The winners of International Tax Review’s 2019 Asia Tax Awards have been announced with Ernst & Young named Tax Firm of the Year. After three consecutive crowns in the Asia Tax Awards’ Tax Firm of the Year category, KPMG has this year been bumped from the podium by fellow Big… – Continue reading
Swedbank, one of the largest banks in Sweden, has hired professionals services firm EY to investigate the bank’s possible involvement in large scale money laundering. According to media reports in Sweden, over the period of nearly ten years the bank facilitated approximately $5.8 billion worth of suspicious transactions. The transactions… – Continue reading
Tax advisory revenue at professional services firms expanded 8.6 percent to $20.3 billion in 2017, and grew by around $5 billion in just the three years from 2014 to 2017, according to a new report. The report, from Source Global Research, found that the main tax advisory services around the… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service is giving foreign-based banks with U.S. operations some leeway when calculating a major new international tax aimed at preventing global companies from shifting profits abroad. Multinationals often transfer payments, such as interest or royalties, to their affiliates in low-tax jurisdictions to maximize deductions and minimize tax… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Are India-based back offices of multinationals merely brokers? And, are Indian companies providing services to foreign firms just commission agents? Going by the tax department’s definition, it appears that they are so — and not exporters. Several back offices at multinationals now face 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST)… – Continue reading
Microsoft, Cisco might also benefit from GOP bill ‘loophole’ Law gives some firms edge in paring offshore cash tax tab Companies that stockpiled trillions of dollars offshore free of U.S. income tax may get one last break before paying up — provided their fiscal years don’t follow the calendar year…. – Continue reading
Ernst and Young Solutions LLP, Singapore, has released its wish list for the Singapore Budget 2018, calling for reforms to sharpen the territory’s competitiveness. The firm said that Singapore should maintain its 17 percent corporate income tax (CIT) rate, which is one of the lowest in the world, but recommended… – Continue reading
Thirty-eight African tax authorities recently converged in Abuja for the International Conference on Tax in Africa. The group discussed ways to boost revenues in Africa, in particular and how to improve collection of corporate income tax, reports Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor) Tax collection has never been a piece of cake… – Continue reading
Tax executives are worried about some of the risks to their companies from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project and U.S. tax reform proposals. A recent survey by Ernst & Young polled 901 tax and finance executives in 69 jurisdictions around the world… – Continue reading
Governments are expanding their use of tax incentives to maintain their country’s international appeal to businesses, alongside the adoption of anti-base erosion and profit shifting measures, according to a survey from EY. EY’s survey of tax policy professionals in 50 countries found that, “While the long-term trend for countries to… – Continue reading
New measures targeting trust companies and banks in their role of helping to create offshore companies, such as the more than 200,000 exposed in the year-old Panama Papers, should be the priority for EU legislators in their efforts to crack down on the use of tax haven intermediaries, according to… – Continue reading
New laws to punish those who help set up offshore schemes to enable tax evasion were revealed Monday, as the U.K. government cranks up the heat on advisers and planners. Britain’s government has widened the Finance Bill 2017 to include further measures that will tackle tax evasion, avoidance and aggressive… – Continue reading
Ninety-eight countries are poised to formally adopt the OECD’s innovative multilateral tax treaty, which will place recommendations from the BEPS project into more than 3,000 bilateral accords, when the ad-hoc group meets later this month. The “Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty-Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting”… – Continue reading
Global governments battling tax avoidance increasingly are pushing multinational corporations for a bigger picture of how and where they pay taxes, leading to increasingly narrow questions from company tax officers. “We have a number of entities that are disregarded for U.S. tax purposes. When I fill out the country-by-country form,… – Continue reading
EY announced today the results of a new tax survey at its 35th Annual International Tax Conference, “Unlocking the future.” The survey revealed that, more than ever, companies are experiencing an increasing number of audits and more aggressive enforcement from tax authorities around the world. According to the survey, nearly… – Continue reading
Back in July, ABC’s The Business and Michael West featured an extraordinary raft of allegations from a 32-year veteran industry insider turned whistleblower, George Rozvany, who claimed that multinational tax avoidance was “out of control” and cost the Budget up to $50 billion dollars a year in lost revenue. Rozvany… – Continue reading
Companies doing business in Luxembourg will be required to file global tax information now that the nation has released draft legislation to implement new international tax reporting rules. The rules—known as country-by-country reporting—would require companies to submit a global blueprint outlining the location of their operations, taxes paid, income earned,… – Continue reading
The total amount of fines handed out to Greek taxpayers with suspected undisclosed foreign assets has reached EUR810m (USD905m) as a result of recent investigations, the Government’s anti-corruption unit has announced. According to a July 29 government press release, Special Financial Prosecutor Panagiotis Athanasiou said that the Government is intensifying… – Continue reading
The “Big Four” global accounting firms – PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young – are the masterminds of multinational tax avoidance and the architects of tax schemes which cost governments and their taxpayers an estimated $US1 trillion a year, according to an Australian taxation expert. The controversial new claims… – Continue reading
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said Facebook Inc. may have understated the value of intellectual property it transferred to Ireland by “billions of dollars,” unfairly cutting its tax bill in the process, according to court papers. The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court in… – Continue reading
China is joining an international effort to tackle tax evasion, with plans to require multinationals to disclose more detailed information on their overseas affiliates, according to taxation consultants who advised the government on the new rules. The proposed regulations would make it more difficult for large companies to avoid taxes… – Continue reading
