According to China Merchants Bank and Bain & Company, a global business consulting firm, nearly 60 percent of China’s high net worth individuals have assets overseas in 2017, while in 2011 this ratio was only 20 percent. In 2015 and 2016, China’s annual financial assets exported overseas amounted to more...
The government’s plan to impose more levies on large companies will undermine their competitiveness amid a rising global trend of tax reductions and further distort the country’s taxation structure, analysts say. A draft tax code revision unveiled early this month proposes raising the corporate tax rate for businesses with taxable...
The Irish Government is said to be nearing a deal with Apple that would protect the state from any losses that could arise while it holds in escrow the “state aid” money the EU has ordered the tech giant to pay back. Bloomberg reported that an individual familiar with the...
America has formally agreed to share detailed information of companies with the Australian government’s Tax Avoidance Taskforce. This means authorities get access to additional intelligence to track down US-based multinationals. This month, US authorities signed a country-by-country report exchange deal with Australia. It seeks to give authorities a broader picture...
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has begun accepting country-by-country (CbC) reports from multinational corporations. In June 2016 the IRS issued final regulations requiring CbC reporting by the ultimate parent entity of a multinational enterprise (MNE) group with revenue of USD850m or more in the preceding accounting year. The first...
The Government of Hong Kong has said that it will introduce legislation into the Legislative Council by the end of this year to implement the minimum standards proposed by the OECD as part of its base erosion and profit shifting project. The BEPS framework, proposed by the OECD at the...
Whilst the peer-to-peer (P2P) economy has posed many challenges to traditional tax collections systems, the sector’s technological foundation also holds the keys to solving these problems, according to a new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF working paper, published on August 8, explores the implications for the...
Amazon has refused to reveal how much it paid in total UK tax last year after it emerged it actually got a rebate of £1.3million. The online giant, which three years ago pledged to stop using a controversial tax avoidance scheme, admitted it had paid just £7million in corporation tax...
Global consultancy EY among firms now offering advanced services that redefine how companies face new developments in tax, audit and compliance Rigid new global initiatives to increase transparency of business data are giving rise to more advanced professional tax services, which employ innovative tools that include cloud computing, financial technology...
In an effort to create a ‘level playing field’, Asian economies are committing to new standards of transparency At the risk of losing some foreign investors, Asian jurisdictions are stepping up efforts to combat corporate tax avoidance to meet new global transparency standards. More than a dozen Asia-Pacific jurisdictions have...
The notification follows hectic parleys between India and Switzerland for introduction of AEOI (Automatic Exchange of Information) under guidance of G20, OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and other global organisations. Switzerland found India’s data security and confidentiality laws “adequate” for entering into an automatic exchange of information pact,...
An ATO ruling is being interpreted as allowing ‘bucket companies’ linked to trusts to be eligible for lower tax rate The federal government’s company-tax reforms are making the use of family trusts even more attractive as a tax minimising strategy, experts have warned. The Coalition’s company tax rate cut from...
The current plan for US tax reform would disproportionately benefit the wealthy, the International Monetary Fund has said, recommending more support for low-income taxpayers and higher indirect taxes. On the need for tax reform, the IMF said in its Article IV consultation for the United States that “the US personal...
The International Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation unit is readying two new programs focusing on data investigations and international tax enforcement. The data initiative will tie together the information uncovered by the IRS’s field offices around the country with headquarters in Washington, D.C. “We are standing up a nationally coordinated data...
The Costa Rican government is very interested in forming part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD http://www.oecd.org/ ). The OECD is formed by 35 nations to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. Last Thursday, economist Bert Brys, explained...
As part of the Irish Budgetary process, officials from the Finance Department have published a paper on the implications of Brexit for Ireland’s tax system. The paper was prepared for consideration by the Tax Strategy Group (TSG), an interdepartmental committee chaired by the Finance Department. The papers produced by the...
The UK will not engage in aggressive tax competition to attract business post-Brexit, Chancellor Philip Hammond has said. He added that the country’s economy will remain aligned with the European model after leaving the EU. “It is often said that London would consider launching into unfair competition in terms of...
