Category: Business

Declare Offshore Wealth? Russia Tycoons Would Rather Ship Themselves Off Shore

MOSCOW — Some of Russia’s super-rich have given up residency to escape a 2014 law requiring them to disclose offshore assets, wealthy businessmen told Reuters, a practice that could keep billions of dollars hidden from Moscow’s tax authorities. Interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with the practice —… – Continue reading

The Easiest and Most Complex Jurisdictions in the World for Accounting and Tax Compliance

Brazil, Greece, Argentina, China among the top 10 most complex Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, BVI, UAE the easiest places in the world for Accounting and Tax LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Turkey is the most complex place in the world for Accounting and Tax compliance, followed by Brazil, Italy, Greece and Vietnam – according… – Continue reading

Funds Industry Fears BEPS ‘Substance’ Changes

Tax experts have highlighted the increasing importance of substance in the fund management sector in view of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project recommendations. The OECD’s recommendations, among other things, aim to realign taxation with economic substance and value creation, while preventing double taxation. Speaking at the… – Continue reading

Top tax rate of 49.5pc would push multinationals offshore

A top personal tax rate of 49.5 per cent will hasten the trend for multinationals to base their operations in Asia rather than Australia, according to recruiters and tax specialists. “There is no doubt higher taxes make Australia a less attractive country for international executives who can just as easily… – Continue reading

Provider: Automatic Tax Share Breaches Constitutional Rights

A veteran financial services provider yesterday warned that automatic tax information exchange could breach fundamental rights protected by the Bahamian constitution, while threatening to make this nation a “European satellite”. #Anthony Howorth, president of Euro-Caribbean Management Services, questioned whether the Government and financial services industry had “really thought through” the… – Continue reading

Morneau ‘laying down the gauntlet’ on corporate tax loopholes

The finance minister says federal government doesn’t “want to wait for the next Panama Papers.” Canada’s finance minister denounced “unfair” tax loopholes on Thursday and put Bay St. on notice that the Liberal government is committed to addressing “blind spots” and exposing shadowy corporate finances to public scrutiny. “We don’t… – Continue reading

Detroit tax collectors crack down on evasion

For approximately 7,000 tax-evading individuals and businesses in Detroit, it may be time to pay up. Detroit tax collectors are conducting a large scale litigation campaign against tax evading individuals and businesses operating at 33 properties within the city’s downtown and midtown areas, the Associated Press reports. The team behind… – Continue reading

New rules in China lay trap for tax cheats at home and abroad

New reporting regulations meant to help authorities track down evasion at home and corrupt officials overseas Beijing has ordered an overhaul of financial accounts to crack down on tax cheats at home and abroad. From July 1, all deposit-taking institutions, policy banks, investment agencies and insurers must ensure each new… – Continue reading

Government sets tough course on international tax evasion

New centre established to focus efforts on gaining better foothold in tax havens A unanimous Parliament yesterday agreed to significantly step up Denmark’s efforts to combat international tax evasion. Among the new initiatives are the establishment of a new centre that will consolidate efforts against tax evasion, more transparency regarding… – Continue reading

Corporate Criminal Offence: Failure to Prevent Facilitation of Tax Evasion

The Criminal Finance Act 2017 received Royal Assent on April 27, 2017, making its way onto the statute book before the halting of Parliamentary business ahead of this year’s general election. As well as giving enforcement agencies further powers to recover the proceeds of crime and tackle money laundering, the… – Continue reading

Regulatory Issues: Financial account information exchange for increased tax compliance

Malaysian individuals and entities that have bank accounts overseas will soon see their financial information being shared with other countries and tax authorities in an effort to boost global transparency and tax compliance. This requirement is part of the automatic exchange of financial account information set out by the Organisation… – Continue reading

Australian Budget Targets Housing, Tax Compliance

Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison’s 2017 Budget focused on measures to cool the housing market and crack down on tax avoidance. Morrison handed down the Budget on May 9. He said the the budget would return to a surplus in 2020-21 and remain in surplus over the medium term. The Budget… – Continue reading

Budget 2017: “Black economy”, multinationals in spotlight as government focuses on tax integrity

The federal government has pledged to create more fairness for businesses and “level the playing field” through a series of budget measures directed at tackling Australia’s so-called “black economy”. The government gave its “black economy taskforce” the job of investigating how individuals and businesses use cash payments in December 2016,… – Continue reading

Draft rules released to prevent tax evasion via unquoted shares

NEW DELHI: India’s apex body for direct taxes has proposed new rules for bringing the value of unquoted shares on a par with the fair market value of underlying assets, seeking to prevent tax avoidance by firms that use the historical acquisition cost to set the price of unlisted stock…. – Continue reading

Survey finds low levels of awareness of new ‘failure to prevent’ tax evasion offences

A high percentage of UK executives are unaware of the impending introduction of new laws which could make a business’s failure to prevent tax evasion by its employees and agents a criminal offence, according to research by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com. In a YouGov poll of more… – Continue reading

Countries Looking To Tax Incentives To Stay Competitive: Survey

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

Greece eyes preventing transactions cancellation by cash registers

Finance ministry officials are considering the mandatory installment of an application across the country that will prevent cash registers from cancelling transactions, a measure ostensibly aimed at reducing the still “Olympus-sized” mountain of tax evasion in Greece. According to reports, the relevant deputy finance minister was in the German federated… – Continue reading

Tax predictability is key to driving investment

Deloitte survey highlights tax predictability as key to driving investment growth in Asia Pacific New Zealand well placed against backdrop of increased uncertainty in Asia Pacific’s tax landscape New Zealand’s tax policies are seen as relatively straight forward, consistent and predictable compared to other countries in the region, according to… – Continue reading

