New Delhi: With India stepping up its pursuit of alleged black money in Swiss banks, Switzerland says it is exchanging information with Indian authorities on all lawful requests, but cannot help on enquiries based on stolen banking data. The European country, which has often been accused of being the most… – Continue reading
BERLIN: German football legend Uli Hoeness (pix), boss of champion club Bayern Munich, will face a high-profile tax evasion trial from Monday, accused of having stashed away millions in Switzerland. The folksy 62-year-old Bavarian club president, who also runs a flourishing sausage company, was arrested and bailed almost a year ago… – Continue reading
London: Schroders is the latest UK group to set aside millions of pounds for potential fines arising from a US investigation into companies that helped American clients evade taxes. Schroders, the UK’s second-biggest listed fund house, has reserved £15 million (Dh92 million) for a possible penalty in connection with the… – Continue reading
Proposals to tighten the screws on users of tax avoidance schemes in next week’s Budget have sparked protests from wealthy investors and their advisers who say the measures would be retrospective and “completely contrary to natural justice”. Thousands of financiers, celebrities, entrepreneurs, and other wealthy users of tax avoidance schemes will potentially… – Continue reading
Think your taxes are confusing? Ha! Try living and working abroad as a U.S. citizen. As the following guest column details, even something as seemingly ordinary as participating in a pension plan can create huge tax complications. (For less esoteric advice on preparing your 1040 for 2013 and minimizing your… – Continue reading
Bankers at Credit Suisse helped their affluent American clients hide billions in assets from the IRS, according to a Senate investigative report released Tuesday. The Swiss banking giant is currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly aiding tax evasion by its rich clients, is even accused of… – Continue reading
Bankers at Credit Suisse helped their affluent American clients hide billions in assets from the IRS, according to a Senate investigative report released Tuesday. The Swiss banking giant is currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly aiding tax evasion by its rich clients, is even accused of… – Continue reading
Cayman is continuing preparations for the implementation of the US Foreign Accounts Compliance Act (FATCA). So far the island has signed two inter-governmental agreements (IGAs), and legislation is currently being drafted to meet the requirements of the new law. Chief Compliance Officer at DMS Offshore Investment Services Don Ebanks says… – Continue reading
Section 3 and 4 of the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 commenced on Monday 10th March 2014. This Act removes the requirement for accounts documents filed with the CRO to include handwritten signatures of Directors, Auditors etc and instead requires that the signatures appear in TYPED form on each document. Where accounts… – Continue reading
The Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 was signed by the President on 24th December 2013. This action had the effect of changing the citation of the Companies Acts to “1963 to 2013”. This citation should henceforth appear on all copies of Memoranda and Articles of association filed with the CRO…. – Continue reading
Users of Secretarial Software Packages will be familiar with the use of PINs and IDs as the current electronic signing solution for CRO forms. In March 2013, the CRO advised suppliers of the Company Secretarial Software Packages that it will be phasing out the use of PINs and IDs as… – Continue reading
Luxembourg’s plan to issue an Islamic bond faced its first test this week as a proposal to securitise assets to back the transaction was scrutinised by the Council of State, a body which advises the national legislature. AAA-rated Luxembourg could pip Britain’s ambitions to become the first Western country to… – Continue reading
Small business owners can feel a little bit like ping-pong balls when elected officials start talking about taxes. I’m a board member of the Maine Small Business Coalition, to which 3,600 Maine small business owners belong. I’m also a registered nurse and owner of a home child care center where… – Continue reading
Malta’s two largest banks rejected the European Commission’s suggestion that high interest rates on loans in the country may indicate collusion. In a report issued earlier this month, the European Union’s executive arm said “the interest margin on loans in the core banks appears to be converging,” and this “could… – Continue reading
Much brouhaha has been created by the recent reports about the Vodafone Tax case with respect to whether or not a capital gains tax is due from them on the purchase of assets in India. New lexicon has been created for the uninitiated – “tax avoidance” versus “tax evasion”; “look… – Continue reading
Jersey Finance has welcomed the signing of the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with Belgium which took place in London on Thursday (March 13, 2014). The new agreement brings the total number of tax agreements Jersey has now signed with EU Member States to 20, which includes both TIEAs and… – Continue reading
Senior German lawmakers on Sunday called for tougher rules to make it harder for tax cheats to claim amnesty by turning themselves in, days after soccer manager Uli Hoeness was sentenced for 3-1/2 years in prison for tax evasion. Recent news that Hoeness and other prominent Germans such as feminist… – Continue reading
Russia’s Finance Ministry has received suggestions from several offshore zones on organization of negotiations on exchange of tax information, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov told a Week of Russian Business on Monday. “Lately, the finance ministry has received suggestions from the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda Islands, the Isle of… – Continue reading
The Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 was signed by the President on 24th December 2013. This action had the effect of changing the citation of the Companies Acts to “1963 to 2013”. This citation should henceforth appear on all copies of Memoranda and Articles of association filed with the CRO…. – Continue reading
