The Tax Office denied Macquarie Group a controversial tax deduction related to offshore subsidiaries that resulted in a long-running and costly court battle, while at the same time allowing other taxpayers to claim the deductions, a report finds. A report from inspector-general of taxation Ali Noroozi, released by the government… – Continue reading
MPs have attacked the taxman for being too slow to crack down on controversial avoidance schemes used by celebrities and other high earners, resulting in millions of pounds being lost to the public purse. As much as £10 million may never be recoverable because of delays by Her Majesty’s Revenue… – Continue reading
LONDON: Britain’s tax collection agency is not doing enough to tackle multinational firms who use complex company structures to reduce their tax bills, a report by MPs said on Tuesday. Britain has sought to take a leading role in international efforts to reduce legal tax avoidance methods used by companies… – Continue reading
Russia’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday took aim at the offshore holdings that have become ubiquitous in Russian business, passing in its final reading a bill that will make Russian taxpayers declare and pay taxes on their assets abroad. But once signed into law, this product of President Vladimir… – Continue reading
Should London’s Mayor pay U.S. taxes? How about filing FBARs and other forms that make it easy for the IRS to track his bank accounts? London’s Mayor Boris Johnson is English, but being born in New York means he’s American too. Turns out he never gave up his U.S. citizenship,… – Continue reading
Narendra Modi talked of black money, which is an issue at home, and linked it to terror finance — something that worries Western governments The G20, world-weary political and economic observers would say, has outlived its use and that it has become a talking shop like the G8 and then… – Continue reading
Is corporate CEO pay really out of control? Well, consider Fleecing Uncle Sam, a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies and the Center for Effective Government. Of the 100 highest-paid CEOs in the US, the study finds, twenty-nine of them received more compensation than their companies paid in… – Continue reading
The United States has treaty language that allows us to work with the taxing authorities in other countries to collect U.S. taxes owed from U.S. Citizens or their property located in those countries and to allow those countries to have IRS collect from their citizens or property located in the… – Continue reading
The European Commission, in an “Opening Decision” published on November 14, 2014, said that an advance tax ruling provided by the Netherlands to coffee group Starbucks appears to constitute state aid, in violation of European Union (EU) rules. In a 40-page letter to the Dutch authorities, the Commission detailed the… – Continue reading
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) should be allowed to offer settlements to resolve existing disputes over alleged tax avoidance, an expert has said.18 Nov 2014 Litigation & International Arbitration Enforcement UK Europe Tax disputes expert James Bullock of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said the measure would help… – Continue reading
November 18: A requirement for bonded importers to declare and pay use tax on goods imported into Puerto Rico has been reinstated and is effective today, November 18, 2014. These rules were reinstated by Administrative Determination No. 14-27 (November 6, 2014) as issued by the Puerto Rico Treasury Department. Background… – Continue reading
November 18: The Treasury Department and IRS today released for publication in the Federal Register final and temporary regulations (T.D. 9704) concerning the treatment of U.S. and foreign persons that fail to file gain recognition agreements (GRAs) or that fail to satisfy other reporting requirements associated with transfers of property… – Continue reading
CEG says the U.S. corporate tax system is in desperate need of reform A recent report from the Center for Effective Government (Fleecing Uncle Sam) highlights that many large U.S. companies pay little to no corporate taxes, and a few even get tax rebates from the federal government. Moreover, in… – Continue reading
Eureopean Union chief’s actions as prime minister of Luxembourg attacked over alleged role in creation of tax haven Jean-Claude Juncker is facing a vote in the European parliament to declare him unfit for his post as head of the EU executive because of his alleged role in turning Luxembourg into… – Continue reading
A publication in the Economic Times has caused much debate in India since after blacklisting Cyprus for not sharing information on tax evaders, India is now looking to take away the favourable tax treatment available to investors from the European tax heaven under the bilateral tax treaty between the two… – Continue reading
LONDON (ShareCast) – HMRC issued 1,502 legal notices in the year to 31 March 2014 demanding information on tax investigation targets. This figure is up from 1,490 the previous year. City law firm RPC (NYSE: RES – news) announced on Monday that HMRC is increasingly requiring accountancy and legal firms… – Continue reading
The G20 Communique is good news on the international tax reform front. As part of the G20 commitment to boost economic resilience the Communique commits G20 nations to taking action to ensure fairness in the international tax system. This means they are looking at ways to ensure profits are taxed… – Continue reading
