On 9 July 2014, Luxembourg Parliament voted a law aimed at allowing the issuance of the first Luxembourg sovereign Sukuk in response to the recent surge in investor demand for Sharia-compliant instruments. In a nutshell, the law authorizes a sale and buy-back transaction of real estate assets to a Special… – Continue reading
Another example of the “Too Big to Jail” doctrine: International tax evasion and fraud organised by UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank. UBS, which had to be saved from failure in October 2008 by massive injections of Swiss public money, was involved in the LIBOR manipulation scandal, the currency markets manipulation scandal… – Continue reading
The Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the money laundering aspect of the multi-crore Saradha scam, has for the first time found evidence of the money being parked in offshore accounts. The ED sleuths, sources said, have found that Santanu Ghosh, chairman of Xenitis Group and an accused in the scam,… – Continue reading
This article was first published in the 2nd quarter 2014 edition of Personal Finance magazine. Most people accept that they have to pay taxes in their country of residence. But citizens of the United States and green card holders who live outside that country – even if they have never… – Continue reading
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted into law as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act of 2010. Its purpose was designed to prevent U.S. taxpayers from “hiding” under the cover of a foreign based entity or trust in evading U.S. income tax and… – Continue reading
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted into law as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act of 2010. Its purpose was designed to prevent U.S. taxpayers from “hiding” under the cover of a foreign based entity or trust in evading U.S. income tax and… – Continue reading
LITTLE ROCK, AR –Former Little Rock attorney David Patrick Henry, Sr., 71, has been sentenced to five years in prison followed by two years of supervised released, according U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer. Henry, Sr. is also ordered to pay over a million dollars. On March 21, a federal jury found… – Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG – While numerous asset managers have indicated that global equities currently offer better longer-term investment opportunities than local stocks, some investors are concerned that the rand could strengthen and dilute their offshore gains. Last year, investors with exposure to specific offshore unit trust funds benefited from gains in international… – Continue reading
A tax avoidance scheme that routed a film financing venture’s profits via Employee Benefit Trusts at the behest of the venture’s owner, an ex-accountant, has been blocked by a tribunal. Operated by John Dryburgh, a former partner with Deloitte & Touche, the scheme involved extracting profits from a series of companies named… – Continue reading
While the IRS is trying to find Lois Lerner’s emails and revising its rules governing inversions — the practice of multinational corporations (MNCs) moving their headquarters to avoid paying taxes — it has also endorsed a maneuver that will cut taxes for major telecom companies by billions of dollars. In… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service has updated the Withholding Foreign Partnership and Withholding Foreign Trust agreements as part of the process of implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA. FATCA, which was included as part of the HIRE Act of 2010, requires foreign financial institutions to report on the… – Continue reading
A new global standard for governments to crack down on tax evasion has been released by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Almost 70 countries have already signed up to the charter, which will roll out a US style Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) law globally. FATCA… – Continue reading
The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to make an example of two Texas brothers found by a jury at a civil trial to have acted fraudulently to evade taxes, but a defense lawyer said Wednesday that the more than $750 million sought by the government is “hotly contested.” A Manhattan… – Continue reading
In March 2010, the US Congress enacted the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, which included provisions that are known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA. This was aimed at preventing tax evasion by US persons through the use of accounts held with foreign financial institutions…. – Continue reading
While Congress has been obsessing about tax inversions, it turns out another—potentially more important–tax avoidance technique is getting increased attention from the business community: Spinning off tangible assets into Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). If these deals become widespread, they’d be another nail in the coffin of the corporate income… – Continue reading
Despite being among the smallest countries in terms of area and population, over the past 40 years Cyprus has developed into one of the world’s most important financial and business centres. It has numerous advantages, including a strategic location, a mature and transparent legal system based on common law, world… – Continue reading
