During the last financial year, India attracted $5.98 billion in FDI from Singapore, whereas it was $4.85 billion from Mauritius Press Trust of India | New Delhi May 26, 2014 Last Updated at 00:45 IST Singapore has replaced Mauritius as the top source of foreign direct investment o India, accounting… – Continue reading
Banks prepare to open their books to the long arms of Uncle Sam The countdown is on, with just a month to go before the United States’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) goes live on July 1. Aimed at curbing tax evasion by American citizens, an estimated 26,000 foreign… – Continue reading
There’s a bill that will go into effect on July 1. It’s known as H.R. 2847 which contains FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2010). H.R. 2847 also known as HIRE (the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act) was a law passed in March 2010 which will go into… – Continue reading
Legislation aimed at finding American tax evaders would give up personal information of Canadians with ties to the U.S. OTTAWA—If one wants another clear-eyed illustration of the power imbalance between Washington and the federal Conservatives, one need look no further than a tax deal signed between the two countries last… – Continue reading
Funds flowing from Australia to tax havens such as Vanuatu, Liechtenstein and Jersey are at a five year low, according to government analysis. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) numbers for 2012-13 show $47 billion was sent from Australia to tax havens, a fall of 13% compared to… – Continue reading
Course summary: Justin Bender of PWL Capital and Dan Bortolotti of PWL Advisors explain the ins and outs of foreign withholding tax on U.S. and international equity index funds and ETFs. INTRODUCTION Canadian investors get an enormous benefit from diversifying their portfolios with US and international stocks. But this benefit… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON – About 77,000 foreign and U.S. banks and financial institutions, including some in Russia, have registered with the United States to comply with a new law meant to fight tax dodging by Americans, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday. Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs Robert Stack… – Continue reading
SLOVAK law-enforcement forces known as ‘tax cobra’ have uncovered a tax evasion case concerning the import of mineral oil from Poland, which cost the state at least €9.5 million, head of the Financial Directorate Frantisek Imrecze revealed at a press conference on June 2, as reported by the TASR newswire…. – Continue reading
India’s tax dispute with Vodafone Plc regarding its purchase of Hutch Essar seven years ago is likely to reach the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, Netherlands a few weeks from now, sources privy to the matter said, adding this would be an unprecedented development in the history… – Continue reading
Chinatrust Commercial Bank employees gather on the steps of their Xinyi headquarters to say goodbye to the building, as they are being relocated to Nangang, May 15. (File photo/Deng Bo-jen) Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission said on May 25 that the total revenue for Taiwanese banks’ offshore banking units has exceeded… – Continue reading
When it comes to being an expat, as far as the UK taxman is concerned, absence does not make the heart grow fonder. A tax specialist gives tips on avoiding problems. There is no avoiding the fact that moving overseas or returning to the UK creates some tax issues, and… – Continue reading
Russian business is certainly facing a challenging time. The Russian Government has sights set on the offshore business of Russian entities and individuals, and when they get their way it may have wide-reaching implications not only for Russian business, but for anyone doing business with Russian partners across the globe…. – Continue reading
Automobile equipment maker Denso Corp. filed a suit Monday seeking nullification of tax authorities’ 2012 order for the payment of around 6.1 billion yen in back taxes on the income of its Singapore unit in a tax haven countermeasure. Denso brought the case to the Nagoya District Court after paying… – Continue reading
The United States is targeting so-called offshore tax havens by claiming that billions of dollars of taxes are being evaded. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act was passed in 2010 as a revenue raiser, with the simple expectation that the United States can force the world’s financial industry to disclose otherwise… – Continue reading
Former Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness began a 3-1/2-year jail sentence on Monday after being convicted in March of evading $40 million in taxes, German media reported on Monday. The state prosecutor in Munich declined to comment on the report and said there would be no official confirmation. Daily Bild… – Continue reading
Prosecutors Trace Accounts Across the Globe as Authorities Pressure Swiss Banks The hunt for money hidden in Swiss bank accounts by U.S. citizens has become a global chase, with prosecutors tracing records to Singapore, the Cook Islands and elsewhere as U.S. authorities increase the pressure on Swiss lenders to turn… – Continue reading
Mauritius to provide automatic tax info exchange for India Ramgoolam, who was here to attend BJP leader Narendra Modi’s swearing-in as Prime Minister yesterday, also said that Mauritius would not allow anybody to abuse or misuse its jurisdiction for any illicit activities. Seeking to allay apprehensions about Mauritius being used… – Continue reading
