DUBAI: This week the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) published their 2015 National Strategic Assessment. The Assessment presents a comprehensive picture of the threat to the UK from serious and organised crime, and helps to inform the work of the NCA and their international partners, including in the UAE. Some… – Continue reading
The Turks and Caicos Islands is compliant with the Global Forum’s standards on exchange of tax information said its Minister of Finance today, Thursday, 25 June 2015. The Honourable Washington Misick was responding to a European Commission (EC) document that appeared to list 30 territories across the world that it… – Continue reading
An academic who specialises in tax havens says a blacklist released by the European Commission last week is arbitrary and poorly constructed. Transcript An academic who specialises in tax havens says a blacklist released by the European Commission last week is arbitrary and poorly constructed. The list of 30 international… – Continue reading
Executive summary On 8 June 2015, the Presidency of the EU Council (Latvia) sent a report (The Report) to the Permanent Representatives Committee and the European Council. The Report sets out the current state, as well as a number of open issues and questions, in regard to the 18 March… – Continue reading
The governments of Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines have complained about the European Union’s decision to include them on a list of 30 international tax havens, reports the Latin American Herald. “Grenada’s inclusion implies that Grenada is not doing sufficient to guard against harmful tax practices,” Prime Minister… – Continue reading
“It seems to be realistic to finalize the file on the automatic exchange of information on tax rulings within this year,” Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President of the European Commission, has said, reports Tax News. Dombrovskis made the comment during a press conference after a meeting of the Economic and Financial… – Continue reading
Online retailer’s Luxembourg unit took £5.3bn sales from British internet shoppers, a rise of 14%, but Amazon.co.uk Limited recorded profit of just £34.4m Amazon’s booming UK business paid just £11.9m of tax last year, while the online retailer’s Luxembourg unit took £5.3bn of sales from British internet shoppers without being… – Continue reading
ST. JOHN’S –– Antigua and Barbuda has written to the European Union’s representative in the Caribbean, strongly objecting to the twin-island nation being named a tax haven and calling on the EU to apologize and withdraw the list. In a strongly worded letter to Head of the Delegation of the… – Continue reading
The TAXE committee, set up in the wake of the damaging ‘Luxleaks’ revelations to examine practice in the application of EU state aid and taxation law, has conducted on-site visits to the five EU member states and Switzerland. Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats spokesperson on the TAXE committee Peter… – Continue reading
Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant said that as a matter of urgency all national parliaments should be active participants and decision makers in the process which the European Commission has been launched on the harmonisation of taxes in the eurozone. Dr. Sant said that having the same tax structures for… – Continue reading
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has taken a swipe at Switzerland for providing only limited information about wealthy tax evaders from cash-strapped Greece who are believed to have stashed billions of euros in Swiss banks. In an interview on Wednesday with Rundschau, a current affairs programme from state broadcaster SRF,… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands Government, along with its fellow 126 members of the OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, today received an email signed jointly by the Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA), and the Head of the Global Forum… – Continue reading
Conor Hynes and Ronan Connaughton of Deloitte Ireland explore the impending changes arising from BEPS Action 7 and the Skandia case and provide insight on the potential tax impact for the insurance industry. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is attributed with the saying, “the only thing that is constant is change”…. – Continue reading
On Wednesday 17th June, the European Union published a blacklist of international tax havens which are considered to be “non-cooperative”. Thirty jurisdictions have been blacklisted, but Guernsey, one of the thirty, has been blacklisted in error. The States of Guernsey, Guernsey’s legislative body, is currently in communication with the EU… – Continue reading
Hong Kong’s Government has expressed its regret that the European Union included the territory in its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, saying that criticism of its transparency in tax matters is “totally unfounded.”, reports Tax News. The EU tax blacklist was included in the European Commission’s new Corporate Tax Reform… – Continue reading
Last week Belize was blacklisted by the European Union, along with thirty other countries. The European Union claims that Belize is a tax haven for companies which are seeking to avoid paying taxes. It’s just another in a series of hits from the international community against the offshore sector, and… – Continue reading
A controversial Euro list of dodgy tax jurisdictions that included Bermuda has been dealt a blow after Poland said the Island should not have been included on its submission. The move came after the European Commission unveiled the 30-jurisdiction ‘blacklist’ of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions singled out by member states. Poland… – Continue reading
