Category: Tax cheats

EU Report Calls For Finance Authorities, AML Oversight

European Union lawmakers released a report on Wednesday (Feb. 27) recommending that the EU create a police unit dedicated to the investigation of tax and financial crimes, as well as a watchdog organization to fight money-laundering, according to a report by Reuters. The report, which is the result of a… – Continue reading

Investment banker extradited for helping clients defraud tax authorities

For facilitators in Malta, it’s business as usual. A former employee of Mossack Fonesca has been extradited to Germany on charges relating to revelations from the Panama Papers, an unprecedented leak of over 11 million files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm at the time…. – Continue reading

FBR resolved 20% of total tax evasion and fraud cases involving billion of rupees in 2018

The Director-General Intelligence and Investigation-Inland Revenue department has unearthed tax evasion worth Rs170 billion throughout Pakistan last year ISLAMABAD: Around 20% of the overall tax evasion and fraud cases involving billions of rupees have been resolved by the tax department during 2018. The Director-General Intelligence and Investigation-Inland Revenue department has… – Continue reading

End of double taxation between Angola and Portugal approved in Lisbon

The Portuguese Parliament voted in favour of a proposed government resolution approving the agreement to eliminate double taxation with Angola, the Portuguese press reported on Friday. The parliament unanimously approved an agreement between Portugal and Angola on mutual administrative assistance and co-operation in fiscal matters signed in Luanda on 18… – Continue reading

Ministry to mull over measures against profit shifting

The Ministry of Finance will scrutinize amendments to tax law policy in 2019, centred on some measures aimed at preventing base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and restructure tax revenue sources. The information was released at a conference reviewing the finance sector’s performance throughout 2018 and setting forth targets for… – Continue reading

New IRS offshore amnesty regime imposes bigger penalties for secret accounts

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued guidance on the voluntary disclosure regime now in force, following the termination of its offshore predecessor on 28 September 2018. The new rules are effective for all disclosures after that date. And the possible penalties have gone up quite significantly. One of… – Continue reading

Report: £250 billion fraud in UK tax havens greater sum than 20 years of foreign aid budget

Russia most common place of origin for fraudsters using British overseas territories A NEW report has identified over £250 billion in fraudulent funds directed through UK tax havens, more than over 20 years of the UK Government’s foreign aid budget. The report, by Transparency International, examined the UK’s overseas territories,… – Continue reading

Spanish Crypto Holders Under Scrutiny as Authorities Seek to Prevent Tax Fraud

The Spanish Ministry of Finance is to inspect some 15,000 individuals who have engaged in cryptocurrency transactions over the last year, Spanish-language news outlet El Pais reported. The announcement follows on from the introduction of compulsory reporting of cryptocurrency transactions for Spanish taxpayers, and will investigate whether there is any… – Continue reading

Tax agency uncovers ‘aggressive’ new fraud scheme

Companies avoid paying income tax by creating suppliers that don’t exist The Federal Tax Administration (SAT) has uncovered a new and “aggressive” tax fraud scheme involving more than 13,000 partners and shareholders of 600,000 companies, many of which are bogus. Unidentified media organizations and professional soccer teams are among the… – Continue reading

Jersey puts forth economic substance legislation

Jersey has tabled new laws to address the EU’s concerns over ‘economic substance’, the degree of real business activity carried out by companies registered in the Island. The new proposed requirements for an economic substance test for Jersey tax-resident entities have been published and are set to come into force… – Continue reading

BIR may defer notice of foreign tax probe

THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) may now notify taxpayers that their information was sent to a requesting foreign tax authority as investigation reaches the final stages. Revenue Regulation No. 22-2018 states that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue can opt to notify the taxpayer in writing that a foreign tax… – Continue reading

PenSam to step up scrutiny of partners as €55bn tax scandal unfolds

The head of one of Denmark’s biggest pension funds has spoken out to condemn a wide-scale tax fraud uncovered by a media investigation. Danish national broadcaster DR, newspaper Politiken and other European media outlets in the last three months have published articles detailing a withholding tax scam – dubbed ‘Cum-Ex’… – Continue reading

New Zealand Law Foundation Report suggests accepting cryptocurrency

A recent report published by the New Zealand Law Foundation on regulating cryptocurrencies in New Zealand suggests the regulators of the country to start taking tax in crypto and trial a CBDC. The report, that is commissioned by the New Zealand Law Foundation and written by the University of Auckland… – Continue reading

