The Australian Tax Office is stepping up its surveillance of Australians funnelling money into secret offshore bank accounts. The extra scrutiny is part of an amnesty program that will allow some tax dodgers to avoid severe punishment by declaring income and agreeing to come back into the tax system before… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is preparing to examine transfer pricing cases, which have significant revenue implication for the exchequer and lead to longdrawn litigation between companies and tax authorities. The CAG has so far not been auditing transfer pricing cases, mainly because of the shortage of… – Continue reading
Global mining giant Glencore Xstrata has rejected claims it has paid no tax on the $15 billion in income it has earned from coal mining in the last three years. The Swiss-based company, which is Australia’s largest coal producer, was accused of using a sophisticated profit shifting system that might… – Continue reading
Washington – US tax evaders will find it harder to hide money abroad from Tuesday, when a law comes into effect requiring foreign banks to report their offshore accounts. Banking centers like Switzerland and Luxembourg that agreed to the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) will have to begin… – Continue reading
As Shirley Bassey once sang, it’s all just a little bit of history repeating. Exactly a year ago, we observed the global chase for yield had lit a rocket under the share prices of Australia’s banks for most of the prior year. But back then the big question for investors was… – Continue reading
NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) – The Bahamas government says it is “unable to ignore” the nuances that came to light when the island held a referendum on gaming in 2013 as it announced measures to modify its position on regulating the gaming industry. Prime Minister Perry Christie said as a result,… – Continue reading
The agreement between China and the United States for US financial accounts registered at banks in China to send their tax reports to the US Internal Revenue Services (IRS) to curb offshore tax evasion will have positive effects for China, experts said. The agreement will also enable Beijing to obtain… – Continue reading
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said India and the US have agreed to implement a foreign tax compliance law and asked banks and financial institutions to register by this year-end to report accounts and assets held by US citizens. India and the US have agreed to implement… – Continue reading
Christian leaders representing over 1 billion people from 170 nations have sent an Open Letter to heads of the G20, calling for urgent action on corruption and tax evasion. This historic anti-corruption initiative by the global Church comes at a decisive political moment as finance ministers meet in Australia ahead… – Continue reading
Are you an American resident? It’s a question that Canadian “snowbirds” will have to ask themselves before celebrating Canada Day next week, when the U.S. Foreign Tax Compliance Act – or FATCA – kicks into effect. Financial institutions around the world will answer to the U.S. Internal Revenue Agency so… – Continue reading
This week one of the key Democratic Party strongholds voted to reduce income taxes and expand the sales tax base. The District of Columbia Council, which in 2012 supported President Barack Obama over challenger Mitt Romney by a wide margin of 13 votes to 1 (in a city where 90.9… – Continue reading
Mainland China has been included on a list of jurisdictions co-operating with the United States on a new law to halt tax evasion. It removes the threat of blacklisting or penalties that had been hanging over Chinese financial institutions. The inclusion will also benefit institutions in Hong Kong, the US… – Continue reading
An oldie-but-goodie tax strategy is back in the limelight thanks to the Clintons’ much-publicized attempts to soften the blow of estate and gift taxes. The qualified personal residence trust is back. Bill and Hillary Clinton are making headlines for their use of the qualified personal residence trust or QPRT —… – Continue reading
Are you an American resident? It’s a question that Canadian “snowbirds” will have to ask themselves before celebrating Canada Day next week, when the U.S. Foreign Tax Compliance Act – or FATCA – kicks into effect. Financial institutions around the world will answer to the U.S. Internal Revenue Agency so… – Continue reading
Seven-year program targets deep water reserves. MILAN, Italy, June 27 (UPI) –Italian energy company Eni said it signed an agreement with PetroVietnam to explore the deep waters off the coast of Vietnam for the next seven years. “This new agreement confirms Eni’s interest to continue and consolidate its presence in… – Continue reading
The first Chinese company to issue offshore bonds under a more liberal guarantee framework has underlined the premium attached to a simplified security package. In a departure from the keepwell deeds and pledges of support featured on recent offshore financings, last week’s US$1bn issue from Greenland Global Investment came with… – Continue reading
Former attorney and CPA Paul M. Daugerdas, 63, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for orchestrating a massive scheme in which he and co-conspirators hawked fake tax shelters for wealthy individuals to evade more than $1.6 billion in federal taxes. Last October, he was convicted following a seven-week… – Continue reading
