WELCOME to Switzerland. A mountainous country where nothing comes cheap but many of the world’s filthy rich come to grow their fortunes. The ongoing relationship between the wealthy and Switzerland looks set to only strengthen as the super rich get richer, according to a report released on Friday. That’s despite… – Continue reading
East African countries expect to collect more revenue under a new code drawn, by the world’s richest economies to stop foreign multinationals from dodging taxes in host countries. The new code — Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) — adopted by G20 at its meeting in Turkey two weeks ago,… – Continue reading
Australian punters will be thrilled to know that when they do their shirts gambling their post-tax dollars, those very same dollars, which become the pre-tax dollars of the British online betting giants, are funnelled off to places like Gibraltar, pre-tax. University of NSW accounting academic, Jeff Knapp, and Fairfax Media… – Continue reading
THE liquidation of Kingdom Bank Africa Limited (KBAL) Botswana has been derailed after creditors declined to give the liquidator, Max Marinelli, autonomous authority to sell the assets of the defunct offshore bank. KBAL depositors and debtors are predominantly in Zimbabwe where the bank originates. In a seven-hour long heated meeting… – Continue reading
The fundamental contradiction between IndAS and taxation is that the latter is based on real income theory while the former is based on economic substance of transactions The country is undergoing an overhaul under the present government at the Centre, and so are its corporate laws. The country’s tax regime… – Continue reading
The top 20% of income earners would have been rudely surprised when Budget 2016 was unveiled. The budget proposed to increase the tax rate for those with a chargeable income of RM600,001 to RM1 million to 26% from 25% previously, and for those with chargeable income exceeding RM1 million to… – Continue reading
‘Special purpose’ approach by accountants hides corporate secrets Amid the maelstrom over the GST, the Senate last night passed what may be the most useful piece of legislation yet to combat multinational tax avoidance. The new law was not carried by the government, whose track record on tackling big tax… – Continue reading
In this edition we also include the leading trustees, private bankers and accountants serving the private client industry. RBC Wealth Management leads our research in trust and advisory services with an impressive 18 names recommended. Alan Binnington specialises in establishing and administering trust and fiduciary structures for high net worth… – Continue reading
A paradigm shift in the way business is conducted is taking place as new base erosion of profit shifting (BEPS) rules are aligned with tax systems, but more tax certainty and rules that suit specific African circumstances are needed, a Deloitte OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines seminar heard on Wednesday, 04… – Continue reading
At a very high level, it’s a simple concept: a multinational borrows money from a related company overseas, and then uses the interest bill and the repayment methods to reduce tax exposure in Australia. If the loans – and the interest rates – are big enough, the tax savings can… – Continue reading
NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Business executives cited an increased compliance burden as their biggest concern with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting initiative (37.7 percent), according to an October Deloitte poll. Other concerns included double taxation of income (17 percent) and… – Continue reading
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting action plan is likely to have a major impact on tax planning at multinational corporations by both tax professionals and corporate treasurers. Tom Driscoll, U.S. managing partner for international tax, transfer pricing, and indirect tax at Deloitte Tax… – Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG – South African has lost R250 billion in the form of service payments over a three-year period, highlighting the significant risk base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) is posing to the country’s tax base, a South African Revenue Service (Sars) official has said. Almost R80 billion of this were… – Continue reading
The finance ministry is streamlining safe harbour rules and advance agreements, two mechanisms to determine the price of services rendered by a multinational to its subsidiary in India. Safe harbour rules – directives on margins the tax authorities should accept for the transfer price declared by an assessee – have… – Continue reading
Millions have pounds have gone to countries such as Belize and Anguilla UK paid out £45m to 13 countries on tax haven ‘blacklist’ in just one year Campaigners estimate use of offshore havens costs Treasury £18b a year Revelation will anger Tory backbenchers who have criticised Cameron British aid money… – Continue reading
Australia’s corporate tax rate is higher than the global average, according to KPMG’s 2015 global tax rate survey, SmartCompany reports. While Australia’s corporate tax rate currently sits at 30 per cent, the global average sits at 23.68 per cent. The United States has the highest corporate tax rate at 40… – Continue reading
While stocks such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Maruti Suzuki have outperformed the markets by a wide margin in the last couple of years, the stocks have sustained the performance even over longer periods. Despite the hue and cry over royalty payments by Indian subsidiaries of multinational companies, these companies… – Continue reading
