In previous updates we have alerted clients to the introduction of Cayman Islands regulations1, which give effect to the automatic exchange of tax information principles established by the US and UK intergovernmental agreements (the “Cayman US Regulations” and the “Cayman UK Regulations”, respectively). While many Cayman Islands entities will be… – Continue reading
In previous updates we have alerted clients to the introduction of Cayman Islands regulations1, which give effect to the automatic exchange of tax information principles established by the US and UK intergovernmental agreements (the “Cayman US Regulations” and the “Cayman UK Regulations”, respectively). While many Cayman Islands entities will be… – Continue reading
MCC interviews three attorneys from Mourant Ozannes. Hayden Isbister is a partner and head of the Corporate practice in the Cayman firm. He specializes in investment funds, general corporate and commercial work. James Burch is a partner and leads the Structured Finance/Banks practice in the Cayman Islands, and Tim Dawson… – Continue reading
A country known for its clocks, chocolate and most importantly banks, the agreement by Switzerland’s government to share details of those super-secret bank accounts is one that will change the world at large. Gone are the days of the elusive Swiss bank account. The arrival of Common Reporting is upon… – Continue reading
INTRODUCTION 2015 is with us and looming is the 30 June 2015 deadline for the first reports of FATCA information under the reporting regimes that have been put in place in both Guernsey and Jersey to ensure compliance with the US/Guernsey and US/Jersey Intergovernmental Agreements regarding FATCA (“the US IGAs”)…. – Continue reading
It is estimated that there are at least 100,000 Greeks with American citizenship living in Greece. In addition, thousands of US citizens live and work in Greece, either on a short-term or permanent basis. According to US law, all of these citizens, with very few exceptions, are required to file… – Continue reading
Not long after the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division (“DOJ”) made international headlines in 2009 for its bombshell announcement that it had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the United Bank of Switzerland (UBS), lawmakers in Washington, D.C. began reviewing the testimony of hundreds of UBS’s U.S. clients… – Continue reading
The major challenges facing the IRS today are its budget situation, which affects both service and enforcement, IRS commissioner John Koskinen told the Tax Section of the New York Bar Association. “No challenge is more critical than our budget situation,” he said. “Our funding has been reduced every year for… – Continue reading
An Alberta online bank is believed to be the first Canadian financial institution to deny service to Americans, citing the burden of complying with strict new U.S. tax rules. Canadian Direct Financial, a subsidiary of Edmonton-based Canadian Western Bank, is refusing to open new Internet accounts for U.S. citizens, even… – Continue reading
This is the time of the year for millions of Americans to begin the annual ritual of gathering information about income, taxes, charitable giving, health insurance, expenses and sundry other items, and prepare to send mountains of information to the IRS –and to those who prepare their tax returns. Overseas… – Continue reading
The Economist reports that “”The number of Americans giving up their passports has shot up, from less than 1,000 a year in the late 2000s to a record 3,415 in 2014.” One of the main reasons has to do with aggressive efforts to collect taxes from Americans who earn money… – Continue reading
With so much attention on FATCA in recent times, the financial services industry could be forgiven for seeing it as the most obtrusive regulation ever to be imposed on them. This view will soon change. Once the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) comes into force, financial institutions will have far… – Continue reading
When I consider what’s likely to have the most impact in tax this year, I keep coming back to the massive shift in attitude by tax authorities in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Usually changes in the tax world are incremental, but what is going on now… – Continue reading
Santo Domingo.- The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Dominican Republic’s Internal Taxes Agency (DGII) have begun a process to exchange bilateral financial and tax information, as part of the on Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Law (FATCA). A delegation of the IRS’ International Cooperation Program led by its senior manager… – Continue reading
American citizens residing in Malta as well as some Maltese migrants were urged to get their US tax affairs in order during an information session on the US FATCA legislation. Jonathan Phyall, Senior Legal & Compliance Officer at APS Bank explained that an agreement signed between the Malta and US… – Continue reading
NUMBER OF THE WEEK: 3,415. The number of people who renounced their citizenship in 2014 according to IRS data. This is one of the five highest totals on record since the U.S. Congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in 2010. In the past five years, more than 10,000… – Continue reading
Those who are subject to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) – financial institutions – and those who have agreed with the US to help make it work – tax administrations – have a chance this week to get a feel for the mechanics of how information will be… – Continue reading
