Analysis of more than 600 US multinational corporations has revealed that 12 per cent failed to comply with UK law requiring them to publish their tax strategies. With the UK estimated to lose £25 billion in corporate tax revenue each year due to multinational corporations shifting profits out of the… – Continue reading
Apple has settled a ten-year tax battle with France, agreeing to pay a reported half a billion Euros ($570M) in back tax. The French government had accused Apple of evading or avoiding tax due on sales made in France. The line between tax evasion, which is illegal, and aggressive tax-avoidance,… – Continue reading
Supreme Court verdict a slap in the face for SKAT A case that has been going on for almost ten years has now come to an end, and the outcome has not been favourable to Danish taxpayers. The SKAT tax authority took Microsoft to court because it felt the company… – Continue reading
Tax advisory revenue at professional services firms expanded 8.6 percent to $20.3 billion in 2017, and grew by around $5 billion in just the three years from 2014 to 2017, according to a new report. The report, from Source Global Research, found that the main tax advisory services around the… – Continue reading
Ukraine and Switzerland have signed a protocol on the introduction of amendments to the convention on the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and capital, and its protocol, concluded in Kyiv on October 30, 2000. Ukrainian Finance Minister Oksana Markarova and newly appointed Swiss President Ueli… – Continue reading
The Angolan parliament unanimously approved proposals for the resolution of agreements for the elimination of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion on income tax with Portugal, China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to official information. The Secretary of State for Cooperation, Domingos Vieira Lopes, said that the… – Continue reading
DAVOS, Switzerland: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday that France would plead for global minimum corporate tax as a priority of its presidencyof the G7 nations group this year. “We need an effective minium corporate tax in all developed countries,” the minister said at a press conference… – Continue reading
Prior to the commencement of the World Economic Forum at Davos on Wednesday, Prime Minister Gaston Browne held a bilateral meeting with the Finance Minister of Malta, Edward Scicluna. According to a release from Antigua and Barbuda’s Director General of Communications, Maurice Merchant, the main items on the agenda for… – Continue reading
During 2017 the Italian Government introduced a new tax regime: The Resident Non-Domiciled Tax Regime(also known as the “Flat Tax Regime”), with the aim of attracting high net worth individuals who want to relocate to Italy. The new legislation introduced a key change to the general principle of worldwide taxation… – Continue reading
Background Portugal is being re-discovered as a destination to relocate to, with iconic cities such as Lisbon and Porto, and stunning coastal areas, for example, the Algarve. It also offers very easy access to the rest of Europe. Portugal is increasingly recognised as an international hub with 71 Double Taxation… – Continue reading
The Portuguese Parliament voted in favour of a proposed government resolution approving the agreement to eliminate double taxation with Angola, the Portuguese press reported on Friday. The parliament unanimously approved an agreement between Portugal and Angola on mutual administrative assistance and co-operation in fiscal matters signed in Luanda on 18… – Continue reading
Luxembourg and Spain passports placed 5th in a global study of visa-free travel. The annual “Henley Passport Index”, published on 8 January 2019, is a “ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.” The index is published by… – Continue reading
VIENNA (Sputnik) – The Austrian government will introduce a 3-percent tax on international tech giants with an annual turnover exceeding 750 million euros ($864 million), Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Thursday. “Europe currently does not have taxation of digital Internet giants and Austria intends to become a pioneer in… – Continue reading
Mumbai: For many rich Indians, 2019 has begun on an awkward note. Jersey, one of their favourite tax havens, is questioning the lack of ‘substance’ in the nameplate firms set up to either hold undisclosed money, or invest in other countries. In the last few days, service providers in Jersey… – Continue reading
The Irish taxman has managed to uncover and collect €572.6m in unpaid tax last year, an average of €1,000 per case according to the latest official figures. The data for 2018 shows Revenue officials “intervened” a total of 572,785 times during the year, with around 99% of taxpayers willingly handing… – Continue reading
In recent weeks, major anti-money-laundering enforcement actions have highlighted the critical role of whistleblowers in government efforts to curb illegal movement of funds. The German raids of Deutsche Bank, U.S. indictments of three employees and a client of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, and an earlier Danske Bank money-laundering investigation… – Continue reading
Treaty for the avoidance of double taxation between Iran and Slovakia has become operational from January 1, 2019, Trend reports citing Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website. The agreement was signed between the two sides in January 2016. After the completion of all legal processes in both countries, the treaty will become… – Continue reading