Oxfam director Winnie Byanyima says what is on the table is not enough to stop poor countries being ‘bled dry’ Moves by G20 nations to tackle corporate tax avoidance are welcome but will only begin to uncover the full problem while leaving poor countries still vulnerable to exploitation, tax justice… – Continue reading
In today’s global economy, where multinational companies do business in different geographical and tax jurisdictions, the need for arm’s length pricing of related party transactions is a growing concern for revenue authorities. Tax bodies are increasingly requiring multinationals to document their related party transactions. Where these transactions are not well… – Continue reading
The latest G20 leaders’ summit in Australia, which ended yesterday, has endorsed the various strands of international tax work being undertaken by the European Commission and by OECD, including work on the Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) project Prime Minister David Cameron said there had been ‘important breakthroughs’ in making… – Continue reading
It’s a surprise to many people that MLPs generate taxable income in retirement plans requiring a tax filing and payment of taxes. Traders and investors are interested in using their IRA and other retirement plan accounts (collectively referred to as “retirement plans”) for making “alternative investments” in publicly traded master… – Continue reading
Pretoria — President Jacob Zuma has concluded his visit to Brisbane, Australia, where he led the South African delegation to the G20 Leaders’ Summit, says the Presidency. The main outcome of the Leaders’ Summit was a commitment to lift the G20’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by at least an additional… – Continue reading
G20 leaders have made “real progress” towards ensuring that “big companies pay the tax they owe”, David Cameron said at the end of the G20 summit in Brisbane yesterday. “There are now over 92 different countries and tax authorities properly sharing information and, as the OECD set out at this… – Continue reading
Tax agency asking for thousands 9 years later after suddenly changing their tax status It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” But in the case of Calgary residents Elise and Edwin Britton, an $18,000 tax bill from… – Continue reading
The limited liability company, or LLC, has become a popular form for organizing a business. Using an LLC generally avoids the double layer of taxation encountered with a corporation while providing limited liability for its members, and offers more flexibility than S corporations in which corporations may not be shareholders. … – Continue reading
THE Lagos State government has begun the prosecution of no fewer than 50 companies over alleged tax evasion charges. The number adds up to 200 that have so far been charged to court in the last one year. Chairman of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Services (LIRS), Tunde Fowler,… – Continue reading
IN July 2014, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) sent letters to some tax consultants requesting their non-resident clients operating in Nigeria to file complete tax returns effective from 2014 tax year. In practice, non-resident companies file their tax returns on the deemed profit basis. Following an initial period of… – Continue reading
Recent months saw various important developments that are relevant to Sino-European trade and investment. These include (i) changes to the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive, (ii) the entry into force of the double tax treaty between Luxembourg and Taiwan, and (iii) proposed changes to China’s Foreign Investment Catalogue and the Governmental Verifications… – Continue reading
Apex industry body ASSOCHAM has urged the Centre to amend the Indian income-tax law so as not to introduce the general anti avoidance rules (GAAR) from assessment year 2016-17 as India’s economy is neither mature enough to stand up to its exacting standards nor is the tax administration ready to… – Continue reading
ITR Correspondent In an effort to provide taxpayers with an integrated procedural framework for the negotiation of advance pricing agreements (APAs), the Greek Ministry of Finance recently released template application forms for both preliminary consultations and formal negotiations, as well as additional guidelines on the overall APA procedure. The forms… – Continue reading
There is broad global support for moves to curb international tax avoidance, says Finance Minister Bill English, on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brisbane. Cracking down on tax avoidance is one of the key agenda items at this weekend’s G20 Summit, where New Zealand is an invited… – Continue reading
BRISBANE, Australia — Under pressure to jolt the lethargic world economy back to life, leaders of G-20 nations on Sunday finalized a plan to boost global GDP by more than $2 trillion over five years. The fanfare, however, was overshadowed by tensions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Western leaders…. – Continue reading
The chairman of the Dail’s spending watchdog, John McGuinness, is to defy his own committee’s legal advice and will seek to investigate the controversial Ansbacher dossier on tax evasion. Should he get his way, the door would be opened to allow the identities of several former Fianna Fail TDs and… – Continue reading
