Category: Activity

Australia can’t stop multinational profit shifting in isolation

When Business Council of Australia chief Jennifer Westacott weighed in on plans for an Australian tax crackdown on multinationals last week, she warned the move could risk competitiveness and lead to companies being double taxed. Last year the Australian government passed new laws to prevent multinational companies shifting their profits to avoid the payment… – Continue reading

U.S. extends time limit for FATCA

The U.S. has extended the time limit for compliance withFATCA, the reporting of its citizens’ financial accounts outside of the country,to the years 2014 and 2015. The Treasury Department of the United States, through the inland revenue service (IRS) has announced that it will take into account the “good faith”… – Continue reading

Latest from the U.S. on Five of the OECD BEPS Action Items

Robert Stack, deputy assistant secretary for international tax affairs with the U.S. Treasury, gave an update on several items in the OECD’s project to combat base erosion and profit shifting at the American Bar Association Section of Taxation’s May meeting. As reported more fully by Transfer Pricing Report’s Kevin Bell, Stack,… – Continue reading

Tax crackdown on multinationals will stifle competition, says Business Council of Australia

A tax crackdown on multinationals including tech giants Google and Apple could make Australia less competitive, the Business Council of Australia warns. Moves by Australia to prevent profit shifting could lead to companies being double-taxed, BCA chief executive Jennifer Westcott told a conference in Canberra yesterday, which was attended by… – Continue reading

Corporate Tax: Apple, Google, Dr Dre & Ireland’s continuing stateless companies

Corporate Tax Avoidance: Last week the news that Apple is considering buying Beats Electronics, a maker of expensive headphones that was founded by record mogul Jimmy Iovine and rap artist Dr Dre, for $3.2bn, got a lot of media attention. Dr Dre must have pissed-off Apple when he bragged on… – Continue reading

Caterpillar Dodged Billions in Taxes for Over a Decade

Caterpillar, industrial and construction equipment manufacturing Goliath, has been avoiding or deferring paying U.S. taxes for at least 13 years to the tune of approximately $2.4 billion, according to a report from the Homeland Security & Government Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. “Tax evasion schemes rob the system of billions of… – Continue reading

SUPPLEMENTARY OVERSEAS PENSIONS MAY OFFER FATCA SOLUTION

More than three-quarters of US expatriates with supplementary overseas pensions contracts say they won’t renounce their citizenship to escape the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca). The result, from a survey by financial adviser deVere Group of 361 of its own clients, suggests the supplementary overseas pension contract may stem… – Continue reading

Ma promises to resign if subject to taxes in States

Next Magazine yesterday released a report claiming that the president has to pay taxes to the U.S. under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), saying that Ma is poised to turn himself into an “international laughingstock” by becoming the first R.O.C. president subject to U.S. taxes. That the president… – Continue reading

FATCA update: Australia signs inter-governmental agreement with the U.S

On 28 April 2014, the Australian Government signed an agreement (the intergovernmental agreement) with their U.S. counterparts that will greatly assist Australian financial institutions that must comply with the requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) legislation, enacted by the U.S. Government. The FATCA regime is, at its core,… – Continue reading

FEDS SHOULD IMPLEMENT FATCA LAW, SAYS IIAC

Ian Russell, president and CEO of the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC), today urged members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance to recommend approval of Bill C-31 at the earliest opportunity, which is necessary to implement the provisions of the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance… – Continue reading

April push fails to deliver fully signed IGAs for Fatca

Despite a push to obtain agreements with foreign governments through April, the US Treasury’s own website notes the large number of outstanding Intergovernmental Agreements yet to be implemented fully around the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca). So-called IGAs are critical for the success of the US Foreign Account Tax… – Continue reading

‘Sustainable’ companies hide behind subsidiaries in secretive tax havens

The UK’s 100 largest public companies have nearly 30,000 subsidiaries, according to new research by Christian Aid Christian Aid has accused many of the largest companies that claim to be driving corporate responsibility of operating behind a veil of secrecy by creating thousands of subsidiaries in tax havens. The UK’s… – Continue reading

Don’t delay law for sharing tax information with U.S., Canada’s investment industry urges

The head of Canada’s investment industry association is urging the federal government not to defer legislation that will facilitate handing tax information of U.S. citizens living in Canada to authorities in the United States. Ian Russell, chief executive of the Investment Industry Association of Canada, made his pitch to the… – Continue reading

Gabby Logan invested in tax avoidance scheme used by Gary Barlow and two Take That bandmates

World Cup presenter Gabby Logan invested in the tax avoidance scheme used by Gary Barlow and two Take That bandmates. Gabby, who is on the BBC’s frontline team for Brazil, ploughed cash into part of a £12.3million partnership which aimed to shelter earnings from the taxman. The TV star, who… – Continue reading

Puerto Rico Pours On Tax Incentives For Investors

Puerto Rico’s tax incentive acts are tailor-made for traders, investors, investment managers and financial institutions. Enacted in 2012, Puerto Rico’s Act 22 allows investors and traders with bona fide residence in Puerto Rico to exclude 100% of all short-term and long-term capital gains from the sale of personal property accrued… – Continue reading

Russian banks will be able to provide information under FATCA statute

MOSCOW, May 14 (RAPSI) – The Russian government has approved a bill to allow Russian financial institutions to provide information about US taxpayers and to oblige foreign financial institutions to report Russian taxpayers to Russia’s Federal Tax Service, reads a statement on the government’s website. The bill has been submitted to… – Continue reading

Is the IRS Rescheduling the Death of the Dollar?

Ever since President Obama signed the ill-conceived “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” (FATCA) into law in 2010, I’ve been warning about the death of the dollar. And I haven’t been alone. Other experts have cautioned about FATCA’s potential to literally shut down the global economy when it goes into full… – Continue reading

Hong Kong, US Wrapping Up FATCA Agreement

Hong Kong and the United States have substantially concluded discussions on an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) to simplify Hong Kong financial institutions’ compliance with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) said that the IGA “will reduce Hong Kong financial institutions’ reporting burden and… – Continue reading

Taiwanese FATCA Pact Expected In June

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has confirmed that it expects to conclude an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the United States regarding the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by the end of June this year. FATCA, enacted by the US Congress in 2010 and due to take effect on July… – Continue reading