“Disproportionate” value disappears from economic system compared to GDP Malta ranks first among a number of EU countries in a list of what a new study calls 24 “sink offshore financial centres”, which it says are typically characterised as tax havens. The study, published this week in the academic journal...
The OECD has praised Luxembourg’s tax regime for its predictability, although it sounded a warning about the volatility of tax revenues from the financial sector. In its latest assessment of the Luxembourg economy, the OECD said that Luxembourg’s strong economic performance was due partly to “business-friendly regulations, a predictable tax...
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has released guidance on a change to value-added tax rules to tax services used outside the EU by UK consumers. The changes, which were introduced in the Spring Budget 2017, will affect suppliers of mobile telecommunication services, private consumers, and non-business users who consume telecommunication...
Canada and dozens of other countries will automatically share banking information of non-residents Canadians with secret overseas bank accounts could soon find themselves at risk of being exposed by a new international agreement designed to help catch tax cheats. Under the Common Reporting Standard, dozens of countries will share information...
Tax liability under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (‘the Act’) of any person is determined based upon his residential status. A person resident of India is taxable on his income accruing across the globe [see End Note 1] while a non-resident is taxable only on the income accruing or arising or...
The European Commission launched legal proceedings against Portugal, Bulgaria, and Cyprus for not adopting, in their national laws, European Union legislation requiring all EU countries to exchange tax rulings granted to multilateral companies. The legislation was adopted in the wake of the 2014 LuxLeaks scandal that revealed more than 100...
The Australian Tax Office is preparing to take several companies to court over abuse of thin capitalisation rules and will start a wave of audits of large multinationals with complex cross-border loans, as it continues to take a hardline approach in the wake of its win against Chevron. The ATO...
Cameroon has officially become the 70th country to adhere to the convention of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters. The act of accession to this convention has just been signed between OECD and the Cameroonian Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey....
Bulgaria is among European Union countries that the European Commission has sent a reasoned opinion because of its failure to communicate the transposition of new measures on the automatic exchange of tax rulings between EU tax authorities. The step was announced by the European Commission on July 13, among its...
Swop of taxpayer financial data can start when Jakarta puts safeguards in place, says Indranee Singapore stands ready to have a Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI) relationship with Indonesia, as soon as Indonesia is ready, Senior Minister of State for Finance and Law Indranee Rajah has said. This...
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble defended his opposition to pending European Union legislation that would force large multinational companies to publicly disclose, on a country-by-country basis, their taxes paid and profits. Schauble, who testified before the EU Parliament’s Panama Papers investigative committee July 11, said public reporting of companies’ tax...
Most Asian countries are not collecting enough tax to meet their goals and they need to boost revenue by taking steps at home and by working with other countries, the deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund said. In much of Asia, the tax-to-GDP ratio “consistently” falls below the...
New data-sharing rules aren’t without pitfalls for clients of private banks, as authorities race to shut loopholes, Bank Reyl lawyer Drazen Turujlija told finews.asia-TV. Switzerland is set to begin exchanging data with other countries from next year, a move which has fundamentally shifted the dynamic in Switzerland’s trillion-Swiss franc offshore...
France wants Brussels to take a tougher stance on American multinationals working inside the European Union (EU) and force them to pay an appropriate amount of tax. “I can tell you that the times we live in are not for the weak,” French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire said in...
Slovakia is the first V4 country to sign the agreement on country-by-country reporting. Slovakia’s Financial Administration has obtained easier access to the information of US multinational companies. The representatives of Slovakia and the US signed a bilateral agreement on country-by-country (CbC) reporting on June 21, the TASR newswire reported. The...
The Australian Tax Office has tweaked its view about whether companies linked to family trusts are eligible for tax relief, but industry veterans say the situation remains “utterly confused” and “mind-boggling”. A new statement on the ATO website says companies will be eligible for the lower 27.5 per cent rate...
