AB InBev says it’s `disappointed’ and is assessing its options Vestager lashes out at `double non-taxation’ schemes BRUSSELS – The European Union ordered Belgium to recover about 700 million euros ($763 million) in illegal tax breaks given to at least 35 companies, including Anheuser-Busch InBev and BP, as regulators continued… – Continue reading
Royce Gracie isn’t scheduled to fight at Bellator 149 until February, but he’s in a serious fight with the IRS over his taxes, including whether he rightfully claimed a tax credit for the poor. Remember the scrawny guy in a gi who smoked the field at UFC 1 and had… – Continue reading
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) — Actor Jang Keun-suk has finally broken his silence after stirring up controversy for his alleged tax evasion in China. The “hallyu” star dropped out of the popular tvN reality show “Three Meals a Day” early last year after reports accused him of underreporting his income… – Continue reading
Adv. Amit Kriegel is suspected of abetting the super-model in evading taxes in Israel. Adv. Amit Kriegel, lawyer for global super-model Bar Refaeli and a former senior Israel Tax Authority official, was questioned under caution by the Tax Authority in the Bar Refaeli criminal investigation. Kriegel, a partner of former… – Continue reading
More than €45.6bn raised for exchequer last year, up from €41.2bn in 2014 The Revenue Commissioners secured 27 criminal convictions for serious tax evasion and fraud in 2015, according to figures released today. Those prosecutions were on top of 2,063 summary convictions, or lesser charges, for the non-filling of tax… – Continue reading
French authorities are investigating the taxes of designer Karl Lagerfeld, who a French magazine claims used offshore tax havens to avoid paying millions of euros to the French government. The case is the latest involving allegations of high-end tax evasion in France, where the finance ministry has cracked down on… – Continue reading
UBP is the latest bank to reach a resolution under the Swiss Bank Program, launched in 2013, that allows Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States. UBP between 2008 and 2013 helped U.S. clients to open and maintain undeclared accounts in Switzerland and conceal assets and… – Continue reading
The investigation and prosecution of tax evasion has, in the last decade, grown from a specialized subcategory of law enforcement into a first-tier policy concern for the global community. Starting with the U.S. government’s crackdown on Swiss bank UBS in 2008, there has been a steady drumbeat of news about… – Continue reading
The FCA has reportedly ended its investigation into tax evasion at HSBC, with the bank dodging formal action from the regulator. HSBC spent much of 2015 under fire for the actions of its Swiss private bank, which aided more than 1,000 UK customers evade tax between 2005 and 2007. The… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Texas tycoon Sam Wyly is set to face off against the Internal Revenue Service at trial on Wednesday over more than $2 billion the agency says he owes for using offshore trusts to engage in one of the largest tax frauds in U.S. history. The trial in federal… – Continue reading
Shortly before New Year’s, on Wednesday, December 30, 2015, the media reported that Julius Baer Group AG (“JB”) expected to pay about $547 million to settle the U.S. investigation into how the bank (and its bankers) assisted U.S. taxpayers in evading tax. This investigation began more than 4 years ago,… – Continue reading
Two Swiss banks will pay a total of more than $107 million to the U.S. Department of Justice to avoid possible prosecution for helping Americans evade taxes, the department said on Thursday. Bank Lombard Odier & Co. Ltd, a Geneva-based unit of Lombard Odier Group, will pay $99.8 million in… – Continue reading
One of the leading Swiss banks Julius Baer Group AG is set to reach a deal with US authorities over a tax probe by paying $547 million early next year. Julius Baer, Switzerland’s third-largest wealth manager after UBS and Credit Suisse has been under criminal investigation since 2011 by the… – Continue reading
Tax cheats are facing a series of year-end deadlines to come clean, as an international dragnet affecting both wealthy Canadians with offshore accounts and Americans in Canada who have failed to file U.S. tax returns keeps tightening. Lawyers say some Canadians with Swiss bank accounts have received letters demanding written… – Continue reading
(MENAFN – AFP) US officials announced settlements with four more Swiss banks Wednesday to lift the total fines in the two-year disclosure program to more than 1 billion from 75 banks. “With today’s resolutions under the Swiss Bank Program, the department has reached agreements with 75 Swiss banks, imposed penalties… – Continue reading
It’s been a long time coming. Members of the Wildenstein art dynasty will go to trial on charges of tax evasion and money laundering next month in Paris, according to the New York Times. Guy Wildenstein took over the family business when his father, Daniel, died in 2001. The family… – Continue reading
IRS Criminal Investigation » Agency initiated 3,853 investigations nationally and is nabbing criminals from tax cheats to terrorists despite budget cuts, chief says. Utahn Gerrit Timmerman III claimed his corporation — “The Office of the First Presiding Patriarch (Overseer) and his/her successors, a corporation sole over/for an unincorporated scriptural society,… – Continue reading
