(Reuters) – The European Commission will lay out plans on Wednesday designed to limit tax avoidance in the wake of recent revelations that major corporations were paying minimal state contributions across the European Union. EU members will be required to share information on cross-border tax rulings, according to a draft… – Continue reading
Tax Regulation Number PER-01/PJ/2015, which is supposed to be effective starting this year, has triggered controversy within the banking industry. This is mainly due to the new obligation for banks to disclose details on every customer’s tax payments on deposits or savings interest. The Finance Minister needed to postpone indefinitely… – Continue reading
John Key has thrown his weight behind moves to catch more online purchases and even digital downloads in the GST net, and Labour says it would support changes to close the online revenue loophole. New Zealand is part of an OECD working group looking at the issue of consumption taxes… – Continue reading
Switzerland has made further progress on meeting international tax compliance standards after being upgraded to phase 2 of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) tax transparency review process. However, Switzerland faces a potentially tougher examination in the coming months, particularly regarding the use of stolen bank data by… – Continue reading
The ongoing global initiatives around exchange of tax information and publication of beneficial ownership information, while ostensibly in pursuit of transparency, have their origins in the need for the larger, richer countries to increase tax revenues, and the perception that taxpayers are hiding assets abroad and out of the tax… – Continue reading
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has reiterated his “rock-solid” commitment to the country’s 12.5 percent corporate tax rate. In a speech to the Irish Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta, Kenny said that his Government is “fully committed to pursuing policies that create the ideal conditions for enterprise and investment.” He pointed… – Continue reading
Ireland is facing a fresh threat to its 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate, as MEPs begin investigating low rates across Europe, reports the Irish Independent. A 45-member EU Parliament Tax Inquiry Committee, formed in the wake of the Lux Leaks scandal, has been tasked with investigating various tax arrangements… – Continue reading
Switzerland is moving towards “greater transparency” in providing administrative assistance on tax matters, a global body today said amid India making efforts to bring back illicit funds stashed by its citizens in Swiss banks. Long perceived as a safe haven for unaccounted wealth, Switzerland has been facing international pressure to… – Continue reading
The present French Tax Update will focus on (i) certain noteworthy tax courts decisions issued in the last months of 2014 and in the first months of 2015, and (ii) the so-called projet de loi Macron (Draft Macron Law) adopted by the Assemblée Nationale in February 2015 and now discussed… – Continue reading
Tocqueville Asset Management founder Francois Sicart warns that hiding from the taxman is futile, but postponing taxes is profitable You can’t escape taxes, but you can gain an advantage by legally delaying their payment. That is a model that legendary investor Warren Buffet exemplifies, and it is one of several… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS—A draft law obliging the 28 European Union countries to exchange information on sweetheart tax deals with multinational corporations could lead to disclosure of sensitive business information to other governments, according to a copy of the proposed law seen by The Wall Street Journal.
Multinational tech giants Google and Facebook could soon be charged goods and services tax on advertising booked by Australian companies if a proposal flagged by federal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is adopted. While multinational corporations continue to come under fire for minimising their tax bills in Australia, Turnbull has floated… – Continue reading
PwC expects that UK Chancellor George Osborne’s 2015 Budget will seek to strike a balance between ensuring fiscal responsibility and enticing support from prospective voters. On March 18, Osborne will deliver the Coalition Government’s final Budget ahead of the May 7 general election. PwC pointed out that, crucially, the resultant… – Continue reading
(Seychelles News Agency) – France’s ambassador to Seychelles, Genevieve Iancu, left the Seychelles archipelago, situated in the Indian Ocean on Friday after a little over two years spent in the post. Seychelles and France have good bilateral relations and strong historical ties due to the presence of the first French… – Continue reading
Rio Tinto has warned that multinational companies could be discriminated against if moves to combat tax “base erosion and profit shifting” went too far. With Australia and the other 33 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ramping up efforts to prevent multinational companies avoiding tax, Rio… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): After months of preparation, the exchange of tax information from the Cayman Islands to other jurisdictions will become more efficient with the launch of a new online system. The Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) Portal will be launched this month and will be used by Cayman’s financial institutions… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS, March 10 (Reuters) – The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS — British bank Barclays (LSE: BARC.L – news) to acquire sole control of Spanish insurer CNP Barclays Vida y Pensiones Compania de Seguros,… – Continue reading