Multinational oil giant Chevron has been hit with a tax bill of about $300 million after losing a landmark profit-shifting case that could have global implications for the way tax is assessed. The Australian Tax Office’s case in the Federal Court case has been closely watched by the tax and… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Technologies that are developed in India but their patents registered in tax havens may come under the domestic tax net from the next financial year, when the country is expected to adopt a new world standard aimed at preventing abuse of double taxation avoidance agreements. Many multinational and local… – Continue reading
Multinational companies (MNCs) in India which have been evading tax on profits created due to a function carried out in the country by shifting contractual risk to some other location may soon find it difficult to escape the domestic tax net. Experts closely working with the government on how to… – Continue reading
Since 2002, there has been a steep escalation in transfer pricing disputes in the country, the ‘Taxsutra’s TP Trends Report’, is a perfect compendium which encompasses this escalation. The Chapter under which Transfer Pricing provisions were introduced was with the intent to ensure that there is no avoidance of tax…. – Continue reading
Govt is also in the process of formulating guidance with respect to specified domestic transactions within the group In a bid to promote business-friendly taxation regime, the Centre has issued guidelines for transfer pricing (TP) provisions that are expected to reduce the rising volume of tax litigation. According to the… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Several multinationals, including Indian companies with a global presence, have initiated impact assessments to identify and fix potential problems in their tax reporting when countries start implementing a new international standards to check tax avoidance by multinationals. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) last week released the… – Continue reading
Singapore-based wealth managers, already under pressure from a global move towards tax information sharing, face a more immediate threat as Asian countries including Indonesia and India look to chase undeclared money in the low-tax city state. A global crackdown on tax evasion launched during the 2008 financial crisis has already… – Continue reading
A “legislative requirement” for large businesses to publish their tax strategy could create commercial confidentiality risks IN an age where large corporates continue to engage in tax avoidance or aggressive tax planning, compelling businesses to disclose their tax strategies is, at heart, a good idea. There is a risk, however,… – Continue reading
New York State is increasingly reliant on China as a consumer of services and manufactured goods. In 2014, New York exported approximately US$4 billion to China, making it the state’s sixth largest export market. The top five exports to China are transportation equipment, waste & scrap, machinery (except electrical), primary… – Continue reading
Conor Hynes and Ronan Connaughton of Deloitte Ireland explore the impending changes arising from BEPS Action 7 and the Skandia case and provide insight on the potential tax impact for the insurance industry. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is attributed with the saying, “the only thing that is constant is change”…. – Continue reading
The G20’s efforts to crack down on multinational tax avoidance are likely to be defeated by national self-interest, particularly from the United States, one of Australasia’s top tax advisers says, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Rod Houng-Lee, formerly Asia Pacific Tax Leader head of tax in Asia Pacific for big-four… – Continue reading
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
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
The FINANCIAL — Members of the Deloitte network have been named European Tax Innovator of the Year at the recent International Tax Review (ITR) European Tax Awards. Deloitte member firms won 15 ITR tax awards in total this year, more than any other organization, for work completed in the last… – Continue reading
The minimum alternate tax row has damaged the credibility of government promises to enforce an investor-friendly tax regime and made the Indian stock market Asia’s worst performer this year New Delhi/Mumbai: Castleton Investment Ltd, a unit of GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK), in 2012 asked an arm of the Indian finance ministry… – Continue reading
There are fears the Government’s plans to prevent foreign controlled banks from slipping under the taxman’s radar, could end up hitting their New Zealand customers in the pocket. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is proposing to impose a higher tax burden on non-resident investors who get income from interest, dividends… – Continue reading
However, OECD being persuasive may not help funds based out of nations whose treaties do not give specific exemption The Indian government’s clarification that it would honour tax treaties while making a demand of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) at the effective rate of 20 per cent came as a relief… – Continue reading
