Greece has proposed a tax amnesty in an effort to collect revenue on billions of euros that its citizens are believed to have quietly stashed in Swiss bank accounts, the NZZ am Sonntag paper reported, reports Reuters. The plan, which still needs Greek parliamentary approval and a final accord with… – Continue reading
PIRAEUS: In Piraeus, the harbour town west of Athens, a group of sailors take turns to squat a ferry they once worked on. Protest banners flutter in the air. “Our money!” says one; “we’re starving” says another. These sailors say they haven’t been paid salaries for more than nine months… – Continue reading
The OECD has backed Guernsey in its fight against tax haven status, describing the crown dependency’s inclusion on the European Commission’s list of top 30 non-compliant tax jurisdictions as “very surprising”. Monica Bhatia, head of the secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Global Forum on Transparency and… – Continue reading
GENEVA: Athens wants a tax amnesty deal for Greeks who have stashed cash in Swiss banks, in a bid to bring much-needed revenue to the debt-laden country, a Swiss newspaper reported Sunday. The government in crisis-hit Greece, where citizens were voting Sunday in a vital referendum on EU-imposed austerity measures,… – Continue reading
James Angelos’ book looks at widespread tax evasion and benefit fraud Includes case of the island where 498 people pretended to be blind Also reveals how super-rich bought camoflage for pools to avoid tax Greece is on the brink of collapse as it decides whether to reject EU bailout Greece… – Continue reading
Athens: Greece’s shipping community should calm its fears that the Greek government has bowed to Eurogroup pressure to phase-out offshore tax status for Greek shipping and marine service companies. “According to our official information the rumours … that the Greek government has accepted the Law 89 phase-out is absolutely incorrect,”… – Continue reading
ATHENS, June 25 (Reuters) – When Greece’s tax police squad raided a busy cafe-restaurant in an upscale central Athens district earlier this year, it discovered two cash registers and an elaborate system of issuing fake receipts — at least 15,000 of them, over four years. Four months later, the cafe… – Continue reading
ST. JOHN’S –– Antigua and Barbuda has written to the European Union’s representative in the Caribbean, strongly objecting to the twin-island nation being named a tax haven and calling on the EU to apologize and withdraw the list. In a strongly worded letter to Head of the Delegation of the… – Continue reading
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has taken a swipe at Switzerland for providing only limited information about wealthy tax evaders from cash-strapped Greece who are believed to have stashed billions of euros in Swiss banks. In an interview on Wednesday with Rundschau, a current affairs programme from state broadcaster SRF,… – Continue reading
Critics of an EU tax-haven blacklist say the organisation is playing dice with small states’ reputations, while ignoring European tax avoidance hubs BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, June 19, 2015 (AMG) — Doubts have been cast over the methodology and motives behind the naming of fourteen Caribbean countries among a list of thirty… – Continue reading
In a further move to make tax systems fairer, more efficient, growth-friendly and transparent, the Commission presented an Action Plan to fundamentally reform corporate taxation in the EU and published a “Top 30” list of tax havens across the world. The Action Plan sets out a series of initiatives to… – Continue reading
The 11 European nations seeking a financial-transactions tax will meet Thursday in Luxembourg in a bid to decide how to design the measure, according to European Union officials. Participating states are wrangling over which trades to tax and who should collect revenue, according to planning documents obtained by Bloomberg News…. – Continue reading
Dirty money resulting from crime, corruption and tax evasion is estimated to cost over one trillion dollars every year. It exacerbates poverty and inequality, and should be regarded as one of the most pressing issues globally. An Oxfam report found that G7-based companies and investors cheat Africa out of tens… – Continue reading
Heads of state meeting at the G7 Summit in Bavaria, Germany committed to promoting automatic exchange of tax information and tax rulings to discourage multinational companies from shifting profits from country to country to avoid taxes, reports Accounting Today. In a joint declaration, the G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to… – Continue reading
DRESDEN — Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven (G-7) economic powers met on Thursday to discuss how to revive a faltering global recovery, with the US leaning on Europe to reach a deal to avert a Greek bankruptcy. The threat of a Greek default, rising oil prices and bond… – Continue reading
Athens is in talks with Swiss authorities on plan to voluntarily declare deposits abroad Greece may impose a small levy on bank ATM withdrawals to encourage use of credit cards, as part of a package of measures aimed at fighting tax evasion, the finance minister said on Tuesday. “There may… – Continue reading
There is an existing global instrument to help prevent the £2tn annually lost to governments. The UN should focus on making it work Tax evasion is a major cause of underdevelopment. Against the backdrop of Greece struggling to plug budgetary holes, aggravated by rampant tax evasion, the upcoming UN financing… – Continue reading
