Attorney-at–Law and Compliance Specialist We are living in a time where the tax landscape facing the Bahamian financial services industry is changing and evolving rapidly. On November 3, 2014, the Government executed a Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the US government to implement the latter’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance… – Continue reading
DMS reminds stakeholders of all Cayman Islands investment funds deemed Foreign Financial Institutions (“FFIs”) of their International Tax Compliance (“ITC”) Obligations to the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority (“TIA”) which may apply under the following: Launch of the Cayman AEOI Portal The Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (“DITC”)… – Continue reading
According to news reports, Gibraltar’s government isn’t going to take being called a ‘tax haven’ lying down. The little British Overseas Territory at the tip of Spain is suing ABC—not the TV network, the Spanish newspaper—for defamation. Gibraltarians may live in what many call a tax haven, but their government… – Continue reading
International bank HSBC has declined to comment on whether they are cracking down on Isle of Man accounts held by UK residents. It was widely reported this week that the bank is contacting holders of accounts in Jersey and asking them to produce identity documents at one of the Channel… – Continue reading
A leading Swiss banker told his Lebanese counterparts that the days of banking secrecy are over, urging the lenders to prepare their clients for this inevitable outcome. “The banks which attracted tax evaders can no longer continue in this pattern because the era of banking secrecy is over and an… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): On Friday 20 March at 4:15pm the Cayman Islands officially opened the doors to the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) Portal to report tax information to other jurisdictions. The Financial Services Ministry has announced the AEOI Portal is now available for financial institutions to register and report customer… – Continue reading
Indian Revenue Secretary Shakti Kantadas says there will be no delay in rolling out the provisions of the act or operationalizing or putting into effect the provisions of the Black Money Act. Indian Revenue Secretary Shakti Kantadas says people should come clean on undeclared bank accounts and assets during the… – Continue reading
Tax havens have historically offered respite for individuals and companies looking to avoid high levels of taxation in their home countries. Some countries have effectively set out to create an environment in which international financial transactions come under little scrutiny so that foreign individuals and companies can safely park their… – Continue reading
Croatia and the United States have signed an agreement on the application of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) concerning accounts in foreign financial institutions, in order to improve transparency between the two countries in the area of taxes, the Croatian Finance Ministry announced in a statement on Friday…. – Continue reading
Compliance departments are feeling increasingly challenged by higher regulatory expectations, coupled with staff shortages and technology concerns, according to a joint Dow Jones Risk & Compliance and Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) global survey. “This year’s survey once again highlights the issues and emerging trends that are shaping… – Continue reading
GENEVA: Facing a global crackdown including from India on their ‘safe haven’ tag, Swiss banks today asserted that “bank-client confidentiality” will not disappear and ‘automatic information exchange’ is not the only solution to the black money menace. The assertion comes at a time when Switzerland is in the process of… – Continue reading
MINSK, 18 March (BelTA) – Belarus and the United States of America signed an intergovernmental agreement to improve international tax compliance and to implement the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. The signing ceremony took place at the… – Continue reading
Following a public consultation, the Inland Revenue Authority (IRAS) of Singapore has issued final regulations and an e-Tax Guide regarding the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requirements for financial institutions (FIs) in Singapore. FATCA requires all FIs outside of the United States to submit regular information on financial… – Continue reading
CIBC FirstCaribbean’s regional chief yesterday said commercial banks were “convenient targets” for increased taxes and scapegoating by politicians, warning that this slowed their bottom line recovery. Rik Parkhill, speaking ahead of its Bahamian subsidiary’s annual general meeting (AGM) last night, warned that the asset-based nature of the sector’s tax structure… – Continue reading
The agreement under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act will enable exchange of information on cases of tax avoidance through overseas entities The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the signing of an inter-governmental agreement between India and the US seeking to impose higher withholding tax on Indian companies on their US… – Continue reading
UK financial institutions (FIs) that have no US-reportable accounts will not be required to submit annual ‘nil returns’ in order to ensure compliance with new rules designed to prevent tax evasion by US citizens, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed. The change comes after the US Internal Revenue Service… – Continue reading
GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands, March 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — DMS Offshore Investment Services Ltd., (DMS) the world’s largest fund governance firm, is expanding its International Tax Compliance Group to better serve private investment funds in meeting their compliance obligations under various international tax initiatives worldwide. DMS announces the recent addition… – Continue reading
SINGAPORE – The Government yesterday made public its response to feedback on proposed new regulations to help financial institutions here comply with a new United States law that is being imposed worldwide. The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) requires all financial institutions outside the US to regularly submit… – Continue reading
Who Will Be Next? How To Respond To A Tax Investigation The international political community continues to make the most threatening noises about those who they believe do not pay enough tax. Long gone it seems are the days where it was accepted that a person could properly organise his… – Continue reading
The ongoing global initiatives around exchange of tax information and publication of beneficial ownership information, while ostensibly in pursuit of transparency, have their origins in the need for the larger, richer countries to increase tax revenues, and the perception that taxpayers are hiding assets abroad and out of the tax… – Continue reading
Our ‘special relationship’ with the US gets forgotten when America looks at threats to the dollar’s dominance For a while now the phrase “special relationship” has sounded a touch desperate when spoken in a British accent and a tad condescending if uttered by an American. The lopsidedness of this transatlantic… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): After months of preparation, the exchange of tax information from the Cayman Islands to other jurisdictions will become more efficient with the launch of a new online system. The Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) Portal will be launched this month and will be used by Cayman’s financial institutions… – Continue reading
(CNS Business): Even if you’re living in the Cayman Islands, the US tax authorities can come knocking on your door if you are not in compliance with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), US taxpayers residing in the Cayman Islands learned at a free seminar on Wednesday at the… – Continue reading
On 23 February 2015, the Cayman Islands Department for International Tax Cooperation (“DITC”) announced that the Governor in Cabinet of the Cayman Islands had approved an extension to the notification deadline contained in Regulation 14(3) of the Tax Information Authority (International Tax Compliance) (United States of America) Regulations, 2014 (the… – Continue reading
The Chancellor will take credit for the improving state of the economy and public finances, but real policy changes will have to wait until after the election. Chris Sanger, Head of Tax Policy at EY, comments: “With this Budget announced in the dying embers of the coalition, next week’s event… – Continue reading
The call for tax transparency is being echoed around the globe, with ‘midshore’ centres like Bahrain and the UAE emerging as reputable, regulated and tax efficient jurisdictions A 2012 book entitled Offshore Apocalypse – The Collapse of the Tax Haven Industry, written by a team of tax-law academics, auditors, compliance… – Continue reading
Ever since the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted in 2010 by the US Congress to target non-compliance by taxpayers using foreign accounts, the hallucination effect has come into force. Banks and financial intuitions are related with US treasury accounts in some way or the other just like… – Continue reading
AMERICANS in France are being asked to take urgent action in a bid to change harsh banking rules which an expats’ body says are “wrecking people’s lives”. AARO (Association of Americans Resident Overseas) says intrusive rules in America’s ‘FATCA’ law place such heavy reporting obligations on French banks with American… – Continue reading
What is FATCA? The US federal income tax system relies on voluntary compliance by taxpayers to self-report their worldwide income and compute their income tax. It is estimated that billions of dollars in taxes are evaded annually by US persons holding offshore accounts. When voluntary compliance is augmented by third-party… – Continue reading
Frank R. Suess writes: Every time you think the US establishment can do no more to threaten the freedom and livelihood of the very Americans who contribute the most to the prosperity of the country, they increase the heat in the furnace by a notch with more cheap money and… – Continue reading
US expats are encouraged to share their opinions and experiences in the annual survey, conducted in cooperation with the American Citizens Abroad Global Foundation (ACAGF). Washington, D.C., March 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Greenback Expat Tax Services has announced that their 2015 Annual US Expat Opinion Survey is now online… – Continue reading
Are you an American abroad living in perpetual fear of the IRS? Do you wake up every morning wondering if today you’ll receive a formidable notice that the taxman cometh? You are not alone. Expats around the world are facing (and fearing) the painful reality that the IRS’s global tax… – Continue reading
FATCA is a law requiring every foreign bank to excessively monitor and report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the bank accounts of every American residing overseas – or risk severe punishment. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Rand Paul reintroduced S.663, a bill to repeal the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act… – Continue reading