FATCA Background The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) was enacted in response to concerns that US taxpayers were avoiding US tax by using offshore financial institutions to hide assets and avoid reporting income. Generally, FATCA imposes due diligence, information reporting and withholding obligations on non-US financial institutions (“FFIs”) and… – Continue reading
Illinois gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner (R) made part of his fortune from investments in a Caribbean tax haven, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. But because Rauner won’t release details on his tax filings it is impossible to tell just how much of his wealth comes from those offshore accounts. The newspaper… – Continue reading
LONDON — When the British tax authorities struck a landmark deal with the Swiss to crack down on tax evasion, they sat back and waited for the cash to flow in. Almost three years later, they are still waiting. So far, only about $1.7 billion of the $8.4 billion windfall… – Continue reading
AROUND 16,000 TAX AVOIDERS are to be given the chance to settle their outstanding liabilities with HM Revenue & Customs, the department has confirmed. On average, each of the users of the contractor loan schemes covered by this settlement opportunity owes £11,000 a year in tax. The schemes involve complex… – Continue reading
“The investigation of the income tax returns for each successive year reveals the increasingly stubborn fight of wealthy individuals and corporations against the payment of their fair share of the expense of their Government.” Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, 1937 “More and more enterprises organized abroad by American firms have arranged… – Continue reading
On June 30, the United States and Israel signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) regarding FAT CA. FAT CA became effective in the US and other countries on July 1 and will officially take effect in Israel once the Knesset passes enabling legislation. But the Bank of Israel has already instructed… – Continue reading
For those living in America who have pensions saved from their time in the UK, the complexity surrounding the tax viability of transferring into a potentially highly beneficial QROPS can be slightly off-putting. Many will search the HMRC QROPS list and see 14 schemes listed in the USA. Schemes such as Kraft… – Continue reading
Tighter cross-border rules, less arbitrary national government policy and improving returns at home are likely to prompt rich investors from emerging markets to move assets back onshore. Offshore assets are likely to move increasingly onshore as cross-border rules tighten and grow more aligned and wealthy individuals feel domestic tax authorities… – Continue reading
Popular restaurant chain’s Channel Islands tax haven trust at top of elaborate web of companies is worth £750m A secretive £750m trust located in a Channel Islands tax haven sits at the top of an elaborate offshore web of companies belonging to the family behind the Nando’s chicken chain. The… – Continue reading
Birmingham’s Quaker heritage means scores of trust funds are set to be put under the spotlight in a US-inspired tax evasion swoop, the sector has been warned. Trusts are at the heart of a new compliance regime aimed at rooting out hidden assets and pressurising tax havens to come clean…. – Continue reading
AUSTIN, Texas–(Business Wire)–TEL OFFSHORE TRUST announced that there will be no trust distribution for the second quarter of 2014 for unitholders of record on June 30, 2014. The Trust has not been able to make a distribution to unitholders for twenty-two consecutive quarters, or since January 9, 2009. Except as… – Continue reading
An oldie-but-goodie tax strategy is back in the limelight thanks to the Clintons’ much-publicized attempts to soften the blow of estate and gift taxes. The qualified personal residence trust is back. Bill and Hillary Clinton are making headlines for their use of the qualified personal residence trust or QPRT —… – Continue reading
Should investors pay much heed to domicile when investing in an investment trust IPO? The first half of 2014 has very much mirrored what we saw last year, certainly from a new issues perspective. The investment trust sector is going full throttle, with the sector raising £1.8bn so far this… – Continue reading
With regard to business operations, a resident of one country (e.g., Panamanian company) may be taxed in the other country (e.g., Israel) if it has a “permanent establishment” (PE) in the other country. Panama is famous for its canal, colorful history and cool offshore tax regime. To that we can… – Continue reading
Not only do Indians manage global investors’ money that is invested in India, Indian nationals often hold positions of responsibility in funds that have nothing to do with India. Now, given the rapid advances that have been made in technology, why aren’t these Indian nationals residing in India? Clearly, some… – Continue reading
As property values around the country continue to recover, many families now list their primary residence and vacation homes among their most valuable assets. As such, these homes may be excellent candidates for beneficial estate planning techniques. One of the more straightforward of these techniques is the use of a… – Continue reading