The Price We Pay argues that profit-shifting by corporations is undermining democracies A new Canadian documentary draws attention to the profit-shifting tactics used by multinationals to avoid billions of dollars of taxes. Directed by Montrealer Harold Crooks, the film The Price We Pay opens this Friday in Toronto and Montreal,… – Continue reading
Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Mike Lee recently released a tax reform proposal that is a curious mix of principled pro-growth measures and populist middle-class relief. Where it sticks to principle, it is great. But where it veers into populism, the plan collapses into incoherence. The senators’ plan is a… – Continue reading
Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Tariq Bajwa has said that Pakistan and China are re-negotiating agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. On the conclusion of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at the Parliament House here on Thursday,… – Continue reading
After recently completing tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Monaco, the Italian Government is now looking to agree a similar treaty with the Holy See in Rome’s Vatican City. The TIEAs between Italy and Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Monaco, and the prospective treaty with the Vatican, all provide… – Continue reading
On 23 February 2015, the Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (“DITC”) announced that the Governor in Cabinet of the Cayman Islands had approved an extension to the notification deadline contained in Regulation 14(3) of the Tax Information Authority (International Tax Compliance) (United States of America) Regulations, 2014 (the… – Continue reading
Accountancy firms predict that a new offence of aiding and abetting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance will be announced in next week’s Budget It is expected that George Osborne will outline proposals to introduce special measures, aimed at professional service firms, to deter serial avoiders and scheme promoters. The… – Continue reading
The Chancellor will take credit for the improving state of the economy and public finances, but real policy changes will have to wait until after the election. Chris Sanger, Head of Tax Policy at EY, comments: “With this Budget announced in the dying embers of the coalition, next week’s event… – Continue reading
Costa Rica News – If you are making money in Costa Rica expect it to be reported to your country of origin and pay taxes. Costa Rica has long has a reputation as a tax haven but the government is working to change that. If bill number 18,966 is approved,… – Continue reading
Ruling by the European Court of Justice means France is liable to reimburse tens of millions of euros to British and other EU non-resident owners who let out or sold their properties France has lost its tax war against British second home owners after the European Union’s top court deemed… – Continue reading
Two business federations from the Netherlands and Germany have urged the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to ensure that there is a level playing field under new international rules proposed for preferential regimes for intellectual property (IP) income, reports Tax News. The two organizations’ statement concerns the development of… – Continue reading
The call for tax transparency is being echoed around the globe, with ‘midshore’ centres like Bahrain and the UAE emerging as reputable, regulated and tax efficient jurisdictions A 2012 book entitled Offshore Apocalypse – The Collapse of the Tax Haven Industry, written by a team of tax-law academics, auditors, compliance… – Continue reading
On 9 March 2015, the State Secretary of the Latvian Foreign Ministry, Andrejs Pildegovics, met with the members of the South Korean Parliament, Byun Jae Ill and Park Young-sun, who are visiting Latvia from 9 to 11 March in order to strengthen cooperation between the Latvian and South Korean Parliaments,… – Continue reading
You may have noted there’s an election in the offing Worstall on Wednesday As the tech news outlet of record has told us, UK chancellor George Osborne is preparing to bring in the “Google Tax”. Properly known as the Diverted Profits Tax, it is supposed to be a way of… – Continue reading
Responding to widespread anger about corporate tax avoidance, the impacts of such avoidance on inequality and poverty, and concerns that current tax reform processes are inadequate, a new nonpartisan body-the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT)-has been established to propose reforms from the perspective of the… – Continue reading
Representatives of the governments of Hungary and Luxembourg signed an agreement to eliminate double taxation on the sidelines of a meeting of EU finance ministers, the economy ministry said. The new agreement, signed by Economy Minister Mihály Varga and counterpart Pierre Gramegna, replaces an earlier one signed in 1990. It… – Continue reading
The main legal weapon used by the tax office to hunt down multinationals trying to avoid paying tax often doesn’t work, a problem that could cost the federal government billions a year. A Tax Office internal document, Offshore hubs mitigation strategy overview, said that Australia’s general anti-avoidance rule, Part IVA,… – Continue reading
ARLINGTON, Virginia, March 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Bloomberg BNA today announced an addition to its lineup of keynote speakers for the Global Transfer Pricing Conference: Paris, held in conjunction with Baker & McKenzie, on March 30-31 immediately after the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Forum on Transfer… – Continue reading
