(Seychelles News Agency) – The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) says that the Bank of Muscat International Offshore (BMIO) is currently unable to process outward foreign currency transfers for its clientele. According to a statement issued by the CBS this afternoon, the bank BMIO uses as an agent abroad to… – Continue reading
One of the stories that firms deserting our country like to tell is that by moving their corporate domicile (but not their actual headquarters) outside U.S. borders to duck taxes, they will be able to use cash they have parked offshore to expand their operations in the United States. So… – Continue reading
There’s no doubt the arms length principle has holes, and it may be the time to reconsider the way governments approach transfer pricing Amazon, Fiat, Vodafone, Starbucks, Apple… The list of companies facing scrutiny for their failure to properly implement the arms length principle into their transfer pricing policies this… – Continue reading
Swiss police carried out a series of raids across German-speaking Switzerland in the early hours of Thursday morning, including the premises of private bank, J. Safra Sarasin. The authorities were acting on a request for legal assistance from Germany in a fraud and tax evasion case against the bank and… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Italy’s top court cleared fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana on Friday over charges of hiding hundreds of millions of euros from Italian tax authorities. Two lower courts had previously convicted the pair, who are as famous as the stars they dress, on allegations that they used… – Continue reading
With the announced end of banking secrecy for non-residents, the time has come to make use of favourable repatriation schemes, such as the voluntary disclosure regime in Italy. Despite increasing pressure for fiscal transparency and exchange of information, beneficial owners still have a choice: move the capital out (of Luxembourg),… – Continue reading
Since all economic theories – even Marxism and socialism – recognize that capital formation is a key to long-run growth, higher wages, and improved living standards, it obviously doesn’t make sense to penalize saving and investment. Yet that’s exactly what happens because of double taxation in the United States, as… – Continue reading
Green Left Weekly and ActionAid will be co-sponsoring a Political Economy Society seminar at Sydney University on October 29 to discuss the case for greater international efforts to combat corporate tax avoidance before the G20 summit. Large corporations systematically avoid paying the statutory level of company tax — a low… – Continue reading
On October 14, 2014, the Irish Minister for Finance released proposals as part of the 2015 Irish Budget that would cause Irish incorporated non-resident (“INR”) companies to be treated as tax resident in Ireland beginning January 1, 2015. The goal is to shut down the use of so-called “Double Irish”… – Continue reading
India Blooms News Service New Delhi, Oct 24 (IBNS): Supreme Court advocate Ram Jethmalani, who was also an ex-BJP member, has written a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley accusing him of not taking proper steps to bring back black money. n his letter, Jethmalani has slammed Jaitley’s stand that… – Continue reading
Plan ‘is to reduce the risk that owners will outlive their retirement funds’ The Finance Bill has changed the tax rules in relation to Approved Retirement Funds (ARFs), the structures into which many people move their defined contribution pensions on retirement. In 2011, the Government increased the “imputed or notional… – Continue reading
The Crown has asked that a couple who laundered millions in drug money for a prolific trafficker before he was murdered receive the maximum sentence for their crimes. Prosecutor Marie Michèle Meloche said sentences of between eight and 10 years were justified for Sy Veng Chun, 67, and his wife… – Continue reading
Officials from the Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have been meeting with representatives of the PPP/ PFI industry to discuss the implications for infrastructure projects of possible restrictions to interest relief.24 Oct 2014 Corporate tax Tax Projects Construction Advisory & Disputes Infrastructure UK Europe In a report on… – Continue reading
By the wide margin of a 250-76 vote on October 16, the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament passed a decree law to introduce a voluntary disclosure program for undeclared assets and funds held abroad or in Italy. Under the new program, such taxpayers would be allowed to declare… – Continue reading
Move intended to make Ireland more attractive to firms wanting to bring key decision makers The Government is to relax the rules governing a special tax incentive scheme to attract foreign executives into Ireland after just 31 individuals availed of the scheme last year. The move, contained in the Finance… – Continue reading
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 – The BVI Advantage was the theme of a feature presentation at the recent China Offshore Summit. The summit was held from October 15-16 in Shanghai, China. Global Head of BVI Practice at Maples and Calder, Mr. Michael Gagie presented on behalf of the BVI International… – Continue reading
The Gibraltar Betting & Gaming Association (GBGA) is continuing its challenge against changes to the United Kingdom’s regulatory and licensing changes for gambling-service providers by asking for a judicial review of a recent High Court decision which went against the GBGA’s interests, specifically challenging whether the new 15% “UK point… – Continue reading