THE DUTCH government has added the Turks and Caicos Islands and 15 other countries to a tax haven blacklist. The jurisdictions listed have no corporation tax or a corporation tax rate of less than nine percent, a press release from the Government of the Netherlands stated. The 16 countries added… – Continue reading
A Barbados delegation is to hold talks next week with officials from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). A government statement said that the team from the Ministry of International Business will be attending the Forum on Harmful Tax Practice (FHTP) from January 9 to 11. It… – Continue reading
Cayman’s leaders return fire on the Dutch government describing its blacklist as “unjustified” and “wholly lacking in fairness and credibility.” In a statement Friday (4 January) the Office of the Premier said the Dutch blacklist does not take into account Cayman’s adherence to international standards for tax transparency nor its… – Continue reading
The wealthy are showing a keen interest to invest offshore, as the HNWIs seek to achieve benefits from global diversification and gain tax efficiencies. The proportion of HNWIs who invest offshore has risen from 11.2% in 2014 to 16.9% by December 2018, , according to GlobalData’s HNW Offshore Investment survey…. – Continue reading
The Dutch finance ministry is expanding its official list of places it considers to be involved in tax evasion by a further 16 low tax jurisdictions, including the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, the Isle of Man, and Belize. The list contains five jurisdictions currently blacklisted by the EU: American… – Continue reading
Continuing its ongoing commitment to the development and maintenance of the very highest standards of economic and financial propriety, the Bermuda Government has tabled legislation that embraces a global initiative to combat base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The legislation, which was tabled in the House of Assembly on 7… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Switzerland does not acknowledge the special efforts that the PTI government claims to have made to get the Double Taxation Agreement between Pakistan and Switzerland ratified from the latter. The PTI government, however, insists that in its first cabinet meeting, the authorities concerned were directed to pursue the matter… – Continue reading
The Virgin Islands ranked as the second-most-important financial jurisdiction in the world in a recent study published by Vistra, a corporate services provider. The research — titled the “Vistra 2020 Report” — evaluated insight from more than 800 financial services industry professionals around the globe, according to the company. Published… – Continue reading
A top Central Bank official has accused the OECD of trying to “hobble” the competitiveness of The Bahamas’ economic permanent residency regime by including it in an arbitrary “quasi-blacklist”. Charles Littrell, the regulator’s inspector of banks and trust companies, in a speech to a Turks & Caicos financial services conference,… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man’s parliament has approved tax legislation that will allow the jurisdiction to avoid being put on the European Union’s blacklist. Tynwald gave the green light this week to the Income Tax (Substance Requirements) Order 2018. This means that from January 2019, companies engaging in “relevant activities” will… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands government has published draft tax legislation that will have far-reaching impact for the offshore finance industry operating in the jurisdiction by demanding that certain Cayman-registered companies have an adequate level of economic substance locally. The International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) Bill 2018 introduces a substance test for… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is dragging its feet over actions against Pakistanis who couldn’t declare offshore investments to evade taxes despite that the tax authority has stumbled upon critical financial data under an international treaty, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Insiders said the apex… – Continue reading
Russia most common place of origin for fraudsters using British overseas territories A NEW report has identified over £250 billion in fraudulent funds directed through UK tax havens, more than over 20 years of the UK Government’s foreign aid budget. The report, by Transparency International, examined the UK’s overseas territories,… – Continue reading
I. The background of the tax reform In connection with the international pressure on the Swiss corporate tax location, especially in relation to the Cantonal exemption of income for holding companies as well as the status privileged companies (“status privilege”) and the need of Switzerland to recover global recognition as… – Continue reading
European Union finance ministers worked out a plan for combating money laundering and also made a deal on major bank reform on Tuesday (Dec. 4), according to reports from Reuters. The money laundering plan is a response to highly visible cases of alleged criminal activity at EU banks in countries… – Continue reading
When European finance ministers meet on Tuesday (4 December), they should swiftly adopt the digital service tax: a levy on turnover for very large digital firms such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Booking and Spotify, write Udo Bullmann and Paul Tang. Udo Bullmann is president of the Socialist and Democrats… – Continue reading
