Category: FATCA

FATCA and Cayman Funds

With the first round of US FATCA reporting completed on Friday, 26 June, Cayman Islands Reporting Financial Institutions (RFIs) can now begin their summer relaxation in earnest, having successfully navigated the complex notification and reporting processes. For many, the process has been all-consuming since 1 January, when FATCA went live,… – Continue reading

Government plans to crack down on domestic money laundering, issues answers to FAQs

NEW DELHI: India said it was cracking down on attempts to launder black money locally and told people with unaccounted assets abroad that it will become increasingly difficult to conceal these, urging them to make use of a window that shuts on September 30. The government will start receiving financial… – Continue reading

India likely to sign US tax compliance law FATCA on Thursday

NEW DELHI: India is likely to sign the inter-governmental pact for the US tax compliance law FATCA on Thursday, a move that will help it fight tax evasion. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is aimed at combating possible tax evasion by Americans through financial entities of other countries. The… – Continue reading

ABA will not negotiate bank secrecy law FATCA

Lopez Valdes clarifies that only information given by state bodies The implications of the Law Enforcement Tax Accounts Abroad (FATCA for its acronym in English) adopted by the United States in March 2010, has generated unrest globally, because that nation imposes conditionalities that violate laws local. That legislation provides, among… – Continue reading

UAE to draft laws on corporate tax and VAT

Draft laws bringing corporate tax and value-added tax (VAT) to the United Arab Emirates are expected to be completed later this year, Gulf News has reported. “The draft of the corporate tax law and the value-added tax law has been discussed with the local and federal governments,” said Younis Haji… – Continue reading

Brazil: Congress Approves Agreement Between Brazil And The United States For The Automatic Exchange Of Financial Information

Congress just approved the intergovernmental agreement between Brazil and the United States for the automatic exchange of financial account information (Legislative Decree 146/2015, published on June 26). According to the terms of the agreement, Brazilian financial institutions (or Brazilian branches of foreign financial institutions) must identify financial accounts of United… – Continue reading

Untangling the FATCA Web for Hedge Funds (Next Up: GATCA)

After a four-year ramp up, America’s far-reaching tax law, FATCA – the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (enacted in 2010) – is now in full effect. With over 60 countries (including, most recently, the Vatican) having signed an agreement with the United States related to the enforcement of FATCA, it… – Continue reading

Brazil and U.S. Working To Mend Ties

Brazilian President Dilma Roussef met with President Barack Obama at the White House this week. Below is the new multi-faceted partnership. The United States and Brazilian relationship has been unstable since the U.S. spying policy became known in 2013. Brazilian President Dilma Roussef canceled a 2013 visit to Washington, D.C…. – Continue reading

Cayman Islands: Cayman Takes Further Steps With The Global Common Reporting Standard

The next step for the Cayman Islands in relation to international tax cooperation is the implementation later this year of the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The CRS standardises the global automatic exchange of information (AEOI) for tax purposes. Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton said the CRS will further strengthen… – Continue reading

The British Virgin Islands: Jurisdiction of Choice for IBCs

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) maintains its popularity as the jurisdiction of choice for international business companies by ensuring it is at the forefront of corporate legislation and international cooperation. The popularity of BVI companies continued unabated in 2014, with incorporations of approximately 60,000 new business companies during the year;… – Continue reading

Taxpayers Still Facing Big Challenges One Year After FATCA Goes Into Effect

June 30 — Taxpayers continue to wrestle with big questions a year after the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act opened for business. Acknowledging that the Internal Revenue Service is doing its best to implement a complex law, issues still remain as the reach of FATCA goes global, practitioners told Bloomberg… – Continue reading

KPMG And Dun & Bradstreet Alliance Addresses FATCA Due Diligence Challenges

NEW YORK and SHORT HILLS, N.J., June 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Marking the one-year deadline for foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to identify their preexisting entity account base for purposes of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, and Dun & Bradstreet… – Continue reading

