For avoiding double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, India and Austria signed a protocol, amending the existing convention between the two countries. On behalf of India, the protocol was signed by the Chairman of CBDT, Shri Sushil Chandra, and on behalf… – Continue reading
NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, has issued a new survey report on the international Common Reporting Standard (CRS), which reveals that financial institutions impacted by the regulations still have much work to do to meet with the initiative’s significant… – Continue reading
Madison – Tax-related identity theft is an established concern nationwide, as state and federal tax authorities have wrestled for years with a blight of criminals filing fraudulent tax returns using other people’s personally identifiable information. For a scammer, tax identity theft means quick cash. For a victim, it’s a delayed… – Continue reading
Even though the Internal Revenue Service approves 94 percent of the applications it receives from charities for tax-exempt status filed through the simplified Form 1023-EZ, approximately a quarter of them do not meet the IRS’s own requirements. A recent report by the National Taxpayer Advocate pointed out that Treasury Department… – Continue reading
Swiss voters will vote next week on whether to reform corporate tax and remove the reduced tax rates that Switzerland currently grants to multinational firms. Voters will be asked whether they accept the federal law that was adopted by Switzerland’s national council in June 2016 “with a view to enhancing… – Continue reading
Italy’s government intends to use value-added tax (VAT) as the fundamental lever to fight evasion estimated at €40 billion annually, double the average of other European Union countries. The measures being studied (which will not concern an increase in VAT rates, Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has assured) will also… – Continue reading
Adoption as a means of reducing inheritance taxation is said to be common among wealthy people. In overturning a lower court decision that invalidated a late Fukushima Prefecture man’s adoption of his grandson in 2012 on the grounds that the step was a tax-saving measure, the Supreme Court has ruled… – Continue reading
WITH THE PROPOSED transfer-pricing law now under review by the Council of State, the landscape for transfer pricing is expected to undergo a major facelift once the law is enacted. One significant change would be the requirement for taxpayers to disclose their transfer-pricing information when they file their year-end tax… – Continue reading
The Swiss Federal Department of Finance (FDF) has launched a consultation on the introduction of the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) in tax matters with 20 new countries. The implementation of the AEOI with these countries is planned for January 1, 2018, with the first exchanges of information expected to… – Continue reading
The signing of a double taxation agreement between the UK and the UAE in April 2016 was undoubtedly much anticipated and marks a new milestone in the successful expansion of the UAE’s international tax treaty network. Following ratification of the agreement by the two countries reacting parties, it came into… – Continue reading
Business Council of Australia is urging tax cuts to remain competitive but transparency report show members’ effective rate is 24.3% The members of the Business Council of Australia, who are leading the push to cut Australia’s corporate tax rate from 30%, already pay an effective tax rate five percentage points… – Continue reading
India has revised 40 treaties for avoidance of double taxation so that the information exchanged with partner nations on tax matters can also be utilised for other purposes including criminal proceedings, Parliament was informed on Friday. “Treaty partner countries have been requested to modify the tax treaties, so as to… – Continue reading
A Republican plan to overhaul the U.S. corporate income tax could put the dozens of existing U.S. double-tax treaties in limbo. U.S. companies doing business abroad may no longer be able to rely on the mechanisms in treaties for resolving cross-border tax disputes—overlapping claims on a company’s tax—or they may… – Continue reading
EU member states sent a letter to 92 countries on Wednesday (1 February) informing them that they will be “screened” with a view to inclusion in a future “blacklist” of tax havens. The list of the countries that have been contacted is not public, but EUobserver understands that it is… – Continue reading
Multinationals owe responsibility to a wider group than their shareholders As the Apple tax case moves towards the European Union courts, €13 billion has been transferred to Ireland. The implications of the case will effect how multi-national companies implement taxes across Europe. has been accused of “bending the rules” in… – Continue reading
In a move that will facilitate ease of business, domestic transfer pricing provisions will apply only if one of the parties to a deal is availing of tax benefits. Traditionally, transfer pricing applied to international transactions entered into by a company in India with related parties, such as its foreign… – Continue reading
The Kuwait Ministry of Finance (MOF) has issued a ministerial resolution announcing that Deloitte & Touche, Al-Wazzan & Co in Kuwait has been certified with the ministry for the provision of Foreign Account Tax Compliance (FATCA) services. FATCA is a US legislation which aims to combat tax evasion by US… – Continue reading
