the amnesty would be effective in… – Continue reading
Technology giants Apple and Google have said in their submissions to the federal inquiry into corporate tax avoidance that they support international changes to global tax rules to stop profit shifting, but have warned of the risk of Australia acting alone, saying it would cost heavily in local jobs and… – Continue reading
A recent report detailing how Africa lost $US1-trillion in the last 50 years through illicit financial flows of money has raised questions about it’s abilities to curb fraud evasion and other means of corporate profit hiding. It has also sparked interest in holding multinational corporates, which are mainly responsible for… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: The Mumbai bench of the tax tribunal has clarified that additional tax liability cannot be claimed from competitive industries in the name of location savings arising out of the country’s low-cost manufacturing base. The ruling may benefit pharmaceutical, auto, IT and IT-enabled companies, among others, that are engaged in… – Continue reading
Korean Gov’t to Tax Google, Facebook Like Domestic Companies orea is moving to impose taxes on foreign ICT giants such as Google, Apple, and Facebook. To this end, Ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Hong Ji-man tabled revisions to the Income Tax Act and the Corporate Tax Act in December last year…. – Continue reading
February 4: The Luxembourg tax authorities this week released a draft version of a new administrative circular for implementing the FATCA regime. The new draft guidance concerns the file format to be used for the automatic exchange of information between the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and the United States.
Google has told the Australian parliament that it would prefer issues around taxation of multinational corporations to be dealt with by the G20 or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), rather than have individual countries attempt to go it alone. The Australian government is attempting to tackle profit… – Continue reading
Though North Korean labor more expensive than previously thought – RFA The DPRK government made agreements promoting mutual investment and preventing double taxation for foreign investors, particularly highlighting cooperation with Russia, according to an article from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published this week. Governments often form tax treaties… – Continue reading
Jersey’s financial institutions are now able to register in Jersey in preparation for US FATCA, which commences this year. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires financial institutions outside the USA to report information on financial accounts held by their US customers to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – U.S. federal prosecutors have launched a new probe into whether Swiss bank UBS AG helped Americans evade taxes through investments banned in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the investigation. UBS, which paid $780 million in 2009 to settle a separate Justice… – Continue reading
Emirates Investment Bank yesterday said its total assets under management jumped 81 per cent last year as the economy boomed and the UAE’s safe haven status continued to attract funds from politically troubled countries in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Total assets under management increased to… – Continue reading
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned the UK Government that significant changes are needed to its proposed diverted profits tax legislation, to ensure that the regime does not capture genuine commercial arrangements. In his 2014 Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to levy a 25 percent diverted… – Continue reading
Beijing is going after base erosion and profit shifting, and multinationals could get caught in the crosshairs. China is continuing to step up its efforts to curb what it sees as cross-border tax evasion by foreign-owned companies, announcing it will review how companies move money and allocate costs among their… – Continue reading
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has clarified that a foreign financial institution must obtain a customer’s self-certification details when opening a new account, in a new addition to its Frequently Asked Questions on its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) website. The IRS was asked: If a Reporting Model… – Continue reading
The US government is scrutinising UAE expats’ bank accounts in a bid to clamp down on tax evasion. Strict new rules that came into effect last year mean US expats who have retained dual nationality, and Gulf-based nationals born in the US or to an American parent, could be US… – Continue reading
On February 2, the Obama Administration released its fiscal year 2016 budget (FY 2016 Budget). The hallmarks of the FY 2016 Budget are proposals that would impose (i) a minimum tax on the current foreign earnings of U.S. corporations and their controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) and (ii) a one-time 14%… – Continue reading
I realise it’s a bit odd to be writing about the Irish tax system while eating grilled fish at a beach shack in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. I’m in this tax haven to give a speech about the economic challenges facing small countries when old certainties start to… – Continue reading
HONG KONG — China’s tax officials plan to step up efforts to collect taxes from multinational corporations in the latest of a series of moves in the last year, mostly against Western companies. The activities have included police raids on the headquarters of companies’ China operations and heavy fines under… – Continue reading
New Delhi, Feb. 4: The notification of a social security deal with Norway – often called totalisation agreements — may pave the way for a similar pact with the US that has been hanging fire for a decade. Under the pact, employees sent by Indian firms to Norway on a… – Continue reading
EY is hosting two breakfast seminars this week to discuss how local businesses should be preparing for the next stages of FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) implementation – the identification of reportable accounts and the reporting process itself. Led by Wendy Martin, Executive Tax Director at EY in the… – Continue reading
