After years of deliberation and debate spanning two administrations, the Tax Information Exchange (United States of America) Bill, 2016, also known as the Foreign Account Taxpayer Compliance (FATCA) Bill was passed in the Senate on March 7, 2017. This following its unanimous passage in the House of Representatives, two weeks...
Lawmakers want to ease the tax bite on most short-term rentals, but agreements made through Airbnb and similar marketplaces would still face 12 percent levy A new state tax meant to help level the playing field for hotels and motels amid rising competition from online rental marketplaces like Airbnb may...
Hassans has held seminars, attended by close to 200 people, aimed at clarifying the key points of the recently signed tax treaty. Three main takeaway points were discussed in particular Hassans summarised them as follows: Takeaway #1: It doesn’t matter whether or not you are registered in Spain – whether...
The Republic of Cyprus and Kazakhstan signed on Wednesday a Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and for the combating of Tax Evasion with respect to taxes on income. According to a press release issued by the Public Information Office, the Convention was signed in Nursultan, Kazakhstan, by the...
The government’s proposed surcharge on non-resident property buyers offers real reasons for concern. John Goodchild takes out his stamp duty calculator to explain The government proposes to introduce a stamp duty (SDLT) surcharge on non-UK residents (both individuals and non-natural persons) purchasing residential property in England. The proposed level of...
The government has approved the creation of tax residency certificates for permanent residents so they can prove compliance with other countries’ laws, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday. Brent Symonette, minister of financial services, trade and industry and Immigration, told the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Caribbean Conference that...
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has documented Rs75 billion worth of properties during the first nine months of the current fiscal year of 2018/19 under a tax amnesty scheme; although the revenue collection fell a quarter year-on-year on uncertainty about the concessions, sources said on Tuesday The sources...
Congratulations are in order to Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, as they welcomed their yet unnamed son into the world yesterday. The new little Earl (he won’t get a Prince title like his cousins) weighed in at a healthy weighs 7lbs. 3oz and comes with a life long...
Tax amnesty is defines as “grant of an opportunity to a specific class of society to declare their undeclared assets by payment of a meagre amount of tax in addition to grant of immunity from default surcharge, penalties and prosecution”. It is introduced by the governments to fulfill the slogan...
More than half a million ‘accidental’ landlords have less than a year to sell up before they could be hit with new tax bills for thousands of pounds. Earlier this month, the Government put forward plans to scrap two types of tax relief for landlords who sell a property that...
—Says exemption to facilitate capital inflow by relaxing account opening, registration process ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in its proposals for budget 2019-2020 has recommended exemption of capital gain tax (CGT) on disposal of securities by foreign investors. Budget proposals for next fiscal year 2019-20, available with Pakistan Today,...
In late December, news of Refaeli’s potential indictment came about. Her mother, who was her modeling agent, was also subject to the money-laundering scheme, according to reports. Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli, who has been investigated by the nation’s Tax Authority since 2015, will have to pay taxes for the roughly...
Some of these changes have been made with respect to changes in income tax laws made in Budget 2018 for 2018-19 and onwards. Certain changes have been in Income Tax Return (ITR) forms for 2018-19 by the government. Some of these changes have been made with respect to changes in...
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will penalize Reporting Financial Institutions (RFIs), which would fail to submit Common Reporting Standard (CRS) reports pertaining to required information of financial accounts of non-resident persons and any other reportable person by May 31, 2019 to the FBR. According to an announcement of the FBR...
Islamabad Around 152,518 financial information of Pakistan tax residents have been received through Common Reporting Standard Exchange (CRSE) on various dates – from October-2018 onwards. This data is being analyzed from taxation point of view and it has been shifted to identify in first instance, cases which are of a...
The UK has published a policy paper setting out the direction for HMRC’s updated strategy for offshore tax compliance, offshore tax compliance strategy: No Safe Havens 2019. In the document, published alongside the chancellor’s Spring Statement, HMRC said it will use hefty punishments for those who enable offshore tax avoidance....
