The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has formed the much-awaited cell recently in a bid to conduct preparatory work for enforcing the transfer pricing (TP) law. The board has issued an order, ‘Transfer Pricing Cell Order-2014’ by defining nine-point work-plan for the cell. The cell will work under the supervision… – Continue reading
A documentary on the working of tax havens in the context of the double taxation avoidance treaty between India and Mauritius reveals that while India may have received foreign investments due to the treaty, tax losses on its account run to the tune of tens of thousands of crores. Is it worth… – 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
Kevin Thorn of the Thorn Law Group comments on the recent guilty plea by a United States Taxpayer with undisclosed overseas bank accounts as one in a long line of ongoing IRS and DOJ investigations into U.S. citizens with hidden overseas bank accounts. Thorn observes the U.S. government’s expanded… – 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
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
The company has found a home in the British Virgin Islands, the finance ministry admits, though it might change that policy. Israel Bonds, a Zionist stalwart that fosters the country’s economic development, is registered in the British Virgin Islands, without the organization ever making the fact known in its English-… – Continue reading
Group-of-20 nations agreed to implement a global standard for automatically exchanging information between tax authorities by the end of 2015, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said. The endorsement is a step toward putting an end to “banking secrecy as we know it,” Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the OECD’s… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department plans to rebut Vodafone’s notice under BIPA saying that the pact between India and Netherlands does not cover taxation issues. The response to the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) notice was finalised after a meeting of the inter-ministerial group, headed by the Finance Secretary. The other… – Continue reading
The days of multinational companies being able to use the Double Irish Dutch Sandwich to avoid taxation may soon be coming to an end, with the G20 group of nations looking to create a reporting standard to allow for automatic exchange of tax information. In the official communique coming at the end… – Continue reading
UTI International (Singapore) chief executive officer Praveen Jagwani says the asset manager had to remove American investors because of the compliance burden Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) brings. The regulation requires financial institutions to use enhanced due diligence to identify US citizens that have invested in either non-US financial… – Continue reading
Congress is on a roll, trying to track down hidden offshore accounts, and the latest news is a report that shows which states have the most taxpayers disclosing such accounts (California is No. 1), and where they are located (Switzerland is tops). All told, taxpayers in at least 45 states… – Continue reading
Vodafone, stung by the decision of a cash-hungry Indian government to apply new rules on retrospective taxation and press its demand for as much as Rs20,000 crore ($3.2 billion) in back taxes and penalties, has countered by saying gains from the overseas transaction in which it bought out Hutchinson’s Indian… – Continue reading
British telecom major Vodafone said on Wednesday that the government is looking to tax it twice over. The company was referring to its total tax liability of Rs 20,000 crore in terms ofcapital gains tax of a 2007 deal to buy into Hutch Essar as well as a transfer pricing case. Vodafone had… – Continue reading
A government bill has been submitted to the Knesset to amend the Income Tax Ordinance, adding a chapter on the exchange of information under international conventions. This will allow the Israel Tax Authority to share information with tax authorities of other countries, including countries with which has no tax treaty,… – Continue reading
In Israel, several large companies were persuaded to pay several billions of shekels of tax late in 2013, at reduced rates, on “trapped profits” after claiming tax breaks on undistributed profits. As a result, personal income-tax rates did not go up 1 percent to 2% at the beginning of 2014…. – Continue reading
Pakistan and Afghanistan would finalise modalities for signing Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion Convention in the next meeting of the 9th session of the Pak-Afghan Joint Economic Commission (JEC) to be held on February 23-24 in Kabul. A senior FBR official told Business Recorder here on Tuesday… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Continuing its crackdown on black moneymenace, India has entered into an agreement with Switzerland for liberal interpretation of identity requirements for gathering information about illicit funds stashed away by its citizens in Swiss banks. “Government has also signed a mutual agreement with government of Swiss Confederation for liberal interpretation of the… – Continue reading
In a world of widening inequality, it is perhaps the most pernicious injustice of them all. Multinational corporations and wealthy individuals avoiding tax on an unprecedented scale, shuffling assets, income and debt to the most favourable tax jurisdictions and confounding hapless authorities. It is impossible to identify exactly how much… – Continue reading
Bangladesh and Kuwait have signed a double taxation avoidance agreement recently in a bid to promote bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. The agreement titled ‘The avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income’ was signed Wednesday in Kuwait. Bangladesh’s National… – Continue reading
Irish Corporate Tax 2014: The current Irish governance system has remained unchanged through boom and bust and the addiction to political spin, distortion and sometimes lies, works at least in the short term while in some cases it has an enduring impact. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, it’s possible “to… – Continue reading
An $880 million payout to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has reignited the debate over whether global companies pay their fair share of tax in Australia. News was paid the money after winning a long-running legal battle with the Tax Office relating to a 1989 restructure of the media empire involving… – Continue reading
