The regulations require reporting FIs to notify TIA if they have reporting obligations under US FATCA and/or UK CDOT. With respect to US FATCA, Reporting FIs have until tomorrow (April 30th) to file their notification with an initial reporting deadline May 31st. With respect to UK CDOT, Reporting FIs have… – Continue reading
Ireland might learn as the Isle of Man positions itself as the new bitcoin capital of the world While bitcoin is attractive because of its inherent decentralised nature, it has struggled to be perceived as a legitimate currency, given the lack of accountability and total absence of someone or something… – Continue reading
THE REVENUE Commissioner’s large cases division is investigating almost 100 schemes it suspects were designed by companies and wealthy individuals to avoid paying capital gains tax. The taxman is enquiring into 89 cases which used sophisticated financial instruments known as contracts for difference to generate artificial losses. The schemes avoided… – Continue reading
European finance ministers have backed efforts to fight rampant tax avoidance by multinationals in the wake of the LuxLeaks scandal. But European Union members face tough negotiations to work out the details. Under a new plan the bloc’s 28 countries would share tax deals agreed with some of the world’s… – Continue reading
Company accounts provide insight into Parlesse Investments A Larry Goodman company based in Luxembourg made a profit of €52.6 million in 2013 and paid just 0.4 per cent tax, according to accounts in the tiny EU member state. The company, Parlesse Investments Sarl, began operations in 2010 and had accumulated… – Continue reading
The Irish Revenue collected EUR41.4bn (USD45bn) in tax in 2014, up 9.3 percent on 2013, according to the latest figures. Revenue’s Annual Report for 2014 shows that each of the main taxheads recorded growth. Income tax was up 8.8 percent year-on-year, with corporation tax and value-added tax (VAT) each up… – Continue reading
More than €40bn collected as Revenue Commissioners embark on recruitment drive to hire 400 people The Revenue Commissioners increased its tax collection by 9.3 per cent in 2014, as it benefited from “high levels of timely payment and compliance rates” to collect some €41.4 billion in taxes. Income tax was… – Continue reading
1. NON-TAX ISSUES 1.1 Domestic law 1.1.1 Briefly describe your legal system and its origins The legal system of the Republic of Ireland is a common law system. In order to ensure consistency, a legal principle developed whereby courts were generally required to follow earlier relevant decisions. This doctrine of… – Continue reading
The UK is inhibiting its economy with a tax burden 18 percent heavier than the global average and should consider setting a specific target for lowering the overall tax take, according to research by accountants UHY Hacker Young. UHY’s findings show that tax revenue in the UK represents a third… – Continue reading
Britain’s Conservative Party returned a donation of £50,000 from a wealthy businesswoman on Monday after it emerged she was once wanted on charges of tax fraud in the United States. Beatrice Tollman, founder of luxury hotel chain Red Carnation, made an election campaign donation to the Tories earlier this month…. – Continue reading
Apple Australia denies tax avoidance but the numbers just don’t add up. The media spokeswoman for Apple Australia has been very busy the past two weeks. Her boss appeared at a Senate hearing on corporate tax evasion a couple of weeks ago, so she’s had to do some mopping up… – Continue reading
Technology companies with international operations are increasingly using global tax avoidance methods, despite growing opposition from the public and politicians in the U.S. and abroad. As this opposition fuels ongoing changes in tax rules, organizations must be able to quickly adapt their corporate structures and tax strategies to maintain a… – Continue reading
All of the firms have established funds based in offshore tax havens such as Cayman Islands and Jersey, analysis reveals Sixteen of the top 50 European hedge funds or their executives have donated more than £6.5m to the Conservatives, according to a new analysis of data. All of the firms… – 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
The funds management industry has welcomed a commitment from Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to make tax and corporate law changes that will boost the export of asset management services to Asia. Complex and uncompetitive legal and tax settings in Australia have acted as a handbrake on the export of financial… – Continue reading
As the above title indicates (it is only a modest exaggeration), the Treasury Greenbook regarding the FY 2016 budget proposes a radical restructuring of the system for U.S. taxation of foreign income of U.S. multinational enterprises (MNEs). Some Congressional players have suggested that these proposals are an opening bid in… – Continue reading