Star Business Report The National Board of Revenue is set to gather information on Bangladeshis who have bought properties abroad, its Chairman Md Ghulam Hussain said yesterday. The decision was taken to check whether the individuals have paid an appropriate amount of taxes to the state coffers, Hussain said during… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Leading Swiss banks are trying to distance themselves from some of the dodgy Indian clients who have twisted rules and could be a cause of embarrassment in future. At least four individuals — three based in Mumbai and one in Delhi — holding the famously anonymous Swiss numbered accounts,… – Continue reading
The European Union Court of Justice (CJEU), Europe’s highest court in matters of EU law, ruled against the Italian government in a dispute related to the Italian taxation on gambling. According to the CJEU, Italy’s tax legislation operates in conflict with Article 52 and Article 56 of the Treaty on… – Continue reading
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Liechtenstein wants to lure wealthy Muslims to its private banks as it seeks to revive an industry hurt by the loss of the nation’s status as a tax haven. The principality of 37,000 people nestled between Switzerland and Austria will hold its first Islamic finance conference on… – Continue reading
Measures to ensure people who are not on social welfare or paying tax get relief on water charges will be brought forward at the committee stage of the Finance Bill, the Finance Minister has said. This follows controversy when it emerged that thousands of people would not be able to… – Continue reading
“The issue of substance and taxation is, and always will be, a core column of the Irish taxation system,” Michael Noonan, Ireland’s Finance Minister, said at his Department’s Tax Policy Conference on October 21, 2014, underscoring that Ireland’s strategy is to play fair but play to win. Beginning by discussing… – Continue reading
The European Union and Singapore have announced the completion of negotiations towards a free trade agreement (FTA), after concluding talks on the investment protection portion of the pact. Negotiations on an FTA between the EU and Singapore began in March 2010 and a text including all but the investment portion… – Continue reading
The Colombian Government announced on October 21, 2014, that it will remove Panama from its blacklist of non-cooperative territories after the two countries agreed to sign a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA). The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding, which lays the foundation for a TIEA, the Colombian Government… – Continue reading
Countries that work together like Ireland and the US “need to be cognisant” of the impact their tax policies have on each other, new US Ambassador to Ireland Kevin O’Malley said in a speech yesterday. He said cross-border mergers can make the Irish and American economies stronger, but that “these… – Continue reading
Christine Milne says Australian Securities and Investments Commission should target ‘smaller enterprise’ exemption Facebook Australia has not lodged annual accounts since 2009 because it says it is a smaller enterprise and exempt from having to file. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images The Greens are calling on the Australian financial services watchdog… – Continue reading
Fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi plans to move non-Chinese user data from China-based servers to Amazon servers in the US and data centres in Singapore. The company said the move, which will happen over several phases, is driven by performance and privacy isues, Reuters reported. VP Hugo Barra (pictured) said that… – Continue reading
23/10/14 – After a comprehensive review in October 2012, the OECD Working Group on Bribery asked France, through a series of concrete recommendations, to intensify its actions to fight the bribery of foreign public officials and undertake important reforms. In October 2014, the Working Group welcomed several significant reforms, including:… – Continue reading
A week after a high-level delegation of the revenue department met Swiss authorities in a bid to persuade them to assist with details of the 700-odd Indians who are reported to have bank accounts with the HSBC Bank in Geneva, the NDA government is set to send the first batch… – Continue reading
In June, the European Commission (“EC”) announced the opening of three investigations into tax rulings in Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands and, in particular, into tax rulings applied by Ireland to Apple, by Luxembourg to Fiat Finance and, last, by the Netherlands to Starbucks. In October 2014, the EC announced… – Continue reading
Liechtenstein wants to lure wealthy Muslims to its private banks as it seeks to revive an industry hurt by the loss of the nation’s status as a tax haven. The principality of 37,000 people nestled between Switzerland and Austria will hold its first Islamic finance conference on Oct. 28 and… – Continue reading
Around $180 million in undeclared offshore income has now been recovered as part of the amnesty, the ATO said. A further $1 billion in assets has also been recovered. Photo: Louie Douvis The Tax Office is keeping a close eye on foreign banks as part of its push to stop… – Continue reading