Channel island claims inclusion is in error because Brussels miscounted the required 10 nominations by wrongly including one for neighbouring Sark Guernsey has written to the European commission demanding to be removed from a blacklist of the worst international tax havens – as nominated by EU member states. Chief minister… – Continue reading
Companies appear similar in structure to those firms in the ‘Luxleaks’ controversy DCC plc, the London-listed support services group which has its headquarters in Dublin, has a number of inter-company financing entities in Luxembourg that have total assets of more than €1 billion. The entities, some of which are Irish… – Continue reading
CONNIE Smith, President of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA), said BIBA is very disappointed that Barbados’ name has appeared on this list of allegedly non co-operative countries indulging on tax avoidance. News broke about the development last week. However, the EU has withdrawn the blacklist. But at a news… – Continue reading
The Bahamas was yesterday “dumped on” through its inclusion on another so-called financial services ‘blacklist’, although an ex-Attorney General and others suggested the development should be taken “with a big grain of salt”, reports the Bahamas Tribune. John Delaney told Tribune Business that the European Union’s (EU) decision to ‘blacklist’… – Continue reading
St. Kitts and Nevis is one of 30 countries placed on the European Union’s black list for not doing enough to fight tax evasion. The EU’s executive Commission published the list Wednesday (June 17). The blacklisted countries figure on at least ten of the EU’s 28 member nations’ lists of… – Continue reading
Britain will not adopt new EU measures to tackle large-scale tax avoidance by multinational companies, the financial secretary to the Treasury has said. Brussels hopes to implement a longstanding tax harmonization plan to set common rules across member states, thereby closing legal loopholes multinationals currently exploit. A German member of… – Continue reading
The European Commission has added Panama to its blacklist of countries designated as tax havens over a lack of support for anti-tax fraud and evasion efforts. The European Union’s executive Commission unveiled the list in the introduction to its action plan to fight tax fraud. The blacklist consists of 30… – Continue reading
David Gauke, financial secretary to the Treasury, told representatives from the European Parliament that Britain would reject plans to combat tax avoidance by multinationals According to the Guardian, German MEP Michael Theurer said, “He was very clear that the UK is insisting on tax competition”. The European Commission’s plan to… – Continue reading
Business lobby group BusinessEurope has withdrawn its previous support for a proposed European common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) due to changes that make it mandatory for multinational companies. UK business lobby group the Institute of Directors has described the CCCTB as “unhelpful political populism”. “European business fully shares the… – Continue reading
Business and politicains all want it but welfare reform demand from London has thrown up an unexpected hurdle If corporation tax were cool, Eamonn Donaghy of KPMG in Belfast would be the Bono of his world – half quiet tax accountant, half buccaneering campaigner with a nifty sideline in high-level… – Continue reading
Critics of an EU tax-haven blacklist say the organisation is playing dice with small states’ reputations, while ignoring European tax avoidance hubs BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, June 19, 2015 (AMG) — Doubts have been cast over the methodology and motives behind the naming of fourteen Caribbean countries among a list of thirty… – Continue reading
In the last few years, particularly following the credit crunch, there has been a tangible focus on tax avoidance and clamping down on tax planning. Overnight, the rules of the game were changed and what was previously considered to be legitimate tax planning was condemned as being aggressive and morally… – Continue reading
Guernsey’s Chief Minister and Commerce and Employment Minister have expressed their astonishment that Guernsey has been included on a list of 30 so-called ‘non-cooperative’ non-EU jurisdictions, which was published today, reports Guernsey Finance. The list consolidates national tax ‘blacklists’ as they stood six months ago, and includes any jurisdiction on… – Continue reading
Government appeared to brush off the latest blacklisting of the Cayman Islands when it released a short statement on Wednesday at around 5pm following revelations by the EU that the jurisdiction had been cited as facilitating tax evasion, reports the Cayman News Service. “It is unfortunate that the EU black… – Continue reading
The 11 European nations seeking a financial-transactions tax will meet Thursday in Luxembourg in a bid to decide how to design the measure, according to European Union officials. Participating states are wrangling over which trades to tax and who should collect revenue, according to planning documents obtained by Bloomberg News…. – Continue reading
Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today (June 18) expressed regret over the inclusion of Hong Kong in the list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions published by the European Commission. “Hong Kong has all along been supportive of international efforts to enhance tax transparency and combat… – Continue reading
