Ireland found itself surrounded by supporters, for the first time, on the issue of corporate tax rates, during an informal meeting of EU finance ministers, reports the Irish Examiner. Finance Minister Michael Noonan was not present, as he returned to Dublin early, but the head of the Central Bank, Patrick… – Continue reading
TOKYO — Two of the world’s largest manufacturers of the machinery used to produce semiconductors, Applied Materials of the United States and Tokyo Electron of Japan, on Monday dropped plans to merge after the Department of Justice said that combining their businesses would restrict competition. The proposed $10 billion deal… – 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
FPIs are battling it out with the income-tax department, which has issued notices demanding that they pay MAT to the tune of Rs40,000 crore New Delhi/Mumbai: Despite the government affirming that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) can use tax treaties to fight tax demands on past capital gains, a majority of… – Continue reading
Mylan NV Executive Chairman Robert Coury made $22.7 million, including $1 million for his personal use of the drugmaker’s two corporate jets, in 2012 and 2013. At Israeli rival Teva, shareholders in 2012 balked at raising the chairman’s salary to $900,000 a year. The contrast highlights the sharp differences that… – Continue reading
The Netherlands is hoping to stop multinationals using agreements with the Dutch tax office to avoid paying tax in developing countries by signing 23 new treaties with African states, the Volkskrant says on Monday, reports Dutch News. The treaties will allow African countries to make claims against companies which try… – Continue reading
The OECD Mutual Agreement Procedure Statistics for 20131 (MAP Statistics), released on November 25, 2014, show a dramatic surge in the inventory of mutual agreement procedure (MAP) cases among OECD member countries. The MAP Statistics confirm that the potential for double taxation is increasing. This is reflected most starkly in… – 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
The European Court of Justice recently ruled that the Netherlands may restrict the 30% fixed tax-free allowance for expatriate costs to employees living more than 150 kilometres from the Dutch border. The 150-kilometre restriction does not restrict the free movement of employees within the European Union. Consequently, an employer and… – Continue reading
EUROPEAN M&A DOS AND DON’TS FOR NON-EUROPEAN BUYERS Inbound M&A in Europe by non-European buyers increased in 2014 by 68.6% compared to 2013, representing over a third of USD 901.4 billion total European M&A.1 For non-European buyers the basic framework of transactions may be similar, but there are a number… – Continue reading
Bangladesh authorities are working with counterparts abroad to recover proceeds of corruption (‘stolen assets’), in terms of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman has said. The central bank chief disclosed this while speaking at an event title Addressing the Linkage Illicit Flows and… – Continue reading
Even as the government is losing no opportunity to emphasise its commitment to a transparent and predictable tax regime, it’s epic seven year tussle with Vodafone is not showing any signs of losing steam. The income tax department is back in pursuit of the British telecom giant and has issued… – Continue reading
THE NUMBER of Slovak companies residing in tax havens dropped in the first three months of this year to 4,248, which is by 114 less than in the end of last year. Most companies left Monaco and Jersey. The trend is the opposite rose by 23 to 13,270, the TASR… – 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
Celebrities share the same reluctance to pay taxes as the rest of us. Wednesday is April 15. On this special day, we perform our patriotic duty and give the IRS whatever earnings they have coming to them that they didn’t already take directly out of our paychecks. Chances are, you’d… – 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
SINGAPORE, April 12 (Reuters) – The Singapore trading hubs of the world’s largest commodity companies are coming under scrutiny from the governments of some resource-producing countries who say they suspect they are using units in the Southeast Asian financial centre to avoid tax. Some of the world’s largest oil, mining… – 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
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
The Ukrainian government will review the system of taxation of gas production companies irrespective of their form of ownership. This is stipulated in the draft guidelines of Ukraine’s budget policy, or the budget resolution, for 2016, which was tabled by the Cabinet of Ministers in parliament. Among the other priorities… – Continue reading
The Netherlands’ State Secretary for Security and Justice, Klaas Dijkhoff, has given his public backing for online gaming regulation in the country, raising hopes among many gaming operators and players that the proposed bill could soon become law. According to EGR Magazine, Dijkhoff, who replaced the former Secretary Fred Teeven… – 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
• Starbucks ran its European business – including UK – through Holland • But Dutch division paid just £1.9million tax on profits of £300million • Now details of UK company at heart of new probe have started to emerge • A Starbucks spokesman said it complies ‘with all relevant tax… – Continue reading
On April 1, Italy’s Minister of the Economy and Finance, Pier Carlo Padoan, signed two decrees that modify Italy’s “black lists,” and announced on the same day that Italy and the Vatican had signed their previously agreed tax information exchange agreement (TIEA). The two decrees follow the guidelines laid down… – Continue reading
