Russian Federation Council foreign committee chairman Mihhail Margelov said at his meeting with Estonian Riigikogu speaker Ene Ergma on Thursday that the agreement on avoiding double taxation between the two states is in Russia interests too, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports. Ergma expressed concerns over the halting of the ratification process of… – Continue reading
Former treasurer Wayne Swan has warned that Australia risks losing global influence unless this year’s G20 summit achieves concrete results on issues such as multinational tax avoidance. Ahead of this weekend’s meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers in Sydney, Mr Swan also urged the Abbott government not to… – Continue reading
Irish Corporate Tax 2014: The current Irish governance system has remained unchanged through boom and bust and the addiction to political spin, distortion and sometimes lies, works at least in the short term while in some cases it has an enduring impact. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, it’s possible “to… – Continue reading
An $880 million payout to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has reignited the debate over whether global companies pay their fair share of tax in Australia. News was paid the money after winning a long-running legal battle with the Tax Office relating to a 1989 restructure of the media empire involving… – Continue reading
Switzerland must adopt a position on sharing bank client data with foreign tax authorities more quickly than originally thought and cannot hold back until all other countries have introduced the practice, its finance minister told a Swiss newspaper. So far, 42 countries have declared an interest in automatically sharing information… – Continue reading
The Federal Labor Party has demanded the Government bring Australia’s international taxation regulations into line to deal with multinationals such as Apple and Google, which are siphoning billions of dollars of revenue out of Australia while paying only small amounts of local tax. In a statement issued this morning, Shadow… – Continue reading
The Federal Labor Party has demanded the Government bring Australia’s international taxation regulations into line to deal with multinationals such as Apple and Google, which are siphoning billions of dollars of revenue out of Australia while paying only small amounts of local tax. In a statement issued this morning, Shadow… – Continue reading
INTRODUCTION On 31 January 2014 the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey jointly issued draft Guidance Notes (in conjunction with the Isle of Man) on the implementation of obligations arising under the intergovernmental agreements (“IGAs“) signed by each island with the UK in October 2013 and with the US in… – Continue reading
International Business Minister, Donville Inniss recently announceed that the Barbados Government and the United States of America have agreed to start negotiations with respect to an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) that will give effect in Barbados to the provisions of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA, enacted by the… – Continue reading
New Delhi: Cracking down on alleged wealth stashed by Indians abroad, the government has initiated enquiries in several cases while information has been received in 67 such cases and prosecution for wilful tax evasion has been launched in 17 other cases. Giving an update on alleged tax evasion through offshore… – Continue reading
Multinational tax avoidance in the digital economy has become a hot political topic with public reports of companies such as Google, Apple and Starbucks not paying a “fair share” of tax. The G20 group of rich economies has commissioned the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to tackle corporate profit… – Continue reading
A mainland spokeswoman on Monday talked up cross-Strait plans for a pact on the avoidance of double taxation, after concern that it may lead to the exposure of people’s personal data. The pact, currently being discussed by negotiators across the Strait, will benefit both sides, said Fan Liqing of the… – Continue reading
Thousands of Swiss bank account holders and others have already come forward to settle unpaid UK tax bills and avoid costly tax penalties – but the LDF window won’t be open for ever. The Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) was launched in 2009 and continues to be available until 5 April 2016. It… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger had hinted that Austria might be happy to exchange data on bank account holders with EU countries even is similar agreements have not been finalised with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Austria and Luxembourg had come under criticism in December after they previously said they will block EU… – Continue reading
Feb 11 (Reuters) – Austria signalled on Tuesday flexibility on exchanging cross-border bank account data with fellow European Union members even absent a final EU accord with Switzerland. “As far as banking secrecy for foreigners goes, it is important for us that there are similar accords with neighbours like Switzerland… – Continue reading