British offshore tax evaders are being warned that the UK Revenue and Customs Department (HMRC) will start to receive details on British taxpayers from more than 90 countries, including Cyprus, under new global agreements. “The government is giving people one last chance to come clean and get their tax affairs… – Continue reading
THE Government misses out on £16BILLION a year through people illegally cheating the system and getting away with it, according to an official report. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has an annual tax collection shortfall of £34bn – with almost half the missing cash lost through evasion, hidden economies and… – Continue reading
Three Swiss banks, including a unit of France’s Crédit Agricole SA, will pay a total of more than $130 million to the U.S. Justice Department to avoid possible prosecution for helping Americans evade taxes, the department said on Tuesday. The Zurich-based unit of Crédit Agricole will pay $99.2 million, the… – Continue reading
British police and German investigators searched Brookfield Aviation International headquarters The Times of London reports this morning that a company that supplies Ryanair with pilots is at the centre of an international investigation for tax evasion. It is understood both British police and German investigators have searched the headquarters of… – Continue reading
The Foreign Account Compliance Act (FACTA), while designed to “minimize tax cheats”, is making banking — and life in general — painfully difficult for millions of American expats, according to Mike Michelini, a Hong Kong-based business consultant withglobalfromasia.com. Here is his editorial. Under FACTA, all 8 million or so Americans… – Continue reading
An Uckfield investment banker has been jailed for his involvement in a £2.2 million tax fraud. Phillip Jenkins, of Ketches Lane, Sheffield Park, Uckfield, was found guilty of conspiracy to cheat the Public Revenue and sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Jenkins was an investment banker working… – Continue reading
New legislation brings the possibility of jail sentences for those who aren’t upfront with HMRC about assets held overseas A new criminal offence is due to hit the statute book next year under which people who engage in tax evasion abroad could get a criminal record, fines and a jail… – Continue reading
Leeds United chairman Massimo Cellino has been cleared of charges of tax evasion relating to the transfer of two players during his time as owner of Italian club Cagliari. Cellino was acquitted by a court in Sardinia today after his lawyers successfully argued that a government ruling introduced last year… – Continue reading
Settlement with German prosecutors, which involves immunity for any current for former staff, is latest embarrassment for bailed-out bank Royal Bank of Scotland is paying €23.8m (£17.3m) to German prosecutors to settle an investigation into tax evasion by part of Coutts, best known for being banker to the Queen. The… – Continue reading
The Department of Justice announced today that Aargauische Kantonalbank (AKB) reached a resolution under the department’s Swiss Bank Program. The Swiss Bank Program, which was announced on Aug. 29, 2013, provides a path for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States. Swiss banks eligible to enter… – Continue reading
CANBERRA – School rolls are the latest weapon employed by Australian tax authorities in their fight against tax evaders. More than 100 households in Australia will be investigated by the Australian Tax Office in the near future, after authorities obtained information from several private schools about the payment of school… – Continue reading
The taxman has appointed a chief analytics officer to lead its mining of taxpayer data. Daniel Sinnott has joined the Revenue Commissioners in the newly created role of chief analytics officer, having previously held a variety of private sector consulting and analytics roles. Because of the nature of its activities,… – Continue reading
More than 50 banks which helped American clients dodge tax in Swiss bank accounts have received immunity from criminal prosecution in the US. The firms, which include UK giant Standard Chartered, Germany’s biggest lender Deutsche Bank, and France’s BNP Paribas, have reached plea bargains with the US Department of Justice…. – Continue reading
The Tax Department will thoroughly investigate the income of all Cyprus residents on the Lagarde list, going as far back as 2003. The Department will look into their income after 2006, to determine whether they met their tax obligations up to date. Chief tax inspector Klelia Papadopoulou told Phileleftheros daily… – Continue reading
£300 penalties would be dwarfed by millions in potential profits for firms that take advantage of tax-avoidance schemes Huge multinational companies that dodge millions of pounds in tax in the UK and around the world face “laughable” fines of £300 under new rules proposed by HM Revenue and Customs. The… – Continue reading
Hungary’s National Economy Minister Mihály Varga called on European Union members to assist in a joint crackdown on value added tax evasion, the minister said today at a conference in Prague, according to a report from the National Economy Ministry. Varga and Czech finance minister Andrej Babis, whose ministry organized… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s EFG Bank is to pay a penalty of $29m to the US Department of Justice to avoid prosecution for helping its American account holders evade taxes. The bank came forward as part of a voluntary programme launched in 2013, which allows Swiss banks to admit their potential role in… – Continue reading