Introduction In July 2015, a number of bills relating to the Cyprus taxation system were approved by the Council of Ministers and subsequently enacted into legislation by the Parliament1. The key highlight of these new bills is the introduction for the very first time of the “non-dom” status for Cyprus...
India has one of the largest networks of tax treaties for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion. The country has Double Tax Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with over 85 countries under Section 90 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The purpose of such tax treaties is to...
KARACHI: Property tax collection by provinces surged 31.34 percent to Rs7.38 billion during the first half of the current fiscal year of 2018/19, official data showed on Friday. Finance ministry’s data showed property tax collection amounted to Rs5.624 billion during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Sources in...
In December, the Virgin Islands implemented a new Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) measure, according to Government Information Services. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development created a BEPS “action plan” in 2013 to combat “tax planning strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift...
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Asad Umar Thursday made it abundantly clear that those having offshore properties had no option but to give the trail of their money. Addressing a post-mini budget press conference at the P-block here, he said the government had obtained assistance from friendly countries, including Saudi...
During 2017 the Italian Government introduced a new tax regime: The Resident Non-Domiciled Tax Regime(also known as the “Flat Tax Regime”), with the aim of attracting high net worth individuals who want to relocate to Italy. The new legislation introduced a key change to the general principle of worldwide taxation...
Background Portugal is being re-discovered as a destination to relocate to, with iconic cities such as Lisbon and Porto, and stunning coastal areas, for example, the Algarve. It also offers very easy access to the rest of Europe. Portugal is increasingly recognised as an international hub with 71 Double Taxation...
The announcement by National Treasury and SARS in 2017 that the tax exemption on South African expatriates is set to change, has resulted in the lifestyle of many South Africans, who are employed by companies abroad, to rapidly change from a South African tax liability point of view. By Claudia...
The Government yesterday broke down the divide between Bahamian domestic and international financial institutions to meet European Union (EU) demands. KP Turnquest, the Deputy Prime Minister, in unveiling a radical regulatory shift said the Government will “make the playing field level for all financial institutions in The Bahamas” by enabling...
The wealthy are showing a keen interest to invest offshore, as the HNWIs seek to achieve benefits from global diversification and gain tax efficiencies. The proportion of HNWIs who invest offshore has risen from 11.2% in 2014 to 16.9% by December 2018, , according to GlobalData’s HNW Offshore Investment survey....
The Delhi High Court, in its recent decision, quashed an order of the Income Tax department questioning the overseas earnings and assets prior to March 31, 2005. The earnings included money in tax-haven banks, overseas properties and interests in offshore trusts and applies to non-resident Indians as well. The assessee,...
The United States Department of Justice has charged four people with crimes allegedly brought to light by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism’s Panama Papers expose, according to a DOJ announcement published earlier this month. They are the first US criminal charges stemming from the ICIJ’s 2016 investigation, which reported...
The Isle of Man’s parliament has approved tax legislation that will allow the jurisdiction to avoid being put on the European Union’s blacklist. Tynwald gave the green light this week to the Income Tax (Substance Requirements) Order 2018. This means that from January 2019, companies engaging in “relevant activities” will...
The Cayman Islands government has published draft tax legislation that will have far-reaching impact for the offshore finance industry operating in the jurisdiction by demanding that certain Cayman-registered companies have an adequate level of economic substance locally. The International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) Bill 2018 introduces a substance test for...
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,...
KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) stepped up efforts to net undisclosed property investments as the newly-constituted authority to curb real estate tax evasion brought the amnesty for the sector to an end, sources said Saturday. They said the amnesty to whiten undocumented money used for transactions of immovable...
After global index puts Israel in top third of most financially secretive countries, NGO calls for more public scrutiny and regulations to stop rich from hiding their assets Israel must immediately move to pass regulations against tax evasion and money laundering if it is to protect its credit rating and...