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has announced that he intends to introduce a bill to allow taxpayers to declare funds held abroad without incurring penalties. Funds declared under the amnesty will be taxed at rates of 15 to 20 percent, with no further penalty or investigation. The funds will not… – Continue reading
Athens: Greek authorities arrested one of the most important businessmen in the country, Leonidas Bobolas on Wednesday, for tax evasion. He was released later after paying €1.8 million in back taxes. This is just one of the Greek government’s attempts to collect money from tax evaders. In Greece, income tax… – Continue reading
The new omnibus bill presented by the Greek ministry of finance will be tabled in parliament on Thursday in order to expedite negotiations with creditors and reach an intermediate deal. The new bill includes several measures and reforms such as methods of tackling tax evasion, revenue increase from value added… – Continue reading
THE global economic recovery, which has been assessed as uneven with manifest divergences across countries and regions, has however, been supported by Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs) as the major drivers of global growth, although it is currently moderating in some countries. But the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on… – Continue reading
The Greek government will table a new draft bill to Parliament that will allow Greek citizens to voluntarily reveal deposits held in Switzerland in exchange for a smaller tax payment, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Swiss State Secretary for International Financial… – Continue reading
Greece’s desperate bid to fund debt repayments by clamping down on tax evaders is doomed to fail, according to analysts. Leonidas Bobolas, the head of Greece’s largest construction firm was arrested on Wednesday and not released until after he had paid €1.8m in back taxes, despite the fact he had… – Continue reading
Athens: The head of one of Greece`s largest construction companies was arrested Wednesday on charges of tax evasion and ordered to pay the state 1.8 million euros ($1.9 million), the first such action since the radical left government came to power. Leonidas Bobolas, CEO of the Ellaktor group, was brought… – Continue reading
Bobolas, managing director of Greece’s biggest construction firm Ellaktor and whose family also owns newspapers, was detained on suspicion of tax evasion and money-laundering on Wednesday. He was released a few hours later after paying 1.8 million euros ($1.94 million) in back taxes to avoid charges. Bobolas is the first… – Continue reading
As the General Election draws nearer and party leaders are making promises to clamp down on tax evasion and tax avoidance a Westcountry accountancy firm has accused them of not knowing the difference between the two. Matthew Lee, managing partner of Top 40 accountants, Bishop Fleming, said tax evasion and… – Continue reading
UBS whistleblower Stéphanie Gibaud talks to the Herald before travelling to Argentina With tax evasion allegations against HSBC under the spotlight in Congress, a whistleblower from another banking giant famous for its secrecy, Switzerland’s UBS, says she is coming to the country to testify soon, and warns that emerging economies… – Continue reading
Taxes have risen by around one per cent on the average worker’s wage in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries since 2014, although the majority of governments have not increased income tax rates, the OECD has said. In its Taxing Wages 2015 report, the OECD looks at the… – Continue reading
Taxes on wages have risen by about one percent for the average worker in OECD countries between 2010 and 2014, even though the majority of governments did not increase statutory income tax rates, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) Taxing Wages 2015 report. According to the… – Continue reading
In the five years since the eurozone crisis exploded, the European Union has adopted a great number of measures to improve its fiscal governance. Yet amazingly, it still does not have a robust, harmonized way of measuring and monitoring the financial activities of its member states, reports the Wall Street… – Continue reading
It has become increasingly fashionable to compare the results of Greece and the Baltic States’ response to the financial crisis of 2008, most recently last month with the Financial Times’ column with John Dizard. This, however, is a classic textbook case of comparing apples to oranges. Greece’s crisis was chiefly… – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development formally invited Costa Rica to apply as a candidate for membership this week, five years after it began its push to join the exclusive club of developed economies. The news of Costa Rica taking one more step closer to joining the league of… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – European Union regulators are scrutinizing four EU countries’ treatment of banks’ deferred tax assets (DTAs) to see if they constitute potentially illegal state aid, the European Commission said on Tuesday. The EU executive said it had contacted authorities in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece following requests from some… – Continue reading
The Markova Noga border crossing in Prespa could be the first project to be carried out of the series of trust-building measures between Macedonia and Greece, sources from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both countries have told Dnevnik off the record. The opening of this border crossing, according to… – Continue reading