Cases like alleged involvement of 500 Indians in parking money in HSBC‘s Geneva Branch, 26 Indian account holders of LGT Bank may all be probed by SITThe special investigation team (SIT), announced on Tuesday by the Cabinet, will probe all cases of black money – be it related to the money allegedly stashed away by Indians abroad… – Continue reading
Prosecutors investigating a list of 2,602 Greeks with 1.5 billion euros ($1.95 billion) in secret Swiss bank accounts have reportedly found that 90 percent of them are tax cheats. – See more at: The ongoing probe by financial prosecutors, Panagiotis Athanasiou and Galinos Mpris in cooperation with the Deputy Prosecutor… – Continue reading
Russian lawmakers and banks are still squabbling about how to join the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) network after the US closed the door on talks following Moscow’s role in the Ukraine crisis. In recent weeks, Finance Minister Anatoly Aksakov pledged to Russian banks that a new law allowing… – Continue reading
Azerbaijan and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agreed to conclude an intergovernmental agreement on implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by Azerbaijani banks, the Ministry of Taxes of Azerbaijan said on May 21. Starting from July 1, 2014 the banks in all countries should join the… – Continue reading
If any U.S. company seems ripe for moving to an island tax haven, it’s Chiquita. Based in Charlotte, the company’s sale of bananas, grown largely in Central America, accounts for two-thirds of its profits. But Chiquita isn’t bound for the tropics. It’s headed to Ireland, where the climate may be… – Continue reading
India has asked Switzerland to speed up the ratification of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) convention on automatic exchange of tax information. ”I would urge you and your (Swiss) government to ratify the multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters as early as possible,” outgoing… – Continue reading
AsiaOne Business News released an article on the expectation of Singapore to dislodge Switzerland as the world’s wealth management capital (Business AsiaOne, 5/12/14) last week. AsiaBiz Services, Singapore’s leading company formation consultancy, affirmed that the main reasons for the country’s acquisition of its enormous share of global offshore wealth are attributed to… – Continue reading
The Russian government may place “limitations” on the amount of information that Russian banks can render to U.S. tax authorities under FATCA, a U.S. federal law intended to crack down on tax avoidance by U.S. citizens, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev said Thursday. Moiseyev told journalists in St. Petersburg that Russia will not become “tax agents for the Americans, that… – Continue reading
In recent years, the US Congress and the US Department of Treasury have come to believe that many US taxpayers (including US citizens and green card holders in India) have not been complying with the tax law that requires reporting of worldwide income, including income held in non-US financial institutions…. – Continue reading
Is every item buried in Table S-9 of the President’s budget a big can of worms? The only one I understand is big like a roadside attraction. By my count it’s item 237 out of 373: “Provide for reciprocal reporting of information in connection with the implementation of FATCA.” FATCA… – Continue reading
About two dozen U.S. companies ranging from Liberty Media to Sara Lee have quietly moved their headquarters out of the United States to places like Ireland and Canada and England since 2008 in search of lower corporate income taxes. Few people other than tax techies noticed. But now, thanks to… – Continue reading
US corporations are making record profits in tax havens like Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Some of the profits exceed the GDP of the host country, with Bermuda’s offshore profits 1643% of total economic output. As a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), profits from… – Continue reading
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the government to “bring back black money” is likely to help India plug its wealth draining to offshore tax havens with Swiss global tax activists saying that the government can put pressure on Switzerland by blacklisting it as a non-cooperative jurisdiction and complaining… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Taking aim against corporate tax avoidance, Democrats in the U.S. Congress called on Tuesday for curbs on U.S. multinationals that shift tax domiciles abroad in deals known as “inversions.” While still rare, these deals are becoming more common, with two recently attempted transactions by Pfizer Inc and… – Continue reading
Moving abroad to start a new job can be one of the most exciting yet stressful experiences of your life — but it can also end up saving you a bundle in federal income tax. This is because U.S. expatriates frequently take advantage of the foreign earned income exclusion to… – Continue reading
Following the recent offer by U.S drugmaker Pfizer to acquire British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, congressional Democrats are proposing new limits on the ability of U.S.-based firms to establish foreign residence and thus cut their U.S. corporate tax bill. Even before this latest flap, the Obama Administration proposed curbs on this… – Continue reading
Ireland has been “unfairly singled out” as a tax haven for corporations, Dublin-based Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said Monday on CNBC. “I wish we were, but we’re not,” he said. As one of Ireland’s wealthiest businessmen, O’Leary also described as “egregious” personal tax rates there. “The top tax rate … is about… – Continue reading
Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares has again defied a Supreme Court ruling on the self-executory nature of tax treaties by issuing a circular prescribing additional requirements before privileges granted under a tax treaty may be enjoyed. Henares issued Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 37-2014, announcing the coming into force of the… – Continue reading
Uncle Sam is poised to poke his pointy nose into the financial affairs of millions of Canadians who have no connection to his country, and – no matter how distasteful you find this – pushing back will only make it worse. This is the gloomy – but credible – conclusion… – Continue reading
Many countries, especially Nigeria, like Mauritius’ tax friendly jurisdiction option for strategic business opportunities. “People refer to [Mauritius] as a tax haven, whereas actually it is a low tax jurisdiction, and its popularity is [that it] offers treaty benefits to countries without actually having a treaty with the island,” Richard… – Continue reading
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has relaxed regulations for private companies in the country, which now makes it possible to transfer intellectual property (IP) offshore, reports TechCentral. According to ENS Africa IP director Chris Bull, restrictions on intellectual property assets has been one of the key obstacles for local businesses… – Continue reading
On April 9, 2014, the Finance Ministry issued guidelines on the application of agreements on the avoidance of double taxation (DTAs), which requires tax agents and tax authorities to conduct an assessment of whether foreign recipients of income in Russia have the right to apply a tax exemption in Russia… – Continue reading
Liechtenstein said Friday that it has signed a anti-tax fraud pact with Washington that requires banks in the principality to provide information about accounts held abroad by US taxpayers to US authorities. Under the agreement, Liechtenstein would implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which came into effect on… – Continue reading
The Liechtenstein Government plans to set up a working group to closely monitor and recommend domestic tax policy responses to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. The Government anticipates that the OECD’s work will have a significant impact on the territory’s… – Continue reading
Weeks remain until the July 1 effective date of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which will change the way foreign insurers do business with U.S. brokers. To address those changes, the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) is developing an online portal to house each foreign insurer’s… – Continue reading
NASSAU, Bahamas — The government has been urged to implement an investor-citizenship program that would effectively allow high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) to trade investment in The Bahamas for citizenship rights as a means of spurring growth in the economy. Sean McWeeney QC, a partner with law firm Graham Thompson and Co., is advocating… – Continue reading
Bank of America tops the list of Charlotte-based companies avoiding big tax bills by keeping profits offshore, according to a new report by a nonprofit tax research and advocacy group. Citizens for Tax Justice found that 301 U.S. Fortune 500 companies disclosed holding nearly $2 trillion in profits offshore. By… – Continue reading
The Supreme Court of India in a recent ruling (Commissioner of Wealth Tax, Rajkot v. Estate of Late HMM Vikramsinhji of Gondal (Civil Appeal No. 2312 of 2007) has held that the Indian resident beneficiaries of an offshore discretionary trust shall not be subject to tax on the trust’s income… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON — European bank Credit Suisse AG pleaded guilty Monday to helping wealthy Americans avoid paying taxes through secret offshore accounts and agreed to pay about $2.6 billion. The Justice Department said it was the largest penalty imposed in any criminal tax case. It is also the largest bank to… – Continue reading
The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has voiced concern over the proposed withdrawal of the principal residence election for all taxpayers. The authority has responded to HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) plans to extend capital gains tax (CGT) to non-residents in certain circumstances, and fears the proposal could have a significant… – Continue reading
Swiss bank helped wealthy Americans avoid taxes using off-shore accounts for decades, authorities say Credit Suisse AG’s guilty plea and $2.6 billion payment in a high-profile case brought by the Justice Department are being held out as a warning to foreign banks believed to be helping U.S. taxpayers conceal assets…. – Continue reading
IT’S BECOMING increasingly apparent that the OECD’s plan to reduce tax base erosion and profit-shifting, as laudable as it is, is hugely reliant on the US making significant and drastic alterations to its corporate regime if it is to be successful. The cases of Starbucks and Google have shown us… – Continue reading
ZAMBIA is reviewing its tax treaty with the Netherlands and Ireland to allow the incorporation of anti-abuse clauses where necessary, a senior government official said.The move, according to tax justice advocates, marks a turning point for Zambia, which has been a key victim to tax avoidance by multinational corporations that… – Continue reading
