OECD’s head of tax policy says protectionist measures by national governments had to be avoided The risk of protectionist tax measures being taken by national governments has abated as a result of the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (Beps) project, a key official has told a conference in Dublin…. – Continue reading
As many as 300 “Google-style” tax deals are under investigation across the European Union , it has been claimed. All 28 EU states are said to be involved in scrutinising a number of agreements struck by countries and multi-national corporations as part of a wider inquiry into unfair tax competition… – Continue reading
Multinational companies operating in Europe will have to publicly disclose their earnings and the tax paid in each European country if new measures being proposed by the European Commission come into force, The Guardian has reported. The Commission will propose new legislation in April that makes profit and tax information… – Continue reading
When Tim Cook and his two senior Apple colleagues were questioned by a US Senate sub-committee back in May 2013, the headlines generated in the world’s business press were unsettling. Some lawmakers repeatedly characterised Ireland as a tax haven, saying behemoth Apple channelled billions of dollars of global revenues generated… – Continue reading
Large multinational corporations such as Amazon.com, Apple, Google and Starbucks with operations in Europe have long been able to keep the tax rate they pay in one country secret, not only from neighboring nations but also from their competitors. Critics say this lack of transparency has allowed companies to unfairly… – Continue reading
‘Multinational corporations complain all the time of excessive demand about excessive taxation, but it is also true that MNCs across the world tend to find tax avoidance and sometimes tax evasion as an appropriate technique’ Blaming multinational corporations squarely for tax controversies, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has said their… – Continue reading
Senegal on February 4 signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, becoming the 93rd jurisdiction to sign the document, and the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports, becoming the 32nd signatory to that agreement, the OECD has announced. The Multilateral Convention… – Continue reading
At least this is the goal – member states safeguarding their social models by preventing trans-border operating multinational companies from avoiding “their fair share” of the tax burden. According to the European Commission, small and medium-sized enterprises in the EU pay 30% higher tax burden than large multinational companies. With… – Continue reading
A collective of unions has slammed the latest proposals by the European Commission to stamp out elaborate tax plans used by multinational companies to move vast profits around the EU in an effort to reduce their corporate tax bills in member states. The European Commission last week published a series… – Continue reading
The present French Tax Update will focus on an overview of several noteworthy publications, including decisions issued during the past few months by the French Administrative Supreme Court (Conseil d’Etat) and French Constitutional Court (Conseil Constitutionnel), as well as the European Commission decision in respect of the Belgian Excess Profit… – Continue reading
Estonia has become the first country in the world to offer a transnational digital identity. It’s attracted the attention of entrepreneurs and digital nomads worldwide, but there’s still a huge amount of confusion about the benefits of the E-Residency Program and what e-residency actually means. Let’s take a look. What… – Continue reading
Finance minister will commission an impact assessment on on how a proposed package by the European Commission to clamp down on aggressive tax planning will impact Malta’s economy Malta will resist any attempt by the European Commission to reduce sovereignty over its own fiscal affairs, finance minister Edward Scicluna pledged…. – Continue reading
European Commission’s tax avoidance plan announced last week includes positives, like country-by-country reporting, but doesn’t go far enough to turn the tide against corporate tax dodging; Such reporting should be made public The European Commission last week announced proposals for new laws to tackle tax avoidance and evasion in the… – Continue reading
COMMUNIST trade union leader Ken Gill famously referred to taxation as “the price we pay for civilisation.” If so last week gave further evidence of just how uncivilised a country Britain has become after decades of neoliberalism. Google’s deal with HMRC has rightly prompted outrage and consternation at the sheer… – Continue reading
Mauritius will start automatic exchange of tax information with other nations only from September 2018, as it has postponed by a year implementation of global common reporting standard on tax matters. The delay could impact Indian authorities’ efforts to gather more tax-related information from Mauritius, which is allegedly being used… – Continue reading
The European Commission proposed a set of new rules to curb tax avoidance by large companies. This follows Google’s £130m “sweetheart” tax deal with UK’s HM Revenue and Customs to allegedly avoid paying its fair share of corporate tax that spreads across ten years. Euronews reported that one of the… – Continue reading