New Threshold Limit for Tax Cases involving Foreign Black Money

The newly revised threshold monetary limits for the department to file appeals at various levels — appellate tribunals, High Courts and the Supreme Court will not be applied in cases where foreign black money is involved, said the tax department recently. As per a CBDT missive, cases involving undisclosed foreign… – Continue reading

IRS plans new tax transcript format with better security

The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday it will provide a new format for transcripts of individual tax returns that will safeguard taxpayer data by redacting personally identifiable information from Form 1040 series returns. The new transcript format will replace the old format and will be the default format available through… – Continue reading

How to Apply for CIT Incentives in China

China offers a number of preferential corporate income tax (CIT) policies for businesses operating in the country. Businesses that qualify for these preferential policies can benefit from incentives like CIT rates lower than the standard 25 percent rate and other CIT exemptions and deductions. These preferential tax treatments, however, do… – Continue reading

Spanish Officials Lop 2 Million Euros Off Ronaldo’s Tax Evasion Settlement

In July, the 33-year-old football superstar accepted an 18.8 million euro fine and a suspended two-year prison sentence as he pleaded guilty to tax fraud in a Spanish court. According to the documents seen by El Mundo daily, football ace Cristiano Ronaldo, 33, who had to pay 18.7 million euros… – Continue reading

Over Rs35 bn laundering: CJP hints at Panama-like JIT for Zardari, Faryal

ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Mian Saqib Nisar, on Monday suggested formation of a Panama-style joint investigation team (JIT) to investigate the allegations against former president Asif Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur of laundering over Rs35 billion through fake bank accounts. A three-member bench of the apex… – Continue reading

Angola’s General Tax Administration guarantees introduction of VAT in 2019

Value Added Tax (IVA) will replace the Consumer Tax in Angola in 2019, the coordinator of the Technical Group for the Implementation of IVA, Adilson Sequeira, said according to a report published on the website of the Angolan Ministry of Finance. “The introduction of IVA is the result of a… – Continue reading

Tax chiefs unite to tackle international tax crime

HMRC has formed an alliance with tax enforcement bodies in 4 countries to share intelligence and expertise in the battle against international tax crime. The UK has joined forces with Canada, the Netherlands, the United States and Australia to launch the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) – a… – Continue reading

Australia: Experts Say Tax Office on ‘Warpath’ Against Crypto Investors

Australian tax experts have confirmed that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is cracking down on cryptocurrency investors this year, local news outlet The New Daily reports Friday, June 15. The ATO had said in early March that they would be using a combination of data matching and “100-point identification checks”… – Continue reading

Four years of monitoring have crushed tax fraud in Indiana

Officials say fraudulent claims fell off quickly after new technologies took the state off attackers’ easy-target list. With tax season comes attempted fraud, as crooks use false identities to try to trick all levels of government into sending them refund checks. There are ways to fight back, though, and Indiana… – Continue reading

Kosovo Tax Administration uncovers evasion scheme in the north

Kosovo Tax Administration inspectors have discovered a tax evasion scheme involving multiple businesses in northern and southern Kosovo. The Kosovo Tax Administration, ATK, has uncovered a network of Albanian and Serb businesses collaborating in a tax evasion scheme, suspected to have emptied the public purse of millions of euros. Raiding… – Continue reading

Assam: CBI arrests IT Commissioner in connection to tax evasion case

Guwahati The CBI has arrested Swetabh Suman, Commissioner of Income Tax (Audit), Guwahati, Assam from Delhi in connection with a case of tax evasion and criminal conspiracy. The central agency has registered a case against the arrested Commissioner of Income Tax. Similar procedures have been initiated against Income Tax Officer… – Continue reading

Bitfinex denies links to Colombian drug money

Assets seized by Polish police are reportedly linked to the cryptocurrency exchange’s account in the country. Following a couple of days of rumours, Bitfinex – currently the fifth largest cryptocurrency exchange based on volume, according to Coinmarketcap – has been moved to deny it is embroiled in an investigation regarding… – Continue reading

Decade in jail for Australia’s biggest tax fraud

A former Gold Coast property developer has been jailed for more than a decade in the largest prosecuted tax fraud case in Australia’s history. Glitter Strip businessman Michael Issakidis was sentenced to 10 years and three months in prison by the Supreme Court of New South Wales for his involvement… – Continue reading