Australia’s largest coalminer, Glencore, paid almost zero tax over the past three years, despite income of $15 billion, as it radically reduced its tax exposure by taking large, unnecessarily expensive loans from its associates overseas. At up to 9 per cent, the interest rates on these $3.4 billion in loans… – Continue reading
Increasing sophistication in combatting base erosion and profit shifting, and the corresponding increase in transfer pricing documentation, have posed a challenge for businesses. The following article considers the tension between the competing demands. Companies are facing a proliferation of transfer pricing documentation demands. While the new requirements set out in… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — UBS AG, BNP Paribas SA, Credit Suisse Group AG and other banks providing wealthy French people a home for their money in Switzerland are being told: No more tax evasion. Ahead of French Finance Minister Michel Sapin’s visit today to the Swiss capital Bern, he briefed bankers on… – Continue reading
Hercules Offshore Inc (NASDAQ:HERO) Director Thomas R. Bates, Jr. purchased 20,000 shares of the stock on the open market in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $3.93 per share, for a total transaction of $78,600.00. Following the completion of… – Continue reading
Law360, Los Angeles (June 25, 2014, 10:42 PM ET) — Russia’s upper house of parliament reportedly approved legislation Wednesday that would allow Russian banks to share information about their foreign clients with the U.S., so the banks can comply with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, despite the Russian government’s… – Continue reading
The Indian economy today is in urgent need of measures to restore growth. A stable, clear and transparent tax regime would go a long way in improving sentiments and investor confidence. Building such a tax regime would require an integrated effort including legislative changes to bring in clarity, operational changes… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The United States has reached an agreement with China on implementing and enforcing a new U.S. law meant to combat overseas tax avoidance by Americans, a U.S. Treasury Department official said on Thursday. Long seen as a crucial step for the rollout of 2010’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance… – Continue reading
The unequivocal mandate given to the Modi led NDA government will allow them to take a long term perspective while making policy decisions. The finance ministry led by Arun Jaitley has close to 15 days left to put together the dream budget and at the same time address ‘inclusive growth’… – Continue reading
Tax attorney Rob Wood discusses his Forbes article “If An Individual Pulled The Tax Gimmicks Of Apple And Other Big Companies, They’d Go To Jail” that points out the tax breaks given to corporations by America’s tax code. Using tax breaks available to corporations, a mere 30 companies have $1.2… – Continue reading
The Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA) will soon submit five proposals to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for its financial sector development plan, says TBA chairman Boontuck Wungcharoen. The proposals include implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), an upgrade of Thailand to a financial hub… – Continue reading
MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, on Wednesday authorized the direct exchange of information between Russian banks and US tax authorities on US taxpayers. The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires foreign banks to supply the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)… – Continue reading
Q. I have lived in my house for 30-plus years. I have been told that if I sell it for more than I paid for it, I will have to pay capital gains tax on the difference between what I paid for it and what I sell it for. Others… – Continue reading
ANYONE with a second residence or holiday home in Co Donegal who has not paid the taxes due on it now have an outstanding bill of €4,220. This amount, accrued from 2009-2013, will rise however to a whopping €7,230 on September 1, 2014. Donegal County Council said it is “actively… – Continue reading
Law360, New York (June 24, 2014, 7:02 PM ET) — The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday updated an agreement that foreign financial institutions will use to comply with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, days before the law rolls out on July 1.The changes in Revenue Procedure 14-38 are largely… – Continue reading
Asia Pacific shares were down on Wednesday, 25 June 2014, as losses in the United States overnight and ongoing violence in Middle East dampened sentiment. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4% Investors prompted to take profit off the table as fresh reports of violence in Iraq, including unconfirmed airstrikes… – Continue reading
The Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA) will soon submit five proposals to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for its financial sector development plan, says TBA chairman Boontuck Wungcharoen. The proposals include implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), an upgrade of Thailand to a financial hub… – Continue reading
This year, Park City primary residence owners will have to pay $18 more per $500,000 of assessed valuation in property taxes. That is because the Park City School District has imposed a one-time judgment levy to make up for the $760,000 it will have to refund to taxpayers after the… – Continue reading
