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
To energise capital markets, the government today proposed a slew of measures, including tax benefits and easier regulations for foreign investors and corporate bonds besides creating a new instrument Bharat Depository Receipts, helping BSE benchmark Sensex to jump 434 points. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in his maiden budget also annouced… – Continue reading
QCs doctors, pop stars and others have been caught up in a major tax avoidance plan in the UK, which have included former UK-based and now Wellington City CEO Kevin Lavery. Mr Lavery formerly worked as chief executiv e of the Cornwall Council and invested £1.2m according to the documents… – Continue reading
Advisers with expatriate clients, or whose clients’ investments span multiple jurisdictions, may find a more level playing field as global regulators work together more, Angelo Venardos has said. The editor of tax book World’s Leading Financial and Trust Centres said that many offshore financial centres, such as the British Virgin… – 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
Tax Since the 1970s, U.S. taxpayers with foreign banks accounts have been required to annually report their foreign bank account information to the Department of Treasury on a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) by June 30th of each year. In addition to requiring the filing of an… – Continue reading
David Murray’s financial system inquiry should push to remove withholding tax on non-residents’ deposits in Australian banks to help diversify the funding base of local banks and create more competition from foreign institutions. Next week’s report from the inquiry should also drive the development of a corporate bond market, back… – Continue reading
Lawmakers adopted at first reading amendments to the law regulating the activity of offshore companies in Bulgaria. Under a proposal from ruling socialists member Georgi Kadiev (who recently stepped down as member of Parliament) and fellow MPs, entities having opaque ownership will be barred from signing contracts with the state,… – Continue reading
David Murray’s financial system inquiry should push to remove withholding tax on non-residents’ deposits in Australian banks to help diversify the funding base of local banks and create more competition from foreign institutions. Next week’s report from the inquiry should also drive the development of a corporate bond market, back… – Continue reading
Britain is likely to receive little more than half of the £3 billion-plus expected from an agreement reached with Switzerland to tackle offshore tax evasion, HM Revenue and Customs has told MPs. Chancellor George Osborne’s 2012 Autumn Statement forecast the taxman would collect an additional £3.12 billion as a result… – Continue reading
The Seychelles offer a wide variety of financial services, including offshore banking, investments and insurance. The inexpensive International Business Company (IBC) is the most popular corporate entity and can be used for many purposes with few limitations. The International Business Company IBC is the most widely used vehicle for offshore… – Continue reading
To act as an investment manager the company is required to be appropriately regulated Offshore companies owned by NRIs or persons of Indian origin can act as investment manager for newly created class of overseas investors, FPIs, provided they are well regulated in their jurisdiction, Sebi has said. As per… – Continue reading
New Delhi: Offshore companies owned by NRIs or persons of Indian origin can act as investment manager for newly created class of overseas investors, FPIs, provided they are well regulated in their jurisdiction, Sebi has said.As per Sebi, non-resident Indian (NRI) or person of Indian origin (PIO) is not eligible… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON — The IRS is about to get an unprecedented look at bank accounts and investments U.S. citizens hold abroad, through a law that is making it harder to hide assets from the tax collector. The government started imposing 30 percent taxes on many overseas payments to financial institutions that… – Continue reading
The Ministry is considering 20% mark up under the safe harbour rule, which would mean that transactions following the norms would not be scrutinised by the tax authorities Press Trust of India | New Delhi July 6, 2014 Last Updated at 11:25 IST In order to encourage foreign investment, the… – Continue reading
PERHAPS, tax is like death. With the full weight of its certainty, people still struggle to shrug it off. At least, not many smile to tax collectors when they call knocking. Hence, some people dodge payment or under declare taxable income where it is possible to do so, a practice… – Continue reading
This is a rather sad commentary on the state of democracy today. For we’ve a senior UK politician, Margaret, Lady Hodge, appearing to demand that Apple AAPL +0.66% acts against international tax law when considering its price and tax policies. At the heart of this is the system known as… – Continue reading
Treasurer Joe Hockey has said that he will improve the structural integrity of Australia’s tax system to address international tax avoidance by multinational enterprises. In particular, the tax law will be tightened to prevent a multinational from shifting profits from Australia by claiming excess interest expense deductions. This tax avoidance technique is… – Continue reading
Here’s a question for investors in any big U.S. corporation with foreign operations: Do you know what the company’s tax bill would be if it had to bring its overseas earnings home? The answer, alas, is that they probably don’t. That’s because most companies with large foreign earnings don’t disclose… – Continue reading
GLOBAL firms’ growing ability to avoid company tax by shifting their intellectual property to low-tax countries could undermine Australians’ respect for the tax system, causing greater leakage of revenue, a senior Treasury official warned yesterday. Rob Heferen, head of revenue at the federal Treasury, also said Australia’s massive reliance on… – Continue reading
In Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens, Nicholas Shaxson, a former Financial Times and Economist correspondent, argues that tax havens play a central role in a number of crises, including economic stagnation, countries facing bankruptcy and recession. The book demonstrates why tax evasion is costing… – Continue reading
Finland’s Tax Administration has lost a landmark court case on transfer pricing. The Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling means the taxman could now lose out on hundreds of millions of euros in tax. The Finnish Tax Administration could lose out on millions of euros in tax from multinationals after a decision… – Continue reading
LUXEMBOURG/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission is widening its probe into how multinationals use countries such as Luxembourg to cut their tax bill, an official with knowledge of the matter said on Friday. Last month, the Commission warned Ireland, another EU country that offers companies offshore tax status, that it… – Continue reading
The authorities are looking to entice Russian-owned offshore firms to repatriate capital. A new law will impose penalties on such companies for tax evasion, but offers 2-year amnesty for those firms which decide to relocate to Russia. The Finance Ministry has decided to grant a 2-year amnesty for offshore companies… – Continue reading