The long-awaited double tax agreements entered into by Kenya with South Africa and Mauritius respectively did not come into force on 1 January 2015 as expected. The treaty between Kenya and South Africa that was signed in November 2010 was ratified by Kenya in October 2014, following earlier ratification by… – Continue reading
Tunis — Tunisia and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) signed, on Tuesday in Tunis, an agreement under which Tunisia will join the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project and the OECD Action Plan for Youth. Launched in July 2013 by OECD, the BEPS project produced its… – Continue reading
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – The Barbados Government says it will not tolerate businesses operating within the international business and financial services sector engaging in tax evasion practices here and is seeking support from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Commerce Minister Donville Inniss, speaking in Parliament Tuesday,… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance is being documented across the world, with Australia no exception. The government is now looking at how to clamp down on the billions of dollars being lost as top Australian firms are succeeding in dodging taxation. Last year saw the release of multiple reports highlighting the worrying number… – Continue reading
*BELIZE HITS NEW MILESTONE IN AML/CFT COMPLIANCE The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) recognizes the tremendous strides Belize has made in strengthening its regime for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and concluded that Belize no longer poses a risk to the international financial system. At… – Continue reading
Cyprus signed four bilateral agreements with Bahrain on Monday, during President Nicos Anastasiades’ state visit to the kingdom where he was be received by ruler Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, where the two leaders also discussed issues of cooperation in tourism and the economy, as well as concerns about regional… – Continue reading
The Government of the Virgin Islands enhanced relations with the Portuguese Republic by concluding a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) this week bringing the total signed TIEAs to 19. Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Social Development, Honourable Dancia Penn, OBE, QC, and Secretary of State for Tax Affairs… – Continue reading
Amid mounting pressure last year, the US launched a supposed crackdown on tax inversion. But it might not have been as far-reaching as was made out, and with good reason The recent G20 crackdown on tax avoidance by funnelling profits through tax havens has sparked a variety of reactions –… – Continue reading
The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) recognizes the tremendous strides Belize has made in strengthening its regime for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and concluded that Belize no longer poses a risk to the international financial system. At the recently concluded CFATF Plenary, member countries… – Continue reading
Subramaniam Swamy has been a strong advocate for abolishing income tax. There is a basic dichotomy in the taxation structure in India — many corporates pay taxes that are a fraction of what they should be paying while the salaried class get deductions that can’t really be called deductions due… – Continue reading
A tax loophole is denying British youth and unemployed workers the chance to earn a living or to be trained in a new career. The sneaky technicality, which is fully supported by the European Union, is predominantly used when projects are funded from ‘European regional funds’ such as roads and… – Continue reading
Introduction In the autumn statement the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the introduction of a new Diverted Profits Tax (DPT). Against the context of international co-operation in the OECD led consultation on ways to ensure profits are taxed where they are generated (the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project (BEPS),… – Continue reading
Planning to enjoy your retirement in a different country? Check these tax, banking and investment issues More than 400,000 Britons have retired abroad, attracted by better weather, a laid-back lifestyle and a lower cost of living. But if you want to join them, you will need to make serious adjustments… – Continue reading
Luxembourg: French President Francois Hollande urged Luxembourg on Friday to “go as far as possible” in tackling tax avoidance in the wake of the Luxleaks scandal. Investigative journalists last year found top international companies including Disney, Microsoft and Heinz benefiting from sweetheart tax deals with Luxembourg. “Luxembourg has committed to… – Continue reading
The recent tax scandals had revealed that HSBC bank offered a friendly advice to its private clients on how to succeed in their tax evasion attempts. This effectively shows that our societies are divided between those who have higher share of wealth (and thus greater opportunities to pursue their interests)… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS, March 6 (KUNA) — The EU warned Friday that the continued withholding of Palestinian revenues by Israel could be highly detrimental to the stability and security of the region. “This decision runs counter to Israel’s obligations under the Paris Protocol of the Oslo Agreement. It should be recalled that… – Continue reading
