Category: Corporates

New Zealand Law Foundation Report suggests accepting cryptocurrency

A recent report published by the New Zealand Law Foundation on regulating cryptocurrencies in New Zealand suggests the regulators of the country to start taking tax in crypto and trial a CBDC. The report, that is commissioned by the New Zealand Law Foundation and written by the University of Auckland… – Continue reading

IRS bank secrecy program has little impact on tax compliance

The Internal Revenue Service’s Bank Secrecy Act program, in which it is supposed to safeguard against money laundering, is having only a minimal impact on tax compliance, according to a new report. The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, noted that the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting… – Continue reading

IRS weighs easing tax-free spinoff rules

The Internal Revenue Service is considering relaxing the rules for companies to qualify for tax-free spinoffs — a shift that could benefit drugmakers and tech firms with promising early-stage products. The agency said Tuesday it’s looking into whether units should still be required to generate revenue before a spinoff from… – Continue reading

ICICI Bank to raise funds overseas this fiscal

MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 20 ICICI Bank plans to raise funds through overseas instruments this fiscal, for which its board will meet on September 24. “It will consider offshore fund raising in single or multiple tranches in any currency through public or private placement by way of issuances of debt instruments, certificate… – Continue reading

McDonald’s Luxembourg tax deal not illegal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – McDonald’s tax deal with Luxembourg did not breach EU state aid rules, EU antitrust regulators ruled on Wednesday, saying the reason the US fast food chain did not pay some taxes was due to the mismatch between US and Luxembourg laws. The decision by the European Commission… – Continue reading

Investing in Guangdong Easier for Foreign Firms after New Incentives Announced

On September 13, South China’s Guangdong province announced a series of investment incentives and cost-cutting measures to offset the impact of the worsening trade war with the US. The measures, outlined in the Policy Measures for Expanding Opening-up and Using Foreign Investment, consist of a 10-point plan to attract foreign… – Continue reading

Pharmaceutical giants named and shamed in tax avoidance investigation

Four pharmaceutical giants have been named and shamed for depriving Australia of $215 million a year in tax avoidance. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD Australia), and Abbott – which make household name brands like Band Aid, Baby Oil, Centrum and ChapStick –were found to have unfairly… – Continue reading

China’s new income tax laws to bring ‘profound implications’

In June this year, the Chinese government announced much-anticipated revisions to the country’s individual income tax laws. KPMG Partner and Senior Advisor Michael Olesnicky says that these new revisions will likely have ‘profound implications’ within the wealth management community in Asia. Hubbis CEO Michael Stanhope recently spoke with him about… – Continue reading

Can the PHL fully participate in ASEAN Taxation Cooperation?

(Second of two parts) Embracing the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEoI), whether in the form of FATCA and/or CRS, affects stakeholders ranging from the government and businesses down to the ordinary consumers of financial products and services. As such, the uncertainties arising from the supposed implementation are definitely not in… – Continue reading

Hong Kong Banks Divulge Client Data

HONG KONG – The majority of Hong Kong financial institutions have divulged detailed data about their international clients for an international data swap. New media reports in Hong Kong indicate that approximately 1 700 financial institutions have submitted details about their clients for international information exchanges. The information exchanges are… – Continue reading

India Resident Foreign Companies to Pay 40 Percent Tax: Latest POEM Guidelines

In June this year, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) came out with final clarifications regarding the rules on Place of Effective Management (POEM). POEM is an internationally recognized test for determining the residence of a company incorporated in a foreign jurisdiction with a view to assessing its tax… – Continue reading

ASEAN taxation cooperation via automatic information exchange

IN 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025 was adopted as part of the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together plan. This collaboration charts the broad trajectories of ASEAN economic integration from 2016 to 2025. It aims to strengthen and reinforce by 2025 these five AEC characteristics: 1. A highly… – Continue reading

PACAC Explains Why FG Turned Spotlight on Multinationals

The Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC) has explained why it is shifting the war against corruption in the country from politically exposed persons to multinationals. According to the Executive Secretary of PACAC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, Africa and indeed Nigeria losses more from Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) perpetrated by multinational… – Continue reading

A Bird’s Eye View on General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation in European Law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union (EU). The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) superseded the UK Data Protection Act 1998 on May 25, 2018. Significant and wide-reaching in scope, the new… – Continue reading

Australia’s fugitive Chinese accounts frozen

The top story in the finance section on Tuesday morning is about the Chinese government’s hunt for hidden assets (and unpaid taxes) overseas. The article mentions Australia and New Zealand freezing accounts from customers who don’t identify if they are foreign taxpayers. It goes on to say many of the… – Continue reading

