OECD tax director Pascal Saint-Amans has played down concerns that the United States might resist plans to make multinational companies such as Apple and Starbucks pay more tax, arguing that governments must move quickly to close multibillion-dollar loopholes or risk ordinary citizens losing faith in their taxation systems. Mr Saint-Amans… – Continue reading
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should tap Hong Kong’s access to the markets in China, Japan and South Korea to gain tax advantages under the double-taxation deduction pact signed between Malaysia and HK. Hong Kong Trade Development Council deputy executive director, Margaret Fong, said HK SMEs paid five… – Continue reading
The largest US-based companies added $206 billion to their stockpiles of offshore profits last year, parking earnings in low-tax countries until Congress gives them a reason not to. The multinational companies have accumulated $1.95 trillion outside the US, up 11.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to securities filings… – Continue reading
LONDON — Four of the biggest U.S. technology groups collectively hold an estimated $124 billion in U.S. Treasury debt, much of it offshore, earning them tax-free interest, the UK’s Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) said on Thursday. The finding means Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Google Inc and Cisco Systems Inc… – Continue reading
Andreas Bachmann of Credit Suisse helped Americans hide $3 billion from Uncle Sam A former Swiss banker pleaded guilty Wednesday to his role in a fraud scheme that prosecutors say helped U.S. taxpayers hide as much as $3 billion in assets from the IRS. Andreas Bachmann, 56, a Swiss citizen,… – Continue reading
The rich are not like the rest of us, and neither are their offshore bankers. Court documents filed in a big tax evasion case in Northern Virginia provide just a glimpse of the extra services available if you have the means and will to maintain secret accounts with large banks in Switzerland… – Continue reading
United States taxpayers make large interest payments to the top four technology firmsfor the $163 billion in US government debt the companies own and shelter in tax-freeoffshore accounts. Apple, Cisco Systems, Google, and Microsoft legally hold $124 billion in US Treasury securities and $39 billion in US government agencydebt in accounts overseas, allowing them to avoid the 35… – Continue reading
Apple Inc., IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have been picked out as some of the main culprits of stockpiling profits abroad in order to avoid huge tax bills, according to Bloomberg. Last year, the largest U.S. firms collectively added an extra $206 billion to their offshore profit stockpiles based in low-tax countries. Together the… – Continue reading
KOLKATA, MARCH 11: Aapo Polho, Ambassador of Finland to India, has said that taxation issues have diminished India’s attractiveness to global investors, including Finnish companies. Referring to mobile handset-maker Nokia’s conflict with the Indian Government over double taxation, he said, “The company (Nokia) played by the book”. “Over the past… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The finance ministry will soon write to British telecom major Vodafone to press the company to seek an early decision from the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in the Rs 8,500-crore transfer pricing case. The Union Cabinet had, on February 28, directed the finance ministry to wait for the… – Continue reading
Apple, famous for its innovative products, is equally creative in its tax structure. From 2009 to 2012, it successfully sheltered US$44 billion from being taxed anywhere in the world, including sales generated in Australia. While there are probably some sound reasons for Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, to claim in a US congressional… – Continue reading
The Brazilian government has been trying to catch up on a number of areas of the digital economy, one of them being online cross-border taxation – but not without controversy. During the Mobile World Congress (MWC) last month, the Brazilian communications minister Paulo Bernardo said Brazil is a “tax haven”… – Continue reading
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Imagine you have the choice between buying your electricity from a company that has a certificate proving that it pays its UK corporation tax in a fair and transparent manner, and a company that does not have that certificate. All else being equal, which would… – Continue reading
The online bookseller Amazon might suddenly find that the UK is more taxing than it would like. A UK judge ruled earlier this month that Amazon had infringed the trademark of soap maker Lush by posting advertisements on Google mentioning “Lush soap” and by offering customers who searched for “Lush soap”… – Continue reading
LONDON — If you don’t want something, giving it back is often an option. That’s precisely what some Americans, frustrated at what they see as onerous U.S. tax filing obligations for Americans living overseas, are doing with their citizenship. “I felt like I had gotten a divorce,” says Donna-Lane Nelson,… – Continue reading
New Delhi: With India stepping up its pursuit of alleged black money in Swiss banks, Switzerland says it is exchanging information with Indian authorities on all lawful requests, but cannot help on enquiries based on stolen banking data. The European country, which has often been accused of being the most… – Continue reading
BERLIN: German football legend Uli Hoeness (pix), boss of champion club Bayern Munich, will face a high-profile tax evasion trial from Monday, accused of having stashed away millions in Switzerland. The folksy 62-year-old Bavarian club president, who also runs a flourishing sausage company, was arrested and bailed almost a year ago… – Continue reading