Cyprus: FATCA Reporting Deadline Extended

The Cyprus Tax Authorities have announced that the FATCA reporting deadline has been extended to 31 July 2015 (from 30 June 2015). The FATCA Agreement between Cyprus and the United States was signed on 2 December 2014. FATCA seeks to obtain information on accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in other… – Continue reading

Ireland: FATCA Reporting Deadline Extended

The Irish Government announced that the FATCA reporting deadline has been extended to 31 July 2015 (from 30 June 2015) for reporting Irish financial institutions to file a FATCA return with respect to 2014. FATCA seeks to obtain information on accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in other countries. It requires… – Continue reading

Secret Owner Of Offshore Brokerage Firm Arrested For Alleged $300 Million Securities Fraud

(Newsroom America) — Gregg R. Mulholland, a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen, has been arrested at Phoenix International Airport during a layover of his flight from Canada to Mexico on charges of securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for fraudulently manipulating the stocks of numerous U.S. publicly-traded companies and… – Continue reading

Isle of Man: Isle of Man’s TIEA With Italy Now In Force

The Isle of Man’s Agreement for the Exchange of Information Relating to Tax Matters with the Government of the Italian Republic entered into force on 10 June 2015. The agreement was signed on 16 September 2013 in London between Eddie Teare, the Isle of Man’s Treasury Minister, and His Excellency… – Continue reading

Offshore Banks Reveal Account Data, As IRS Amnesty For Many Involves 50% Penalty

Two more Swiss banks, Bank Linth LLB AG and Bank Sparhafen Zurich AG, have entered deferred prosecution agreements with the U.S. government. The subject is tax evasion involving American account holders. Today, banks everywhere want to know if you are compliant with the IRS. Under FATCA, the entire world is… – Continue reading

FATCA privacy singapore bermuda cayman islands jersey canada usa legislation tax information exchange agreements statutory iga

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

FATCA – Which Countries Are In And Out

FATCA – Which Countries Are In And Out The controversial US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) law is set to start from July 1, 2014, so with less than 21 days to go, here’s a look at which countries are in and who is outside of the tax network…. – Continue reading

UAE signs intergovernmental agreement with the U.S. on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

Abu Dhabi, 20 June 2015: The UAE, represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), has announced today the signing of the agreement to facilitate implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). HE Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of MoF, and Barbara A. Leaf, U.S. Ambassador to the UAE,… – Continue reading

Tax transparency – the road ahead

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

Cayman Islands: CRS Update And Impending FATCA Return Deadline

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

FATCA documentation for disregarded entities

Introduction The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires entity account holders to document their status for US withholding tax purposes (Chapter 3 status) and their status for FATCA due diligence purposes (Chapter 4 status). In the case of a non-US entity account holder that has made an entity classification… – Continue reading

FATCA reporting deadline nears

The 30th June 2015 deadline for Isle of Man Reporting Financial Institutions to submit their first US FATCA reports to the Income Tax Division is now less than two weeks away. The reports, in respect of the 2014 reporting year, can only be accepted by the Assessor in the prescribed… – Continue reading

Disgraced Fifa Boss Stashed $1m At Cibc Bahamas

A disgraced senior FIFA official has agreed to forfeit 50 per cent of the $1 million he had stashed away in a secret CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) account, court documents have revealed. The plea agreement between the US federal authorities and Charles (Chuck) Blazer, which was unsealed late on… – Continue reading

Bahamas: Financial Industry fears FATCA start with no legislation

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

Can The United States Kill BEPS?

The United States is through trying to needle the OECD’s base erosion and profit-shifting project with pinpricks. Last week, Robert Stack, U.S. Treasury deputy assistant secretary (international tax affairs), abandoned the subtle digs Treasury had been using to attack BEPS and flat-out said the United States is extremely disappointed in… – Continue reading

Financial Industry Fears Fatca Start With No Legislation

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. Lawrence Lewis, a Deloitte & Touche (Bahamas) partner and accountant, confirmed to Tribune Business that there was… – Continue reading