China Joins International Financial Data Exchange to Take on Tax Evasion

(Yicai Global) Sept. 5 — China’s tax authority will begin sharing residents’ financial investment data with around 100 countries this month in a bid to crack down on tax evasion. The State Administration of Taxation will begin exchanging data to learn more about what Chinese citizens are doing with their… – Continue reading

EU Should Challenge Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon Payment Systems, ECB Says

A European Union board member gave a speech criticizing the weak presence of European fintech businesses in the continent’s own market. The leader’s comments come in response to several major clashes with American multinationals over their unscrupulous practices. Yves Mersch, European Central Bank (ECB) member of the Executive Board, addressed… – Continue reading

Walmart-Flipkart Deal: Income Tax Dept Rejects Plea For Capital Gains Exemption

Income Tax department is also inquiring into some alleged suspicious transactions and investment flow into Flipkart Authorities have demanded a valuation report from Flipkart The international taxation division of the I-T department is currently studying the valuation of Indian assets of Flipkart Singapore At the time when ecommerce company Flipkart… – Continue reading

Panasonic to Move European Headquarters Out of UK as Brexit Concerns Grow

Several multi-national corporations have moved their European headquarters outside of the UK ahead of Brexit, and many others are expected to follow suit, especially as the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit rises further. Japanese tech giant Panasonic will be transferring its European HQ away from London to Amsterdam in October… – Continue reading

The best-known transfer pricing cases in Vietnam

VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 38 percent of foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) reported losses in 2017, a significant decrease from the 50 percent seen in previous years. However, transfer pricing by FIEs remains a headache for management agencies. Do Thien Anh Tuan of Fulbright University said that enterprises that most regularly… – Continue reading

Shanghai Business Registration: Online Platform for Foreign Invested Enterprises Launched

Shanghai recently launched a new online platform to facilitate the business registration of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in the city. Launched on June 30, 2018, the platform makes it easier for foreign investors to report their business information to the Administration of Industry and Commerce (AIC) if their projects do not… – Continue reading

Facebook, Coke could face tax hit after ruling against Medtronic

Last week, Medtronic Plc suffered a legal setback in its bid to avoid a $1.4 billion U.S. tax bill — a ruling that may have costly implications for other multinationals battling the Internal Revenue Service over the use of overseas payments to lower their taxes. Companies including Facebook Inc. and… – Continue reading

Nigeria Concludes Double Tax Treaties With Ghana, Cameroon

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) concluded the negotiation of Double Taxation Agreements (the DTAs) with the Republic of Ghana and the Republic of Cameroon on 26 July 2018 and 3 August 2018, respectively. While this is a welcomed development, it is expected that efforts will now be directed towards… – Continue reading

Uber withdraws lawsuit against HCMC tax man

Ride-hailing firm Uber has withdrawn its lawsuit over HCMC’s demand for $2.3 million in back taxes and fines. A tax department official said Friday that the HCMC People’s Court has suspended the case in which the Netherlands-based Uber B.V. had sued the department over its demand that the firm pays… – Continue reading

Thailand’s Private Trust Act

Baker McKenzie (Thailand) discuss how the proposed trust law aims to bring more wealth back to the country as both Thai and overseas assets (including real estate properties) can be used to set up a trust and promote Thai private banking business. Preserving a faily business for the next generation… – Continue reading

IRS regs on Sec. 199A look ‘taxpayer-favorable’

Long-awaited and highly anticipated proposed regulations for Code Section 199A, the new 20 percent deduction on “qualified business income” of pass-through entities, were released August 8 by the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, and experts are saying they’re broadly taxpayer-friendly. “The government did a good job of responding… – Continue reading

Booksellers urge government to ‘act quickly’ on ‘Amazon tax’

News that the government may bring in an ‘Amazon tax’ to help “rebalance the playing field” between physical and online retailers has been welcomed by booksellers. After department store retailer House of Fraser became the latest high street chain to go into administration on Friday (10th August) Philip Hammond said… – Continue reading

Switzerland forced to share information on HSBC Indian clients

Switzerland’s Supreme Court has ordered the country’s authorities to turn over information on HSBC accounts with the Indian government regarding two of its citizens. Both clients had fought the release on the grounds that India’s request for assistance in a tax-dodging probe arose from stolen bank data. The case involved… – Continue reading

Switzerland To Hand Over HSBC Data To India

India is to receive bank account information from HSBC, after Switzerland’s highest court ruled that the bank is obligated to provide data requested where the leaked data has not been purchased. The information was leaked in 2008 by Herve Falciani, who worked for HSBC’s Swiss private bank. The Indian authorities… – Continue reading