Moves to create a supposed level playing field for succession issues in Europe, along with more established themes around automatic exchange of information and US extra-territorial tax powers make their appearance in a major Geneva-based conference later in April. Figures from the world of wealth management will gather at the… – Continue reading
MPs say transfer pricing, though legal, presents challenges when determining if firms have evaded taxation and they want the practice criminalised. The portfolio committee on trade and industry has heard calls for the criminalisation of transfer pricing – a practice that, when abused, results in large corporations shifting profits offshore… – Continue reading
IF THE South African Revenue Service (SARS) focused on recovering money from transfer pricing abuses‚ Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene probably wouldn’t have had to raise taxes by 1% in his budget speech‚ Judge Dennis Davis‚ head of the Davis Tax committee, told Parliament on Tuesday. He was briefing the portfolio… – Continue reading
Commissioner Chris Jordan delivers rebuke to multinational tech giants contesting evidence they gave to a Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance The tax commissioner, Chris Jordan, has delivered a public rebuke to multinational tech giants Apple, Google and Microsoft, vigorously contesting evidence they gave to a recent Senate inquiry hearing… – Continue reading
The Finance Minister has failed to assuage markets’ fears on the issue of retrospective tax Markets are getting jittery each time the finance minister or his ministry utters the T word. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reminds the market of UPA’s finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who introduced the now-dreaded retrospective tax…. – Continue reading
In recent years we have seen a seismic shift in the tax transparency landscape. The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (US FATCA) has proved to be a watershed moment and we are rapidly moving towards a global network of automatic information exchange spearheaded by the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard… – Continue reading
Enterprise minister Nick Boles says big corporations are ‘taking the mickey’ and Labour’s Chuka Umunna said the issue makes his constituents ‘very angry indeed’ A senior Conservative MP has advised businesses and accountants to check whether their tax policies are ethical by asking an NHS nurse. The enterprise minister Nick… – Continue reading
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is returning to the catastrophe bond market, as expected, with its largest transaction to date, a proposed $450m two tranche Alamo Re Ltd. (Series 2015-1) offering. TWIA had always been planning to include a catastrophe bond within its 2015 reinsurance renewal, as long as… – Continue reading
Representatives from “Big Four” accounting firm Deloitte were up before the Senate tax inquiry on Friday morning. They were keen to dispel any notion that their firm would have any involvement in tax avoidance. Senator Christine Milne asked if they were aware of the Deloitte document “Investing in Africa though… – Continue reading
Changes are in the pipeline which will have a dramatic impact on the way that auditing firms handle public-interest entities (PIEs) as from December 2016 – but Deloitte CEO Malcolm Booker is very wary about how this could work in practice. According to the legislation, auditors would have to enter… – Continue reading
An arrest over allegations of price fixing has increased calls for tighter regulation of the booming sector On a late February morning, Yves Bouvier arrived at the Monaco home of one of his best clients. He expected Dmitry Rybolovlev, the Russian billionaire owner of AS Monaco football club, to pay… – Continue reading
Argues tax proceedings initiated after more than six years Vedanta group company Cairn India on Monday filed a petition in the Delhi High Court here against a Rs 20,494-crore tax demand, seeking quashing of the order. The company argued the tax proceedings were initiated more than six years from the… – Continue reading
BENGALURU: Parthasarathi Shome, who is chairman of the Tax Administration Reforms Commission (TARC) of the Union finance ministry, together with and former Wipro CFO Suresh Senapaty, has formed a taxation think-tank that will be based in Bengaluru. Called International Tax Research Foundation (ITRF), the think-tank will study and understand the… – Continue reading
ACCOUNTING and professional services institutes require a better definition of ‘public interest’ if they are going to take a greater lead in tackling tax avoidance as the government hopes. That’s the view of advisers following increasing pressure on professionals and institutes to stamp out the practice. The Tackling tax evasion… – Continue reading
European trade unionists have called for the split-up of the Big Four accountancy firms, PWC, Ernst & Young, Deloitte and KPMG, who they say are using their dominant position to help multi-national companies avoid trillions of Euros in tax. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has called for the break-up… – Continue reading
Public accounts committee advocates legislation making promotion of aggressive tax avoidance illegal and review of government tax relief schemes The next government should introduce new laws to prosecute financial advisers who help wealthy individuals and firms in aggressive tax avoidance, a comprehensive parliamentary report has found. The public accounts committee,… – Continue reading
