Which Countries Are Considered The Top Corporate Tax Havens?
When multinational companies look to open up a new subsidiary or a regional headquarters, they tend to prefer certain countries due to their favorable tax policies. ... - Continue reading
Category: Tax Authority
HMRC readies crackdown on HNW offshore fund holders
Wealthy UK offshore fund holders are to be targeted by the HMRC in a new probe of compliance and tax transparency. ... - Continue reading
FBR asks UAE to share details of Pakistanis hiding behind Iqama status
Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Shabbar Zaidi on Monday wrote letter to UAE authorities and asked for devising mechanism to share details of Pakistanis who are hiding behind Iqama based residential status to evade taxes. In a letter written to Ministry of Finance UAE by the Chairman FBR Shabbar… – Continue reading
EU Advocate General considers Bulgaria’s refusal to exempt dividends paid to a Gibraltar companies from withholding tax
The Advocate General (AG) in an opinion issued 24 October (Case C-458/18) stated that a company incorporated in Gibraltar and subject to Gibraltar corporation tax cannot be considered to be a “company of a Member State” within the meaning of the parent-subsidiary directive (Directive 2011/96). ... - Continue reading
U.S. govt deficit hits 7-year high
The U.S. government ended fiscal year 2019 with the largest budget deficit in seven years as gains in tax receipts were offset by higher spending and growing debt service payments, the Treasury Department said on Friday. It is the first time since the early 1980s that the budget gap has… – Continue reading
US IRS tells banks not to close accounts just because of missing tax ID number: FATCA
The US Internal Revenue Service has eased the rules of FATCA compliance by telling banks overseas that they are not required to close the accounts of their accidental Americans clients who have not provided their tax identification number by January 2020. FATCA was passed in 2010 and forces banks wanting… – Continue reading
HMRC targets tax avoidance enablers
HMRC is clamping down on the promoters and enablers of tax avoidance scheme as prison sentence lengths for tax evasion rose by 1% on average last year. Penny Ciniewicz, HMRC’s director general of customer compliance, said “We have more than 100 current investigations into promoters [and enablers] and we’re keeping… – Continue reading
Ireland publishes tax guidance on tie-breaker rule for dual resident companies.
October 8, 2019- New tax guidance for dual resident companies published by the Irish Tax and Customs ... - Continue reading
Airbnb probed by UK tax authorities
A note in newly filed accounts for Airbnb UK said it had been contacted by HMRC over "tax laws or regulations impacting the company's business". ... - Continue reading
Disclosure of cross-border arrangements
HMRC has recently been consulting on how the UK will implement new EU disclosure rules contained in the latest Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC6). ... - Continue reading
Panama: The ABC Of The Tax Amnesty In Panama Law 99 Of 2019
With this new legal initiative, the taxpayers have the opportunity to clear tax debts without interests, surcharges and fines and to file forms past due without penalties. ... - Continue reading
SoftBank’s billions-saving tax route to be shut by Tokyo
Finance Ministry targets deliberate losses designed to slash bill ... - Continue reading
Peru tax authority guidance addresses deductibility of interest paid to non-residents
On September 20, the Peruvian tax authority issued guidance as to how to treat interest expenses on foreign debt. ... - Continue reading
Luxembourg 2020 Budget requires all older tax rulings to expire
Luxembourg’s Budget Bill published on 14 October comes up with new laws surrounding advance pricing agreements and other advance tax confirmations (so-called tax rulings) ... - Continue reading
POGOs’ tax compliance improves
The tax compliance of online gaming operators and their service providers continue to show improvements every month amid the strict enforcement activities of the government, a tax official said. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) initially reported that its preliminary income tax collection from Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) foreign… – Continue reading
BIR Officials: Congress not inclined to lift Bank Secrecy
“The suggestion has been brought up many times before and lawmakers with the support of the business community rejected it,” said a revenue regional director who declined to be named. He recalled that many congressmen even protested when the BIR in 2014 tried to require taxpayers to include in their… – Continue reading
Nigeria: FIRS To Deploy E-Filing Platform For Transfer Pricing Related Returns
In 2017, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) announced the introduction of six (6) new electronic services. ... - Continue reading
Mexican 2020 Tax Reform: key international tax proposals
Key tax changes to the country’s tax law primarily inspired by the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project ... - Continue reading
Nigeria: Key Considerations On Employment And Remuneration Of Expatriates In Nigeria
The natural resources and the economic opportunities in Nigeria continue to attract foreign direct investments (FDI) by investors across the world. ... - Continue reading
Citizenship, residency and tax liability
Is it true that if I become Italian I have to pay taxes in Italy? “I am a U.S. citizen and I plan to move my residency to Italy. I will continue working remotely for my U.S.-based company and will continue paying my taxes in the U.S. What should I… – Continue reading