Increased mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceuticals space has been a boon for healthcare-heavy Israel exchange traded funds. Year-to-date, the Market Vectors Israel ETF (NYSEArca: ISRA) and the iShares MSCI Israel Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EIS) are up an average of 11.6%, an advantage of 260 basis points over the MSCI… – Continue reading
Increased mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceuticals space has been a boon for healthcare-heavy Israel exchange traded funds. Year-to-date, the Market Vectors Israel ETF (NYSEArca: ISRA) and the iShares MSCI Israel Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EIS) are up an average of 11.6%, an advantage of 260 basis points over the MSCI… – Continue reading
EU’s Highest Court Rules on Information Exchange On 19 March 2015, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down a significant judgment on the application of EU competition law to information exchange between competitors. The case was an appeal from the European Commission’s 2008 decision to fine banana importers Dole,… – 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
When it comes to taxes, corporate America is getting a bit less corporate. And a bit less American. Fueled by a wave of inversions, a record 54 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of leading U.S. firms are now at least partially exempt from the corporate income tax…. – Continue reading
Government chief whip Paul Kehoe is to write to the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Barrett, recommending that a motion of censure be moved against Mary Lou McDonald. The Sinn Féin deputy leader was found to have abused Dáil privilege when she named former politicians in the chamber who were accused of… – Continue reading
Government agencies should be forced to justify themselves to federal ministers every time they buy services from global technology giants such as Google and Amazon Web Services that pay less in local taxes, according to telecommunications provider Macquarie Telecom. In a letter to the Senate Economics Reference Committee investigating the… – Continue reading
Listed companies in developed market could be avoiding as much as $82b annually London: Listed companies in developed markets are avoiding at least $82 billion (Dh301 billion) of tax a year by using tax havens and other minimisation strategies, according to detailed analysis of more than 1,000 businesses. The revelation… – Continue reading
The key is to arrive at a Goldilocks mean — rolling out tax-friendly policies while being firm with incorrigible offenders A phrase first used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a group of businessmen in the run-up to the elections last year has now come back to haunt his… – Continue reading
There was a moment on Tuesday evening – hours before the first public hearing of the Senate inquiry into corporate tax evasion – when Treasurer Joe Hockey and his advisers should have sensed a firestorm approaching. Sandwiched between a story on a Gold Coast diet blogger accused of pinching other… – Continue reading
An Australian Senate parliamentary committee hearing on Wednesday was dominated by the fire and brimstone of Labor and Greens politicians directed against tax avoidance by major corporations. Labor Senator Sam Dastyari called on Australian Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan to “name some of Australia’s worst corporate offenders,” declaring that they “should… – Continue reading
Revenue figures show that just 13 people paid domicile levy of €200,000 in 2013 Ireland is home to more than 3,000 individuals or couples recognised as ‘non-domiciled’ for tax purposes, new figures from the Revenue Commissioners show. So-called “non-doms” can avoid paying tax on their worldwide income in Ireland, thus… – Continue reading
Executives tell Senate inquiry paying tax overseas for Australian sales is how the global tax system works, while News Corp Australia demands Netflix pays GST Senior executives from three major tech firms have defended corporate structures which allow most of the revenue from their Australian operations to be taxed in… – Continue reading
Mylan-Perrigo deal would combine two generic drugmakers that recently left the U.S. for Europe. NEW YORK — In a deal that would combine two generic drugmakers that recently left the U.S. for Europe, Mylan says it wants to buy Perrigo for $205 per share, or $28.86 billion. Shares of both… – Continue reading
Apple, Google and Microsoft have faced an Australian Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance on Wednesday. The tech giants have given evidence to a committee regarding the low amounts of tax paid locally in comparison to their profits. From the coy responses of the big three, one may come to… – Continue reading