Some three hundred years ago Sir Walter Scott asked, “Breathes there a man with soul so dead who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land.” Well, in America corporations are legally deemed “persons,” so the answer to Scott’s question is “Yes,” at least when it… – Continue reading
Singapore’s wealth management industry grew 22 percent in 2012 to 1.63 trillion Singaporean dollars ($1.29 trillion US), and its share of global offshore wealth is expected to outstrip Switzerland by 2020, according to data from WealthInsight, an industry research group. Learning from the recent scandal when Swiss banks, including UBS… – Continue reading
INTRODUCTION On 31 January 2014 the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey jointly issued draft Guidance Notes (in conjunction with the Isle of Man) on the implementation of obligations arising under the intergovernmental agreements (“IGAs“) signed by each island with the UK in October 2013 and with the US in… – Continue reading
New Delhi: Cracking down on alleged wealth stashed by Indians abroad, the government has initiated enquiries in several cases while information has been received in 67 such cases and prosecution for wilful tax evasion has been launched in 17 other cases. Giving an update on alleged tax evasion through offshore… – Continue reading
A mainland spokeswoman on Monday talked up cross-Strait plans for a pact on the avoidance of double taxation, after concern that it may lead to the exposure of people’s personal data. The pact, currently being discussed by negotiators across the Strait, will benefit both sides, said Fan Liqing of the… – Continue reading
Luxembourg is lobbying Beijing for equal treatment with London, which was granted an investment quota last year allowing investors based there to invest their offshore yuan directly in the mainland’s securities markets. In an effort to capture a larger share of Europe’s offshore yuan business, top officials from the grand… – Continue reading
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s tax agency said Monday that it imposed more than 1 trillion won (US$944.3 million) in taxes last year through an investigation into offshore tax evasion. A total of 1.08 trillion won was imposed as a result of its offshore tax evasion probe last… – Continue reading
Swiss bank UBS is at the centre of embarrassing revelations that it helped to set up a secretive offshore firm for the wife and daughter of a former senior Chinese official who has since been convicted of corruption. Zhang Shuguang, a former deputy chief engineer of the disbanded railways ministry,… – Continue reading
India’s finance ministry is preparing to seek the cabinet’s approval to withdraw conciliation proceedings with the UK telecoms firm. Vodafone, the world’s second-largest mobile operator by subscribers, entered India in 2007 by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa’s mobile phone assets. It is contesting a tax bill of about 112bn rupees (£1.1bn) relating… – Continue reading
India and Croatia have signed a double taxation avoidance treaty as an important step in strengthening their economic cooperation. The treaty was signed in Zagreb on Wednesday by Croatian Finance Minister Slavko Linic and Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, during her working visit to Croatia. The… – Continue reading
The income tax (I-T) department has not been able to make any headway in detecting the offshore investments by Indians, including 20 big names from Andhra Pradesh, in the safe havens abroad. The reason? ‘Non-cooperation’ by the foreign counterparts despite agreements for sharing tax information. It was after the much-publicized… – Continue reading
Government today said efforts are being made to find mutually acceptable solution to address India’s concerns while revising the tax treaty with Mauritius. Government has proposed to review the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) to incorporate amendments to the pact for prevention of treaty abuse and to strengthen the… – Continue reading
A new India-Cyprus double tax avoidance agreement (DTAA) or tax treaty, inches closer to finalisation. The delegates of the two countries are slated to meet in early-mid March to tie up the loose ends. While the revised treaty will contain more stringent provisions relating to exchange of information, it is… – Continue reading
Belgium’s finance ministry on January 27 announced changes to the effective dates of the agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with China. The finance ministry had previously announced that the agreement would come into effect on Jan. 4, 2014 and apply to taxes on income… – Continue reading
South Korea’s tax agency has launched an investigation into the Seoul branch of UBS on suspicion of tax evasion, industry sources said Wednesday. According to the sources, the National Tax Service (NTS) began the probe late last year on suspicions that the Swiss bank did not report 51 billion won… – Continue reading
The OECD on Sunday delivered a new global standard to crack down on tax evasion with more than 40 countries already committing to the measures. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) chief Angel Gurria called it “a real game-changer” that would boost international cooperation to reel in cheats. “Globalisation… – Continue reading
In contrast to oil-producing Arab nations, non-oil-producing Arab countries rely on tax revenues to cover government spending. However, they have encountered significant difficulties when it comes to acquiring sufficient tax revenues. This has pushed them to either cut down on investment spending, ask for foreign aid, or borrow from internal… – Continue reading
The number of local companies newly registered with the Companies Registry in 2013 hit a record high of 174,031, up from 150,165 in 2012, according to the statistics released by the Companies Registry today (January 12). “By the end of 2013, the total number of live local companies registered under… – Continue reading
The new Companies Ordinance, Chapter 622 of the Laws of Hong Kong (“new CO”), will commence operation on 3 March 2014. The provisions of the new Ordinance and the subsidiary legislation, as well as useful reference materials, are available at the dedicated thematic sectionon this website. A dedicated hotline has been… – Continue reading