More and more Americans are opening offshore bank accounts. This article provides statistical details about why this is so, that offshore banking can be safe and legal and which banking jurisdictions are safest. Apr. 3, 2015 / PRZen / VALENCIA, Calif. — Offshore banking is growing in leaps and bounds… – 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
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
The US and Canada are fuelling a record influx of foreign investment in the Netherlands; our local expert looks at why Despite a fair bit of doom and gloom over global economy figures, foreign companies continue to grow – and they continue to look at the Netherlands to help fuel… – 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
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
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
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
Ghana and the Netherlands have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Automatic Exchange of Information to help in efforts to fight tax evasion. The agreement would allow the tax authorities of the two countries to automatically provide each other with information about income from immovable property earned by… – Continue reading
HM Revenue & Customs contacted foreign governments on 490 separate occasions in one year as it sought information on suspected tax evasion, a drop of 150 information requests compared to the previous year. During the 2012-13 tax year, the Revenue made nearly 500 information requests to tax authorities to find… – Continue reading
Ranking Irish officials expressed concern the “double-Irish” corporate tax mechanism was undermining the State’s “international tax credibility” before the Government moved to scrap the loophole in this year’s budget. Newly released records of the influential Tax Strategy Group show officials also took note US president Barack Obama had criticised other… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — Luxembourg’s status as a fortress of wealth in the heart of Europe is in peril. The country transformed itself from a rural economy into the European Union’s richest in less than a century by swapping fields and steel mills for hedge funds and multinationals. That model may now… – Continue reading
European states including Ireland and Luxembourg will be compelled to share information on private tax deals they have granted to multinational businesses under proposals from Brussels to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance. The European Commission was due today to publish reforms aimed at bringing into line rogue member states… – Continue reading
(Bloomberg) — Switzerland has frozen $400 million of assets in more than 30 banks as the country’s attorney general probes money laundering related to Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s widening corruption scandal. Nine investigations have been opened since last April based on allegations of corruption involving eight Brazilian citizens, the Bern-based Federal… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – The European Commission will lay out plans on Wednesday designed to limit tax avoidance in the wake of recent revelations that major corporations were paying minimal state contributions across the European Union. EU members will be required to share information on cross-border tax rulings, according to a draft… – Continue reading
Under a plan baked into the White House’s budget for 2016, U.S. corporations would theoretically be forced to pay hundreds of billions in new taxes on money kept abroad. Levying fees on the $2.1 trillion in funds largely held by shell companies through an accounting trick called deferral, the move,… – Continue reading
Two business federations from the Netherlands and Germany have urged the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to ensure that there is a level playing field under new international rules proposed for preferential regimes for intellectual property (IP) income, reports Tax News. The two organizations’ statement concerns the development of… – Continue reading
The call for tax transparency is being echoed around the globe, with ‘midshore’ centres like Bahrain and the UAE emerging as reputable, regulated and tax efficient jurisdictions A 2012 book entitled Offshore Apocalypse – The Collapse of the Tax Haven Industry, written by a team of tax-law academics, auditors, compliance… – Continue reading
ARLINGTON, Virginia, March 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Bloomberg BNA today announced an addition to its lineup of keynote speakers for the Global Transfer Pricing Conference: Paris, held in conjunction with Baker & McKenzie, on March 30-31 immediately after the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Forum on Transfer… – Continue reading
The ECB needs to make sure it isn’t hiding any risky practices that could destabilise the system, reports Irish Times. Fresh from putting the squeeze on banks to behave themselves, regulators are scrutinising so-called shadow banks, alternative lenders such as investment funds doing big business out of countries like Ireland…. – Continue reading
Sparks are flying after Netflix said it would not charge GST on the Australian version of its online television service which launches next Tuesday. United States-based Netflix, Quickflix, Foxtel Play, Presto and Stan, partly owned by Fairfax Media, are locked in a bidding battle to secure the best programs for… – Continue reading
NEW PACTS WITH AMSTERDAM AND TOKYO BOOST TRANSFER PRICING IN HONG KONG When combined with aggressive tax planning, Hong Kong’s onshore-offshore tax regime often results in a reduced tax burden for taxpayers that operate through Hong Kong companies by pricing intra-group transactions. The Advance Pricing Arrangement agreement with the Netherlands… – Continue reading
Associated Oregon Industries Oregon’s largest business advocate The issue of “tax havens” garnered early interest from the House and Senate Revenue Committees as the Oregon Department of Revenue issued a new report outlining which additional countries should be considered “tax havens” for purposes of Oregon tax law. AOI testified in… – Continue reading