Negotiations over the India-United States nuclear deal continued until “Air Force One landed in Delhi” carrying President Barack Obama. According to sources, the nuclear deal and other agreements announced during Mr. Obama’s visit to India for Republic Day were being finalised right down to the moment his plane touched down…. – Continue reading
The government is planning to devolve power over the corporation tax rate to the Northern Ireland assembly. This bold and unprecedented move is intended to enable Northern Ireland to compete with the Irish Republic’s headline rate of 12.5%, and follows the agreement that Scotland should set its own rate for… – Continue reading
Former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy is cashing in on the sale of shares in discount retailer B&M through a secretive deal where his profits are funneled through a tax haven. After leaving troubled Tesco, Leahy took on a new role as chairman of B&M, a bargain-basement bazaar known as… – Continue reading
THE European Union (EU) will not pursue a probe of national programmes that create tax breaks for research and development, giving a boost to drug and technology companies that generate revenue from patents. The EU’s hands were tied by a 2008 decision to approve a “patent box” tax break in… – Continue reading
Claims by the European Commission that UK rules make it “virtually impossible in practice” for companies to claim tax relief on losses by subsidiaries in other member states should be dismissed, the EU’s highest court has ruled.03 Feb 2015 Corporate tax EU and UK competition law EU & Competition Tax… – Continue reading
In 2014, China continued to develop its taxation system affecting domestic and crossborder transactions. This “Legal Flash – Special Edition 2014” highlights the most significant tax updates of the year. Please see our monthly legal flashes for more information and analysis here. Taking a step-forward on anti-avoidance provisions, the State… – Continue reading
The European Commission has turned a blind eye to secretive tax deals that Ireland and other countries have been doing with multinationals for decades. Only after complaints from the US did it launch investigations into the most high-profile cases — Apple in Ireland, Starbucks in the Netherlands, and Amazon in… – Continue reading
The ultimate owners of firms would have to be listed in central registers in EU countries, accessible to people with a “legitimate interest”, such as investigative journalists and other concerned citizens, under a deal struck by Parliament and Council negotiators on a draft EU anti-money laundering directive on Tuesday. The… – Continue reading
Some 776 American citizens or long-time residents renounced their status in the third quarter of 2014, according to the Treasury Department. If that trend continues, the U.S. will see more than 3,000 renunciations this year-a record. Why are so many Americans forfeiting their citizenship? In 2010, Congress passed the Foreign… – Continue reading
NATIONAL Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has urged counties to make taxation systems business friendly. Speaking at Leisure Lodge resort in Kwale yesterday during a county government development forum, Rotich said investors face multiple taxation in some counties. “It is very clear what the national government and counties are supposed… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — The European Union is investigating Belgium’s tax deals with multinational corporations, potentially dragging dozens more companies into widening probes of sweetheart fiscal pacts handed out by national governments. Building on investigations of Apple Inc. in Ireland and Amazon.com Inc. in Luxembourg, the European Commission is targeting Belgium’s so-called… – Continue reading
VADODARA: Ahead of the first Budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that markets Asia’s largest milk brand — Amul — has demanded that the dairy sector be considered at par with the agriculture sector. GCMMF — the apex body of all… – Continue reading
NEWS: Spain’s Foreign Minister said “it was fine” for Fabian Picardo to speak in Madrid: “as long as no one forces me to listen”. The Chief Minister was introduced by the British Ambassador. In a breakfast speech in central Madrid to a room filled with some 250 politicians, businessmen, diplomats… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD – Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan, Interior Minister of Pakistan, directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for cutting down the financial supply given by any foreign or local investor to the militant groups. He was presiding a meeting of FIA in Islamabad wherein updating about the recent performance the FIA… – Continue reading
Time is ticking for India to sign its inter-governmental agreement (IGA) with the US under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) after it received a one month extension on the original December 31 deadline. President Obama’s visit to India last week fuelled speculation that the IGA could be signed… – Continue reading
A court in Arnhem has torn up fines imposed on a group of people with secret savings abroad because the tax office would not name the source of its information. The appeal court ruled in favour of the alleged tax evaders because the refusal ‘severely damaged their ability to refute… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The European Commission is investigating a Belgian system allowing companies to reduce their tax bills significantly, it said on Tuesday, widening its inquiry into tax deals struck with multinationals across the European Union. The Commission, which rules on competition and subsidies in the European Union, said deductions granted… – Continue reading
Samantha Cameron is creative consultant at the upmarket company Firm is is owned through a holding company in Luxembourg It is also linked to a secretive trust in the Channel Island of Guernsey David Cameron has often criticised companies who use tax havens David Cameron has often railed against big… – Continue reading