General UK Tax Developments Finance Bill The Finance (No 3) Bill 2018-19 (which will become the Finance Act 2019) was published on 7 November and includes legislation to enact the changes highlighted in our UK Budget blog post ( UK Budget Blog). Another key area covered by the Finance Bill...
Ireland and Malta have agreed to close the “Single Malt” – an aggressive tax planning structure in which some multinational corporations use a company incorporated in Ireland but tax-resident in Malta. The Competent Authority Agreement – entered into as per the provisions of Article 24 (mutual agreement procedure) of the...
There is confusion among taxpayers regarding taxability of foreign rental income in Pakistan and filing of income tax returns in view of avoidance of double taxation treaties signed between Pakistan and UAE, UK and Canada. A leading tax consultant Shahid Jami has approached the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for...
The Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has said NRIs do not need to reveal details of their foreign bank accounts and assets to Indian authorities. The tribunal has also ruled that the onus is on the I-T Department to prove an assessee has parked undeclared income arising from India in foreign...
Introduction – Offshore funds and Canada Revenue Agency’ reach Gone are the days when offshore bank accounts were outside the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)’s reach. With the advent of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), CRA automatically receives financial information of Canadian taxpayers who own bank accounts or assets in other...
Barbados is to scrap its international business company (IBC) regime in response to the OECD labeling the policy as “harmful” to competition, and being in breach of rules governing international taxation. Last year the OECD included Barbados on its list of jurisdictions with a “harmful” preferential tax regime, and said...
Government officials have devised what they believe is a solution to the looming European Union blacklist threat, according to Neil Smith, the executive director of government’s Office of International Business (Regulations). The EU has threatened to place the Virgin Islands on an anti-tax avoidance blacklist at the end of the...
Trusts still remain under public scrutiny, but can their reputation be safeguarded, asks Stuart Price A recent government consultation on the law of trusts brought out some interesting issues concerning how the status quo aligns with the principles of transparency, fairness and simplicity (the principles that, at least in the...
The Swiss bank is on trial in France for its role in a tax evasion scandal Swiss bank UBS Group could be forced to pay up to €5.3bn in fines over allegations that it helped wealthy French clients conceal money from tax authorities. The double-pronged lawsuit has been brought against...
Bahamas-based developers have blasted the OECD’s “cynical” attempt to “”de-legitimise” this nation’s key investment product by suggesting it threatens the global fight against tax evasion. The newly-formed Bahamas Developers Association (BDA), in a recent statement, argued that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) was wrong to list this...
Since January 1, 2009, federal tax law limits the amount of gain eligible for exclusion from taxation (known as the “Primary Residence Exclusion”) when you sell a house used as a primary residence, if you also used the house for another purpose, such as a rental. Under Section 121 of...
Introduction A person’s status as a tax resident determines the extent to which Canada may tax that person’s income. The test for whether an individual—i.e., a natural person—is a Canadian tax resident turns on the individual’s particular circumstances. Every detail counts. But Canadian courts and the Canada Revenue Agency both...
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...
KARACHI: A global investment migration association on Wednesday termed Pakistanis among high-risk nationalities who could exploit loopholes in the OECD’s common reporting standard (CRS) developed to curb offshore tax evasion and avoidance. “Of those nearly one million citizenships granted by the EU each year that are not related to CBI...
On the list of countries operating CBI/RBI schemes, that the OECD feels have the potential to be used for tax dodging, are 2 tax havens that are popular with wealthy Canadians and large Canadian companies. These are Barbados and Panama. Ottawa (19 Oct. 2018) — New information from the Organization...
In Greece, an individual who has moved abroad must file an application to the local authorities in order to demonstrate a new address should they wish to change their status from resident to non-tax resident. Such an application is typically filed by March 10th of the year following the year...
The Lion City will not hesitate to impose action against firms with cross-border tax evasion. Singapore’s Ministry of Finance refuted a news article by CNBC Indonesia which claims that its Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) with Indonesia ‘indulges Singapore’. “Provisions under the DTA are reciprocal, like any other DTA,” the ministry...