The European Commission is currently analysing how Gibraltar and Spain will implement recommendations made by its experts who visited the border last year. Both the Gibraltar Government and the Spanish Government have submitted detailed documents to the Commission – the former via the office of the UK permanent representative in… – Continue reading
The law’s onerous provisions are scheduled to go into effect in the coming year. However, even as this regulatory reckoning approaches, a group of US citizens residing abroad is making progress pushing for repeal. The looming United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), intended to prevent tax cheating, is… – Continue reading
GEORGE Osborne’s new oligarch tax is set to cause a headache for wealthy people in Worcestershire, according to tax expert Anita Stewart, partner at Bewdley firm DHJH Chartered Accountants, and she is urging them act now if they want to avoid a hefty bill in 12 months’ time. Ms Stewart… – Continue reading
India’s finance ministry is preparing to seek the cabinet’s approval to withdraw conciliation proceedings with the UK telecoms firm. Vodafone, the world’s second-largest mobile operator by subscribers, entered India in 2007 by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa’s mobile phone assets. It is contesting a tax bill of about 112bn rupees (£1.1bn) relating… – Continue reading
India and Croatia have signed a double taxation avoidance treaty as an important step in strengthening their economic cooperation. The treaty was signed in Zagreb on Wednesday by Croatian Finance Minister Slavko Linic and Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, during her working visit to Croatia. The… – Continue reading
The income tax (I-T) department has not been able to make any headway in detecting the offshore investments by Indians, including 20 big names from Andhra Pradesh, in the safe havens abroad. The reason? ‘Non-cooperation’ by the foreign counterparts despite agreements for sharing tax information. It was after the much-publicized… – Continue reading
“If you can’t tax the big guys then you are left with the little guys and the middle class, and they can’t provide enough” for the modern democratic state, according to OECD head Jose Angel Gurria. The Paris-based body is working on tackling base erosion and profit shifting, which exploit… – Continue reading
The following commentary, compiled by the Institute for Risk Management Bermuda Group, examines the implications for the Island of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) legislation enacted by the United States. Back in June 2012 the Institute of Risk Management (IRM), Bermuda Regional Group hosted a forward looking… – Continue reading
Government today said efforts are being made to find mutually acceptable solution to address India’s concerns while revising the tax treaty with Mauritius. Government has proposed to review the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) to incorporate amendments to the pact for prevention of treaty abuse and to strengthen the… – Continue reading
A new India-Cyprus double tax avoidance agreement (DTAA) or tax treaty, inches closer to finalisation. The delegates of the two countries are slated to meet in early-mid March to tie up the loose ends. While the revised treaty will contain more stringent provisions relating to exchange of information, it is… – Continue reading
State Minister Ambassador Berhane met on Monday (January 27) with Mr. Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Canada. Their discussions focused on strengthening the bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Canada. Mr. Obhrai said he appreciated the growing relationship between the two countries and was looking for additional… – Continue reading
Belgium’s finance ministry on January 27 announced changes to the effective dates of the agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with China. The finance ministry had previously announced that the agreement would come into effect on Jan. 4, 2014 and apply to taxes on income… – Continue reading
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collected more tax from smaller businesses than large multinationals last year as a result of its investigations into firms’ transfer pricing arrangements, according to figures obtained by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com. Corporate tax expert Heather Self of Pinsent Masons said that HMRC… – Continue reading
When Taoiseach Enda Kenny was grilled over Ireland’s low tax regime for multinationals on a visit to Paris last week, he fell back on a familiar defence. By now it’s a regular refrain – Ireland’s corporate taxes are crystal clear and transparent. Ours, he added, is a statute-based system which… – Continue reading
Greece’s chronic difficulties with tax evasion was a topic of discussion today when Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras met his Swiss counterpart Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf in Athens. “We reiterated that we want the British model” for Greece, Stournaras said after the meeting, referring to a 2011 withholding tax agreement between Switzerland and… – Continue reading
South Korea’s tax agency has launched an investigation into the Seoul branch of UBS on suspicion of tax evasion, industry sources said Wednesday. According to the sources, the National Tax Service (NTS) began the probe late last year on suspicions that the Swiss bank did not report 51 billion won… – Continue reading