Intra-group Service Fee Treatment in China

Most multinational corporations (MNCs) charge their subsidiaries for services like human resources (HR) or information technology support. The subsidiary’s payment for these services is classed as intra-group service fees when they are made within same enterprise group. Because some businesses use this method to avoid tax and shift profits, tax… – Continue reading

French request for UBS banking data stopped by Swiss court: report

GENEVA, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) — Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court has ordered the country’s tax administration not to provide France with details about 40,000 UBS bank clients with French addresses, Swiss media reported Thursday. In May 2016, the French tax authorities requested administrative assistance from the Federal Tax Administration (FTA), Swiss… – Continue reading

Introduction of exit capital tax will attract attention of tax authorities to export-import companies – Expert

The introduction of an exit capital tax, envisaged by the draft law on amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding the tax on exit capital (No. 8557), will draw the attention of tax authorities to companies carrying out foreign economic operations, expert for transfer pricing at Evris law firm… – Continue reading

Ensure foreign taxpayers have NBR certificates before allowing DTAA benefits

Bangladesh Bank on Monday asked all banks to ensure that foreigners have clearance certificates from the National Board of Revenue before allowing them tax benefits under double taxation avoidance agreement. Foreign Currency Policy Department of the central bank in a letter to the head offices of approved dealer banks suggested… – Continue reading

UK Adopts EU Anti-Money Laundering Legislation

The UK is upgrading its national security by adopting a recently implemented European Union fifth anti-money laundering directive, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced in a statement on Tuesday. The fifth directive is aimed at combating corruption and money laundering and came into effect in the… – Continue reading

European Leaders Press for New Digital Tax at G20 Meeting

European finance officials just wrapped up a G20 summit in Argentina where they pressed for new global rules to better collect tax on digital giants like Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL 1258.15 0.04%), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB 214.67 0.02%), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN 1829.24 0.02%), among others. The European Commision is the executive (read: tasked with… – Continue reading

Banks await accounting rules switch

COMMERCIAL banks and financial institutions across the country are required to implement a new international financial reporting standard from the beginning of 2020, according to the National Accountancy Body (NAB). Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, Commerce permanent-secretary and chairman of the NAB, said that the body agreed at a recent meeting on the… – Continue reading

PWS: New Reporting Regulation Will Have Big Effect on Family Offices

A new agreement on international tax and financial information exchange aims to provide less opportunity to shelter wealth from taxation. Global wealth managers and advisors need to make sure they and their clients are in compliance. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (PRWEB) JULY 18, 2018 The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for the automatic… – Continue reading

Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 6) Ordinance 2018 gazetted

Hong Kong (HKSAR) – The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 6) Ordinance 2018, which primarily implements the minimum standards of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) package promulgated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and codifies the transfer pricing principles into the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112)… – Continue reading

IRS plans regulations on non-grantor trusts and new tax law

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department issued a notice Friday saying they intend to issue regulations around estates and non-grantor trusts, which may affect one tactic that some wealthy taxpayers have been using to get around the cap on deducting local property taxes under the new tax law…. – Continue reading

Tax, investment changes concern foreign firms

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – The changes in tax policy and investment incentives are the issues of greatest concern for foreign investors in Vietnam, said Bui Ngoc Tuan, Deputy General Director of the Audit and Advisory firm Deloitte Vietnam at a workshop on in Hanoi on July 10. Themed “Investment incentives, related… – Continue reading

India’s sweeping anti money laundering agenda comes under scrutiny

Money laundering and abuse of sophisticated financial instruments have come under increasing scrutiny from regulators. However observers warn high-profile initiatives often act as a distraction from a lack of genuine political will to tackle global financial crime. For example, India’s leading stock exchange, the BSE, de-listed 222 dormant shell companies… – Continue reading

IRS spent $380M on FATCA, but still can’t enforce it

The Internal Revenue Service spent nearly $380 million to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, but so far isn’t prepared to enforce the law, according to a new report. The report, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, examined the IRS’s efforts to implement FATCA, which was included… – Continue reading

More Information… More Intense Transfer Pricing Disputes?

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has recently issued guidance on the appropriate use of the ‘Country-by-Country Report’. The CbC filing was introduced as a result of the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project. India also introduced the requirement to file CbC reporting recently with the completion of the… – Continue reading

Standard Chartered selects BearingPoint’s FiTAX as tax reporting solution

Standard Chartered has selected FiTAX, a solution from BearingPoint, as its global client tax reporting solution for QI, FATCA and AEoI/CRS reporting. International banking group Standard Chartered, founded in 1969, is with approximately 87,000 employees across offices in more than 60 countries one of the globe’s leading financial services institutions…. – Continue reading