The UK tax system is about to experience one of its biggest ever upheavals. From April 2016, there could be two tax jurisdictions for income tax for the first time. We can’t definitively say what will happen yet, because the current Scotland Bill is still subject to negotiation – and… – Continue reading
Despite the inevitable move towards automatic exchange of tax information and Common Reporting Standards internationally, there continues to be a steady flow of litigation in the Courts of International Financial Centres such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore relating to challenges to inter-governmental Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) requests…. – Continue reading
Spain will call on the European Commission to include Gibraltar on the EU blacklist of tax havens published last week, it emerged over the weekend. The list names the 30 top tax havens as identified by EU countries, but Gibraltar is not on it. Only nine of the EU’s 28… – Continue reading
A controversial Euro list of dodgy tax jurisdictions that included Bermuda has been dealt a blow after Poland said the Island should not have been included on its submission. The move came after the European Commission unveiled the 30-jurisdiction ‘blacklist’ of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions singled out by member states. Poland… – Continue reading
After a controversial political debate, the Swiss voters have decided to reject the popular initiative to introduce a federal inheritance tax with a vast majority of 71.7% in the popular vote of 14 June 2015.. The 26 Cantons also unanimously rejected the the popular initiative. The clear result shows that… – Continue reading
The United States has been criticized on more than one occasion for failing to be a meaningful participant in the OECD’s multi-pronged initiative to address base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). Some commentators have even gone so far as to accuse the United States of actively working against the BEPS… – Continue reading
A tax law amendment passed in the Senate last week limits the availability of the Offshore Banking Unit concession in circumstances where it could otherwise be used to convert an ineligible activity into an eligible OB activity. Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No.1) Bill 2015 also brings the… – Continue reading
Someone once said that a good tax system enables the government to pluck the feathers from the taxpaying goose with the least amount of hissing, says Rod Houng-Lee. The least amount of hissing occurs when the law is simple and clear. The hissing increases exponentially when the law is more… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is currently on a nine-day visit to the United States, will on Monday meet representatives of pension funds and other long- term investors to allay their concerns over tax issues and ease of investing in India. He is scheduled to meet investors, including… – Continue reading
The G20’s efforts to crack down on multinational tax avoidance are likely to be defeated by national self-interest, particularly from the United States, one of Australasia’s top tax advisers says, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Rod Houng-Lee, formerly Asia Pacific Tax Leader head of tax in Asia Pacific for big-four… – Continue reading
CONNIE Smith, President of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA), said BIBA is very disappointed that Barbados’ name has appeared on this list of allegedly non co-operative countries indulging on tax avoidance. News broke about the development last week. However, the EU has withdrawn the blacklist. But at a news… – Continue reading
Washington, June 21 (IANS): Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is wooing American investors with twin assurances — more economic reforms and a stable policy regime with no intention to legislate or apply laws retrospectively. Jaitley has held talks with US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and US… – Continue reading
EMPORIUM — The Cameron County School District Board of Directors was unable to pass a tax millage rate during their regular meeting held on Thursday evening. Despite voting four times on various rates, the board was unable to come to a consensus. Only seven members were present for the meeting,… – Continue reading
Here’s yet another example of a major U.S. corporation making a huge effort to avoid paying any taxes anywhere (allegedly!). According a stunning June 17th report from Americans for Tax Fairness, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has established a giant network of 78 subsidiaries in 15 overseas tax havens in order… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Mauritius has offered to put in place stringent conditions for investors seeking benefits under its tax treaty with India to weed out post-box operations, addressing a key concern of New Delhi that has been attempting to amend the agreement for years. “We don’t want investors to open shell… – Continue reading
Lutchmeenaraidoo, who met foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, played down the issue of misuse of the India- Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC). Mauritius will make it difficult for shell companies using a liberal and controversial bilateral tax treaty with New Delhi to evade taxes in India, said the island nation’s… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) recently issued clarifications on the rollback provisions available under the advance pricing agreement (APA) mechanism in the arena of transfer pricing. While some clarifications – such as availability of a rollback even when a revised income tax return is filed, or the… – Continue reading
A new Texas law will give tax breaks to a small group of businesses but slightly increase taxes across the rest of the state. Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday signed House Bill 3150, which will trigger a tiny increase in unemployment taxes to cover an $84 million hit to the… – Continue reading
The Bahamas was yesterday “dumped on” through its inclusion on another so-called financial services ‘blacklist’, although an ex-Attorney General and others suggested the development should be taken “with a big grain of salt”, reports the Bahamas Tribune. John Delaney told Tribune Business that the European Union’s (EU) decision to ‘blacklist’… – Continue reading
Accounting and legal professions in Ireland oppose major strands of business tax plan Key strands of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development plan (OECD) to overhaul global business tax rules have run into resistance within the accounting and legal professions in Ireland. A submission this week to the Paris-based… – Continue reading
St. Kitts and Nevis is one of 30 countries placed on the European Union’s black list for not doing enough to fight tax evasion. The EU’s executive Commission published the list Wednesday (June 17). The blacklisted countries figure on at least ten of the EU’s 28 member nations’ lists of… – Continue reading
Pretoria — Government has gazetted the South Africa-Mauritius tax treaty which came into force at the end of May, said National Treasury. “This new treaty reflects changes in the tax policies of the two countries and is in line with international best practices to deal with tax abuse as outlined… – 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
With less than seven weeks between signature on 13 November 2014 and entry into force on 22 December, the new DTA between Cyprus and Iceland set a new standard for timeliness. Like most of Cyprus’s recent double taxation agreements, the DTA closely follows the form of the 2010 OECD Model… – Continue reading