London: Schroders is the latest UK group to set aside millions of pounds for potential fines arising from a US investigation into companies that helped American clients evade taxes. Schroders, the UK’s second-biggest listed fund house, has reserved £15 million (Dh92 million) for a possible penalty in connection with the… – Continue reading
Eighteen American multinationals – companies such as Nike, Microsoft and Apple – have used tax havens abroad to avoid what Citizens for Tax Justice estimates as $92 billion in federal taxes. This is money that could be used to provide universal pre-school for America’s children. CTJ also found 235 companies… – Continue reading
Bankers at Credit Suisse helped their affluent American clients hide billions in assets from the IRS, according to a Senate investigative report released Tuesday. The Swiss banking giant is currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly aiding tax evasion by its rich clients, is even accused of… – Continue reading
Bankers at Credit Suisse helped their affluent American clients hide billions in assets from the IRS, according to a Senate investigative report released Tuesday. The Swiss banking giant is currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly aiding tax evasion by its rich clients, is even accused of… – Continue reading
As concerns about crumbling roads and bridges mount, one Congressman believes he has an answer. Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-CO) has introduced a bill, Partnership to Build America Act of 2014 (S. 1957), that would provide for investments and improvements in infrastructure projects. To make it more palatable, funding would… – Continue reading
Malta’s two largest banks rejected the European Commission’s suggestion that high interest rates on loans in the country may indicate collusion. In a report issued earlier this month, the European Union’s executive arm said “the interest margin on loans in the core banks appears to be converging,” and this “could… – Continue reading
Much brouhaha has been created by the recent reports about the Vodafone Tax case with respect to whether or not a capital gains tax is due from them on the purchase of assets in India. New lexicon has been created for the uninitiated – “tax avoidance” versus “tax evasion”; “look… – Continue reading
In an attempt to stop multinationals shifting profits overseas Australia’s Tax Office is launching a task force to investigate 86 large corporations’ tax activities. The tax office is looking into companies that use complex structures to move profits through tax havens as well as those that are using thin capitalisation,… – Continue reading
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) — Credit Suisse Group AG moved to blame a small number of employees after a U.S. Senate report said the Swiss lender helped clients hide as much as $10 billion of assets from tax authorities. “Some Swiss-based private bankers went to great lengths to disguise their bad… – Continue reading
Nowhere was the unedifying hubris of the bankster classes more obvious than in Swiss real estate. Not the private banking halls off Zurich’s Paradeplatz but rather their office portfolio in the heart of the USA. Whole city blocks were adorned with the logos of UBS, Credit Suisse et al. Skyscrapers… – Continue reading
The Australian press is incandescent with rage after it discovered that the fruit themed cargo cult Apple has worked out a way of avoiding giving billions to its taxman. Apple is already in hot water for overcharging Australians for its shiny toys and now it seems that it is refusing to pay tax…. – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Amazon’s tax affairs could come under more scrutiny in Britain, tax experts said, after a judge questioned whether it really was organized in the tax efficient way it said it was. The ruling comes as big technology groups, including Amazon, face increasing scrutiny in Britain over their tax… – Continue reading
New Delhi: The Income Tax department has rebutted Vodafone’s notice under BIPA saying that the pact between India and Netherlands does not cover taxation issues. “Tax department has sent its response to Vodafone saying BIPA does not cover tax issues,” an official source said. The response to the Bilateral Investment… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON – The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which I chair, has spent several years examining the ways offshore banks have aided and encouraged U.S. taxpayers in evading their responsibility to pay what they owe. By using secret bank accounts, these taxpayers conceal their income and therefore avoid paying taxes…. – Continue reading
Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) compliance, and in particular anti-money laundering (“AML”) controls, remains a focus of regulators as evidenced by record fines levied in recent weeks. On February 7, 2014, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) suspended a former AML compliance officer at Brown Brothers Harriman (“BBH”) and assessed… – Continue reading
When a bipartisan Senate panel last week lambasted Swiss bank Credit Suisse for helping rich Americans evade billions in taxes, some watching the high-profile hearing couldn’t help but notice an elephant in the room. That is, Sen. Rand Paul. The connection? Paul for years has single-handedly blocked an obscure U.S.-Swiss… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Plans to make companies reveal how much tax they pay country by country were abandoned on Wednesday, knocking back the efforts of lawmakers who had pushed to curb tax avoidance by multinational businesses. Schemes used by Starbucks (SBUX.O), Apple (AAPL.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) and other corporations operating within the… – Continue reading