China’s Police Force Reveals Offshore Exchange Surveillance

According to regional reports, China’s police agency is allegedly monitoring cryptocurrency exchanges based outside of the country. An informant details that China’s Public Information Network Security Supervision task-force is closely watching both domestic and foreign trading platforms involved with cryptocurrencies to prevent fraud, pyramid schemes, and money laundering. China’s Regulators… – Continue reading

OECD Consults On Tackling Common Reporting Standard Circumvention

The OECD has recently launched a consultation on tackling the circumvention of its latest international tax transparency standard, the Common Reporting Standard, through the use by individuals of residency by investment (RBI), or citizenship by investment (CBI) schemes. These schemes typically entitle individuals to reside or gain citizenship through making… – Continue reading

European Commissioner: Bank Secrecy No Longer Exists in Europe

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Pierre Moscovici said Monday that bank secrecy was no longer a reality in Europe since EU tax authorities automatically exchanged information about bank accounts opened within the bloc. “Bank secrecy no longer exists in Europe. If anyone has a bank account in Switzerland we are immediately being… – Continue reading

Spain Publishes 2018 Tax Compliance Plan

The Spanish tax authority has published its annual tax and customs control plan for 2018, which details the tax compliance and enforcement measures that it intends to undertake in the coming year. The plan, published by the tax authority on January 23, features four key pillars: preventative measures, including a… – Continue reading

Bulgaria and Greece step up exchange of information to combat tax evasion

The head of the revenue agencies of Bulgaria and Greece have held talks on continuing and deepening co-operation on exchanging information and countering tax evasion, the National Revenue Agency in Sofia said on January 22. Bulgaria’s National Revenue Agency head, Galya Dimitrova, and her Greek counterpart Georgios Pitsilis discussed issues… – Continue reading

Swiss Come Clean Amid Data Swaps

Switzerland’s abandonment of banking secrecy for international tax dodgers is having an unexpected side effect at home: more domestic tax cheats with accounts around Europe are coming forward. If 2017 was the glide path for Switzerland’s international data-swapping agreements, this year means business: Swiss banks must automatically share client data… – Continue reading

Investigators raid VW offices as tax fraud suspicion lingers

Prosecutors and investigators from tax authorities have raided the offices of several senior officials from German carmaker Volkswagen. The move was part of an effort to scrutinize the firm in a tax evasion probe. Investigators on Tuesday night searched the offices of VW finance chief Frank Witter and human resources… – Continue reading

EXCLUSIVE: HMRC tells retailers “play by the rules” or face the consequences

HMRC has warned convenience retailers to “play by the tax rules” or face the consequences as new stats show a disproportionate amount of tax evasion is committed by convenience stores. While accounting for less than 1% of businesses, convenience stores and newsagents now account more than 6% of all incidents… – Continue reading

International information exchange system to help fight tax evasion: Slovak officials

BRATISLAVA, Oct.18 (Xinhua) — International information exchange system could help fight tax evasion, said President of Slovak Financial Administration Frantisek Imrecze at a press conference here on Wednesday. According to Imrecze, the information exchange system has been available to the Slovak Financial Administration since Sept. 30, the Slovak tax office… – Continue reading

Vijay Mallya firms had deals with company named in Panama Papers: Probe

According to the SFIO report, IQ Bridge Limited, Mauritius, and its Indian subsidiary, IQ Bridge Limited, Bangalore, controlled by Mallya and the UB Group, held 15 lakh and 52 lakh equity shares respectively in Kingfisher Airlines before its merger with Deccan Aviation. A PROBE by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office… – Continue reading

Court orders developer to reveal condo-flipper info

A Federal Court judge has approved at least one court order that will require a British Columbia developer to turn over information to tax officials about people who bought and flipped condo units before or during construction. And several similar applications are under way, reflecting the federal government’s efforts to… – Continue reading

Will the new corporate offence of failure to prevent tax evasion and enhanced international tax transparency change the landscape for tax investigations?

The 30 September 2017 is an important date for HMRC and its “relentless” clampdown on global tax evasion. First, it marks the coming into force of the landmark corporate offence of failure to prevent tax evasion under Part 3 of the Criminal Finances Act 2017. Secondly, it is the commencement… – Continue reading