Individuals who will be deemed UK domicile from 6 April 2017 should be considering their options with regard to offshore trusts as a matter of priority. On 5 December 2016, the UK Government published the Reforms to the taxation of non-domiciles: further consultation outcome, which provided clarity on the following… – Continue reading
The OECD made its end-November 2016 deadline to release the text of the multilateral treaty to give effect to the BEPS Actions which involve changes to tax treaties, see here. The 49 page treaty text, which is commonly referred to as the multilateral instrument or MLI, and 85 page explanatory… – Continue reading
More than 20 informants have signed contracts with tax agency that could lead to reward money The Canada Revenue Agency’s offshore tax evasion tip line has resulted in signed contracts with more than 20 informants and more than $1 million in tax reassessments and penalties. The tips have also resulted… – Continue reading
SMUGGLING of petroleum products has been rampant in the last couple of years. The value-added tax (VAT) and excise-tax exemptions of free-port and economic zones (FEZs) are being abused by enterprising individuals. To curtail this problem, the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 2012 required the payment of VAT and excise… – Continue reading
Among other things, Union Budget 2017 will be remembered for two firsts – the introduction of secondary adjustment and thin capitalisation rules. Both are transfer pricing provisions which will have a far-reaching impact on corporates. Secondary Adjustment Since the concept of secondary adjustment is introduced for the first time in… – Continue reading
Indonesia has entered the third phase of its tax amnesty program, which was first launched in July 2016 to boost the country’s meagre revenue by collecting previously unreported funds hidden by wealthy citizens abroad and at home. The country, which has long struggled to increase its tax revenue, has so… – Continue reading
THE scope of the withholding tax — a tax imposed on non-residents for services rendered to Malaysia-based companies — has been widened. It is one of the major tax changes that came into effect on Jan 17 under the Finance Act 2017. Under the changes, non-residents must pay withholding tax… – Continue reading
The OECD is seeking taxpayer input on the tax treaty dispute resolution process in a second tranche of countries and is seeking comments on the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Sweden. Improving the tax treaty dispute resolution process is identified as a priority… – Continue reading
Main residence exemption costing budget $61.5bn, almost double the $33bn lost to super concessions The federal government’s tax breaks for home owner-occupiers are dwarfing tax breaks for superannuation. New figures show the capital gains tax concession on the family home is now worth $61.5bn, almost double the $33bn lost to… – Continue reading
The Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) has expressed concern about the number of countries in the region which have not yet put in place inter-governmental agreements (IGAs) with the United States on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). It said it was therefore renewing the call for Caribbean countries… – Continue reading
A key outcome of the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation’s (OECD’s) final Report on Action Plan 13 (Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by-Country reporting) is the commitment of OECD and G20 countries to introduce Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting along with the associated master file and local file documentation for large Multinational… – Continue reading
The European Commission has put forward a proposal to allow member states to expand their use of the value-added tax “reverse charge mechanism” for fraud-prone goods. The proposal was first unveiled last month, and was presented to a meeting of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council on January 27…. – Continue reading
Legislation reintroduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives calls for the repeal of the estate tax, or “death tax” as it is commonly known in the United States. Until 2012, estates paid a 35 percent tax above a USD5m cap. The tax was scheduled to revert in… – Continue reading
CROSS-border taxation in current times is poised for significant changes. Tax is key in foreign ventures. Absent tax strategies and foreign tax leakages would erode margins and return of investment. Although international tax-efficient strategies to mitigate capital gains tax (CGT), withholding tax (WHT) and the risk of creating a taxable… – Continue reading
The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2017, which implements a further stamp duty increase to cool Hong Kong’s housing market, was gazetted on January 27, and will be introduced into the Legislative Council on February 8. The Bill includes the demand-side management measure announced on November 4, 2016. With effect from… – Continue reading
Documents for thousands of Canadian residents transferred under controversial FATCA legislation Banking records of more than 315,000 Canadian residents were turned over to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service last year under a controversial information sharing deal, CBC News has learned. That is double the number transferred in the deal’s first… – Continue reading
The Trump White House favours a “flexible” border adjustment tax targeting countries with which the United States runs big trade deficits, including Mexico, China and Germany, the President’s top trade and industry adviser said. Peter Navarro, a sceptic of free trade, wants the US to entice advanced manufacturing production onshore… – Continue reading