David Gauke, financial secretary to the Treasury, told representatives from the European Parliament that Britain would reject plans to combat tax avoidance by multinationals According to the Guardian, German MEP Michael Theurer said, “He was very clear that the UK is insisting on tax competition”. The European Commission’s plan to… – Continue reading
Alberta’s new Finance Minister grudgingly admits it, and the province’s opposition proclaims it: The old Alberta Advantage is dead. The label long used by Progressive Conservative premiers to sell the Prairie province as a low-tax haven for individuals and corporations could be consigned to history when the NDP government passes… – Continue reading
IRS News Release IR-2015-70 (April 10, 2015) contains helpful but not exhaustive information about the filing obligations of US citizens and resident aliens abroad. Taxpayers outside the United States can also find helpful information about US tax-filing obligations and related matters by visiting (1) the IRS page on YouTube; (2)… – 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
In the last few years, particularly following the credit crunch, there has been a tangible focus on tax avoidance and clamping down on tax planning. Overnight, the rules of the game were changed and what was previously considered to be legitimate tax planning was condemned as being aggressive and morally… – Continue reading
Abstract Over the past 25 years, Cyprus has become the portal of choice for investment into and out of Russia and Central and Eastern Europe. The new Russian de-offshorization law, which took effect on 1 January 2015, will have significant implications for users of overseas structures. This article examines the… – Continue reading
Guernsey’s Chief Minister and Commerce and Employment Minister have expressed their astonishment that Guernsey has been included on a list of 30 so-called ‘non-cooperative’ non-EU jurisdictions, which was published today, reports Guernsey Finance. The list consolidates national tax ‘blacklists’ as they stood six months ago, and includes any jurisdiction on… – Continue reading
Following the expiration of the 29 May 2015 notification deadline with the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority (the “TIA”), the next step for all Cayman Islands Reporting Financial Institutions (each an “RFI”) is to submit a return (the “FATCA Return”) setting out certain details of any US Reportable Accounts that… – Continue reading
The 11 European nations seeking a financial-transactions tax will meet Thursday in Luxembourg in a bid to decide how to design the measure, according to European Union officials. Participating states are wrangling over which trades to tax and who should collect revenue, according to planning documents obtained by Bloomberg News…. – Continue reading
Yesterday, on June 17, 2015, three state tax bills were favorably reported to the United States House of Representatives (House) by the House Judiciary Committee (House Judiciary) after considering each during a half-day markup. The bills that were advanced included: (1) the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act (Mobile… – 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
On June 17, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved the markup of three bills dealing with interstate tax rules in the United States on individual income tax, business activity taxes, and sales tax on digital goods. The Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act is a bipartisan measure that… – Continue reading
Effective from January 1st next year, personal income tax in Hungary will be paid at a flat tax rate of 15%. Consequently, the standard withholding tax rate on all Hungarian securities (debt securities and equities) will also be reduced from the current 16% to 15%, says Clearstream Banking in a… – Continue reading
Alongside an imminent price rise in houses in Britain (The Economist) and several other factors to take into account in considering moving to Malta, your domicile status and subjectivity to UK inheritance tax should also feature in the picture. It is useful to know that neither permanently leaving the UK… – Continue reading
Effective from January 1st next year, personal income tax in Hungary will be paid at a flat tax rate of 15%. Consequently, the standard withholding tax rate on all Hungarian securities (debt securities and equities) will also be reduced from the current 16% to 15%, says Clearstream Banking in a… – Continue reading
The reported resurgence of cross-border mergers involving US companies that then move their corporate headquarters abroad shows that anti-tax avoidance measures passed last year were “a sticking plaster rather than a long-term solution”, an expert has said17 Jun 2015 The Financial Times reported (registration required) that demand for corporate ‘inversion’… – Continue reading
The U.S. Model Income Tax Treaty (the U.S. Model Treaty) generally represents the United States’ opening position in treaty negotiations. As a result, when changes to the treaty are proposed, international tax practitioners should be aware of the potential impact those changes can have on their existing inbound U.S. structures…. – Continue reading
The European Union: Labelled Bermuda as a tax haven Bermuda has been named by the European Union as a country that is not doing enough to crack down on tax avoidance. The Island was one of 30 countries on the list published by the EU’s executive Commission today. “These tax… – Continue reading
The Bahamian financial industry is concerned it will have to start reporting information for the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) without the necessary legislation being in place, Tribune Business can reveal, reports the Bahamas Tribune. Lawrence Lewis, a Deloitte & Touche (Bahamas) partner and accountant, confirmed to Tribune… – Continue reading
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — A law signed by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will allow some active duty Airmen who list their official home of record as Colorado to return Colorado as their legal residency without being obligated to pay state income taxes for their military pay. The Colorado… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance can be defined as aggressive tax-planning strategies and structures by multinational companies that take advantage of the gaps or mismatches in tax rules to shift profits to low-tax locations. While many countries around the world have either general or specific anti-avoidance legislation to tackle this problem, the current… – 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
THE new double-tax treaty between SA and Mauritius is set to come into force in January next year, following a controversial renegotiation to better protect the South African tax base. However, tax experts have warned that sweeping changes to the treaty, including withholding taxes for interest (10%) and royalties (5%)… – Continue reading
Whether a UK taxpayer is classed as Scottish for the purposes of the Scottish rate of income tax (SRIT) will depend on whether that person is resident in Scotland in any particular tax year, according to draft guidance published by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The SRIT will take effect… – Continue reading
On 11 June 2015, Guernsey and Bulgaria signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement. The two countries shall notify each other, in writing, when their necessary internal procedures for entry into force of this Agreement have been completed. The Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the later of… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India, which blacklisted Cyprus in 2013 for not sharing tax information under the treaty, is in dialogue with the island nation to resolve the issue, a top finance ministry official said today. “It’s not only exchange of information but it is also the quality of exchange of information… – Continue reading
