The present French Tax Update will focus on an overview of several noteworthy publications, including decisions issued during the past few months by the French Administrative Supreme Court (Conseil d’Etat) and French Constitutional Court (Conseil Constitutionnel), as well as the European Commission decision in respect of the Belgian Excess Profit… – Continue reading
The announcement of another tax and exchange control amnesty in this year’s budget is keenly awaited by some South African taxpayers. The looming implementation of the Common Reporting Standard for the automatic exchange of financial information between more than a hundred countries seems to be fueling the desire for another… – Continue reading
The brands are known worldwide, and even though global companies like Google, Amazon, and Starbucks make billions — they pay little or no taxes at all in the UK and other markets where the firms make a majority of revenue and profits. Companies like Microsoft, Twitter, and Apple don’t set… – Continue reading
Democrats are balking at tying up $19 million to fund tax credits in 2016, fearing the money might be needed for more urgent needs. MAINERS ALREADY HAVE BEGUN FILING THEIR TAX RETURNS, BUT THE LEGISLATURE HAS YET TO DECIDE WHETHER IT WILL ADOPT AT THE STATE LEVEL A GROUP OF… – Continue reading
Estonia has become the first country in the world to offer a transnational digital identity. It’s attracted the attention of entrepreneurs and digital nomads worldwide, but there’s still a huge amount of confusion about the benefits of the E-Residency Program and what e-residency actually means. Let’s take a look. What… – Continue reading
Freeman Tax Law, a tax law firm specializing in overseas bank account reporting and foreign banking, recently released an infographic for people dealing with FBAR offshore bank account disclosures. Detroit, MI (PRWEB) February 02, 2016 Freeman Tax Law, a tax law firm specializing in overseas bank account reporting and foreign… – Continue reading
In the heyday of strict implementation of tax laws, it is a welcome relief to some taxpayers that a tax treaty relief application (TTRA) is after all, what it is supposed to be, a relief. To begin with, tax treaties are entered into by countries to reconcile their respective fiscal… – Continue reading
The debate about corporation tax intensifies. Is the tax on profit no longer viable now that the global nature of modern business is making it ever harder for individual governments to enforce? Director asks two business leaders, has globalisation made corporation tax redundant? Yes, says Stephen Herring, head of taxation… – Continue reading
European Commission’s tax avoidance plan announced last week includes positives, like country-by-country reporting, but doesn’t go far enough to turn the tide against corporate tax dodging; Such reporting should be made public The European Commission last week announced proposals for new laws to tackle tax avoidance and evasion in the… – Continue reading
The formal IRS/Department of Justice (DOJ) Swiss Bank Program has concluded with 80 Swiss banks coming forward. The banks agreed to provide information about personnel, depositors and advisors who were participated in or assisted U.S. taxpayers in offshore tax evasion. In addition to disclosure and cooperation with investigations each of… – Continue reading
BEIJING: China is planning a pilot programme to allow selected commercial banks to set up equity investment arms to take direct stakes in technology firms, people familiar with the matter said, a move aimed at giving lenders a chance to buy into a high-growth industry while stoking competition with private… – Continue reading
The European Commission proposed a set of new rules to curb tax avoidance by large companies. This follows Google’s £130m “sweetheart” tax deal with UK’s HM Revenue and Customs to allegedly avoid paying its fair share of corporate tax that spreads across ten years. Euronews reported that one of the… – Continue reading
While the central government is pursuing its objective to provide a certain and stable tax regime, it is critical that instances of dual levy of VAT and service tax on the same transaction are addressed urgently The levy of service tax as well as Value Added Tax (VAT) on the… – Continue reading
U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany is leading an effort to change terms of a treaty with Norway that he says puts at a disadvantage U.S. companies doing construction work on the Outer Continental Shelf. The Lafayette Republican and his Louisiana colleagues wrote to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Thursday, asking him… – Continue reading
Radical changes to business taxation may be necessary to reduce large multinationals’ ability to avoid levies, a respected economic think tank has indicated. In the wake of the row over Google’s deal with HM Revenue and Customs, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggested a shake-up of the corporation tax… – Continue reading
Despite the anticipated tsunami of tax disputes generated by underlying tensions in international taxation, there is reason for hope that appropriate means are being developed to address them efficiently and effectively. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) should be addressing their existing international taxation planning structures in light of coming changes in international… – Continue reading