The EU is collecting evidence to determine if Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy should face an investigation into whether they are illegally underwriting banks, reports the Irish Times. The EU is collecting evidence to determine if Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy should face an investigation into whether they are illegally… – Continue reading
European bank shares showed notable improvements in prices last week, benefiting from hopes of Greece evading a crisis coupled with continued strength in the U.S. dollar. Reports that Germany is looking to adopt a new law that will boost the capital position of the country’s banks helped Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB)… – Continue reading
Back in 2013, when one cuts through the rhetoric and posturing, what the Cyprus depositor bail-in and subsequent capital controls were all about, was an attempt to confiscate deposits of ultra-wealthy Russian billionaires held the banks of this beloved by the Russian oligarchy offshore tax haven. At least that was… – Continue reading
Blackstone, the US private equity giant that until recently was locked in a dispute with Cork developer Michael O’Flynn, is willing to lend money to Irish SMEs. The firm hasn’t announced the plan publicly, but we are reliably informed that Blackstone will consider deals if approached by a borrower. The… – Continue reading
A GROUP of Cypriot businesses with strong presence in Greek markets have engaged the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and will meet on Monday in a concerted effort to decide on a response to the Greek government’s decision to impose a 26 per cent punitive tax on imports from… – Continue reading
Ireland has been targeted by a new Greek law that the country’s government says is aimed at combating the nation’s widespread corporate tax avoidance, reports the Irish Independent. However, critics say a new tax regime that explicitly targets companies doing business in Ireland, Cyprus and Bulgaria undermines Europe’s common market… – Continue reading
Cross border tax fraud and tax evasion by High Net Wealth Individuals (HNWI) are serious problems for many jurisdictions. For many years exchange of information between countries has been solely upon request. In practise this procedure is not efficiently working as it requires foreseeable relevance, thus ‘fishing’ for information is… – Continue reading
Greece submitted a list of economic reforms to the European Union (EU) in an effort to secure emergency financing. Greece submitted a list of economic reforms to the European Union (EU) in an effort to secure emergency financing. The reforms include proposals to raise revenue by curbing tax evasion and… – Continue reading
Greece’s fellow eurozone member states, including Germany, must approve the release of the remaining €7.2bn (£5.25bn) in bailout funds the country is expecting. Germany turned the screws on Greece again yesterday, as officials insisted Athens has still not provided a satisfactory programme of economic reforms to its single currency partners…. – Continue reading
Bulgaria complained Monday to the European Commission about a new Greek law battling corporate tax avoidance that Sofia warns could undermine trade between the two Balkan neighbours. In a letter to European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, Bulgarian Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov took exception with Athens’ introduction of a 26… – Continue reading
The Netherlands’ tax regime is enabling a Canadian gold mining company to pay less tax in Greece, a report by a Dutch foundation concluded Monday (30 March). The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations found that Greece has missed out on at least €1.7 million in tax revenues, because the… – Continue reading
Canada’s Eldorado Gold Corp., the biggest foreign investor in Greece, is engaged in a tax-avoidance scheme that uses mailbox companies in the Netherlands to lower its tax load, a new report from a Dutch foundation says. The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, known as SOMO, made the claim in… – Continue reading
Government questions dividend imputation and company tax rate Australian investors appear to have dodged a bullet, with the government’s first paper on tax reform discussing the dividend imputation system but falling short of attacking it outright as an idea that has outlived its usefulness. David Murray’s inquiry into the Australian… – Continue reading
Greece’s economic recovery is being undermined by large-scale corporate tax avoidance, whereby companies use loopholes in places like the Netherlands and Luxembourg to pay little or no income tax, according to a new report from Dutch research group, SOMO. Greece has been gripped by harsh austerity measures imposed by the… – Continue reading
Greece and Switzerland were to hold a new round of talks Thursday on a deal designed to help the cash-strapped Mediterranean country recover billions of euros in unpaid taxes, reports Europe Online. The visit to Athens by Jacques de Watteville, who heads the international financial and tax affairs unit in… – Continue reading
Former Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou has been handed a one-year suspended sentence after a court found him guilty of helping three people dodge millions in tax. One of Greece’s previous legislatures was offered by IMF head Christine Lagarde a list of Greek citizens holding offshore accounts, in a move… – Continue reading