India’s recent decision to blacklist Cyprus for not providing tax data will hit developers and realty funds. Investors who have routed their funds through Cyprus are likely to face a big decline in returns as developers will now be expected to withhold higher tax amounts. So far, these investments were… – Continue reading
Cayman is taking steps to implement the legal aspect of various Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA). A working group, made up of public and private sector representatives, is helping to develop the legal framework for the automatic exchange of information for tax purposes, in order to respond to the international regulations… – Continue reading
Canada has signed a tax-information sharing agreement with the U.S. Treasury Department ahead of a new U.S. law that will crack down on offshore tax avoidance, senior Canadian finance officials said on Wednesday. The agreement, which is one of 22 so-called intergovernmental agreements (IGA) between Washington and individual countries, comes… – Continue reading
The OECD on Sunday delivered a new global standard to crack down on tax evasion with more than 40 countries already committing to the measures. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) chief Angel Gurria called it “a real game-changer” that would boost international cooperation to reel in cheats. “Globalisation… – Continue reading
After consideration of the article setting out the limitations on benefits in the double taxation convention between Cyprus and the United States, the US authorities have accepted that a Cyprus-resident holding company qualified for benefits under the Cyprus-US convention, and the reduced rate of tax payable on dividends from qualified… – Continue reading
Investors are adopting a “wait and watch approach” in routing their money through Mauritius into India amid bilateral tax treaty uncertainties, which is also impacting the island nation’s financial services sector. According to a leading industry body – Global Finance Mauritius – continuing uncertainties over the tax treaty with India… – Continue reading
In contrast to oil-producing Arab nations, non-oil-producing Arab countries rely on tax revenues to cover government spending. However, they have encountered significant difficulties when it comes to acquiring sufficient tax revenues. This has pushed them to either cut down on investment spending, ask for foreign aid, or borrow from internal… – Continue reading
One in three senior bank executives believes their institution has poor anti-money laundering controls at a time when the threat of vast regulatory fines and criminal prosecutions is increasing, according to a KPMG survey. The annual survey, which quizzed 317 anti-money laundering and compliance professionals in banks and financial institutions across 48… – Continue reading
Jersey and Hungary signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) at the Hungarian Embassy in London on Tuesday, 28 January, 2014. The Agreement was signed by the Minister for External Relations, Senator Sir Philip Bailhache, and the Hungarian Ambassador, His Excellency Janos Csak. Senator Bailhache said: “We attach great importance… – Continue reading
Three Bermuda subsidiaries of Microsoft Corp. are involved in a tax inquiry launched by another country, according to documents made public by the Bermuda Supreme Court. The look into the three shell companies, the existence of which Microsoft does not acknowledge in public filings with regulators, comes as the technology… – Continue reading
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has received 106 requests from Swiss credit institutions willing to participate in its tax regularization program, which aims to put an end to attempts by US taxpayers to conceal their wealth in Switzerland. The figure corresponds to one-third of all banks in the Confederation…. – Continue reading
New HMRC proposals which would require the users of tax planning schemes to pay disputed tax up front could inadvertently encourage more aggressive behaviour, warns Pinsent Masons, the international law firm. Pinsent Masons explains that, currently, HMRC is only able to claim disputed tax from users of tax planning and… – Continue reading
In a world that’s as economically unequal as it can get, the Silicon Valley elite is being cocky as the king of spades. As Adrian Wooldridge from The Economist mentions, it’s following in Wall Street moneybags’ footsteps and flaunting its newly acquired wealth, usually by throwing ridiculously extravagant parties and… – Continue reading
On 20 November, 2013 the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) issued a public statement identifying jurisdictions in the Caribbean Basin region with strategic anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) deficiencies that have not made sufficient progress in addressing such deficiencies. Those jurisdictions are identified as Belize… – Continue reading
George Osborne, the Chancellor, is preparing to announce that capital gains tax will be charged on British property sold by overseas nationals and expats Thousands of Britons living abroad face being caught up in a tax raid on wealthy foreigners buying and selling property in the UK. George Osborne, the… – Continue reading
