A CLAMPDOWN on tax planning, a transformation of its services for taxpayers and delivering a professional, efficient and engaged organisation are the three key objectives for HMRC in its updated single departmental plan. The government department has outlined its main visions and objectives for the period between 2015 and 2020,… – Continue reading
Asia Pacific The January – March edition of tax highlights for the Asia Pacific region highlights industry developments from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore including: Australia’s new tax system for Managed Investment Trusts The final stage of China’s B2V reform to be rolled out from… – Continue reading
The unpopular Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) of the United States has set off a rash of similar legislation around the world, and Costa Rica has been eager to adopt these international asset reporting treaties, which many taxpayers consider overreaching and in violation of financial privacy. The Costa Rica… – Continue reading
The Delhi HC has delivered path-breaking and bold verdicts, quashing proceedings initiated by CBDT and CBEC administrative guidance for assessments and subsequent denial of benefits. A question tax professionals are often asked is: Has the government done enough to address the situation on tax? Several negative catchphrases had peppered headlines… – Continue reading
The Panama Papers have recently drawn a great deal of investigation and public attention. Over 230,000 organizations and individuals were named as having set up offshore companies in tax haven like the British Virgin Islands, Panama, the Cayman Islands or the Bahamas. The public’s initial reaction was suspicion and anger toward… – Continue reading
Japan and Panama have agreed the provisions of a bilateral tax information exchange agreement (TIEA), subject to further work on finalizing its text. Negotiation of the TIEA was initiated following the Japan-Panama Summit Meeting held on April 20 between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Panama’s President, Juan Carlos Varela…. – Continue reading
Dubai: UAE-based multinationals will start to feel the impact of the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) proposals that come into effect this year, a KPMG seminar on international tax developments has revealed. The BEPS proposals are focused on mitigating tax planning strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in… – Continue reading
Tax Treaty between India and Mauritius for avoidance of double taxation had become a double non-taxation treaty. Under this treaty, India could not tax the gains from sale of shares in Indian companies by a Mauritius resident, who is also not subject to any tax in Mauritius as such gains… – Continue reading
In its fight against black money stashed abroad, India has signed a protocol with European Union member nation Slovenia to make changes to the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention between the two countries, an official statement said in New Delhi on Thursday. The protocol, for avoidance of double taxation and preventing… – Continue reading
Portugal finance ministry says it is looking at ways of preventing government departments from using tax havens after the Treasury debt agency was found to have held an investment in Jersey. The Finance Ministry says that the agency held 133 million euros ($149 million) of bonds in a Jersey-based company… – Continue reading
The Korea Customs Service (KCS) levied 1.25 trillion won ($1.0 billion) in back taxes over the past five years from multinational companies that dodged taxes by tampering with invoices on transactions of goods and services between headquarters and Korean units, data showed Wednesday. Unpaid taxes that amounted to 97.1 billion… – Continue reading
China is joining an international effort to tackle tax evasion, with plans to require multinationals to disclose more detailed information on their overseas affiliates, according to taxation consultants who advised the government on the new rules. The proposed regulations would make it more difficult for large companies to avoid taxes… – Continue reading
On 10 May 2016, the Government of India issued a press release1 stating that India and Mauritius have signed a protocol (New Protocol) amending the double tax avoidance treaty between the two countries (the Treaty). Based on the press release and the New Protocol, following are the key changes to… – Continue reading
The Philippines Department of Finance has tabled before the Congress a slew of amendments aimed at further strengthening the country’s anti-money laundering and bank secrecy laws. The amendments to Anti-Money Laundering Act 2001 (AMLA) are aimed at improving the Anti Money Laundering Council’s (AMLC’s) ability to safeguard the financial system… – Continue reading
National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier announced today that the Government of Canada has taken another step to stop the unfair practice of aggressive tax planning by signing an international agreement to implement stronger international reporting obligations for large multinational enterprises (MNEs). Thirty-one other jurisdictions have also signed the agreement. The… – Continue reading
New Delhi, May 11 (IANS) Following the revision of India’s bilateral tax treaty with Mauritius, the government on Wednesday said the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR ) provisions, with effect from April next year, will override the Double TaxationAvoidance Agreement (DTAA) in case of abuse. “GAAR being anti-abuse provision can prevail… – Continue reading
