Deutsche Bank AG’s Swiss unit agreed to pay $31 million to receive a non-prosecution agreement in a U.S. probe of banks in Switzerland that helped Americans evade taxes. The accord announced Tuesday by the Justice Department is the third-largest of 57 reached this year with Swiss banks. The firms, which… – Continue reading
Veteran banker says India purchase reflects client demand for onshore private banking advice. Julius Baer’s Asia Pacific head Thomas Meier is preparing to leave Asia after 20 years, but he isn’t leaving Asia behind. The veteran banker, who also worked at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, will continue to oversee… – Continue reading
The number of Swiss institutions have seen “asset outflows” and the tax status of many of their clients have been found to be “inappropriate”, as per the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), which also has the mandate to combat money laundering activities. Switzerland authorities revealed on Tuesday that India… – Continue reading
On November 22, 2015 the Israeli Ministry of Finance issued a press release announcing that on November 18, 2015 the Israeli Knesset approved in second and third reading a bill to increase the enforcement ability against tax evaders. According to the press release the bill allows the director of the… – Continue reading
Expats savers will have some fixed feelings at the changes in interest rates on offshore fixed and instant access accounts. Conister Bank has notched up a couple of rate increases on fixed rate accounts – the three year fix rising 0.5% to 2.30% and the one year fix up 0.10%… – Continue reading
The Italian Supreme Court overturned decisions of lower courts to conclude that two renowned Italian fashion designers were not guilty of tax evasion. The designers, however, could still be subject to civil penalties of about €343.3 million. BACKGROUND The designers had set up Luxembourg companies, to which they had transferred… – Continue reading
Over 90 jurisdictions have committed to the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS), creating comprehensive global automatic information exchange for financial assets and the entities through which such assets may be held. Over 70 jurisdictions have signed the OECD’s Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement, which implements the CRS. The CRS is scheduled… – Continue reading
The Department of Justice announced today that Privatbank IHAG Zürich AG (IHAG) reached a resolution under the department’s Swiss Bank Program. IHAG will pay a penalty of more than $7 million. “Through the information provided by IHAG and other Swiss banks in the Program, the department has unraveled the various… – Continue reading
MILAN (Reuters) – San Marino is looking for a new central bank governor to clean up its banks – traditional havens for tax dodgers – and fix their badly damaged balance sheets. Big problems for the micro-state began in 2009 when Italy, hit hard by the global financial crisis, added… – Continue reading
The global rupee bonds would be used to refinance costly loans or raise capital for new projects with little currency risk Mumbai/Singapore: Some of India’s most indebted infrastructure and steel groups are considering so-called masala bonds to diversify their funding options as local banks tighten lending, investment banking sources with… – Continue reading
The offshore industry is poised for growth, as the industry insiders see the demand for offshore financial and corporate services likely to increase in the coming years, according to an industry survey conducted by OIL, a corporate service provider specializing in international incorporations. The industry has been battling negative perceptions… – Continue reading
The offshore industry is poised for growth, as the industry insiders see the demand for offshore financial and corporate services likely to increase in the coming years, according to an industry survey conducted by OIL, a corporate service provider specializing in international incorporations. The industry has been battling negative perceptions… – Continue reading
The European industry continued to climb in H1 2015 – albeit more slowly than in the US or Asia – despite renewed Euro zone pressures and a wary attitude towards Europe by US and global investors, reports the Econotimes. Assets in European hedge funds climbed more quickly in the first… – Continue reading
As the founder of a startup company, one of the first questions you need to consider is “where should I incorporate my company?” Investors are drawn to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for its flexible and modern corporate regime, tax neutrality, respected legal system, political stability and effective regulatory framework…. – Continue reading
DESPITE repeated allegations from the Spanish government that Gibraltar is a tax haven, news is regularly received that suggests this is far from the case, and that the government has been doing all that it can to ensure that it complies as fully as possible with international standards, whilst generating… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: In a major scam tax evasion of hundreds of billions of rupees and whitening of black money worth trillions of rupees take place every year with the government authorities facilitating the extremely undervalued sales and purchases of thousands of residential and commercial properties throughout the country every day. While… – Continue reading
