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
MOSCOW, June 30 (RAPSI) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to allow Russian financial institutions to provide information about US taxpayers and to oblige foreign financial institutions to report Russian taxpayers to Russia’s Federal Tax Service. The document has been posted on the government website of legal information…. – Continue reading
In a major coup in India’s efforts to recover untaxed wealth, Switzerland recently promised to share the details of Indian nationals “holding black money” in Swiss bank accounts. The offer to share information came after India’s Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, wrote to the Swiss authorities requesting their cooperation. Given the… – Continue reading
MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, on Wednesday authorized the direct exchange of information between Russian banks and US tax authorities on US taxpayers. The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires foreign banks to supply the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)… – Continue reading
The Swiss Government has expressed its desire to work together with the new Indian Government in its fight against tax evasion. In an e-mail response to Business Line on Swiss authorities’ reported move on sharing information, the Swiss Finance Ministry said, Switzerland is committed to resolving any open question with India and… – Continue reading
Switzerland has denied preparing a list of tax dodgers for the Indian authorities amid mounting pressure on the alpine state. Even with a global standard on Automatic Information Exchange (AIE) in the works, repatriating money from offshore havens like Switzerland may not be easy. An investigatory body, recently set up… – Continue reading
The State Duma on Friday passed legislation allowing Russian banks to pass information on their U.S. clients to the U.S. tax service, as demanded by FATCA, a law that drags banks around the world into the U.S. fight against tax evasion. But lawmakers were not keen to bend over backwards for the U.S. Under the legislation, authorities will be able to veto the transfer… – 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
GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Cayman Islands and Colombia are to sign a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (“TIEA”) on 1 July 2014. The TIEA will be in accordance with global regulatory standards. This will be Cayman’s 36th such agreement, the third in 2014, with the Seychelles agreement being signed in… – Continue reading
The UK Chancellor, George Osborne, announced new sanctions against offshore tax evasion, last month. The UK government intends to introduce a new “strict liability” criminal offence for not declaring untaxed offshore assets. Under the plans announced by the Chancellor, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) would no longer need to prove… – Continue reading
Ireland’s revenue agency has launched a dedicated Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) webpage containing information and links to documents on a range of initiatives. In unveiling the page, Revenue said that Ireland fully supports the global move towards AEOI. The page provides guidance on the Intergovernmental Agreement reached with the… – Continue reading
The UAE has reached an initial agreement with the US to carry out a financial data-sharing programme aimed at curbing offshore tax evasion by US citizens. The Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday that the two countries had negotiated an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) in substance to implement the US’s Foreign… – Continue reading
On June 9, 2014, South African Finance Minister Nhlanhla Musa Nene and the US Ambassador to South Africa, Patrick H. Gaspard, signed an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) to support international efforts to improve tax compliance. The agreement includes provisions allowing the reciprocal exchange of information, which requires that financial institutions in… – Continue reading
Johannesburg – South Africa and the US agreed on Monday to put into effect the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and US Embassy said. The agreement was signed in Pretoria by Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and United States ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard…. – Continue reading
Treasury is taking submissions on a revised tax treaty with Switzerland, which will lead to Swiss banks handing over secretive bank account information to Australian authorities on request. The new treaty means Australian tax evaders with undisclosed Swiss bank accounts will now rely on limited bank secrecy protection from the… – Continue reading
The world is close to the point where hiding money offshore is foolhardy, no matter how little or large the amount is. As the loopholes continue to close, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) has announced a voluntarily scheme for people to declare unreported foreign income and assets. The ATO wants taxpayers with… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Mauritius has said that it will address India’s concerns over the abuse of the lucrative tax treaty between the two countries, promising measures to ensure that benefits are available only to genuine investors. The island nation has proposed a stringent limitation of benefit clause in the Double Taxation… – Continue reading
