The OECD on Sunday delivered a new global standard to crack down on tax evasion with more than 40 countries already committing to the measures. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) chief Angel Gurria called it “a real game-changer” that would boost international cooperation to reel in cheats. “Globalisation… – Continue reading
It is becoming increasingly dangerous to maintain secret offshore accounts. The Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service have been engaged in an aggressive program to identify unreported offshore accounts. Kathy Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for Tax recently told tax lawyers at a Phoenix conference that the U.S. government… – Continue reading
After consideration of the article setting out the limitations on benefits in the double taxation convention between Cyprus and the United States, the US authorities have accepted that a Cyprus-resident holding company qualified for benefits under the Cyprus-US convention, and the reduced rate of tax payable on dividends from qualified… – Continue reading
Investors are adopting a “wait and watch approach” in routing their money through Mauritius into India amid bilateral tax treaty uncertainties, which is also impacting the island nation’s financial services sector. According to a leading industry body – Global Finance Mauritius – continuing uncertainties over the tax treaty with India… – Continue reading
SA faces serious competition. It’s worth taking note of Mauritius’s move to position itself as an attractive destination for financial services. With a population of just 1.3 million, the island boasts 21 banks, including such global names as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and South Africa’s own Investec and… – Continue reading
In contrast to oil-producing Arab nations, non-oil-producing Arab countries rely on tax revenues to cover government spending. However, they have encountered significant difficulties when it comes to acquiring sufficient tax revenues. This has pushed them to either cut down on investment spending, ask for foreign aid, or borrow from internal… – Continue reading
As part of its plan to go paperless, General Registry is now piloting the second phase of its upgraded online system, during which the department will receive feedback on how well the system works. After three weeks, there have been no major glitches to correct and a number of efficiencies… – Continue reading
Jersey and Hungary signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) at the Hungarian Embassy in London on Tuesday, 28 January, 2014. The Agreement was signed by the Minister for External Relations, Senator Sir Philip Bailhache, and the Hungarian Ambassador, His Excellency Janos Csak. Senator Bailhache said: “We attach great importance… – Continue reading
Three Bermuda subsidiaries of Microsoft Corp. are involved in a tax inquiry launched by another country, according to documents made public by the Bermuda Supreme Court. The look into the three shell companies, the existence of which Microsoft does not acknowledge in public filings with regulators, comes as the technology… – Continue reading
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has received 106 requests from Swiss credit institutions willing to participate in its tax regularization program, which aims to put an end to attempts by US taxpayers to conceal their wealth in Switzerland. The figure corresponds to one-third of all banks in the Confederation…. – Continue reading
New HMRC proposals which would require the users of tax planning schemes to pay disputed tax up front could inadvertently encourage more aggressive behaviour, warns Pinsent Masons, the international law firm. Pinsent Masons explains that, currently, HMRC is only able to claim disputed tax from users of tax planning and… – Continue reading
All UK trusts and trustees, whether or not they have any known US connections, need to consider their status under the UK/US IGA. If they are required to register with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the agreement, they must do so by 25 October 2014. This note is intended to help… – Continue reading
Chinese companies registered under Samoa’s tax haven status are among those pouring billions back into China. Roughly 1 billion US dollars in foreign direct investment from Samoa to China is shown on a graph published last week. According to the Samoa Observer, this represents about two billion tala of funds… – Continue reading
The British Virgin Islands got more foreign direct investment last year than the major emerging economies of India and Brazil combined, a United Nations survey said on Tuesday. The Caribbean archipelago, a tax haven otherwise dependent on tourism, has jumped up the league table of top investment destinations in the… – Continue reading
In a world that’s as economically unequal as it can get, the Silicon Valley elite is being cocky as the king of spades. As Adrian Wooldridge from The Economist mentions, it’s following in Wall Street moneybags’ footsteps and flaunting its newly acquired wealth, usually by throwing ridiculously extravagant parties and… – Continue reading
Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne, the veteran dealmaker who has just wrested full control of Chrysler Group from its union retirees, is about to unveil his next trick: moving the group’s 115-year-old headquarters out of Italy. While Marchionne has said a New York share listing is on the table, he is… – Continue reading
Ten years ago, Congress passed a law intended to penalize chief executive officers whose companies shift their legal addresses to tax havens. It hasn’t worked out as planned. Companies have found ways around the law that create new rewards for executives. When Actavis Inc. (ACT) changed its incorporation to Ireland… – Continue reading
About a third of Swiss banks have applied for amnesty from the U.S. for helping Americans cheat the Internal Revenue Service, the top U.S. federal tax prosecutor said. The U.S. government gave more than 300 Swiss banks until Dec. 31 to seek non-prosecution agreements if they had “reason to believe”… – Continue reading
Seven companies, chiefly American-based, including Fortune 500 companies in the automotive, mining and retail industries are now under investigation for alleged tax evasion in Mexico. Oscar Molina, who lead audits of big companies at Mexico\’s tax collection agency SAT, says the firms cannot be identified for legal reasons. All seven… – Continue reading
An arrested Vatican prelate is now facing new money laundering charges. Monsignor Nunzio Scarano and two other people were served with warrants, suspected of money laundering in an attempted plot to smuggle 20 million euros from Switzerland into Italy and launder it through the Vatican Bank. Allegedly, these were “false… – Continue reading
On 20 November, 2013 the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) issued a public statement identifying jurisdictions in the Caribbean Basin region with strategic anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) deficiencies that have not made sufficient progress in addressing such deficiencies. Those jurisdictions are identified as Belize… – Continue reading
The Authority draws attention to the following website, http://www.investonline.net/ and to the fact that contrary to what is being advertised on this website, the company under the name Invest Online Ltd is not registered and/or licensed by the Authority under the International Business Companies Act, 1994 as amended. Members of the… – Continue reading
The number of local companies newly registered with the Companies Registry in 2013 hit a record high of 174,031, up from 150,165 in 2012, according to the statistics released by the Companies Registry today (January 12). “By the end of 2013, the total number of live local companies registered under… – Continue reading
The new Companies Ordinance, Chapter 622 of the Laws of Hong Kong (“new CO”), will commence operation on 3 March 2014. The provisions of the new Ordinance and the subsidiary legislation, as well as useful reference materials, are available at the dedicated thematic sectionon this website. A dedicated hotline has been… – Continue reading
Usually the issue of digital diversification at these events is something that is missing. A critical component of which is moving your email offshore to obtain significantly more privacy and protection. It is concerning to see people contacting their offshore lawyers, real estate agents, investment professionals, bankers, etc. using their… – Continue reading
George Osborne, the Chancellor, is preparing to announce that capital gains tax will be charged on British property sold by overseas nationals and expats Thousands of Britons living abroad face being caught up in a tax raid on wealthy foreigners buying and selling property in the UK. George Osborne, the… – Continue reading