The Dutch public prosecution department is investigating hundreds of transactions in which residents of other EU countries have used the Netherlands to avoid paying tax, the Financieele Dagblad says on Tuesday. The Financieele Dagblad bases its claims on confidential legal documents and an interview with a main suspect – a Dutch… – Continue reading
The issue has dominated debate among world leaders and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in recent months. In fact, it’s the OECD that’s been driving an effort to coordinate information exchange between jurisdictions under a single global standard in an effort to develop tax transparency. Moving on… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Wealthy Asians are increasingly wary of letting banks look after their money and would rather use smaller asset managers instead, according to one of the region’s leading lawyers to the ultra rich. David Chong, chairman of Asia’s largest independent trust company, Portcullis TrustNet, said huge fines imposed on… – Continue reading
Supreme Court reiterates the principle that income of a discretionary trust cannot be taxed in the hands of a beneficiary unless distributed to the beneficiary. Where trustees have clearly retained the income of the trust and brought it forward year to year without disbursing it to the beneficiaries, the trust… – Continue reading
Sir Owen Glenn’s $400million court battle has spread to the Caribbean tax haven of Nevis, where his daughter has been drawn into the bitter fight for control of his fortune. Last week, the Herald on Sunday revealed that Sir Owen was suing business associates David Miller and Peter Dickson in… – Continue reading
CALGARY – A Calgary-based United States tax expert has recommended to the federal government that Canada follow the lead of other countries and include certain Canadian trusts within the definition of organizations subject to reporting under the recent Intergovernmental Agreement between the Canada and the U.S. “This would eliminate the… – 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
MUMBAI: Swiss bank account holders who have been quietly celebrating the exit of P Chidambaram now have another reason to rejoice. Almost three-fourths of the 600 or so named in the list of clients of HSBC Geneva are beneficiaries of ” discretionary trusts”. These individuals are confident that a Supreme… – Continue reading
A £100m charity tax avoidance scheme similar to the Cup Trust has been defeated at a tax tribunal by HM Revenue & Customs.According to the judgment handed down this week by the first tier of the tax tribunal, the Bluebox scheme used a method where government bonds were given to… – Continue reading
Samuel and Charles Wyly used a web of offshore trusts to illegally hide their stock holdings and evade trading limits, a jury found, leaving Samuel Wyly and his brother’s estate potentially liable for as much as $550 million. The panel of eight women and four men today delivered the verdict… – Continue reading
Swisspartners Group, a Zurich-based money-manager, resolved a U.S. criminal tax probe by paying $4.4 million for helping American clients use secret accounts to evade taxes. In return, the government agreed not to prosecute the firm, citing its “extraordinary cooperation.” The agreement resulted from Swisspartners’ voluntary production of the files for… – Continue reading
Texas businessman Sam Wyly told jurors on Wednesday he relied on the advice of his former lawyer in determining whether he needed to disclose stock holdings in offshore trusts at the center of a fraud case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Wyly, who took the stand for… – Continue reading
The bitter marital split of aviation tycoon Clive Joy has highlighted the issue the role tax efficient offshore trusts can play in lengthy High Court divorces. Recently aviation tycoon Clive Joy hit the headlines, but not for his expertise in aerospace issues. It was because in the course of a bitter… – Continue reading
Texas tycoons Sam and Charles Wyly employed a labyrinthine system of offshore trusts to conceal stock trades in four companies on whose boards they sat, netting themselves more than $550 million in undisclosed profits, a U.S. government lawyer told a federal jury on Thursday. “This is a case about lies,… – Continue reading
Harben Barker is breathing a huge sigh of relief – along with the accountancy profession in general – after the Court of Appeal threw out a High Court finding that the firm had a duty to advise wealthy clients to avoid tax The five-director firm based in the West Midlands… – Continue reading
Aleaked document appears to reveal the Department of Finance and CRA may deviate from a tax deal struck with the U.S. Leaked by the Isaac Brock Society yesterday, the document purportedly presents the agency’s interpretation of draft legislation which, if passed, would give force to the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on FATCA signed… – Continue reading
DESPITE George Osborne’s platitudes to last month’s G20 meeting in Australia – “It is not fair if big companies avoid their taxes by shifting their profits around artificially” – the Eye has discovered that the government has signed its most significant PFI deal to date (a new £190m children’s hospital… – Continue reading