On June 18, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service introduced significant changes to both its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) and its Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures (Streamlined) and posted updated Frequently Asked Questions on its website.1 These changes apply to new OVDP “submissions” (which most practitioners believe refer to the Offshore… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – A key witness in the federal tax evasion trial of a top Swiss bank executive took the stand on Thursday to testify against his former boss, Raoul Weil, who is accused of conspiring to conceal up to $20 billion in U.S. taxpayers’ assets in secret offshore accounts. The… – Continue reading
Irish Finance Bill 2014: Last Sunday The New York Times in an editorial following the decision in Budget 2015 to eliminate the Double Irish tax dodge from 2021, said “Ireland, which for years used policies like the Double Irish to attract multinational businesses, appears uninterested in true reform. It will… – Continue reading
A banker from the Swiss private bank Vontobel has been detained in Poland in connection with German football manager Uli Hoeness’s tax evasion activities. Vontobel has confirmed knowledge of the arrest. The Swiss citizen was arrested by police in Warsaw on Wednesday and released on bail a day later. A… – Continue reading
Business Standard October 23, 2014 Last Updated at 23:20 IST The Bombay High Court recently in the case of Vodafone India Services Private Limited (Vodafone) held that the foreign direct investment (FDI) received by the Indian company in the form of share capital cannot be taxed in India under the… – Continue reading
In a decision on June 11, 2014, the French Administrative Supreme Court held that a French national residing in Monaco may be subject to social taxes on property income (dividends, interest, property income, etc.) if the French national qualifies as French tax resident under French national law (Article 4 B… – Continue reading
On 29 July 2014, the China State Administration of Taxation (SAT) released an internal notice to the China tax authorities at the provincial levels, in the name of “Notice on Antiavoidance Investigation against Large Amount Outbound Payments” (Circular Shui Zong Ban Fa [2014] No. 146, Notice 146), urging a nationwide… – Continue reading
The number of companies lobbying the U.S. government on tax inversions more than doubled in the quarter ended Sept. 30, as they sought to prevent Congress and the Obama administration from imposing new restrictions. Novartis AG (NOVN), SAP SE, and Eaton Corp Plc (ETN) were among companies that began lobbying… – Continue reading
By insisting, as he did yesterday, that other countries can follow Ireland’s lead in closing corporate tax loopholes, Michael Noonan risks being seen to over-egg the pudding. The Finance Minister rightly shut the door on the so-called ‘Double Irish’ tax loophole favoured by multi-national corporations last week in the Budget…. – Continue reading
Corporate tax “inversion” deals became a prime target this year of President Barack Obama, as part of his running theme that many U.S. corporations are stealing from Americans by not paying their fair share. After the August announcement of Burger King’s plans to merge with Canada-based Tim Hortons, the administration… – Continue reading
LUXEMBOURG — On the first floor of a rust-colored building near the main railway station, Marius Kohl spent years engineering this country’s most valuable export: tax relief. As head of a federal agency called Societes 6, Mr. Kohl approved thousands of tax arrangements for multinational corporations, sometimes helping them save… – Continue reading
The “blanket assumption” of tax avoidance that HM Revenue & Customs makes when it approaches Personal Service Companies has been left in tatters by its own research. Stephen Herring, head of tax at the Institute of Directors, revealed this tendency of HMRC to regard PSCs as “automatic evidence of some… – Continue reading
Democratic House and Senate candidates seem likely to lose the votes of a large constituency they rarely think about over a law that most Americans have never heard of. The issue is FATCA — the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act — passed by Congress and signed into law in 2010…. – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has recommended a number of direct tax reforms to build on the French Government’s efforts to improve the nation’s competitiveness in Europe. The report points out that the tax wedge (the cumulative burden of taxes on workers) in France is among the… – Continue reading
For now, while the benefit for American corporations to buy or merge and move overseas may be over, as evidenced by AbbVie cancelling its merger with Shire Pharmaceutical, that doesn’t mean that consolidation within the industry is through. A new research report from Merrill Lynch features three top companies, dubbed… – Continue reading
BERN/NEW DELHI: To comply with global norms, Switzerland today began consultation process for unilaterally amending bilateral tax treaties to allow exchange of information when there is a request from another country. Amid rising international pressure, including from India, Switzerland has been taking steps to share tax information as well as… – Continue reading
Government must deal with tax evasion to help improve service delivery and ensure a bigger fiscus for the country, the EFF said following the mid-term budget speech on Wednesday. “Government should deal more with the issue of base erosion and capital shifting and transfer pricing because that is stealing millions… – Continue reading