The growing crackdown on tax avoidance risks ushering in a broader suppression of international tax competition, harming the interests of all taxpayers. An inevitable consequence of economic globalisation is that supply chains and financial linkages have become dispersed across geographic space, and producers now strive to provide customers with quality… – Continue reading
Expats have a range of choices – so how do they find a safe home for their assets? The traditional use of offshore centres as a way of enabling better tax planning – and even tax evasion – has all but fallen away. An increasing desire for countries to share… – Continue reading
(AFP) The OECD Friday forecast competition heating up among countries wanting to attract revenue from big digital companies like Apple and Google, even as a row rages over Luxembourg’s arrangements with multinationals. Closing corporate tax loopholes and endorsing a common reporting standard to increase transparency are set to be a… – Continue reading
Hybrid entities have long been a tool for corporate tax planning. While tax authorities have fought the use of such hybrid mismatches for tax planning purposes, national efforts to prevent the use of hybrid mismatches have not proven to be very efficient, explain Michael Graf and Timothy Santoli, of Dentons… – Continue reading
Seventy percent of corporate tax professionals said they favor lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate, even if that means their companies would have to give up tax loopholes, according to a new study. The study, released Thursday by the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters, gauged the opinions of… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS — European Union authorities have accused the Netherlands of making a special deal with Starbucks that helped the company lower its taxes, creating unfair advantages over other countries in the bloc. The report by the bloc’s competition authority, made public on Friday, is a preliminary finding in a review… – Continue reading
The LuxLeaks scandal is a classical example of the growingly frequent clash between the level of integration of the European economy (and the global for that matter) and the national sovereignty. Greece was first to prove that four years ago when it put to the test the very survival of… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) — European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici vowed on Thursday to push forward fight against tax evasion and raise the bar for tax good governance in Europe. “It is clear that we need to take a more systematic approach to… – Continue reading
Multinational tax avoidance risks losing citizens’ trust, says Joe Hockey G20 working on ‘important reforms which will significantly improve the integrity of the tax system’, Australian treasurer says The Australian treasurer, Joe Hockey, has warned that citizens will lose trust in the legitimacy of their governments if multinationals are allowed… – Continue reading
The Swiss Federal Council has adopted dispatches on five double taxation agreements, which will now be submitted to Parliament for approval. The treaties with Estonia, Ghana, Iceland, and Uzbekistan either replace or revise the current deals, while the agreement with Cyprus is Switzerland’s first with the territory. All of the… – Continue reading
Y20 head on youth unemployment mission Countries may have to battle for revenue from digital companies once the global plan to stop tax avoidance succeeds, says the OECD’s head of tax Pascal Saint-Amans, but at least they now have something to fight for. In an exclusive interview with Fairfax Media… – Continue reading
Brisbane (Australia) (AFP) – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on Friday forecast competition heating up among countries wanting to attract revenue from big digital companies like Apple and Google, even as a row rages over Luxembourg’s arrangements with multinationals. Closing corporate tax loopholes and endorsing a common reporting… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: In the first ever ruling relating to taxation of black money stashed in overseas tax havens, the Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has given the taxman a lot to cheer. Funds aggregating $2.4 million (Rs 11.73 crore approximately) as of December 31, 2001, held in… – Continue reading
A WHISTLEBLOWER claimed former Tanaiste Mary Harney “shut down” his investigation into allegations of offshore tax evasion after he uncovered the names of senior politicians in the Progressive Democrats, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, the Dail has heard. It is the first time Ms Harney’s party, the now defunct PDs,… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands is touted as one of the world’s top 10 finance hubs. The chief reason that the Caribbean hotspot holds such cachet is an epic perk it provides – freedom from income tax. twitter To get more Money more often, why not follow us on Twitter? We’re @FairfaxMoney… – Continue reading
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has proposed that no exemption whatsoever from withholding tax under Eighth Schedule (Capital Gains Tax) of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 is available to foreign institutional investors either on the basis of avoidance of double taxation treaties or for any other reason. Through an… – Continue reading
Why does Stephen Mandel, the newly minted Minister of Health, think it’s a good idea for Alberta taxpayers to support the lifestyles of wealthy Australian businessmen who earn more than $13 million a year; their executive teams who get ridiculous bonuses and stock options; and the Australian economy as a… – Continue reading
