Category: Individuals

Parliament approves Bitcoin BCH payments for Antigua and Barbuda citizenship

Securing citizenship in the Eastern Caribbean jewel of Antigua and Barbuda is now easier for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) investors. Early this week, the parliament of Antigua and Barbuda unanimously approved the resolution to amend the Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) Act, allowing for payments to be made in Bitcoin BCH… – Continue reading

CBDT Revises Form 3CD: To mine GST Data to check Tax Evasion [Read Notification]

The Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT ) has revised the Form No. 3CD, an audit report under section 44AB of the Income Tax Act, 1961 in a case where the accounts of the business or profession of a person have been audited under any other law. Earlier there… – Continue reading

HMRC Chasing Expat Contractors For Unpaid Tax

The British tax man is asking foreign governments to chase down expats working overseas who have failed to pay the right amount of tax. Almost £6 million was raised for HM Revenue & Customs by foreign tax authorities in 2017. This was triple the amount raised from British expats in… – 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

NBR nod must for banks to offer double taxation avoidance benefit

National Board of Revenue has asked all banks not to allow double taxation avoidance benefits to any non-resident taxpayers without NBR certificate. International taxation wing of the revenue board has also requested Bangladesh Bank for taking necessary measures so that banks follow the directives. International tax wing of NBR on… – 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

Hong Kong’s retail chain Cheong Hing plans to enter Pakistan

KARACHI: Hong Kong-based companies including a retail chain store planned to enter Pakistan following a bilateral treaty signed between the two countries last year to avoid double taxation that may boost annual foreign direct investment inflows from approximately $35 million, officials said on Tuesday. Officials at Trade Development Authority of… – 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

United Arab Emirates: The UAE Tax Environment

The United Arab Emirates has more than 140 free zones across seven emirates, including 20 designated zones with separate laws, regulations and VAT treatment. This can make doing business in the UAE a complex journey. However, there is also the strong benefit of the UAE being one of the easier… – 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

Restriction on non-filer forex accountholders : SBP’s rules to clean up untaxed money from banking system

KARACHI: The central bank’s rules to restrict access of the non-filers to foreign currency accounts would gradually clean up untaxed money from the banking system, although it may hurt much-needed forex inflows in the short run, analysts and bankers said. Analysts said foreign currency accountholders have been facing intensifying scrutiny… – Continue reading

BVI: Financial services workers mull relocating to Crown Dependent countries

(BVI NEWS) – Stakeholders in the local financial services sector are said to be considering Crown Dependent countries such as the Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey to relocate their businesses. That’s according to Executive Director of BVI Finance, Lorna Smith. Smith made the disclosure during a public forum at… – Continue reading

Who owns most of offshore companies

ISLAMABAD: If Panama Papers documents are any guide, Saifullahs of Lakki Marwat has the highest number of offshore companies owned by any Pakistani family and majority of them are in British Virgin Islands. Seychelles and Panama are two other jurisdictions where they have set up companies. While source of wealth… – Continue reading

Central Bank: Client Loss Not Like We Thought

Growing tax compliance demands have not impacted the Bahamian financial services industry as badly as anticipated, the Central Bank is arguing, despite the sector’s continued contraction. The regulator, in its 2017 survey of the sector’s economic contribution, said there were signs that international banks and trust companies were “retaining a… – Continue reading

FBR says ‘bulk of declarations’ under tax amnesty received from Dubai

KARACHI: Dubai is the offshore destination of choice for Pakistanis to park untaxed money as bulk of funds against declaration of foreign assets under the amnesty scheme were received from the Emirates, a top tax official said on Saturday. “We will disclose more details regarding declarations of foreign assets on… – Continue reading

Govt. moves to protect Samoa from “dirty money”

A bill tabled in Parliament last week aims to strengthen the Government’s ability to detect criminals who want to use Samoa’s offshore banking scheme to hide the proceeds of their criminal activities. That’s what Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi said when the Money Laundering Prevention Amendment Bill 2018 was tabled… – Continue reading

ACC sets June 30 deadline to complete probes into Panama, Paradise Paper leaks

Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Iqbal Mahmood on Wednesday ordered all ACC officials to complete enquiries by June 30 against individuals or entities whose names have been appeared in Panama Paper and Paradise Paper leaks. He made the order in an urgent meeting with the secretary, all director generals, and directors of… – Continue reading

Why Singapore is a Hub for Indian Businesses

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a three day official visit to Singapore late last month. The trip was his first since November 2015, and followed quick visits to Indonesia and Malaysia. The three-nation tour, touted to be part of India’s Act East Policy, laid clear emphasis on closer Southeast… – Continue reading