The IRS has upgraded the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Online Registration System, enabling sponsoring entities to register their sponsored entities to obtain a global intermediary identification number. The upgraded system also will allow users to update their information, download registration tables and change their financial institution type. The… – Continue reading
VietNamNet Bridge – Apple Operations International (AOI), the owner of Apple Vietnam, has been involved in in the past in tax evasion scandals in the US and Ireland. Vietnamese newspapers reported that Apple has ‘quietly established a subsidiary in Vietnam called Apple Vietnam Limited Liability Company as written in the… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Tightening the noose around Indians whose names figured in the ‘stolen’ Swiss HSBC bank black money list, the Enforcement Directorate has begun a preliminary investigation in these cases for an independent hawala and money laundering probe. The agency recently has begun obtaining from various court registries the details… – Continue reading
Gabriele Galimberti and Paolo Woods make a complex and impenetrable subject palatable To do justice to the work undertaken by Paolo Woods and Gabriele Galimberti, requires thinking of them not as photographers, but as investigators. Their search for truth begins with a mystery, one embodied in Ian Fleming’s Dr. No…. – Continue reading
The creation of the Group of Twenty (G20) was believed to serve as a remedy to the harsh realities of the world today. The initial formation of the Group of Seven G7 could do little to avert pertinent challenges both the developing and the developed nations face frequently. So a… – Continue reading
Lately, the IRS is warning offshore account holders to disclose before it’s too late. Under FATCA, banks everywhere want to know if you are compliant with the IRS. And the cost of compliance for many people is growing. The IRS updated its list of foreign banks where accounts trigger a… – Continue reading
The European Commission has requested that Spain amend its rules on the taxation of certain income obtained by foreign non-profit entities and of certain contributions to such entities. The crux of the Commission’s complaint is that foreign non-profit entities that derive income from Spain, but which are established in another… – Continue reading
Three Swiss banks will pay a total of more than $81 million to the U.S. Justice Department to avoid possible prosecution for helping Americans to evade taxes, the department said on Thursday. The three banks, the Swiss unit of BNP Paribas SA (BNPP.PA); KBL (Switzerland) Ltd (LU0092281103.BR); and Bank CIC,… – Continue reading
HA NOI (VNS) — The Ministry of Finance has instructed commercial banks to completely stop over-the-counter tax payments and work with tax agencies to implement online tax payments by the beginning of December. Accordingly, it can be made via the general department’s e-portal and other online banking services such as… – Continue reading
The clock is ticking for American tax dodgers around the world after BNP Paribas SA’s Swiss unit and two other banks joined a U.S. program to avoid prosecution, revealing the exact methods of Swiss bankers’ legendary discretion. BNP agreed to pay $59.8 million in a program that has brought in… – Continue reading
The US Department of the Treasury said that the United States introduced new restrictions to prevent US-based multinationals from restructuring after mergers to establish foreign parent companies in order to avoid paying taxes. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States introduced new restrictions to prevent US-based multinationals from restructuring after mergers… – Continue reading
Introduction Facts Decision Introduction The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently ruled that the system of interim taxation for Austrian private foundations does not comply with EU law.(1) A special feature of private foundations is the so-called ‘interim tax’ – a type of corporate income tax. Pursuant to Section 13(3)… – Continue reading
On 18 June 2013, the Progressive led government issued a press release titled, “Cayman’s Action Plan Includes Beneficial Ownership”. The press statement came on the heels of the UK taking over the Presidency of G8, at the 17-18 June 2013 G8 Summit in Northern Ireland. The most interesting part of… – Continue reading
In a further move to reduce the tax benefits of, and therefore the incentives for, corporate inversions, the U.S. tax agency, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), on Thursday announced additional rules designed to curtail the ability of an inverted company to access foreign subsidiaries’ earnings without paying U.S. tax (Notice… – Continue reading
Ownership of Kildrummy Estate creates legal block for police investigators POLICE INVESTIGATIONS into wildlife crime failed in the face of a bureaucratic nightmare identifying the landowner behind a complex structure of offshore land secrecy. The conviction of gamekeeper George Mutch for wildlife crimes committed in 2012 on Kildrummy Estate opened… – Continue reading
Chinese authorities have uncovered the country’s biggest underground banking case involving transactions totalling more than 410 billion yuan ($64 billion), official media reported, part of a drive to combat illegal capital outflows. The investigation, which started in September and focused on the costal province of Zhejiang, found that dozens of… – Continue reading
Plans that would effectively end the UK’s non-domicile status for tax purposes have the potential to do more harm than good and could be contrary to EU law, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants. The changes, announced by chancellor George Osborne in the 2015 summer budget, mean that non-UK… – Continue reading