Treasurer Joe Hockey will introduce legislation this month to tighten corporate taxation loopholes but says there must be a global solution to tax evasion. The government is going ahead with rule changes to lower the amount of debt a multinational firm based in Australia can have on its books. This… – Continue reading
Players say it amounts to double taxation, prompts companies to refrain from giving dividends As foreign investors once again bet on India ‘story’, stock markets in the country are on a high. They are not running out of steam as predicted by many, but gaining strength by the day. Every… – 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
The Finance Ministry is pushing ahead with its program to entice Russian-owned offshore firms to repatriate capital. A new law will impose penalties on such companies for tax evasion, but offers the carrot of a 2-year amnesty for those firms which decide to relocate to Russia. The Finance Ministry has… – Continue reading
Spain signed an agreement with the Dominican Republic to avoid double taxation of individuals and companies that are subject to levies in both nations. The accord, published today in the Spanish government’s Official Bulletin, allows income tax paid in one nation to be deductible in the other nation from income… – Continue reading
RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh commercial tax department, which recently unearthed the multi-crore rupee bogus billing scam, is all set to investigate the role of lawyers, who were responsible for registration of taxpayer identification number (TIN) of the phony companies involved in the racket. The department has also decided to impose heavy penalties,… – Continue reading
HMRC and Morgan both say the proposals, announced last year in the Autumn Statement, will not be included in the Finance Bill 2014 The government has abandoned plans to introduce legislation that would make it tougher to set up a charity for tax-avoidance purposes because it would have had a… – Continue reading
President Obama yesterday signed into law a bill which contains little-publicised elements that are expected to impact non-US financial institutions, funds and collective investment structures. The bill’s passage on 8 March 2010 represents a success for certain US lawmakers who have been seeking to crack down on Americans who have… – Continue reading
Liechtenstein is betting its offer to automatically share tax data on banking clients will end the principality’s decades-long reputation as a tax haven, a top bank official said. Simon Tribelhorn, director of the Liechtenstein Bankers Association, said the announcement in November to lock in automatic-exchange agreements with five European nations… – Continue reading
Mining company Glencore has denied reports that it has evaded taxes in Australia for the last three years in spite of earning A$15bn. The company said that it has paid A$8bn in royalties and taxes in the country over the last seven years. An earlier report by the Sunday Morning… – Continue reading
Many people are mis-sold offshore company formation packages with no guarantee of a bank account Over the years we’ve received so many queries from poor souls who’ve been sold an offshore company formation package, only to discover that they aren’t eligible to open an offshore bank account (or even an… – Continue reading
The Australian Tax Office is stepping up its surveillance of Australians funnelling money into secret offshore bank accounts. The extra scrutiny is part of an amnesty program that will allow some tax dodgers to avoid severe punishment by declaring income and agreeing to come back into the tax system before… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is preparing to examine transfer pricing cases, which have significant revenue implication for the exchequer and lead to longdrawn litigation between companies and tax authorities. The CAG has so far not been auditing transfer pricing cases, mainly because of the shortage of… – Continue reading
Washington – US tax evaders will find it harder to hide money abroad from Tuesday, when a law comes into effect requiring foreign banks to report their offshore accounts. Banking centers like Switzerland and Luxembourg that agreed to the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) will have to begin… – Continue reading
As Shirley Bassey once sang, it’s all just a little bit of history repeating. Exactly a year ago, we observed the global chase for yield had lit a rocket under the share prices of Australia’s banks for most of the prior year. But back then the big question for investors was… – 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
Increasing sophistication in combatting base erosion and profit shifting, and the corresponding increase in transfer pricing documentation, have posed a challenge for businesses. The following article considers the tension between the competing demands. Companies are facing a proliferation of transfer pricing documentation demands. While the new requirements set out in… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — UBS AG, BNP Paribas SA, Credit Suisse Group AG and other banks providing wealthy French people a home for their money in Switzerland are being told: No more tax evasion. Ahead of French Finance Minister Michel Sapin’s visit today to the Swiss capital Bern, he briefed bankers on… – Continue reading
Tax attorney Rob Wood discusses his Forbes article “If An Individual Pulled The Tax Gimmicks Of Apple And Other Big Companies, They’d Go To Jail” that points out the tax breaks given to corporations by America’s tax code. Using tax breaks available to corporations, a mere 30 companies have $1.2… – Continue reading
Asia Pacific shares were down on Wednesday, 25 June 2014, as losses in the United States overnight and ongoing violence in Middle East dampened sentiment. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4% Investors prompted to take profit off the table as fresh reports of violence in Iraq, including unconfirmed airstrikes… – 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
Most of the 2,110 enterprises inspected in 2013 had to admit to losses lower than initially declared and accepted to pay tax sums set by the taxation bodies after the inspection. Regarding foreign invested enterprises (FIEs), Nam said taxation bodies have completed the inspection of over 20 enterprises in 17… – Continue reading
Borrowing costs of offshore yuan in Hong Kong surged to their highest levels in a year last week as banks became more reluctant to part with their money in the run-up to the end of the half-year and demand for funds increased with the opening up of more channels for… – Continue reading
At a beachside bar in Oistins; – a tourist district on the blue-water coast of Barbados, Frenchman Julius Francois handed over a black coloured Visa Card to the bar cashier who swiped it, and soon collected payment for the drinks that he and some other business colleagues had consumed for… – Continue reading
The U.S. taxman is about to extend his reach, and not even those infamous offshore accounts may be able to escape the long arm of the law. A milestone is coming July 1 in the federal government’s long-term effort to root out tax evasion by people who keep money offshore…. – Continue reading