The European Parliamentary Research Service has estimated that corporate tax-dodging costs the EU between $54.5 billion and $76.4 billion a year. The European Commission has proposed a package of measures to clamp down on corporate tax avoiders that would close a loophole companies have used to shift profits to low-tax… – Continue reading
Those who have been hiding their income or wealth overseas had better think again, as Korea will soon be exchanging financial information with multiple countries, including tax havens. They are advised to voluntarily report it to the government before the end of March to be given a grace period, said… – Continue reading
Modi promised efficiency in allocation of resources as well as creation of opportunities for citizens to progress. New Delhi: Promising reforms that will transform lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the government will not eliminate all subsidies but will rationalise and target them to the needy. He said… – Continue reading
Though the use of the retrospective tax on Vodafone and Cairn tend to grab the headlines, a large part of the ‘tax terror’ in India has really been the contribution of the high-pitched transfer pricing (TP) additions to the income of the MNCs Though the use of the retrospective tax… – Continue reading
India and the U.S. have reached an agreement to resolve more than 100 pending transfer pricing cases, one of the biggest deterrents for foreign investors planning an India foray, according to a government statement. Some more are expected to be resolved soon. Transfer pricing refers to the setting of the… – Continue reading
The Italian Patent Box regime largely complies with the OECD recommendations to prevent base erosion and profit shifting. Its non-compliant features offer a brief window of opportunity for companies able to take swift advantage of its wide range of qualifying intangible assets. Many countries have implemented specific IP regimes through… – Continue reading
Australia is one of 31 countries to sign an agreement in Paris to confidentially share tax information on multinational companies in a bid to stamp out tax avoidance. The deal comes as Apple has taken advantage of accounting rules in its local business that could allow it to pay virtually… – Continue reading
swissinfo.ch charts the evolution of the long-running tax dodging dispute between Switzerland and the United States and looks at how far there is still to go before the final curtain can be drawn on the affair. The United States wound up its “Category 2” tax evasion programme on Wednesday, netting… – Continue reading
Today’s proposals aim for a coordinated EU wide response to corporate tax avoidance, following global standards developed by the OECD last autumn. New rules are needed to align the tax laws in all 28 EU countries in order to fight aggressive tax practices by large companies efficiently and effectively. The… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Finance is planning to make the forthcoming general budget people-friendly. According to informed sources, the service tax exemption limit is expected to be increased from Rs 10 lakh at present to Rs 25 lakh. This is being seen as a major step aimed at benefitting traders and… – Continue reading
x The government plans to exchange financial information on multinational firms doing business here with members of the OECD and G20 countries in order to make them pay appropriate taxes to countries where profits are generated, officials said Thursday. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said that it will follow… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) today said it has resolved as many as 100 transfer pricing disputes with the US, which will lead to an environment of “tax certainty and encourage MNCs” to do business in India. The resolution of such issues, CBDT said further, follows… – Continue reading
In its 2015 Budget, the Canadian federal government announced its intention to exempt “certified” non-resident employers from the obligation to withhold and remit income tax in respect of certain employees that perform duties in Canada. The Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA“) recently released the application form that a non-resident employer… – Continue reading
BRUSSELS (Alliance News) – The EU stepped up the fight against corporate tax avoidance Thursday, unveiling proposals including an EU-wide blacklist of international tax havens, as part of a wider clampdown on firms using loopholes to reduce their tax bills. The EU’s executive estimates that member states are deprived of… – Continue reading
On January 15, 2016, Canada and Taiwan entered into an “Arrangement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income” (the “Arrangement“). The Arrangement will apply to amounts paid or taxation years beginning after January 1 of the year following the… – Continue reading
If Republican leaders in Congress really want to fix our broken corporate tax system, as they’ve recently claimed, they should start by blocking what would be the biggest offshore tax dodge in American history. By stopping drug giant Pfizer from changing its legal address to Ireland — and thereby avoiding… – Continue reading
India and Armenia on Wednesday signed a protocol to amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention between the two countries. “The Protocol amends the Article on Exchange of Information for tax purposes to bring it in line with the updated provisions in the OECD Model,” said a Finance Ministry release…. – Continue reading