Now that’s what I call a Big Tax Case A long running court case that has become known as the ‘Big Tax Case’ appears to be reaching a conclusion. It involves Scottish football club Rangers, who went bust in 2012. After it failed, a new company was created. It bought… – Continue reading
David Cameron’s party reported fresh donations of £217,500 from Lycamobile weeks after BuzzFeed News revealed the telecoms giant’s “deeply suspicious” business practices. The Tories have accepted a fresh donation of £217,500 from Lycamobile in defiance of calls on the party to sever its ties with the controversial telecoms group. The… – Continue reading
Officials from the ministries of finance and economy of five CEE countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) have called for a joint approach to combat VAT fraud and increase VAT collection in a conference hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Budapest on Thursday. According to the EU Commission data,… – Continue reading
Compare this to the 2601 tax-related incarcerations in 2014 in the US. Jail for tax evasion is common in that country. The most well- known case is that of the gangster Al Capone who spent 7 years in jail as far back as 1932 to 1939. In recent years, actor… – Continue reading
“What’s the best way to rob a bank? Start one.” Many people have heard that old saw. But it’s no longer accurate. The best way to rob a bank is to control a government … any old government will do these days. It wasn’t always like that. You see, for… – Continue reading
PRESS RELEASE – On November 19, the government of St. Lucia signed an agreement with the Government of the United States of America to implement the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Enacted by the U.S. Congress in 2010, FATCAtargets non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers using foreign accounts. FATCA requires… – Continue reading
Darion Pohl, chief executive of Prism Xpat provides an expert view on the factors an adviser needs to take into account when considering a defined-benefit pension transfer to a recognised overseas pension scheme for a UK retiree planning to retire overseas. This follows the introduction of the UK pension reforms… – Continue reading
Hong Kong is tipped to become the world’s largest offshore corporate services centre by 2020, helped ironically, by the industry’s own struggles against reform demands coming from western governments and pressure groups. On notice after high profile money laundering and tax avoidance scandals, traditional offshore havens like the British Virgin… – Continue reading
Online accommodation platform, Airbnb, appeared before the Senate Inqury into the tax avoidance of multinational companies on Wednesday, with the ANZ manager arguing the startup brings a significant amount of money into the economy. Airbnb has found itself in the spotlight on Wednesday, when a Senate inquiry into the tax… – Continue reading
Finnish companies continue to take advantage of legal tax planning to shelter their profits from taxation. According to Yle’s Ajankohtainen kakkonen current affairs programme, state-owned firms are among those that have been dragging their feet on reporting income from their foreign subsidiaries. The European Union is making an effort to… – Continue reading
Uber ANZ director of public policy appeared before the Senate inquiry into the tax avoidance of multinational companies on Wednesday, focusing on tax requirements of an individual driver, rather than the company. A Senate inquiry into the tax avoidance of multinational companies continued in Sydney on Wednesday, when Uber appeared… – Continue reading
Perhaps in theory there are ways to fix tax avoidance, but they aren’t politically feasible. Libertarian anarchists used to say “taxation is theft.” New research by economist Gabriel Zucman suggests that there is some truth to this—when tax havens are taken into consideration. In his new book The Hidden Wealth… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man’s role as an offshore finance centre will come under the spotlight on television following a Welsh town’s experiment in how to avoid paying UK tax. Independent traders in Crickhowell, led by the salmon smokery, the local coffee shop, the adventure clothes shop, the optician, the book… – Continue reading
Google is said to have evaded paying an estimated $1.3 billion earned from selling apps in Korea based on the argument that their server is based in Ireland. The so called ‘Google Tax’, also known as the Base Erosion & Profit Shifting (BEPS) regulation, has been adopted this week by… – Continue reading
Offshore tax havens came under fire after the global financial crisis in 2008. Front and center among the countries calling for transparency was the U.S., which made a stand against Switzerland in particular, by demanding release of the names of ultra-rich account holders. So it might surprise you to learn… – Continue reading
UPDATE 12.45pm: Bermuda has a company tax rate of zero. In Ireland its 12.5 per cent and, with the Netherlands, has given the world the term “Double Irish Dutch Sandwich”. But a trio of prominent Australian business leaders have denied the tax links of their companies to the three offshore… – Continue reading
BearingPoint’s FiTAX catches on while a FATCA critic says that more Americans are renouncing their citizenship because of the controversial tax law. While controversy swirls around the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), management and technology consultancy BearingPoint reports that between March and August 2015, more than 2,000 financial institutions… – Continue reading