Authorities answer OECD call to clamp down on corporate grey area of internal transfer pricing with proposal for tougher reporting standards China is mulling plans to tighten tax reporting requirements on multinationals operating in the country to help close a ¬massive global loophole. If the plan goes ahead, multinationals would… – Continue reading
THE withdrawal of a withholding tax on service payments to foreigners, decried by many as unworkable, has been widely welcomed. The Treasury acknowledged that the tax had introduced “unforeseen issues, uncertainty on the application of domestic law and taxing rights under tax treaties”. The withholding tax was introduced into legislation… – Continue reading
The Tax Authority and Barclays Israel CEO Leonard Rosen are disputing the bank’s VAT liability. Barclays Israel CEO Leonard Rosen was summoned back for additional questioning by the Israel Tax Authority, following the testimony he gave when the alleged tax evasion at Barclays Israel was first reported six months ago…. – Continue reading
LOOPHOLE:The consulting firm said the transfer of shares from one tax shelter to another would theoretically allow their owners to avoid real-estate transaction taxes The government is likely to step up auditing efforts as a number of major tax amendments come into effect this year, diminishing the effectiveness of tax… – Continue reading
The asset servicing industry is likely to see a growth spurt driven by globalisation and regulatory change, according to an Ernst & Young (EY) report, reports the Asset Servicing Times. The report outlined six key drivers of growth: asset growth and breadth; globalisation; regulation; new products; platform extension and consolidation;… – Continue reading
A new international framework is targeting tax avoidance—and it has implications for captive insurers. Jenny Coletta of Ernst & Young explains In recent years, tax authorities around the world have been increasingly scrutinising captive insurance arrangements, focusing on questions relating to commercial purpose, pricing and substance. In what is likely… – Continue reading
The House and Senate held hearings Tuesday on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting action plan, also known as OECD BEPS, for combating tax avoidance by multinational corporations. A number of the lawmakers expressed a skeptical view of the international tax reforms. “The OECD’s… – 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 latest Tax Reform Business Barometer survey, issued by The Tax Council and Ernst & Young, found that tax professionals expect Congress to approve tax reform legislation no earlier than 2017, with most congressional leaders having all but given up hope that tax reform is achievable in the remainder of… – Continue reading
THE world appears to be getting much smaller. Rapid technological advances, increased people mobility, and changes in the international political climate have all helped to break down many of the traditional barriers to global and regional trade. For dynamic, fast-growing businesses, this increased globalisation represents an excellent opportunity for businesses… – 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
x The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has slapped higher taxes on importers of second-hand vehicles ahead of a new duty that will push the prices up by Sh200,000. The revenue authority reviewed the current retail selling price of second-hand vehicles in October 15. This is the benchmark the taxman uses… – Continue reading
LOST REVENUE:A lack of regulations on taxing cross-border Web-based content and services providers puts their local peers at a disadvantage, Ernst & Young said The nation’s tax system is relatively behind developed markets in adapting to the proliferation of the digital economy, which has resulted in lost revenues for the… – Continue reading
(MENAFN – Arab Times) The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) model has spurred the rise of a global automatic exchange of information, informed Hannah Shipley, Director at Ernst & Young, while speaking about FATCA and its implications during a business panel discussion held at the Kuwait Chamber of… – Continue reading
Multinationals have generated big-time revenues with its subsidiaries spread all over the world, which means huge profits and that’s taxable income. In recent years, a number of conglomerates – Amazon, Apple, Google and Starbucks – have engaged in so-called profit-shifting (profit allocation) via transfer pricing methods to pay minuscule taxes…. – Continue reading
Senior tax executives are preparing for changes in the tax landscape as a result of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s base erosion and profit shifting project. A new survey by Ernst & Young, presented Thursday at its 34th Annual International Tax Conference, found 88 percent of tax directors… – Continue reading
With the agreement with the US, Vietnam has now signed the double taxation avoidance agreements with 70 out of 170 countries and territories with which Vietnam has trade and investment relations. Double taxation is considered a barrier to trade and investment. It discourages transnational investments while prompts individuals and businesses… – Continue reading
Bitcoin transactions are exempt from value-added-tax (VAT) in Spain, says Spanish tax lawyer Alejandro Gómez, The General Directorate of Taxes, a subsidiary of the Spanish taxing authorities, made the statement in a response to a request from Gómez. According to Gómez, the consultation found that Bitcoin payments were a form… – Continue reading
India said foreign portfolio investors can use tax treaties to reject demands on past capital gains, seeking to defuse a row that cast a cloud over the $48 billion poured into stocks and bonds from overseas. Foreign institutional investors domiciled in countries that have signed double taxation avoidance treaties with… – 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
Nothing is certain in India except death and tax disputes. Ask foreign portfolio investors: they now face demands for past dues of as much as $6.4 billion. The wrangle stems from the Minimum Alternative Tax, or MAT, which officials say leads to a 20 percent levy on capital gains by… – 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
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
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
According to Peter Willey, EY’s Channel Islands Head of Tax, the Channel Islands are likely to be impacted by decisions being made now in other jurisdictions. EY recently surveyed its tax policy leaders in 32 jurisdictions to ask them to forecast the tax policy outlook for 2015 in their jurisdiction…. – Continue reading
If the Davis tax committee’s recommendations are followed, tax avoidance could be effectively reined in. Zeroing in on the super-wealthy and tax reluctant remains at the top of the global agenda as budgets across the world grow increasingly hungry for extra revenues. Now a draft report from the Davis tax… – Continue reading
EY is hosting two breakfast seminars this week to discuss how local businesses should be preparing for the next stages of FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) implementation – the identification of reportable accounts and the reporting process itself. Led by Wendy Martin, Executive Tax Director at EY in the… – Continue reading