Those who are subject to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) – financial institutions – and those who have agreed with the US to help make it work – tax administrations – have a chance this week to get a feel for the mechanics of how information will be… – Continue reading
Nova Ltd. is geting set to host a breakfast briefing at the Argus Building, in the Spirit of Bermuda conference room, on February 24, 2015 from 8.30am to 10.00am. A spokesperson said, “The briefing will cover how their unique share registry solution, called Quantum Share Registry Solution [Quantum SRS], can… – Continue reading
TAX in the 21st Century is exciting and new ideas and theorems are emerging to increasingly reduce the global village into one block where information is shared and taxes are realised even from abroad. Mid last year in June, a new notion was coined in the tax world. This new… – Continue reading
Last month, President Obama traveled to India where he famously befriended Narendra Modi and others. There, he heralded a new era of joint cooperation on many fronts, including the exchange of offshore account information. Last week, US Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew was in India to follow up and meet with… – Continue reading
PREMIER Rufus Ewing has called out United Kingdom Opposition Leader, Edward Miliband for published statements he recently made regarding the TCI being a tax haven. Miliband is reported in the UK press as stating that the UK overseas territories (OT) are not complying with UK directives on beneficial ownership of… – Continue reading
London Mayor Boris Johnson was born in New York City in 1964, and he has held dual British and American citizenship throughout his life. Recently, after months of grousing about having to pay a capital gains tax to the U.S. on the sale of his house in Greater London, Johnson… – Continue reading
Last September, I wrote that America’s business tax system is a nightmare that simultaneously undermines the competitiveness of American companies while also causing lots of irritation in other nations. Both of those bad things happen because politicians in Washington think the IRS should be able to tax income that is… – Continue reading
Financial information to be passed to IRS in September Abu Dhabi: The UAE’s financial institutes are set to comply with the US’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) before the deadline at the end of the second quarter of this year, officials confirmed on Sunday. The information will then be… – Continue reading
In the last several years, a “record” number of Americans abroad have been giving up their passports: That’s supposedly due to the demands of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, known as FATCA, a US law enacted in 2010 to fight tax evasion by forcing foreign banks to share information… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Committing to boost trade ties, India and the US today resolved to enhance cooperation, remove obstacles to investment flows and work towards early adoption of FATCA to facilitate automatic flow of tax information. “We are committed to share our experiences in tackling offshore tax evasion and avoidance. We… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India and the US on Thursday committed to take the renewed India-US partnership forward through “shared effort and progress for all” when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Jacob J. Lew, US Secretary of the Treasury, met in the Capital for the Fifth Annual India-US Economic and Financial Partnership…. – Continue reading
Tax paperwork seen as main culprit HONG KONG (CNNMoney) —Goodbye, sayonara, ciao, Uncle Sam! The number of Americans choosing to give up their passports hit a record 3,415 last year, up 14% from 2013, and 15 times more than in 2008, when only 231 people renounced their citizenship. Experts say… – Continue reading
Local businesses still have a lot to consider for the next stages of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) implementation, delegates heard at a recent breakfast seminar hosted by EY. The event, led by Wendy Martin, EY’s Tax Executive Director, highlighted the recent updates made to the FATCA guidance… – Continue reading
AutoRek, a leading global provider of financial data management solutions, today announced a strategic alliance with Grant Thornton UK LLP, the financial and business adviser, to enable customers to achieve optimal performance across their financial controls and reporting processes. This collaboration merges innovative financial data management solutions with industry-leading knowledge… – Continue reading
The number of Americans relinquishing their citizenship will drop as the world adjusts to FATCA, says Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere. Since the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was introduced in July last year, the number of citizens cutting of their US ties has jumped to 3415, 14%… – Continue reading
A Welsh Scout leader wanting to open a bank account was astonished when he was told he could only do so if he filled in a form for the United States tax authorities. Darren Stockton, who has run a Scout troop in Usk for six years, approached his local branch… – Continue reading
Bermuda’s well-documented financial services regulation, international partnership treaties, and lack of bank secrecy legislation ought to be recognised by the UK Labour Party, the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) said today. The BDA echoed the Bermuda Government’s weekend response to UK Opposition Leader Ed Miliband following a warning letter issued… – Continue reading
