Abu Dhabi, 20 June 2015: The UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), has announced today the signing of the agreement to facilitate implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). HE Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of MoF, and Barbara A. Leaf, U.S. Ambassador to the UAE,… – 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
International tax rules will soon change, but companies’ behaviour may change sooner. There will soon be fewer places for multinational companies and ultra-rich individuals to squirrel away money. In November leaders of the G20 are expected to adopt a full range of measures to curb the practices of base erosion… – Continue reading
Paris, Jun 18 (Prensa Latina) The Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) had a network with intermediaries for Latin American countries who help launder money and evade taxes, it was learned here on Thursday. The revelation was made in this capital by former UBS Director Stephanie Gibaud, who met here with… – 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
Introduction The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires entity account holders to document their status for US withholding tax purposes (Chapter 3 status) and their status for FATCA due diligence purposes (Chapter 4 status). In the case of a non-US entity account holder that has made an entity classification… – 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
Foreign companies are likely to be penalised for failing to submit statements of transactions above Tk 3 crore with their associated overseas entities. The National Board of Revenue took the measure to curb illicit fund transfers and tax evasion. The penalty will be equivalent to 2 percent of the value… – Continue reading
CBDT chairperson Anita Kapur said that the income tax department will ensure that chronic evaders are not able to get away without facing court cases. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday said that the tax department will not resort to coercive methods to recover the minimum alternate… – Continue reading
Unveiling the department’s plan of making the life of tax evaders tough in the coming days, Kapur said a new and intelligent database to keep a check on such instances will be brought out later this year and made fully operational by 2016 The menace of tax evasion is “spoiling”… – 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
Report on ‘poor’ neighborhoods full of mansions sparks calls for tax enforcement, residency documentation OTTAWA — The Canadian government takes a “zero tolerance” stand on tax evaders and is currently conducting audits on property owners in B.C., according to the Canada Revenue Agency. But Vancouver immigration lawyer Samuel Hyman said… – Continue reading
As the financial world continues its march towards a more transparent and open environment, regulations governing private wealth are under scrutiny. The traditional is changing for good while new players emerge. Once was a time, not too long ago, the words “Swiss bank” conjured up evocative imagery: secret deals; bank… – 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 French court reduced the bail HSBC Holdings Plc must post in connection with a criminal probe into tax evasion by its private-banking clients to 100 million euros ($112 million) from 1 billion euros. “HSBC acknowledges the decision of the French Court of Appeal to partially accept the appeal and… – Continue reading
Six Indicia of Offshore Tax Criminality United States taxpayers need to be aware that a number of danger areas around offshore foreign financial accounts can be construed as evidence that could constitute criminal offenses. Some of these may seem trivial, but all the more warrant a heads-up due to the… – Continue reading
Pakistan’s FBR has stated that $200 billion stashed in Swiss banks accounts by Pakistanis cannot be recovered. It seems that FBR and Federal Government is unaware that on the basis of a formal request by Nigeria, $700 million in Swiss bank accounts belonging to corrupt late former head of state… – Continue reading
A report released today by the management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) shows that Switzerland remains the world’s largest offshore centre. However, Hong Kong and Singapore could pose a challenge in the future. For now, Switzerland stands heads and shoulders above the rest booking over $2.4 trillion in wealth… – Continue reading
Some Members of Parliament and top government officials have been associated with tax evasion, with stakeholders demanding that the law take its course. Speaking at a 2015/16 budget review session over the weekend in Dar es Salaam, stakeholders warned that, tax evasion by high ranking officials and MPs encourages unscrupulous… – Continue reading
The deadline for those wishing to participate in Ireland’s Tax Avoidance Settlement Opportunity is June 30, the Revenue has said. The settlement opportunity was contained in the 2014 Finance Act. It applies to transactions that began on or before the publication of the Finance Bill on October 23, 2014. Revenue… – Continue reading