We are all familiar with the expression “the long arm of the law.” However, few laws’ arms are longer than that of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Administrators of Canadian pension plans and financial institutions that hold or invest pension assets learned this last year when FACTA… – Continue reading
David Kuenzi of Thun Financial Advisors weighs in on the perils of U.S. expats investing in foreign mutual funds. Send your expat finance questions to expat@wsj.com. Keep an eye on WSJ Expat to see if your questions — and answers provided by our experts — are published. U.S. expat commit… – Continue reading
The U.S. Department of Justice is considering actions against taxpayers who wrongfully used the Streamlined Procedures to assert non-willful conduct. As quoted in Tax Notes Today: “Speaking at the Federal Bar Association Section on Taxation annual tax law conference in Washington, Caroline Ciraolo, acting assistant attorney general in the Tax… – Continue reading
FATCA could have a bearing on the provisions of the proposed Indian law A new bill to deal with black money parked abroad that the government is planning to bring in the current session of Parliament is likely to be influenced by the law in the United States to check… – Continue reading
India and US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) would be signed a new information sharing agreement in New Delhi on tax evasions, reports Customs Today. The US has given India time till September 30 to put in place a framework to track down the assets that nationals of each… – Continue reading
A global financial imbalance is becoming apparent in the number of financial institutions signing up for the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA demands any overseas financial organisation handling cash or assets controlled by US taxpayers. Another 2,479 organisations registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to confirm… – Continue reading
KUWAIT CITY, March 7: Baker Tilly Kuwait for Audit, Tax and Consulting is pleased to announce a new consulting service for individuals with respect to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) aiming to assist US citizens and Green Card holders residing in the State of Kuwait to comply with… – Continue reading
Sofia. Bulgarian banks will be providing U.S. authorities with information about accounts of American citizens in the country, Standart Daily reports. The Parliament’s budget and finance committee on Thursday ratified the FACTA agreement between Bulgaria and the U.S. Bulgaria signed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) back in 2013… – Continue reading
One million American citizens in Canada face double tax troubles. Max Reed explores these challenges in a spring series. This spring, a new tax law hangs heavy over U.S. citizens who call Canada home. The U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, has generated a lot of attention because,… – Continue reading
Senator Rand Paul said that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act violates privacy rights of US citizens as well as has a bad effect on the American economy. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) violates privacy rights of US citizens as well as has a bad… – Continue reading
Ministry of Finance Enlists EY and Convey to Develop and Deploy FATCA Model Nassau, Bahamas – The Government of the Bahamas through the Ministry of Finance announced today that it has moved to a new stage in the development and rollout of its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Model… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India will seek to apply its proposed law on black money held abroad fairly, making sure that its stringent provisions aren’t used to harass students, research scholars and professionals going overseas for short stints. “There will be suitable safeguards,” Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das told ET in an interview…. – Continue reading
It’s early March and that means tax time for tens of millions Americans. As we become an increasingly mobile society, millions of U.S. taxpayers are wondering what forms are needed to report offshore income, assets and bank accounts. While no substitute for a good tax lawyer, CPA or enrolled agent,… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service’s Large Business & International division has opened a gateway that financial institutions and the tax authorities abroad can use to send information on financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers in accordance with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. FATCA, which was included as part of the… – Continue reading
An investment registration scheme launched by the government last year attracted a total of 1,469 valid registrations covering an aggregate of €455.8 million worth of eligible assets, The Finance Ministry told The Malta Independent. Of the total amount registered, €69.8 million or 15% of the total was repatriated following registration…. – Continue reading
A foreign bank asks our client to provide information that the bank is not required to provide IRS under FATCA. There are two possibilities. Our client can provide the information or our client can choose not to provide the information. How should we advise our client? General Ethical Principles There… – Continue reading
Bahrain-based TAIB Bank says the final outstanding balance for shareholders who sold 60 per cent or more of their shareholding to Dubai Financial Group at the rate of US$ 2.59 per share during November 2007, has now been received by TAIB. This final escrow balance amount received shall be remitted… – Continue reading