The programme includes measures to combat base erosion and profit shifting, based on four main measures that can challenge exploitation of tax agreements, monitor developing international tax work rules, and ensure a more transparent environment. Egypt was chosen by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in a conference… – Continue reading
HM Revenue and Customs’ failure to get tough with Britain’s richest individuals is undermining confidence in the whole tax system, MPs have warned. In a scathing report, the Commons Public Accounts Committee accused HMRC of creating the impression in its dealings with taxpayers there was “one rule for the rich… – Continue reading
U.S. companies hold cash—lots and lots of cash—overseas to avoid paying the top corporate tax rate of 35% on those foreign earnings. But the rate could be heading down with a change in the federal government’s leadership, and the prospect of more repatriated earnings to work with has finance chiefs… – Continue reading
In a significant step, Mauritius will soon start automatically sharing of tax information with India and other countries as part of global efforts to curb multinational companies from profit shifting activities. The development also comes months after the island nation, long perceived to be a jurisdiction for alleged illegal fund… – Continue reading
What GAO Found In 2015, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) issued revised guidelines, including 15 actions to help reduce base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) of multinational enterprises (MNEs). One action focuses on transfer pricing guidance with the intent of aligning MNE profits with the location of… – Continue reading
On January 19, Greece and the United States signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to facilitate compliance with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by financial institutions (FIs) in Greece. FATCA is intended to ensure that the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) obtains information on financial accounts held at… – Continue reading
A European leader in financial, tax and regulatory reporting for the banking and insurance sectors, Invoke is expanding its software range to meet CRS/AEoI cross-country tax reporting requirements. As part of the global fight against tax evasion, the G20 and OECD program for the exchange of tax payers’ financial information… – Continue reading
Several countries in Latin America have established new transfer pricing documentation obligations associated with the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative. In this new year, Mexico, Colombia and Peru have included in their local legislation new documentation requirements that follow a three-tiered approach: country-by-country (CbC) report, master file,… – Continue reading
The most important task of the Finance Minister in the 2017-18 budget is to tame the “Indirect Transfer Provisions” monster born out of amendments to Section 9 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. In response to the Supreme Court’s judgement in the famous Vodafone case, the Finance Act, 2012 amended… – Continue reading
New guidelines aim to check tax evasion, ensure foreign firms are not taxed on their global income. New Delhi: The income-tax (I-T) department on Tuesday issued the final guidelines for place of effective management (PoEM) rules that seek to determine the residency status of a firm for calculating its tax liability. The… – Continue reading
The new administration and Congress have signaled their intention to undertake fundamental tax reform in the coming months. Lawmakers will need to weigh the costs and benefits of numerous policy trade-offs as they undertake this effort. Among the most visible debates already underway concerns “border adjustability,” or moving the U.S…. – Continue reading
Revenue appraisers began crosschecking the withholding tax returns from some companies to determine propriety of the pay disbursed to their foreign and local employees and consultants. In recent times, the submitted accounts on the pay-as-you-earn tax of some multinational companies (MNCs) and domestic firms have been under surveillance of the… – Continue reading
On October 3, 2016 the Federal Government proposed changes to the Income Tax Act (the “Act”) and administrative policies that will impact claiming the principal residence exemption. 1. All dispositions of principal residences must now be reported. Previously, the CRA did not require taxpayers to report the sale of a… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD – The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has proposed the government to give one time amnesty scheme for the owners of offshore companies to declare their hidden assets by paying nominal tax. “I have asked the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to give one opportunity to offshore companies… – Continue reading
Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement Amended between S. Korea and India The Korea Shipowners’ Association announced on January 24 that the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between South Korea and India was amended so that South Korean shipping companies’ shipping income generated as a result of their maritime transport services provided for… – Continue reading
Bermuda – the world’s former “top tax haven” – has joined the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s fight against multinational profit shifting. Bermuda disputes it is a tax haven despite companies such as Apple and Google in the past being accused of using the British overseas territory to minimise… – Continue reading