There are millions of Americans with unreported offshore bank and financial accounts. Under the new FATCA legislation, foreign financial institutions will soon be required to report account holders with ties to the United States. (FATCA is short for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a 2010 Obama initiative designed to… – Continue reading
The latest FATCA Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) list reveals that of the top five countries with the most registrations to date, the Tax Authorities of two – the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands – are implementing the Vizor for FATCA & AEOI Vizor Software, the leading regulatory supervision… – Continue reading
Accountants and tax preparers – already one of the top-performing types of U.S. businesses — are tallying higher sales and profits as more businesses and individuals seek help complying with requirements of the Affordable Care Act and other regulations. New data from Sageworks, a financial information company, show that sales… – Continue reading
Jeremy Grant in Singapore Clampdowns on bank secrecy in Europe and a proliferation of billionaires in Asia helped Hong Kong and Singapore attract more overseas money over the past two years than rivals such as Switzerland, according to a report by Deloitte. The consultancy’s annual ranking of wealth centres highlights… – Continue reading
Bulgaria’s cabinet has approved an agreement with the United States on the US’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which targets tax non-compliance by US taxpayers with foreign accounts, Sofia Globe wrote. The cabinet approved the agreement, reached in December 2014, and said that it would ask the National Assembly… – Continue reading
There is a saying that you can fool the people sometimes, but you can’t fool the people all the time. People patronising a bank might feel that high science is being practised in the back offices of banks; science beyond the ken of ordinary mortals. Perhaps! Related articles Barbados banks… – Continue reading
Manulife Asset Management (Manulife AM), which manages about US$276 billion, has merged its asset management and wealth divisions in Asia, appointing Michael Dommermuth to run the consolidated unit. As a result of the reshuffle, Donna Cotter, appointed Manulife AM’s wealth management head for Asia little over a year ago, has… – Continue reading
After several years of delays, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) finally took effect on July 1, 2014. Congress enacted FATCA as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act in 2010 to stop U.S. taxpayers from evading U.S. taxes through undisclosed offshore accounts and investments. FATCA requires… – Continue reading
SAS supports Dubai Islamic Bank with Anti-Money Laundering solutions Dubai – SAS, the leader in business analytics software and services, announced its collaboration with Dubai Islamic Bank ( DIB ) to help prevent money laundering among the bank’s customers. SAS will support the bank with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) solutions that… – Continue reading
As countries share more information, opportunities to squirrel away cash abroad will continue to narrow AMONG the sins that have most angered the austerity-weary everywhere is the use of undeclared offshore accounts to stash the wealth of the rich. Greeks were particularly enraged when data stolen from Swiss banks showed… – Continue reading
The serious doubts expressed by many, most recently Professor Christians of McGill University, as to the Constitutional authority cited by the US Treasury1 in support of each Inter Governmental Agreement (an “IGA”) entered into by it on behalf of the United States government to implement FATCA have been rendered practically… – Continue reading
The latest numbers are in and they are impressive. Since 2009, over 50,000 taxpayers with delinquent FBAR forms have come forward. Although many taxpayers are now seeking to take advantage of the IRS’ offshore account amnesty program, the IRS continues to ramp up enforcement efforts against the stragglers that ignore… – Continue reading
The latest numbers are in and they are impressive. Since 2009, over 50,000 taxpayers with delinquent FBAR forms have come forward. Although many taxpayers are now seeking to take advantage of the IRS’ offshore account amnesty program, the IRS continues to ramp up enforcement efforts against the stragglers that ignore… – Continue reading
February 4: The Luxembourg tax authorities this week released a draft version of a new administrative circular for implementing the FATCA regime. The new draft guidance concerns the file format to be used for the automatic exchange of information between the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and the United States.
Jersey’s financial institutions are now able to register in Jersey in preparation for US FATCA, which commences this year. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires financial institutions outside the USA to report information on financial accounts held by their US customers to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A… – Continue reading
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has clarified that a foreign financial institution must obtain a customer’s self-certification details when opening a new account, in a new addition to its Frequently Asked Questions on its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) website. The IRS was asked: If a Reporting Model… – Continue reading