Global economic body OECD today said Panama, along with few other jurisdictions, has committed to the internationally accepted norm of “automatic” sharing of financial and tax data with other countries, a development coming in the backdrop of the ‘Panama Papers’ offshore assets leaks where at least 500 Indian names have… – Continue reading
A change to our tax rules aimed at foreign property investors is likely to affect many people, a tax expert says. A bill poised to be passed by Parliament this week may increase the red tape for anyone based overseas doing taxable business with this country. The Taxation (Residential Land… – Continue reading
Only a week after the so-called Panama Papers burst into the media spotlight early last month, the Canadian government issued a news release vowing to “crack down on tax evasion and tax avoidance.” The leak of a staggering 11.5 million documents from a Panama City law firm promised to reveal… – Continue reading
Islamabad—The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill, 2016 will enable the government to tackle with the problem of tax evasion and black money and transactions being carried out in other people’s names. The said bill will also to put an end to benami transactions, and to empower the government to recover such… – Continue reading
Australia announced a further crackdown on multinational tax avoidance in its annual budget on Tuesday, including the planned introduction of a UK-style diverted profits tax (DPT), that it expects to raise A$3.9 billion over the next four years. The government is creating a new Tax Avoidance Taskforce of 1,000 specialist… – Continue reading
IT’S ALL COMING TOGETHER: Corporate inversions. The Panama Papers. Those European investigations into big-name companies like Apple. And the BEPS project coming out of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. As Tax Pro Katy O’Donnell reports, tax practitioners and wonks might like to say that some of those things… – Continue reading
Panama Papers’ disclosures now and earlier dealings of Vodafone through Cayman Islands are stories of famous tax havens, which evoke discussions of how tax evasion takes place. These are all direct taxes, mainly corporate tax, and not indirect tax. These are cases of tax planning that come to the fore… – Continue reading
The deadline for Canadians to file their taxes is rapidly approaching and if you haven’t filed the necessary paperwork you could face stiff penalties.While the usual deadline to file tax returns is April 30, because the date falls on a Saturday this year the deadline has been extended until Monday,… – Continue reading
Colombia and Panama will sign a financial information-sharing deal aimed at helping Bogota combat tax evasion, the two Central and South American countries said late on Thursday. The deal, set to be signed by the Panamanian and Colombian presidents in June, would establish an initial phase of information sharing until… – Continue reading
Prosecutions for tax evasion almost halved across Canada in just three years, figures released to Global News show. Fewer Canadians were taken to court for tax evasion in every part of the country between 2012-13 and 2014-15. In Ontario, cases fell to 47 from 119 just three years earlier. Manitoba… – Continue reading
The former PwC employee turned whistleblower behind the LuxLeaks scandal that implicated Luxembourg in industrial tax avoidance went on trial in the tiny European duchy on Tuesday. Antoine Deltour, 30, a former auditor at global accounting firm PwC, is accused of stealing documents from his employer before he quit the… – Continue reading
An award for informers who help check tax evasion and inclusion of exhibition organisers in the VAT net are some of the strategies devised by the Delhi government to boost its revenue in the current financial year, officials said. The informer award would go to people who help the government… – Continue reading
Australia is following the path of the United Kingdom and is planning to create a public register that will unmask the shell company owners who take advantage of tax avoidance by the international companies. The Guardian reported that the Canberra government has expressed on making a public commitment to put… – Continue reading
Ministers agree to propose joint list of tax havens and approve plan to automatically exchange data on shell company owners EU finance ministers have approved a series of measures to tackle tax-evading methods that were exposed by the Panama Papers. Speaking on the second day of talks in Amsterdam, Jeroen… – Continue reading
History shows us that tax evasion can have terrible effects, from economic inequality to societal collapse. In a world seemingly inured to financial scandals, the Panama Papers leak has reminded us of their capacity to shock. This huge document dump, which has revealed thousands of offshore accounts held in the… – Continue reading
Overview If you have been reading my articles on JD Supra for a while, you will know that I love Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music. Nevertheless, the Hall and Oates song Private Eyes, is a more fitting song to describe the state of offshore planning in Tax Havens than “Oye Como… – Continue reading
The Revenue has published its consultation on proposing to make companies criminally liable for failing to prevent their staff facilitating tax evasion The offence was first proposed in the 2015 Budget and was expected to come into effect in 2020. The Panama papers leak and subsequent scandal has put significant… – Continue reading