Mahmud Bekir Taib tells shariah court of need for PR consultants to ensure ‘fair reporting’ of facts and proceedings. KUALA LUMPUR: The Shariah High Court here was today told that news of the divorce maintenance proceedings between Sarawak entrepreneur Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib and his former wife Shahnaz Abdul Majid… – Continue reading
The amount of money paid to informants by HMRC in its attempts to crack down on tax evasion has leapt by more than 50% in a year to a record high of £605,000. The tax authorities are increasingly rewarding tip-offs in an attempt to recoup the tens of billions lost… – Continue reading
With revenue from petroleum taxes at its lowest point in fifteen years, Nigeria is under even more pressure to tackle tax evasion and pursue other revenue enhancing initiatives. Indeed, experts have found that tax evasion plays a significant part in the over $50 billion that the continent loses every year… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Several amendments have been proposed to the tax laws in the Finance Bill 2015-16 to empower the federal government to enter into agreements for exchange of tax-related information with provinces and other countries. The new sections proposed to be inserted in the Finance Bill will empower Islamabad to enter… – Continue reading
The Bank of Israel audit finds failures and negligence in oversight at Bank Leumi. Failures, mistakes, negligence in oversight: these are only some of the terms used by Supervisor of Banks David Zaken to describe the findings of an audit conducted in recent months on the conduct of Bank Leumi… – Continue reading
Iceland’s head of tax fraud investigation has completed the purchase of tax records from tax havens around the world. Bryndís Kristjánsdóttir spent ISK 30 million (EUR 200,000/USD 225,000) of public money on the tax records which give the Directorate of Internal Revenue the chance to go over data connected to… – Continue reading
The number of voluntary disclosures of offshore income and assets to Canada’s tax authority nearly doubled in the year ended March 31 from the previous 12 months, the first time such figures have been gathered since the Canada Revenue Agency put in a whistleblower reward system to root out tax… – Continue reading
Dubai: The word offshore banking often evokes quite a number of unsavoury connotations. It’s associated with tax evasion, money laundering and high-level of secrecy, but the truth is that anyone can open an offshore bank account and it’s completely legal. Most expatriates set up a bank account offshore to protect… – Continue reading
Speaking at the Insurance Day 2015 Summit on 10 June 2015, Minister of Finance Bob Richards told attendees that “the more we drive home that the insurance sector in Bermuda is not a stereotypical tax haven gimmick to key onshore decision makers the less the threat from IRS and other… – Continue reading
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican has agreed to share tax information with the United States in its latest move to improve the reputation of its scandal-marred bank and crack down on tax cheats. Vatican and U.S. officials signed an agreement Wednesday in which the Holy See committed to comply with… – Continue reading
Dirty money resulting from crime, corruption and tax evasion is estimated to cost over one trillion dollars every year. It exacerbates poverty and inequality, and should be regarded as one of the most pressing issues globally. An Oxfam report found that G7-based companies and investors cheat Africa out of tens… – Continue reading
The Barcelona forward is now due to stand trial on accusations he defrauded authorities Lionel Messi’s appeal against allegations of tax evasion has been thrown out by a Barcelona court and the Argentina star will now stand trial. The Blaugrana forward and his father and agent, Jorge Messi, are accused… – Continue reading
Heads of state meeting at the G7 Summit in Bavaria, Germany committed to promoting automatic exchange of tax information and tax rulings to discourage multinational companies from shifting profits from country to country to avoid taxes, reports Accounting Today. In a joint declaration, the G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to… – Continue reading
Individuals who renew their US passport need to take into consideration that their Social Security Number (SSN) and country of residency will be forwarded to the IRS. Since July 2014, the passport renewal instructions forms have dedicated a specific paragraph detailing this new procedure: “Section 6039E of the Internal Revenue… – Continue reading
A new report from the Internal Revenue Service indicated that the upper-echelon of wealth is hoarding more money than we initially thought, reported The Washington Post. We all know how much money the one-percent hoards, but what about the top one-thousandth percent? To be apart of that group, one must… – Continue reading