Navin Ramgoolam discussed issue of long-pending treaty re-negotiation with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in their bilateral meeting today Mauritus on Tuesday said it was determined to allay India’s fears on round tripping of funds, by incorporating adequate safeguards in the India-Mauritius tax treaty. The island nation said it had… – Continue reading
Mauritius on 27 May 2014 decided to provide automatic tax information exchange to India. The decision was announced by the Prime Minister of Mauritius Navin Ramgoolam after his meeting with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. Navin Ramgoolam was in India to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as… – Continue reading
We are living in the golden age of global tax reform. At no point in history have there been so many initiatives coordinated by such a dizzying array of tax authorities, all focused on one thing: replenishing municipal budgets that have been depleted over the last five years of global… – Continue reading
Geneva’s private banks may have to wait years before they can prospect for business in the European Union from Switzerland and service clients across borders, according to a managing partner at the city’s oldest bank. The EU won’t allow the banks to market wealth-management services into the 28-member bloc, especially after the… – Continue reading
Law360, New York (June 03, 2014, 7:10 PM ET) — Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen said Tuesday that an international plan to squash corporate profit shifting will create headaches for administrators and hurt U.S. taxpayers.Addressing the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Koskinen said the plan would create tens… – Continue reading
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Most developing countries do not have tax systems sophisticated enough for them to join a new OECD-led transnational project for countries to automatically exchange tax information in an effort to tackle evasion and offshore financial havens, said an official from the OECD. The Paris-based Organisation… – 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
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
Switzerland has recently joined a number of nations in the fight against tax evasion by pledging to minimize bank secrecy. This pledge took the form of an accord, signed by 47 nations, under the supervision of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Switzerland, along with countries such as… – Continue reading
Many share my concern that, if information is held by a tax agency in virtually any country, there is no confidence it could not be transferred to a different agency of that country, says Martyn Gowar A PROBLEM SHARED The pragmatic bullying of the United States has reached a new… – Continue reading
The Minister with responsibility for Financial Services, Albert Isola, signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the US Government and the Government of Gibraltar at a signing ceremony in the US Embassy in London on Thursday. The agreement aims to improve international tax compliance through mutual assistance in tax matters based… – Continue reading
Some key tax or moneylaundering havens may be all set to lose the secrecy that surrounds their banking practices, with 64 jurisdictions, including Switzerland, Singapore, Liechtenstein and the Cayman Islands signing on Tuesday a far-reaching declaration on tax data sharing. Signatories to the ‘Declaration on Automatic Exchange of Information in… – Continue reading
May 7th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) Tax evaders and privacy advocates beware – Costa Rica and 46 other countries signed up yesterday to automatically share banking, financial, and tax information in what the OECD is touting as a major step towards cracking down on global tax evasion. The Declaration on Automatic Exchange… – Continue reading
Switzerland is no longer considered as a “tax haven”. Being the world’s largest offshore financial center, Switzerland has agreed automatically to share foreigners’ account information with other countries. Analysts say that this is good news for the other countries, however, for the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) corrupt officials, it seems… – Continue reading
As they continue their efforts to clamp down on the menace of black money, India and other countries will have to wait at least till 2017 before the new global standard for automatic exchange of tax information comes into effect. India, Switzerland and 45 other nations had agreed upon automatic… – Continue reading
Pakistan to engage in exchange of confidential information from Switzerland for recovery of $200b illegally deposited by Pakistanis in Swiss banks The Government of Pakistan is looking forward to make use of the new Swiss laws for exchange of confidential information about the ill-gotten funds from Pakistan banked in the… – Continue reading
Forty seven countries, including Singapore and Switzerland have endorsed a declaration agreeing to automatically exchange tax information at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) annual Ministerial Council Meeting which took place on 6 May. The declaration commits the signatories to implement a new single global standard on automatic… – Continue reading