The Vodafone tax issue has affected investor sentiments towards India: ABAX Corporate CEO NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 26: The Vodafone tax dispute and General Anti-Avoidance Rules have impacted investor sentiment badly. Coupled with the delay in revising the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Mauritius, fund flow from the island-nation has… – Continue reading
Feb 26 (Reuters) – A former UBS AG banker pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to defraud the United States by helping wealthy Americans evade taxes. Martin Lack, a 51-year-old Swiss resident, pleaded guilty in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to a single conspiracy count in a 2011 indictment… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON: The U.S. has expanded its action against tax cheaters to countries such as India, Israel and Liechtenstein, a top U.S. official told lawmakers. So far, the U.S. action was primarily focused against tax cheaters on Switzerland. Since 2009, the Department has publicly charged 73 account holders and 35 professionals… – Continue reading
Authorities aren’t waiting for new reporting laws to go into effect to track down Americans who they say owe money The US needs money — and it’s willing to go to the ends of the earth, including Israel, to track down deadbeats who are evading their taxes. Israel was named… – Continue reading
Banking group hits out at Credit Suisse chief executive after he tells US that alleged tax schemes were due to a few dishonest employees A group representing Swiss bankers has demanded an apology from Credit Suisse boss Brady Dougan after he said the practice of helping Americans conceal their wealth… – Continue reading
The government, on Friday, decided not to withdraw Vodafone conciliation talks for settling the Rs.20,000-crore tax dispute until a separate case over transfer pricing is settled by a tribunal. The Union Cabinet, at its meeting on Friday, agreed not to take any ‘hasty decision’, and decided to fast-track the transfer… – Continue reading
The chickens are quietly coming home to roost. In Europe, that is. For a long time, multinational companies have created shell companies – those offices where, beyond furniture and a teapot, there is hardly any business going on – to mainly pay lower tax and move illicit funds. These opaque… – Continue reading
G20 finance ministers speak loudly, mention big stick The world’s top 20 finance ministers have signalled once again that they’re sick of their taxes disappearing offshore and have signalled a strong intention to get their cash back. The ministers in question are all members of the Group of Twenty (G20)… – Continue reading
Finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s most powerful economies have vowed to crack down on offshore tax evasion by big multinationals. Bill English was among the who’s who of the finance world meeting in Sydney yesterday. New Zealand is not one of the G20 but was conferred unofficial… – Continue reading
Feb 24 (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors are widening their probe of how Swiss banks helped wealthy Americans avoid taxes to look at insurers as well, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. Insurers in Switzerland have been preparing for months for U.S. officials to investigate products known as insurance… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Swiss bank UBS is prepared to pay a fine of up to 200 million euros ($274.5 million) in an investigation of alleged tax avoidance by the lender’s German clients, a German newspaper reported on Tuesday. The German authorities originally demanded 300 million euros from UBS, but a compromise… – Continue reading
Credit Suisse Group , Switzerland’s second biggest bank, went to great lengths to assist US customers trying to open Swiss bank accounts and evade taxes, entertaining them at a Swiss-themed ball in New York and golf tournaments in Florida and opening a branch in the Zurich airport to serve Americans… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Billions of dollars in U.S. taxes are going unpaid because Americans are exploiting Swiss bank accounts, and the U.S. government has failed to aggressively pursue Switzerland’s second-largest bank, a Senate investigation has found. The bank, Credit Suisse, has provided accounts in Switzerland for more than 22,000 U.S. clients… – Continue reading
Zara’s celebrity chic helps make its Spanish parent company, Inditex SA, the world’s biggest fashion retailer. Singer Taylor Swift, reality-television personality Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton, Prince William’s wife, have all been spotted wearing the stylish, low-cost brand. Another reason for Inditex’s industry-best profit margins of almost 15 percent: the… – Continue reading
HONG KONG, Feb 20 (Reuters) – The British and Chinese governments are in active discussions about setting up a clearing bank in London for China’s currency, a milestone that will put the city in a leading position to offer yuan trade business in Europe. Taking a leaf out of Hong Kong’s blueprint in being… – Continue reading
The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing on a crackdown on offshore tax evasion that has stalled as prosecutors conduct criminal probes of 14 banks, including Credit Suisse Group AG. (C:US) The hearing will focus on “the status of efforts to hold Swiss banks and their U.S. clients… – Continue reading