The Irish Government is to hike the top tax rate payable on offshore petroleum exploration and production, to ensure that the State reaps more revenue from future licensees. Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte is to act on recommendations made by sector experts Wood Mackenzie in a report commissioned by the Government…. – Continue reading
Should investors pay much heed to domicile when investing in an investment trust IPO? The first half of 2014 has very much mirrored what we saw last year, certainly from a new issues perspective. The investment trust sector is going full throttle, with the sector raising £1.8bn so far this… – Continue reading
Canada’s investment and banking industries hailed a key victory Tuesday in five-year fight to dull the impact of onerous new U.S. tax rules expected to affect about a million Canadian residents and dual citizens. A newly ratified inter-governmental agreement with the United States excludes registered accounts for education, retirement, and… – Continue reading
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC, 金融監督管理委員會) yesterday stated that Taiwan is currently recognized by the United States of America as an “Agreements in Substance” nation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The status allows Taiwanese financial institutions and their patrons to be exempted from a 30 percent withholding… – Continue reading
Zambia was withholding $600 million (R6.3 billion) in VAT refunds owed to copper mining companies and would repay it only when they produced import certificates from destination countries, Mining Minister Christopher Yaluma said yesterday. The government started last year to enforce the 2008 requirement intended to curb tax avoidance. However,… – Continue reading
With regard to business operations, a resident of one country (e.g., Panamanian company) may be taxed in the other country (e.g., Israel) if it has a “permanent establishment” (PE) in the other country. Panama is famous for its canal, colorful history and cool offshore tax regime. To that we can… – Continue reading
Most of the 2,110 enterprises inspected in 2013 had to admit to losses lower than initially declared and accepted to pay tax sums set by the taxation bodies after the inspection. Regarding foreign invested enterprises (FIEs), Nam said taxation bodies have completed the inspection of over 20 enterprises in 17… – Continue reading
The State Duma on Friday passed legislation allowing Russian banks to pass information on their U.S. clients to the U.S. tax service, as demanded by FATCA, a law that drags banks around the world into the U.S. fight against tax evasion. But lawmakers were not keen to bend over backwards for the U.S. Under the legislation, authorities will be able to veto the transfer… – Continue reading
Channel 5 documentary The Hunt For Hitler’s Millions reveals tax evasion schemes dictator used to amass secret fortune. A new UK documentary has exposed the secrets of Adolf Hitler’s hidden fortune, which is estimated to be worth more than £3bn. Channel 5’s The Hunt For Hitler’s Millions reveals that the… – Continue reading
WELLINGTON, June 23 (Bernama) — New Zealand tax officials are helping the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) group of developed nations to deliver the first part of a plan to stop base erosion and profit shifting, Revenue Minister Todd McClay said Monday.The first seven “deliverables” of a 15-point… – Continue reading
Australians with undeclared offshore investments are being urged to take advantage of a once-off chance to avoid hefty fines, and a possible jail sentence, by disclosing their foreign income. Australian Taxation Office (ATO) deputy commissioner, Michael Cranston, warned investors who have not reported their overseas earnings in the past that… – Continue reading
The U.S. taxman is about to extend his reach, and not even those infamous offshore accounts may be able to escape the long arm of the law. A milestone is coming July 1 in the federal government’s long-term effort to root out tax evasion by people who keep money offshore…. – Continue reading
Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder has backed calls for bigger cuts to the corporate tax rate, amid concerns that living standards and jobs could be at risk if Australia continues to fall behind Asia and the developed world in attracting big business. The 30 per cent rate has not changed in… – Continue reading
Pat Rabbitte, Ireland’s energy minister, has introduced a proposal to increase Irish offshore tax rates. The proposed rules will provide a higher tax take for the state, ensuring earlier revenue from developed fields, Rabbitte said at a Dublin conference. The proposed rules would charge taxes on a field by field… – Continue reading
In an era when many companies seek international solutions that in simpler times might have been openly labeled “tax evasion,” governments around the world are seeking to ensure they are not cheated of legally due taxes by what is now euphemistically called “profit shifting.” Apple Inc. (AAPL) has been keeping… – Continue reading
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Our campaign against corporate tax avoidance marches on, with further important advances today. I am delighted that Finance Ministers have agreed on a crucial revision to the Parent-Subsidiary Directive, which will block a prevalent form of aggressive tax planning, known as hybrid loan arrangements. No longer will… – Continue reading