European officials have been urged by the British government to remove Bermuda – a tax haven used by Google – from an official blacklist, according to reports. The behind-the-scenes lobbying by UK Treasury ministers involved a memo circulated among Tory MEPs in Brussels describing the sanctions against tax havens as… – Continue reading
The whistleblower who helped to reveal how Google was avoiding paying tax in the UK said that Britain needed to create better incentives to encourage more people to come forward and reveal how multinationals are avoiding paying tax to the exchequer. Like millions of others this weekend, Barney Jones is… – Continue reading
The EU’s anti-base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) proposals could have consequences for captives in Europe, as politicians pinpoint reinsurance arrangements as a means of unfair tax avoidance. The European Commission introduced a range of anti-tax avoidance proposals on 28 January, following the release of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation… – Continue reading
The European Parliamentary Research Service has estimated that corporate tax-dodging costs the EU between $54.5 billion and $76.4 billion a year. The European Commission has proposed a package of measures to clamp down on corporate tax avoiders that would close a loophole companies have used to shift profits to low-tax… – Continue reading
The Italian Patent Box regime largely complies with the OECD recommendations to prevent base erosion and profit shifting. Its non-compliant features offer a brief window of opportunity for companies able to take swift advantage of its wide range of qualifying intangible assets. Many countries have implemented specific IP regimes through… – Continue reading
Today’s proposals aim for a coordinated EU wide response to corporate tax avoidance, following global standards developed by the OECD last autumn. New rules are needed to align the tax laws in all 28 EU countries in order to fight aggressive tax practices by large companies efficiently and effectively. The… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS (Alliance News) – The EU stepped up the fight against corporate tax avoidance Thursday, unveiling proposals including an EU-wide blacklist of international tax havens, as part of a wider clampdown on firms using loopholes to reduce their tax bills. The EU’s executive estimates that member states are deprived of… – Continue reading
Moving money out of the usual offshore secrecy havens and into the U.S. is a brisk new business. Last September, at a law firm overlooking San Francisco Bay, Andrew Penney, a managing director at Rothschild & Co., gave a talk on how the world’s wealthy elite can avoid paying taxes…. – Continue reading
Despite EU intentions to crack down on tax avoidance, the European Commission’s Anti-Tax Avoidance Package does not do what it says on the tin, warns Oxfam, and developing countries will feel the EU’s failure most. The package comes a week after the international NGO revealed that just 62 people own… – Continue reading
Ireland will be forced to ban many of the tax advantages it offers multinationals under proposals to be published by the European Commission tomorrow. This is the first step in an effort to have all EU countries introduce similar tax rules to prevent companies in the 28 member states avoiding… – Continue reading
Directive follows a series of high-profile tax cases involving Google, Apple and others. Rampant corporate tax dodging and sweetheart deals that cheat governments and skew markets, have prompted the European Commission to unveil a new directive Thursday. The proposed legislation follows a quick succession of tax rulings, settlements and investigations… – Continue reading
On 5th October 2015, the OECD released its final reports setting out the action plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, thus concluding the two year project which started at the behest of G20 countries in 2013. The reports are aimed at suggesting the measures to reform the… – Continue reading
A. INTRODUCTION On the 13th of March 2012, the Cyprus VAT Authority has launched a scheme making Cyprus one of the most attractive EU jurisdictions for yacht registration. According to this scheme, a Cyprus company can enter into a lease-sale agreement of a yacht with a third party, paying VAT… – Continue reading
The new advanced pricing agreements cover sectors like investment advisory, IT enabled services and manufacturing In the current fiscal year, which is the third year of APA programme, 30 agreements have been signed so far. As part of efforts to reduce tax disputes related to international transactions carried out by… – Continue reading
DAVOS, Switzerland—Google said Friday that it has struck a deal with U.K. authorities that will settle a tax dispute and boost its corporate taxes in Britain, part of a broader effort by European governments to wring more out of big firms in the tech sector. As part of the settlement,… – Continue reading
Multinational companies are facing severe constraints on their ability to avoid taxes on their activities in Europe as regulators seek to close loopholes laid bare by the LuxLeaks scandal Pierre Moscovici, the EU’s tax policy chief, will set out plans next week to curb practices such as using debt interest… – Continue reading
Ireland’s insistence that it is not a tax haven and that in fact other EU countries have tax regimes that facilitate tax dodging by multinationals will be borne out by a study to be released next week. But while this will be good news to Finance Minister Michael Noonan a… – Continue reading