Cayman Finance is disappointed to read that the Cayman Islands has today been included on a list (based on the views of 11 EU countries with which Cayman does little international business) implying that we might be non-compliant regarding tax good governance. It is not clear what standards have been… – Continue reading
The European Union 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive has been officially published in the European Journal. The scope of the 4th Directive is wider than its predecessor and covers all gambling services, it will review and revamp the UK Money Laundering Regulations which were established 2007. The 4th Directive will, however,… – Continue reading
The U.S. Model Income Tax Treaty (the U.S. Model Treaty) generally represents the United States’ opening position in treaty negotiations. As a result, when changes to the treaty are proposed, international tax practitioners should be aware of the potential impact those changes can have on their existing inbound U.S. structures…. – Continue reading
The European Union: Labelled Bermuda as a tax haven Bermuda has been named by the European Union as a country that is not doing enough to crack down on tax avoidance. The Island was one of 30 countries on the list published by the EU’s executive Commission today. “These tax… – Continue reading
Britain’s taxing question is whether to maximise revenues or face more austerity. Given the scale of state spending that’s the stark choice facing chancellor George Osborne if he wants to balance the books in this parliament, says James Sproule We are once again considering the tax options facing the chancellor… – Continue reading
The European Union has published its first list of international tax havens as part of a crackdown on multinational companies trying to avoid paying tax in the 28-nation bloc. The list of 30 territories includes Hong Kong and Brunei in Asia, Monaco, Andorra and Guernsey in Europe, and a series… – Continue reading
Blatt’s all folks!’ was probably the pick of the tabloid headlines following the announcement that Sepp Blatter intends (finally) to step down as president of Fifa. Over the course of the next few months, he won’t be the only person anxiously awaiting the outcome of the current investigations into alleged… – Continue reading
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. owns more than $76 billion of assets through a web of units in offshore tax havens around the world, though you wouldn’t know it from reading the giant retailer’s annual report. A new study has found Wal-Mart has at least 78 offshore subsidiaries and branches, more than… – Continue reading
Whether a UK taxpayer is classed as Scottish for the purposes of the Scottish rate of income tax (SRIT) will depend on whether that person is resident in Scotland in any particular tax year, according to draft guidance published by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The SRIT will take effect… – Continue reading
The United States is through trying to needle the OECD’s base erosion and profit-shifting project with pinpricks. Last week, Robert Stack, U.S. Treasury deputy assistant secretary (international tax affairs), abandoned the subtle digs Treasury had been using to attack BEPS and flat-out said the United States is extremely disappointed in… – Continue reading
HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co are in talks to relocate parts of their businesses to Luxembourg from the UK as they weigh the possibility of a British exit from the European Union, the Times reported. JPMorgan is close to setting up a bank based in Luxembourg to… – Continue reading
Politically incendiary proposals will set sights on multinationals’ tax planning with EU states and 30 worst offending havens could be officially blacklisted Officials in Brussels will on Wednesday announce a series of measures designed to stamp out the toxic culture of secret, sweetheart tax deals for multinationals which prevails in… – Continue reading
Following the implementation of the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive (2011/61/EC) and associated legislation, Cyprus now lays claim to being a growth jurisdiction within the European Union for the establishment and servicing of boutique and low cost alternative investment funds based locally or offshore. The choice of fund… – Continue reading
France is trying to squeeze more out of web businesses like EBay Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Airbnb Inc. Soaring online sales and the use of the Internet giants by smaller businessses as a marketplace for goods and services is prompting the French Senate to look for ways to collect more… – Continue reading
On June 5, new EU’s anti-money laundering (AML) rules, namely the Fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (“4AMLD”) and a new Regulation on the information accompanying transfer of funds were published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Together, this legislation represents the revised EU framework on anti-money laundering and… – Continue reading
A country which is small in size but a giant in stature, Malta is rapidly gaining more and more attention on the global stage. With a rapidly expanding financial services sector which rivals some of the most established economies in the world, Malta is an extremely attractive place to do… – Continue reading
EU regulators’ investigations into the low tax arrangements of Apple (AAPL.O), Starbucks (SBUX.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) in some member states are at an advanced stage and decisions could be announced in the coming months, a senior European Commission official said on Thursday. The investigations centre on Luxembourg’s tax rulings for… – Continue reading