The US and Belgium have made a deal to share bank account information to improve international compliance with tax rules. Belgium has announced that it had reached an agreement with the United States on sharing bank account information as part of international efforts to crack down on tax evasion. “This… – Continue reading
Here come the tax acronyms; FATCA, AEOI, specified US persons & the potential for a tax residence licence in your wallet alongside your driver’s licence Posted in Personal Finance April 15, 2014 – 07:22am, By Gareth Vaughan First we get FATCA then we’ll get AEOI. Apologies for the acronyms. FATCA… – Continue reading
Abstract The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) represents a powerful response by the United States to flagrant offshore tax evasion. Although the new reporting regime has been criticized as unilateral and extraterritorial, this short article, prepared for a symposium hosted by Pepperdine Law Review, shows that multilateralism and cooperation… – Continue reading
In June 2013 the OECD published a report for the G8 Summit regarding delivering a standardised, secure and cost effective model of bilateral automatic exchange of information in a multilateral context. The report noted a step change in international tax transparency driven by developments around the globe and the endorsing… – Continue reading
During 2013, the Central Bank of Barbados (Bank) continued to enhance its regulatory framework in response to emerging international standards and best practices and to collaborate with other domestic regulators and stakeholders on various national issues, including the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes Peer… – Continue reading
The decision by Luxembourg and Austria to automatically exchange tax data with other European Union countries has isolated Switzerland in the global crusade against banking secrecy, a Tax Justice Network (TJN) expert tells swissinfo.ch. The two European Union states caved in to demands last month by signing up to the revised… – Continue reading
Expats should put their financial affairs in order while they have the chance as governments around the world prepare a global tax net aimed at wiping out avoidance. The operation is headed by the Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and closely follows the lines of the controversial US… – Continue reading
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said the conclusions adopted at the recent European Council meeting on the revised Savings Tax Directive have enabled “a green light from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.” He expressed his satisfaction that all 28 European Union (EU) member states reached an agreement at the latest… – Continue reading
The US and Luxembourg governments have signed an agreement to improve international tax compliance and to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). On 27 February 2014, the Luxembourg and US negotiating teams agreed on the substance of the Model 1 Agreement. ALFI – the Association of the Luxembourg… – Continue reading
The European Council this week adopted a directive strengthening EU rules on the exchange of information on savings incomes, aimed at enabling the member states to better clamp down on tax fraud and tax evasion. The EU Directive requires the member states to exchange information automatically so as to enable… – Continue reading
The Luxembourg and US governments have today signed an agreement to improve international tax compliance and implement the so-called Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). As a result of this agreement, the Luxembourg Tax Administration has set up two working groups including… – Continue reading
The European Union has formally adopted the Savings Tax Directive after six years of negotiations. The directive is intended to bolster the power of the EU to crackdown on tax evasion. The measure was adopted shortly after Luxembourg and Austria abandoned their opposition to the plan. EU tax commissioner Algirdas Semeta, commenting… – Continue reading
The European Council has adopted a directive over exchanging information on savings incomes in a bid to clamp down on tax fraud and evasion The directive will strengthen EU rules over the exchange of information on savings incomes and help member states to share details and information more easily. Directive 2003/48/EC… – Continue reading
EU AGREES ON SYSTEM TO TACKLE TAX EVASION. The Associated Press has the story, “European Union nations on Thursday agreed on a sweeping policy to fight tax evasion after tiny Luxembourg dropped its reservations to new rules which render its secretive banking culture more transparent. Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel… – Continue reading
States agree to automatic exchange of non-EU citizens’ savings account details After years of opposition, Luxembourg and Austria have agreed to back automatic exchange of savings account information on non-citizens to tackle tax fraud in the EU. Their shift was welcomed by other EU leaders meeting in Brussels and allows ministers to sign off… – Continue reading
Switzerland and Argentina have recently signed a new agreement for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and on capital. The treaty replaces the provisional agreement of 1997 and provides for the exchange of information upon request, in line with the current international standard. This is… – Continue reading