No member of Congress has been more active in the cause of protecting tax cheaters and tax avoidance by our nation’s wealthiest individuals and corporations than Sen.(now presidential candidate) Rand Paul. While Paul is a standard bearer of anti-tax conservatives through his advocacy of radical policies such as the flat… – Continue reading
DMS Offshore Investment Services (‘DMS’) Limited was established in the Cayman Islands by Don Seymour in 2000. Over the past 15 years it has grown into one of the industry’s leading fund governance firms with over 200 people. One of the big focuses for the firm is ongoing regulation, in… – Continue reading
Golf star Rory McIlroy is more likely to settle in the US and not Dubai, despite becoming a tax resident there, his manager has said. Donal Casey, chief executive of Rory McIlroy Inc, made the comments in response to reports by The Sunday Times describing the world number one golfer… – 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
ATHENS: Greece may face European Economic Affairs Commission on 26% withholding tax plan. Bulgaria complained to the European Commission on 30 March about a new Greece law battling corporate tax avoidance that Sofia warns could undermine trade between the Balkan neighbors. In a letter to European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre… – Continue reading
EU’s Highest Court Rules on Information Exchange On 19 March 2015, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down a significant judgment on the application of EU competition law to information exchange between competitors. The case was an appeal from the European Commission’s 2008 decision to fine banana importers Dole,… – Continue reading
Jurisdictional issues will limit success. It’s no secret that companies including Apple, Google and Amazon, seem to pay less than their fair share of tax in Australia. Despite booking huge revenues from sales to Australian customers they are able to reduce their profits in this country by shifting profits to… – Continue reading
An agreement to lower the mainland withholding tax for aircraft and ship leasing is a crucial first step towards realising the Hong Kong government’s ambition of making the city an international centre for financing a global aviation industry that will need US$4.6 trillion worth of planes in the next two… – Continue reading
A new circular says multinational corporations like Google and Facebook will pay taxes on online business with Israelis. Foreign Internet companies and another other foreign corporation with significant business in Israel must register with the VAT authorities as authorized dealers, and their transactions are liable to VAT. Under certain conditions,… – 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
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
New EU plans to force governments to send quarterly reports on tax rulings are a “revolutionary” step towards overcoming corporate secrecy, the bloc’s tax commissioner has said. The blueprint published two weeks ago by the Commission would establish a system of automatic exchange of information on tax rulings and require… – Continue reading
Rory McIlroy, the world’s number one golfer has set up home in Dubai, according to a report in the Sunday Times. The Northern Irishman, who has a long association with Dubai throughout his professional career, has filed documents in Ireland that state his primary residence is now in Dubai. During… – 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
Luxembourg’s Direct Tax Administration has published a circular on February 12 clarifying issues relating to residency certificates for Luxembourg funds. These are applicable to both UCITS and non-UCITS funds regulated by Luxembourg’s investment fund legislation of December 17, 2010, which transposed the UCITS IV Directive, as well as Specialised Investment… – Continue reading
A former senior tax official has announced there should have been more criminal prosecutions for tax avoidance in the wake of the HSBC tax avoidance scandal. Giving evidence to the MPs in the Public Accounts Committee, Dave Hartnett, formerly head of tax at HM Inland Revenue & Customs (HMRC), said… – Continue reading
Irish economy set to receive financial boost by world number one golfer’s decision to pay tax on earnings. World number one Rory McIlroy is moving his vast business interests to Ireland’s capital city Dublin, according to a report in the Irish Independent. The newspaper says that McIlroy’s decision will boost… – Continue reading
The recent release of Ireland’s major strategy paper, ‘IFS2020 – A strategy for Ireland’s financial services sector 2015-2020’ addresses Ireland’s five year strategy in further developing the country as a global leader in the financial services sector. Over the past 25 years, Ireland’s international financial services sector has grown dramatically,… – Continue reading