China’s top legislature reviews draft amendment to Individual Income Tax Law

BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) — The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) has begun reviewing a draft amendment to the Individual Income Tax Law at its bimonthly session that opened Tuesday. The draft amendment raises the minimum threshold for personal income tax from 3,500 yuan (about 544 U.S…. – Continue reading

Non-Competent Fee not Taxable in India without PE as per Indo-UK Treaty: AAR [Read Order]

The New Delhi Bench of the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) in the application filed by the applicant HM Publishers Holdings Limited held that the receipts arising out of a negative covenant not to carry on a business is taxable as business income under Section 28 (va) of the Income… – Continue reading

EU budget: Boosting cooperation between tax and customs authorities for a safer and more prosperous EU

For the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027, the Commission is proposing measures to make tax and customs cooperation between Member States better and more efficient. Continued funding of these programmes will help the EU to progress in offering businesses unfettered and easy access to the EU’s Single Market so that… – Continue reading

Surveys Suggest Taxpayers Satisfied With TCJA, Says Hatch

Both large and small businesses in the United States expect the measures included in the recently enacted tax reform legislation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, to have a positive effect on their operations, according to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT). In a recent statement, Hatch… – Continue reading

Update on Portugal’s Non-Habitual Residence Program

Concerned about the tax implications of buying property in Portugal? Good news! Foreigners who want to buy in Portugal and meet certain criteria may be exempt from paying tax on most forms of overseas income. Here’s how! In a bid to bounce back from the 2008 financial crisis, Portugal has… – Continue reading

SMEs are paying more corporation tax than bigger businesses

According to figures released earlier this year, SMEs are in fact paying more corporation tax than larger more complex organisations. Specifically, the rate paid by SMEs in 2016 was 21.7%, while it was 20% for businesses with a turnover of £1billion. The research was conducted by accountancy firm Moore Stephens,… – Continue reading

OECD Releases First CbC Reporting Peer Reviews

The OECD has released the first peer reviews of the country-by-country (CbC) reporting initiative, reporting that practically all countries that serve as headquarters to large multinationals have introduced new transfer pricing documentation requirements to improve transparency. Country-by-country reporting will see tax administrations worldwide collect and share detailed information on all… – Continue reading

Europe wages war on Russian oligarchs as London and Cyprus tighten regulations for banking operations

London and Cyprus have tightened the regulations for banking operations, and the accounts belonging to Russians face blocking. Last weekend, Britain said it could block the bank accounts of about 100 foreigners. The assets will be frozen unless their owners provide information on the source of the money. At the… – Continue reading

Moldova to Ease Citizenship Requirements for Investors

The Moldovan parliament is divided over proposed amendments that would allow wealthy investors to bypass certain requirements in the citizen application process, Balkan Insight reported Friday. Some members of parliament warn that the changes, which are expected to pass next week, will undermine security and worsen Moldova’s reputation for corruption…. – Continue reading

OECD backs BEPS plan in face of critics

The OECD has endorsed New Zealand’s crackdown on multi-national tax evasion, despite significant criticism from local businesses that it departs from OECD standards, Thomas Coughlan reports. David Bradbury, head of the OECD’s tax policy and statistics division, told Newsroom that the OECD was “very pleased with the strong support that… – Continue reading

Facebook Facing Shareholder Scrutiny for Its Offshore Tax Avoidance

In recent months, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been hauled before lawmakers in the United States and the European Union to respond to criticism of the company’s privacy policies and sharing of user data. Now the company’s dodgy tax practices are facing increased scrutiny from an even more important source:… – Continue reading

Tax Competitiveness in India: Changing Rules, Trends in Taxation

Ease of doing business and tax reforms are at the center of India’s growth agenda as the country pitches itself as the leading investment destination among global emerging markets. Yet, India’s tax competitiveness record remains mixed. At a time when the U.S., U.K., and Japan have slashed their corporate tax… – Continue reading

Tax raids end in Madhya Pradesh, Bengaluru; Rs 100 crore tax evasion, 12 bogus companies detected

The searches which started at the locations pertaining to the Bhopal-based Asnani Group and its business associates have led to the disclosure of around Rs 100 crores undisclosed income. BHOPAL: Five day long searches at 30 premises related to a Madhya Pradesh-based real estate major and business associates in Bhopal,… – Continue reading

IRS issues new advance pricing agreement template

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new template that corporate taxpayers need to use when asking for an advance pricing agreement with the IRS. Advance pricing agreements are prior agreements between multinational companies and the IRS on the appropriate transfer pricing method to use for a given set of… – Continue reading

Banks given 15 days to share foreigners’ data with FBR under OECD obligations

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has given a 15-day timeline to banks and brokerages to furnish financial data of foreign customers as the country signed in an international convention for information exchange to curb tax evasion, officials said on Wednesday. The officials said FBR directed financial institutions, including… – Continue reading