Trump Plans to Seek 10% Tax on Offshore Earnings, Official Says

President said to call for taxing pass-throughs at 15% Pass-throughs are currently taxed at higher individual rates President Donald Trump plans to propose a 10 percent tax on more than $2.6 trillion in earnings that U.S. companies have stockpiled offshore, said a White House official familiar with the president’s tax… – Continue reading

Survey: Citizens in G-20 countries favor gov’t cooperation over tax competition

The overwhelming majority of people in G-20 countries believe that cooperation between governments on tax policy is more important than competition to increase national tax revenue. According to a survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the preference for cooperation over competition is strongest in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France,… – Continue reading

Monaco added to Italy’s ‘White List’

In early April 2017, an important taxation agreement between Monaco and Italy came into force… As a direct result, Monaco now appears on the Italian ‘White List’ of tax compliant jurisdictions. The Agreement creates both opportunities and challenges for companies or individuals that fall within its scope, and is an… – Continue reading

Australia Urged To Scrap GST On Digital Imports

An Australian taxpayer advocacy group has joined forces with a coalition of international taxpayer organizations and academics to condemn the Government’s plans to abolish the low-value goods and services tax threshold on imports. In separate submissions to the Senate inquiry into the proposes GST changes, the Australian Taxpayers Alliance and… – Continue reading

China’s New Transfer Pricing Rules Keep Arm’s-Length Approach

China’s new transfer pricing rules, effective May 1, endorse the continued use of the arm’s-length standard—the internationally agreed bedrock for pricing transactions within multinational enterprises. The new guidance, Bulletin 6, augurs well for resolving tax disputes between China’s State Administration of Taxation and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service over the… – Continue reading

Deloitte Middle East Point of View: Ethical tax, construction market outlook, ISO 37001 on anti-bribery management, and GCC family businesses

Financial institutions are working together to combat tax evasion, bribery and corruption through ISO certifications and the Common Reporting Standard. These are among the topics discussed in the spring 2017 issue of Deloitte’s quarterly publication, the Middle East Point of View (ME PoV). The spring 2017 issue tackles several hot… – Continue reading

Australia Amends Company Tax Cuts Package

Australian lawmakers have passed legislation to cut the company tax rate for SMEs. However, the Enterprise Tax Plan was only partially approved. On March 31, the Senate passed legislation to phase in three years of changes to the company tax system. The Government’s original proposals had covered a period of… – Continue reading

Time to tackle the shell companies

Hyderabad: Shell companies are becoming a common phenomenon globally and even in India. These companies are posing several challenges to governments and regulators for various reasons had been probing their involvement in large scale money laundering and tax avoidance cases. A shell company is a non-trading organisation that does not… – Continue reading

New Chinese tax rule to take aim at multinationals’ profit shifting

Move shows that Beijing is joining the global move against diversion of profits to low-tax jurisdictions Beijing on Saturday posted a new rule on scenarios that could trigger tax-avoidance investigations of multinationals, under¬lining its commitment to a global move to combat profit shifting. The new rule, posted on the website… – Continue reading

Chile Leads Region to Test Companies’ International Tax Links

Chile is leading a regional push across Latin America to clamp down on tax avoidance and profit-shifting by multinational and local firms, with the country’s tax authority making companies with interests and assets one of its priorities for inspections this year. Outlining its tax enforcement plan for 2017 on March… – Continue reading

1099 Pro Offers Common Reporting Standard Software for CRS Reporting

1099 Pro now offers Common Reporting Standard software for CRS reporting as part of the OECD’s Automatic Exchange of Information for Tax Matters (AEoI) program. 1099 Pro, Inc., https://www.1099pro.com, known for over 25 years of Windows based product development for 1042-S, 1099, & FATCA reporting recently confirmed the upcoming release… – Continue reading

Germany: Legislative proposal in reaction to Panama Papers

As a reaction to the so-called “Panama Papers” the German legislator proposed, on 30 December 2016, a draft bill to combat tax avoidance (so-called Steuerumgehungsbekämpfungsgesetz – StUmgBG). The aim of the draft bill is to enhance the German tax authorities’ means to determine and reveal EU-foreign domicile company structures which… – Continue reading

€8 billion annual risk of money laundering

Malta’s threat places it 20th out of 27 states, Pana Committee told Malta faces an annual €8 billion money laundering risk, according to figures quoted in a study presented to the European Parliament’s Pana committee. The committee, which visited Malta in February for a fact-finding mission on the island’s involvement… – Continue reading

EU Lawmakers Visit IRS, Delaware as Tax Haven Concerns Mount

The European Parliament’s Panama Papers investigative committee is preparing for a “fact-finding” visit with counterparts in the U.S. Congress, as well as officials from the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service. The European Union lawmakers’ four-day U.S. trip, which begins March 21, will include a visit to Delaware for meetings… – Continue reading

Finance Bill confirms measures to crack down on tax avoidance

The 2017 Finance Bill was published on Monday 20 March, introducing dozens of initiatives with a focus on improving and modernising the tax system The Treasury said the bill, which is over 700 pages in length, “continues the government’s crackdown on tax avoidance” and “improves the fairness of the tax… – Continue reading

OECD, IMF Reports On Providing Businesses With Tax Certainty

The OECD and the International Monetary Fund have submitted to the Group of Twenty (G-20) nations a report on improving tax certainty for businesses. The report follows a global survey of more than 700 large, multinational businesses and a survey of 25 advanced nation tax administrations. The report highlights several… – Continue reading

Tackling tax evasion vital in current economic conditions — experts

AMMAN — Addressing tax evasion efficiently has become of vital importance to the state budget and the overall economy in light of Jordan’s current economic conditions, experts agreed on Saturday. Participants in a panel, organised by the Jordan Transparency Society, agreed on the need for stricter inspections and more awareness… – Continue reading