At the plenary of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) local and regional leaders called for a fair and efficient corporate tax system in the European Union. The opinion drafted by Jean-Luc Vanraes (BE/ALDE), member of Uccle Municipal Council, criticises the complexity of corporate taxation systems, which disadvantages small… – Continue reading
The Luxembourg government said on Friday that it would appeal against the European Commission’s decision ordering it to recover 20-30 million euros ($22-33 million) of back taxes from Fiat Chrysler. The Commission ruled in October that Fiat had benefited from illegal tax deals with the Luxembourg authorities, as well as… – Continue reading
At the plenary of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) local and regional leaders called for a fair and efficient corporate tax system in the European Union. The opinion drafted by Jean-Luc Vanraes (BE/ALDE), member of Uccle Municipal Council, criticises the complexity of corporate taxation systems, which disadvantages small… – Continue reading
Tax cheats can breathe a little easier. The gun-toting Internal Revenue Service investigators who send felons to prison are retiring in droves and there’s no one to replace them. IRS Criminal Investigation agents are the elite special forces in the never-ending war on tax evasion. They are feared among criminals… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Indian banks and mutual funds have in the past fortnight started warning NRIs who hold an American passport or are working in the US that their accounts could be frozen unless they get a tax-compliant certificate from US authorities, thanks to a treaty signed by New Delhi and Washington…. – Continue reading
The U.S. multinational will likely be investigated for evading taxes with Luxembourg’s help, following a report by trade unions earlier this year. McDonald’s is under investigation by European Union regulators for illegal tax deals with Luxembourg, according to sources close to the inquiry. The multinational—joining a list of EU tax… – Continue reading
Former UBS bank executive Raoul Weil believes the United States tried to use him to batter down Swiss banking secrecy by having him arrested and placed on trial last year. In an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Wednesday, Weil said the US Department of Justice intended to “lead me… – Continue reading
Police last week raided the Nicosia offices of the law firm representing the Hermitage Fund, embroiled in the largest fraudulent tax rebate case in Russian history, the Cyprus Mail has learned. On Friday, two senior Russian interior ministry officials along with local police officers searched the Nicosia offices of a… – Continue reading
Sean Connery has not played James Bond for years, but is still a public figure prosecutors might like to attack. He was cleared, but Mr. Connery’s wife, Micheline Roquebrune, has been charged with taking part in an alleged plot to defraud the Spanish treasury of millions in taxes. It is… – Continue reading
Santo Domingo.- Internal Taxes (DGII) director Guarocuya Feliz on Sunday agreed with Institutional and Justice Foundation (FINJUS) vice president Serbio T. Castaños that large fortunes need to be investigated over tax evasion. “This position is in line with the work the institution carries out to eliminate banking secrecy to ensure… – Continue reading
Wesley Snipes is in court with the IRS, again, and this time he has gone on the offensive. He was one of the more high profile criminal tax defendants in recent memory, facing an all-out prosecution on multiple serious felony tax evasion counts. In 2008, Mr. Snipes was convicted of… – Continue reading
Bermuda has been in the spotlight in Australia as senators examine the tax affairs of big business. An Australian senate committee set up to look at the tax affairs of major companies heard that oil giants Chevron had 200 companies registered in Bermuda and a further 200 registered in the… – Continue reading
German prosecutors have launched an investigation into suspected tax evasion in connection with cheating on emissions tests by Volkswagen, adding to the intense scrutiny of Europe’s biggest carmaker. The investigation focuses on five Volkswagen employees, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in the northern German city of Braunschweig, near Volkswagen’s… – Continue reading
BERLIN (AP) — Germany has shared some 10,000 records on possible Greek tax cheats with Athens. Authorities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia say the records concern Greek individuals and companies who had almost 4 billion Swiss francs stashed in Swiss bank accounts. Bank secrecy rules in Switzerland long… – Continue reading
On Tuesday, Deutsche Bank Suisse, a unit of German lender – Deutsche Bank AG DB entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) under which the bank will pay a penalty of around $31 million. The non-prosecution deal entered under the Swiss Bank Program will help the bank… – Continue reading
On November 22, 2015 the Israeli Ministry of Finance issued a press release announcing that on November 18, 2015 the Israeli Knesset approved in second and third reading a bill to increase the enforcement ability against tax evaders. According to the press release the bill allows the director of the… – Continue reading