Argentina issues burdensome draft transfer pricing guidance for public comment
Argentina’s tax authority on October 2 launched a public consultation on proposed guidance that includes significant and burdensome changes to the transfer pricing requirements that local taxpayers must comply with. ... - Continue reading
Accidental Americans’ sue France over FATCA disclosure rules
A group representing French-American taxpayers has filed a complaint against France with the European Commission over its compliance with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), in a bid to avoid being blacklisted by French banks starting in January. France is a signatory to an agreement to give the… – Continue reading
BIR padlocks main office, 2 branches of tax-dodging POGO service provider
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) padlocked simultaneously Wednesday the main office and two branches of one of the biggest Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) service providers in the country for alleged failure to register and pay the corresponding deficiency taxes amounting to P2 billion. Shuttered were the headquarter of… – Continue reading
Taxation of the digital economy, future of debt, and other OECD updates during the IFA Congress 2019 in London
The IFA Congress 2019, held 8-12 September in London, brought together leading international tax and transfer pricing experts from around the world. ... - Continue reading
Dutch tax office demands £902m in back taxes from British American Tobacco
The Dutch tax authorities have issued British American Tobacco with a €1bn bill for back taxes after a tax evasion investigation, website De Onderzoeksredactie has reported. ... - Continue reading
Russia may stop automatic tax data exchange with Britain, dependencies: media
MOSCOW, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) — The Russian Federal Tax Service (FTS) may stop the automatic exchange of financial information with Britain and its dependencies — the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey, TASS news agency reported Friday, quoting an FTS draft order. According to the news report, the draft order… – Continue reading
Declaration must for Pakistanis having foreign assets, income
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will tighten noose around offshore illicit money and assets as Pakistanis having undeclared assets abroad are required to file statement by September 30, 2019. “The FBR will launch proceedings against persons having offshore assets on the basis of available data,” an official at… – Continue reading
FBR issues notices to 475 printers for return filing
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issues 475 notices to owners of printing press and advertising businesses, asking them to file their income tax returns, sources said on Tuesday. The FBR issued notices for mandatory filing of income tax returns and wealth statement in order to determine annual… – Continue reading
AEOI will assist IRB in cracking down tax evasion
The Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) initiative by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will assist the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) in cracking down tax evasion, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng. ... - Continue reading
Villanueva urges DILG to crack down on tax-evading POGOs
Senator Joel Villanueva has urged the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to order local government units and police to crack down on Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) that refuse to comply with the country’s tax laws. Villanueva also backed the Department of Finance’s (DOF) order to shut down… – Continue reading
Dominguez orders BIR to shut down tax-dodging POGOs
'Those who don't pay or respond to your assessments, clamp them down,' says Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III ... - Continue reading
US-born British citizen launches crowdfunding campaign to stop FATCA
A US-born British citizen has started a crowdfunding campaign to stop HMRC sharing her personal information with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Law firm Mishcon de Reya has taken on the UK case for a client who alleges HMRC is… – Continue reading
Swiss banks start providing details of Indian accounts to Delhi
Banking details of Indians with accounts in Switzerland have been made available to tax authorities as the automatic exchange of information agreement starts between the two countries. “India will receive information of the calendar year 2018 in respect of all financial accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland. This will… – Continue reading
Post Swiss Bank sharing, 100 HNIs shortlisted
The Automatic Exchange of Information mechanism between India and Switzerland is being seen as a major boost in India’s fight against suspected black money stashed abroad A joint team of officials from Central Boad of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Central Bureau of Investigation and other probe agencies, who are looking into… – Continue reading
Ireland proposes sweeping changes to transfer pricing laws
The government brought into legislation a specific element of the 2017 OECD guidelines that permits the tax authority to re-characterize an intra-group arrangement. ... - Continue reading
HMRC collects record £191bn in income tax