The U.S. Treasury Department is finalising new tax rules aimed at combating the use of shell companies to evade taxes, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Saturday amid increased pledges by global finance leaders to cooperate on tax issues. In a statement to the International Monetary Fund’s steering committee,… – Continue reading
Nearly half of people say the Prime Minister’s handling of his finances was ‘morally repugnant’, according to our opinion poll, and they support public tax returns for all As the fallout from the fallout from the Panama Papers leak begins to settle, the Prime Minister is left contemplating the damage… – Continue reading
India and the US have agreed to enhance collaboration on tackling offshore tax evasion and increase cooperation in sharing of cross-border tax information. “We are committed to continued collaboration and sharing of experience in tackling offshore tax evasion and avoidance, including joint tax audits and tax examination abroad,” Finance Minister… – Continue reading
Ethiopia’s House of People’s Representatives (National Parliament) in its regular meeting on Friday ratified a bill to avoid double taxation with Saudi Arabia, Portugal, and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea based on the agreement the nation earlier signed with those countries. The elimination of double taxation helps to increase investment… – Continue reading
The release of the so-called Panama Papers has shone a light on the secretive world of offshore tax havens and shown the exhaustive lengths that companies and wealthy individuals will go to in an effort to avoid paying tax. The trove of documents leaked from the Panama-based law firm Mossack… – Continue reading
In the wake of the Panama Papers leak debates about the morality of taxation are back in vogue. Unlike tax evasion, tax avoidance is, by definition, legal. This is not the same thing as saying it’s acceptable. No one wants to live in a society where everything questionable is banned… – Continue reading
India and Maldives today signed two agreements for exchange of information with respect to taxes, and for avoidance of double taxation of income derived from international air transport. The agreements were signed during the visit of President of Maldives Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom to New Delhi. Gayoom is on a… – Continue reading
Panama is a tax haven, but Mauritius is one with which India has a comprehensive double tax treaty. This complicates matters more. In popular Indian imagination, a tax haven is generally associated with Switzerland and its numbered bank accounts. But tax havens are numerous, have grown in importance, and are… – Continue reading
ABU DHABI: UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), recently signed an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and tax evasion on income with Jordan. The agreement aims to enhance joint cooperation in economic and tax fields, and encourage investment activities and trade exchange between both countries. The… – Continue reading
BERLIN – A European Union official threatened Thursday to sanction Panama and other nations if they don’t cooperate fully to fight money laundering and tax evasion, after a leak of data showed the small country remains a key destination for people wanting to hide money. The 11.5 million documents from… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON: Underscoring the need for tax reforms in India, the US has said the proposed Goods and Services Tax ( GST) is of paramount importance. “Given India’s tremendous needs, its very low tax ratio, at 10 per cent of GDP, is notable. Accordingly, there is meaningful scope to address tax… – Continue reading
Much of the activity is legal, but it siphons away billions in tax revenue from government coffers The massive Panama Papers data leak shines a light not only on the dirty money being shuffled through tax havens, but also on the legal and common use of offshore accounts to significantly… – Continue reading
As “Panama Papers” expose the world’s most prominent people engaging in murky deals, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday told the Indian industry to become more “transparent and credible” in its functioning. “With the G20 (countries’ new global transparency standard) and FATCA (the US’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) coming… – Continue reading
Panama and the U.S. have at least one thing in common: Neither has agreed to new international standards to make it harder for tax evaders and money launderers to hide their money. Over the past several years, amid increased scrutiny by journalists, regulators and law enforcers, the global tax-haven landscape… – Continue reading
HSBC, Credit Suisse and the Royal Bank of Scotland-owned bank Coutts Trustees have denied claims they are helping clients avoid tax by using complex offshore structures following the leak of the Panama papers. The banks were named in a list of 500 lenders who investigative journalists said had helped to… – Continue reading
The Dutch government loses out on billions of euros due to Dutch companies evading their taxes, according to union FNV, based on a study by SOMO, a foundation that investigates multinational companies, ANP reports SOMO investigated 151 large companies based in the Netherlands – 58 of the biggest Dutch family… – Continue reading
Stock market regulator investigates over 50 companies for violating long-term capital gain mechanism for tax evasion The stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is raging a war on tax evasion on the platform of stock exchanges. It is investigating more than 50 companies for violating long-term… – Continue reading