Apple Inc. is pushing back against an European tax investigation that could force the iPhone maker to pay more than $8 billion in back taxes. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook met with the European Commission’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager in Brussels on Thursday to press the company’s case. After the… – Continue reading
As from 1 January 2016, new rules have become effective in the Netherlands that require multinational enterprises (“MNEs“) to comply with new transfer pricing documentation requirements, including the obligation to prepare a Country-by-Country Report (“CbC Report“), a Master File and a Local File. These rules essentially implement Action 13 of… – Continue reading
The Yomiuri Shimbun Four international organizations will join forces to devise unified global tax rules aimed at preventing tax evasion by multinational companies. The four entities involved are the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The OECD — whose… – Continue reading
Having companies pay their tax where they make their profits is the best way to resolve unfair tax competition between member states, Competition Commissioner Margarita Vestager said yesterday. She was responding to a European Parliament reporting calling for countries to forfeit tax that the Commission say companies should pay when… – Continue reading
Ireland’s emergence from economic meltdown provides a model for other nations, the Taoiseach has told the World Economic Forum. Enda Kenny also defended his country’s tax arrangements with multinational companies, telling the audience past claims that it was a tax haven for big businesses were without foundation. Mr Kenny took… – Continue reading
European Union countries will have to introduce rules from 2017 to speed up tax refunds on cross-border investments, part of a drive to improve the working of financial markets and lift economic growth, according to an EU document seen by Reuters. The executive European Commission wants to simplify “withholding tax”… – Continue reading
The proceeds from illegal tax breaks brokered between an EU state and a multinational company, known as clawbacks, should be returned either to the EU budget or to the coffer of other states unfairly deprived of the money, according to MEPs. The idea was endorsed by the European parliament in… – Continue reading
The government is ready to restrict British expatriates’ tax benefits in a bid to get agreement with the European Union over renegotiating the UK’s terms of membership, according to press reports. The Guardian has reported that expats could be banned from claiming tax credits for up to four years as… – Continue reading
The beneficiaries included Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, BP Plc, BASF SE, Proximus SA, Atlas Copco AB, Wabco Holdings, and Celio France SAS. proximus SE This estimate does not include any benefits associated with a successful appeal of the decision, nor does it reflect guidance we expect to receive from the Belgian… – Continue reading
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), the world’s company by market capitalization, may face more than $8 billion tax bill in connection with the investigation of the European Commission regarding its tax policies, according to Bloomberg. Matt Larson, a litigation analyst Bloomberg Intelligence analyzed the European Commission’s investigation against Apple, which was accused… – Continue reading
European Commission is due to rule on Apple’s tax affairs in March But recent rulings suggest that report is likely to go against tech giant Probe investigating if firm negotiated low tax rate with Irish authorities If taxes are recalculated at higher rate, Apple could end up owing $8bn Apple… – Continue reading
The Netherlands will be at the forefront of efforts to combat multinationals’ tax avoidance, its finance minister has said. The comments come amid a dispute with the European Commission over his country’s tax treatment of Starbucks. The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will propose a new set of binding rules… – Continue reading
The European Commission has ordered Belgium to recover €700 million from 35 large companies in back taxes in the EU executive’s biggest move yet to crack down on tax avoidance by multinationals. The Commission said Belgium’s “excess profit” tax system, whereby multinationals’ economies of scale can enable them to reduce… – Continue reading
The Netherlands will prioritize action against corporate tax avoidance during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, from now until the end of June. In a report detailing its plans for its six-month term, the Dutch Government said: “The Netherlands Presidency will prioritize action against tax evasion and… – Continue reading
Documentary Evidence European Union lawmakers sitting on the TAXE committee investigating corporate tax evasion in Europe say they have become frustrated at changes to their mandate and the unwillingness of the European Commission to hand over documents for their investigation. The matter is all the more personal as Commission President… – Continue reading
Last year Jersey cemented its position as a leading centre for companies looking to list – as reflected in the rise in volume and value of Jersey companies listed on exchanges around the world. Here are some challenges that lie ahead in this jurisdiction over the next 12 months. In… – Continue reading
Reforms to corporate tax rules and fiscal transparency will be pursued by EU policy makers in 2016, the EU’s tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici has said. “We have a serious problem with tax avoidance and lack of transparency. Too many people have looked the other way,” Moscovici said. Moscovici told a… – Continue reading