The taxman is raking in record amounts in income tax as the latest figures reveal Britons paid an extra £11bn in 2018/19. Income tax receipts have soared to a record £191bn, according to figures published, a 6% increase from the previous year. Britons are paying almost 30% more income tax… – Continue reading
British citizens born in America face having bank accounts frozen
Tens of thousands of British citizens born in the US but only lived there for a few months or years face having their bank accounts frozen as part of a crackdown by the US tax authorities. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is ordering British banks to hand over the… – Continue reading
Nigeria: Regulatory Authorities’ Approvals And The Application Of Arm’s Length Principle In Nigeria: The Need For Coherence
One of the key objectives of the Income Tax (Transfer Pricing) Regulations, 2018 (NTPR) as captured in regulation 2(e) is to provide taxable persons with certainty of transfer pricing treatment in Nigeria. ... - Continue reading
Anomalies in withholding tax deduction detected
KARACHI: The tax authorities have detected anomalies in the deduction of withholding tax by the concerned officials, which it said was causing revenue losses to the national exchequer and needed immediate remedial measures, a statement said on Tuesday. “Withholding agents are not deducting the withholding tax according to the changes… – Continue reading
European Union: The Increasing Link Drawn By Regulators Between State Aid & Taxation Systems
In 2018, the European Commission (EC) concluded two more investigations into whether the tax ruling practices of Member States breached European Union (EU) State aid rules: the first, a finding of unlawful State aid resulting from tax rulings by Luxembourg in favor of Engie; the second, a rare finding of no aid in respect of the treatment by Luxembourg of McDonald's under the Luxembourg-U.S. double taxation treaty. These decisions are discussed below. ... - Continue reading
Tax payments made easy
HAVING trouble paying taxes? Fret no more, as paying taxes will be as easy as ordering your favorite brown sugar milk tea online. But before we dive into the details, a brief background is in order: The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has adopted the National Retail Payment System (NRPS)… – Continue reading
Transfer pricing: DGIT starts analysing potential cases of MNCs
The Directorate General of International Taxes of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started analysing a few potential multinational companies’ cases of transfer pricing where companies are directly involved in shifting their profits outside the country without payment of any taxes. In this regard, Directorate General of International Taxes… – Continue reading
Bermuda Monetary Authority: 50 Years Later
As the Bermuda Monetary Authority [BMA] celebrates 50 years in 2019, we take a look back at the last five decades. From providing sound policy advice to pushing Bermuda forward as a reputable place to conduct business, the BMA has had an incredible impact on Bermuda’s financial landscape. 1990-1999 Exchange… – Continue reading
Australia’s tax office can use Paradise Papers data to pursue multinationals: Court
Australia’s High Court ruled unanimously that giant Glencore could not rely on “legal privilege” to prevent the Australian Tax Office (ATO) from accessing emails, bank records, PowerPoint presentations and other files from the 2017 Paradise Papers investigation. Typically, documents marked “privileged” do not have to be disclosed in court. Companies… – Continue reading
What happened to the proposed amendments to Bank Secrecy Act?
The news is replete with discussions on the refiling of the proposed bills for the other TRAIN Packages with the 18th Congress. However, there seems to be no discussion yet on any proposed amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act, Republic Act (RA) 1405, as amended, particularly the proposed amendments to… – Continue reading
FATCA could push French banks to close up to 40,000 account
Banks in France have warned that they could be forced to close up to 40,000 accounts belonging to US citizens because of ongoing difficulties with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). ... - Continue reading
What You Need to Know about China’s New IIT Regime
China’s IIT reform introduced a host of changes to the system of individual taxation in the country last year. China Briefing explains the revisions to the tax brackets, expansion of deductibles, and new residency rules for foreign workers. China began the latest reforms to its individual income tax (IIT) system… – Continue reading
FIC denies ignoring SME Bank looting
THE director of the Financial Intelligence Centre, Leonie Dunn, says the centre did not turn a blind eye to the disappearance of around N$350 million from the now-defunct SME Bank. ... - Continue reading
Tax from non-doms falls by £2bn as wealthy flee the UK
The number of wealthy residents who pay no UK tax on their offshore accounts has fallen to its lowest level ever, Treasury figures reveal. Last year, there were 78,300 non-domiciled taxpayers, or “non-doms”, in the UK compared with 98,500 in 2016-17. And the £9.5bn they paid to the taxman in… – Continue reading
FBR collects Rs1bln in revenue from foreign fund transfers
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collected one billion rupees in withholding tax revenue on funds transferred abroad through credit and debit cards in a year, official statistics showed. The government opened the avenue for revenue collection a year ago considering the growing trend of payment through plastic cards…. – Continue reading