Prime minister says he has proof he is innocent of charges of money laundering and tax evasion while president calls for his resignation Victor Ponta, Romania’s prime minister, said on Tuesday that he was prepared to go to court to answer charges of money-laundering, forgery and tax evasion as the… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s government wants banks to toughen up checks to avoid accepting untaxed assets, possibly including a refusal to do business with a client who can’t show the money has been regularized, reports Bloomberg. For clients from countries that aren’t covered by automatic exchange of information agreements, banks will need to… – Continue reading
“The same methodology [in the HSBC case] appeared in the JP Morgan investigation, the most important given that there is a witness who has implicated himself, the corporation’s Latin American chief. Due to a conflict with his employer, he has made a complaint in Argentina naming himself as the organizer… – Continue reading
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has responded to the recent coverage regarding its approach to Reasonable Excuse claims for filing self-assessment tax returns late. The tax authority has reiterated its desire to use an increasing percentage of its resources on investigating major tax avoidance and evasion as opposed to penalising… – Continue reading
A lawyer claims there is a way for a ‘beneficial owner’ of a business to head off the “unwanted scrutiny” that the government’s central register of companies might bring them. James Austen of legal advisory Charles Russell Speechlys says “help is at hand” if his clients wish to avoid the… – Continue reading
On 20 May 2015, the European Parliament increased the hunt for tax evaders, money launderers and terror financiers by adopting the fourth instalment of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive (“AMLD”). The main novelty of the new directive is the introduction of a central UBO-register, a public register which identifies the ultimate… – Continue reading
June 8 – With the international spotlight focused on corruption and money-laundering at FIFA and doping claims in athletics, the Qatar-based International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) is laying on a specialist session in Geneva in September to explore how sport, governments and the wider stakeholder community can tackle the… – Continue reading
MUNICH — Leaders of the Group of Seven nations are set to agree on the creation of a system to counter tax evasion and tax avoidance by multinational enterprises, during the G-7 summit meeting to be held in Germany on Sunday and Monday, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. G-7 leaders… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: The government has proposed several provisions in the Finance Bill 2015 for documentation of economy. The bill empowers the government to obtain or render information related to transactions undertaken in and outside Pakistan regarding both resident and non-resident taxpayers. Legal cover has been provided to allow government to enter… – Continue reading
Taxman should instill the fear of “incarceration, loss of liberty and social opprobrium” in tax evaders and prosecute them in large numbers to create a credible deterrence against the menace of black money… Taxman should instill the fear of “incarceration, loss of liberty and social opprobrium” in tax evaders and… – Continue reading
The resurgent interest in transfer pricing abuse by multinationals might be missing the first “link in the chain” – the shifting of profits inside South Africa to the detriment of empowerment partners, workers, communities and the economy. This is the emerging line from a prominent think-tank, the SA Mining Development… – Continue reading
MiFID II – FCA Issues Discussion Paper on MiFID II Implementation Measures The FCA issued a discussion paper (DP15/3) on 26 March 2015, asking firms for their views on a range of MiFID II implementation measures, including on: The revised inducements standards. Receipt of commissions and other benefits by discretionary… – Continue reading
“In Liberia for example, illicit financial outflows reached 61.6 percent of gross domestic product on average between 2008 and 2012, and 80.6 percent of total trade volume. The money lost could have funded its health budget four and half times over, in a country where 63.8 percent of the population… – Continue reading
Crucial deadlines are approaching for millions of U.S. taxpayers who live abroad or have offshore financial ties. For expatriates, the annual income-tax filing deadline is normally June 15, instead of April 15. In addition, all U.S. taxpayers with offshore accounts totaling more than $10,000 in 2014–regardless of where they live–have… – Continue reading
Romanian businessman Florian Walter, who fled the country after local prosecutors charged him with tax evasion, was located abroad, and authorities have asked for his extradition, reports local Agerpres. The Prahova Court declared Florian Walter internationally wanted, after previously issuing an arrest warrant on his name. Romanian authorities, which have… – Continue reading