Obama-administration regulation drew criticism as overbroad Trump ordered review of tax rules that may pose undue burdens A federal rule aimed at limiting corporate “earnings stripping’’ for tax-avoidance purposes may pose an undue burden on taxpayers and may be changed or rescinded, according to a U.S. Internal Revenue Service notice....
The European Union has published a letter to EU heads of state, laying down a direct challenge to the Trump administration, on the issues of tax avoidance ahead of the G20 summit this weekend. The joint letter, sent by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council president Donald Tusk...
Mauritius has signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI). Once ratified, the MLI will affect as many as 23 tax treaties entered into by this island nation, which has been an important jurisdiction for routing investments into India. Interestingly,...
Indonesia and Switzerland have signed a joint declaration on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI) yesterday. The signing was held at the Directorate General of Tax in Central Jakarta. At the signing ceremony, Indonesia was represented by Director General of Tax for the Finance Ministry Ken Dwijugeasteadi and Switzerland...
Who is required to file, how it should be filed and what is necessary to disclose. Several South African-based multinational companies have less than six months to prepare their country-by-country reports for exchange with other tax jurisdictions. Many have realised the magnitude of the information expected and have been setting...
OECD lauds major progress made €85 billion in additional tax revenue has been identified thanks to progress in creating a fairer and more effective international tax system, the OECD said today. The moves include increasing efforts to close down loopholes, improve transparency and ensure that multinational enterprises pay tax where...
The European Parliament on Tuesday passed a directive requiring big multinationals to report tax and financial data separately in all countries where they operate, a measure aimed at tackling tax avoidance and profit shifting to countries with lower taxes. The new rules are part of a wider overhaul of tax...
EU Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has described the proposed common consolidated corporation tax base as a “decisive tool against corporate tax avoidance.” Moscovici made the comment during a speech on tax fairness. He said the CCCTB will provide companies with a single rulebook for calculating their taxable profit throughout the...
The Internal Revenue Service has created a new section on its IRS.gov website dedicated to information on the Country-by-Country Reporting rules of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project, which aims to discourage tax avoidance by multinational companies. The new Country-by-Country Reporting web pages...
A number of territories that had failed to demonstrate they have complied with international tax transparency standards have had their ratings upgraded by the OECD, following “fast-track” peer reviews. It said that the territories’ frameworks were reevaluated to assess whether recent progress would result in an upgrade to their ratings...
The Greek parliament has adopted a new law transposing an amendment to the European Union administrative cooperation directive to provide for the exchange of advanced tax rulings between member states. The new law, passed by parliament earlier this month, adopts EU Directive 2015/2376/EU of December 8, 2015, which amends Directive...
The OECD’s body for assessing compliance with international tax transparency standards plans to tell an upcoming summit in Hamburg, Germany, that Trinidad and Tobago is the world’s only tax haven. Group of 20 country leaders meeting last year in China asked that body, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange...
The OECD has released for stakeholders’ comments two new discussion drafts as part of its base erosion and profit shifting work. The first draft builds on the OECD’s final report on BEPS Action 7 (on preventing the artificial avoidance of permanent establishment status). The final Report on Action 7 of...
The Australian Taxation Office has reversed its stance on the tax treatment of trustee dividend-equivalent payments to participants in employee share schemes. The ATO’s June 8 draft guidance, Draft determination TD 2017/D2, deals with circumstances in which an employer establishes a trust to provide shares to employees under an employee...
The Juncker Commission has made the fight against tax avoidance, money laundering and terrorism financing one of its priorities. Today, the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive enters into force. It strengthens the existing rules and will make the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing more effective. It also improves transparency...
European Union-based multinational companies that exceed consolidated revenue of 750 million euros ($840 million) for two consecutive years would have to report publicly on taxes paid, profits earned, and persons employed on a country-by-country basis, under a proposal from Malta. Malta holds the EU presidency, a position it will turn...
A. Introduction In February 2017 Cyprus Tax Department has announced that the current practice regarding profit margins between related Company loans will be abolished by the 30th June 2017. The announcement indicates that the minimum acceptable margins will apply up to 30th June 2017, and as from 1st July 2017...