Could you be one of the lucky expats who qualifies for tax free living in the Seychelles? Or would you have to pay the Seychelles flat tax on personal income? At first glance it looks as though the Seychelles levies a flat rate of personal income tax, and at only… – Continue reading
Moving money out of the usual offshore secrecy havens and into the U.S. is a brisk new business. Last September, at a law firm overlooking San Francisco Bay, Andrew Penney, a managing director at Rothschild & Co., gave a talk on how the world’s wealthy elite can avoid paying taxes…. – Continue reading
The Australian Taxation Office has stepped up investigations into Australians with Swiss bank accounts, pursuing some individual debts worth more than $100 million. Figures obtained by The Australian also show that in the past 12 months the ATO has handed the details of more than 30,000 ¬financial accounts to the… – Continue reading
Australia must not be blown off course from getting a company tax rate closer to 20 per cent. Corporate tax transparency figures released in December by the Australian Taxation Office should not slow momentum. For the first time, the ATO reported the tax affairs of companies with total incomes of… – Continue reading
Let’s take a moment to compare the world today to before the Global Financial Crisis struck roughly eight years ago. In this short period of time, US federal government debt has DOUBLED. The Federal Reserve now holds $2.4 trillion of that debt, up from $479 billion. Interest rates, which were… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 26:Ministers and top tax officials from more than 30 countries including India will sign an international agreement on Wednesday to significantly advance the fight against corporate tax avoidance. This agreement – Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) – will be signed at the OECD in Paris, sources said…. – Continue reading
The People’s Bank of China supports the country’s currency and fends off short sellers in the world’s largest overseas yuan market (Beijing) – The offshore yuan market in Hong Kong has been shaken to the core by weeks of volatility that analysts blame on strong intervention by China’s central bank…. – Continue reading
FATCA. Since July 2014, the five-letter acronym has instilled dread in the hearts of American expats all around the world. “The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires banks to report information to the IRS regarding all financial accounts held by American clients,” Ines Zemelman, expat tax specialist and founder… – Continue reading
Transfer pricing is the general term for the pricing of cross-border and domestic, intra-group transactions between connected parties. It refers to the setting of prices for transactions between connected persons involving the transfer of property or services. Companies can be connected in various ways, for example, two wholly owned subsidiaries… – Continue reading
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been defending his decision to build a new data centre in Ireland against claims the move is a tax dodge. The social media mogul announced the start of construction of the €200m facility at Clonee on the Meath-Dublin border on his own Facebook page, quickly… – Continue reading
Here’s a transaction that did the rounds some years ago. If I wanted some foreign exchange in the future I could enter into a contract with a bank by which it would sell me some. Assume that, in order to get a bank to promise to give me $2bn in… – Continue reading
Yesterday was quite a day for corporate tax geeks. We saw a corporate tax inversion that comes with a long, Baroque history; an estimate by Reed College economist Kim Clausing that inversions and other income-shifting techniques reduced Treasury revenues by as much as $111 billion in 2012; and a new… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, JAN 25: A majority of Indian multinationals see the implementation of OECD’s BEPS project leading to increase in double taxation and compliance burden for them, an India-specific BEPS survey by Deloitte India has revealed. This is interesting given that one of the objectives of OECD’s Action Plan on Base… – Continue reading
The UAE is one of the few places in the world where expats can live, earn and keep those well-earned dirhams, as income tax is still not in sight. This benefit has earned the country many rankings as one of the best immigration destinations in the world. Apart from good… – Continue reading
Anguilla levies a 3% flat rate of personal income tax and is otherwise a tax haven with a stunning climate and amazing Carribean lifestyle Whilst there are various categories of flat tax, including marginal flat tax and Hall-Rabushka flat tax, in its simplest form flat tax is simply a rate… – Continue reading
Macau’s Financial Services Bureau (DSF) has confirmed to Business Daily that the local authority is to sign a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with South Korea, which would add to the existing 15 jurisdictions that have already signed this agreement with the territory. According to the Bureau, its South Korean… – Continue reading
Car battery and heating equipment maker accused of ‘stranding honest taxpayers’ Johnson Controls, a US maker of car batteries and heating and ventilation equipment, has agreed to buy Irish-based peer Tyco International in a $16.5 billion (€15.23 billion) deal that will lower its tax bill. By redomiciling to Tyco’s headquarters… – Continue reading