After global index puts Israel in top third of most financially secretive countries, NGO calls for more public scrutiny and regulations to stop rich from hiding their assets Israel must immediately move to pass regulations against tax evasion and money laundering if it is to protect its credit rating and… – Continue reading
General UK Tax Developments Finance Bill The Finance (No 3) Bill 2018-19 (which will become the Finance Act 2019) was published on 7 November and includes legislation to enact the changes highlighted in our UK Budget blog post ( UK Budget Blog). Another key area covered by the Finance Bill… – Continue reading
Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany block digital services tax plan in Brussels. The spectre of a 3pc digital services tax (DST) levied by the EU against multinationals has been vanquished for now after Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany joined forces in what is being heralded as a coup for diplomacy…. – Continue reading
Ireland and Malta have agreed to close the “Single Malt” – an aggressive tax planning structure in which some multinational corporations use a company incorporated in Ireland but tax-resident in Malta. The Competent Authority Agreement – entered into as per the provisions of Article 24 (mutual agreement procedure) of the… – Continue reading
There is confusion among taxpayers regarding taxability of foreign rental income in Pakistan and filing of income tax returns in view of avoidance of double taxation treaties signed between Pakistan and UAE, UK and Canada. A leading tax consultant Shahid Jami has approached the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for… – Continue reading
Britain’s parliamentary upper house has requested the current investigation limit set out in the Draft Finance Bill 2018 be scrapped. The House of Lords’ request to HMRC would, if passed, remove the 12-year offshore investigation limit from the Draft Finance Bill 2018 – a proposal that has seen an outcry… – Continue reading
The German government is reportedly considering using blockchain in combating tax evasion This comes following the reveal of the CumEx files, which cost the government $63 Billion in lost tax revenue A while ago, it was reported that Bangkok would be making use of blockchain technology to combat tax evasion…. – Continue reading
Background The Brazilian and Swiss Governments signed a Double Tax Treaty (DTT) on 3 May 2018. Switzerland is one of the biggest investors in the Brazilian market and Brazil and Switzerland have already signed an Automatic Exchange of Information Agreement, which came into force on 1 January 2018. This new… – Continue reading
The Cyprus Tax Department has announced that the procedures for ratification of the protocol dated 23 October 2017 amending the Convention on the Avoidance of Double Taxation between Cyprus and Mauritius have been completed, and the protocol entered into force on 2 May 2018. The protocol replaces text of article… – Continue reading
The Spanish Ministry of Finance is to inspect some 15,000 individuals who have engaged in cryptocurrency transactions over the last year, Spanish-language news outlet El Pais reported. The announcement follows on from the introduction of compulsory reporting of cryptocurrency transactions for Spanish taxpayers, and will investigate whether there is any… – Continue reading
During a courtesy call on November 12 in Tokyo, Japan the Government of The Bahamas and the Government of Japan exchanged diplomatic notes relating to the Protocol to amend the Tax Information Exchange Agreement between the Government of The Bahamas and the Government of Japan for the Exchange of Information… – Continue reading
Trusts still remain under public scrutiny, but can their reputation be safeguarded, asks Stuart Price A recent government consultation on the law of trusts brought out some interesting issues concerning how the status quo aligns with the principles of transparency, fairness and simplicity (the principles that, at least in the… – Continue reading
Luanda, ANGOLA, November 18 – Angolan head of state Joao Lourenco has pledged to raise bilateral cooperation with Portugal during his visit to European country scheduled for 22- 24 November this year. Joao Lourenco made the pledge during an interview with the Portuguese newspaper “Expresso”, on the eve of his… – Continue reading
Many U.S. multinational corporations have packed up or are choosing to open subsidiaries in low-tax, rather than no-tax, countries that are seen as more legitimate than the formerly popular island destinations of the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas. They’re fleeing in response to regulations from the European Union that require… – Continue reading
Changes to Britain’s centuries-old trust regime are looming as HMRC is concerned that trusts are letting some families pay less inheritance tax than those who do not pay accountants to set up the complex arrangements. To look at if the law should be changed, HMRC has published wide-ranging research of… – Continue reading
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, K. Peter Turnquest, led a delegation to Brussels and Paris this week, for frank discussions with high-ranking officials within the European Commission and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on The Bahamas’ compliance with international standards on tax governance. The meetings… – Continue reading
Arriving at the meeting Tuesday in Brussels, the Danish minister of Finance, Kristian Jensen, said of his side: “Everything is possible in politics but I think that it is very hard to reach an agreement on the taxation of the digital economy”. Under the proposal, a 3pc levy would be… – Continue reading