A tightening noose around the necks of tax avoiders in some parts of the world saw Guernsey’s financial regulator approve 103 new investment funds in the crown dependency during 2013. There is no capital gains tax or inheritance tax in Guernsey. The corporation tax on financial firms is just 10%,… – Continue reading
A tightening noose around the necks of tax avoiders in some parts of the world saw Guernsey’s financial regulator approve 103 new investment funds in the crown dependency during 2013. There is no capital gains tax or inheritance tax in Guernsey. The corporation tax on financial firms is just 10%,… – Continue reading
Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) — Credit Suisse Group AG moved to blame a small number of employees after a U.S. Senate report said the Swiss lender helped clients hide as much as $10 billion of assets from tax authorities. “Some Swiss-based private bankers went to great lengths to disguise their bad… – Continue reading
NASSAU, The Bahamas – The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the Czech Republic entered into an Agreement on the Exchange of Information on Tax Matters during a signing ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, March 6, 2014. Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis signed for The… – Continue reading
Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, once one of Germany’s most admired managers, goes on trial on Monday charged with tax evasion in a case that has shocked the nation and changed attitudes towards paying taxes. Hoeness, 62, who helped turn Bayern Munich into one of the world’s most respected clubs and won… – Continue reading
The Australian press is incandescent with rage after it discovered that the fruit themed cargo cult Apple has worked out a way of avoiding giving billions to its taxman. Apple is already in hot water for overcharging Australians for its shiny toys and now it seems that it is refusing to pay tax…. – Continue reading
Government forecasts for the amount it can recoup through closing tax loopholes are vulnerable to “great uncertainty”, MPs have said. The Treasury Select Committee suggests these projections should be limited when drawing up budgets. Reporting on last year’s Autumn Statement, the committee said projections for some previous schemes had been… – Continue reading
Albania Government approved a new law aiming to ban money transfers between related companies in order to collect more corporate profit tax, and to fight tax avoidance from big corporations. The law, designed by International Financial Corporation, was approved by the government this week. Transfer pricing is used by companies… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Britain’s budget forecasts are in danger of becoming too reliant on hard-to-predict windfalls from the fight against tax avoidance, lawmakers said on Saturday. The government has projected that by tightening its rules to reduce legal tax avoidance the state could net 6.8 billion pounds ($11.37 billion) in new… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Amazon’s tax affairs could come under more scrutiny in Britain, tax experts said, after a judge questioned whether it really was organized in the tax efficient way it said it was. The ruling comes as big technology groups, including Amazon, face increasing scrutiny in Britain over their tax… – Continue reading
This was an appeal to the Court of Appeal from the decision of the Royal Court of Jersey, by which the Royal Court dismissed an appeal brought under Article 14(1)(c) of the Taxation (Exchange of Information with Third Countries) (Jersey) Regulations 2008 (the “Regulations”) and upheld the decision of the… – Continue reading
New Delhi: The Income Tax department has rebutted Vodafone’s notice under BIPA saying that the pact between India and Netherlands does not cover taxation issues. “Tax department has sent its response to Vodafone saying BIPA does not cover tax issues,” an official source said. The response to the Bilateral Investment… – Continue reading
France’s 2014 Finance Act (No 2013-1278) requires that the additional amount of tax assessed by the tax authority upon the launch of a Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) must be paid in advance of an outcome. This measure was introduced by repealing Article L. 189 of the Tax Procedures Code (LPF), with effect… – Continue reading
Switzerland may no longer be a honeymoon spot for tax evaders. A new international standard of tax data sharing is set to make things harder for tax haven networks around the world that have in the past included Switzerland and tiny island nations and enclaves. But India would have to… – Continue reading
PRLog (Press Release) – Mar. 4, 2014 – NICOSIA, Cyprus — As of January 1st 2014, Cyprus entered into five new Double Tax Treaties (DTT’s) with Estonia, Finland, Portugal, Spain and Ukraine expanding its already rich list of DTTs. All the agreements aim to avoid double taxation between the mentioned… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON – The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which I chair, has spent several years examining the ways offshore banks have aided and encouraged U.S. taxpayers in evading their responsibility to pay what they owe. By using secret bank accounts, these taxpayers conceal their income and therefore avoid paying taxes…. – Continue reading
Even rumours of a so-called “mansion tax” were enough to stagnate the prime property market in London, a panel of experts heard today At a property debate hosted by asset manager London Central Portfolio, panellist Paul Emery, real estate director at PwC, said the government couldn’t keep “tinkering with the… – Continue reading
BANGALORE: In response to the letter written by finance minister P. Chidambaram, the Swiss finance minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf has informed that the Swiss authorities can’t share the details of the bank accounts held by Indians in Swiss bank without the consent of the account holders, reports Economic Times. An Indian… – Continue reading
The Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) will, from 1 July 2014, impose an array of new reporting obligations, especially on foreign financial institutions that serve Americans, including the need to report directly to the IRS. Leading many non-resident Americans and EU based financial firms calling for change or looking… – Continue reading
Negotiations between the governments of Cyprus and Latvia on a new double taxation agreement, which began in 2006, appear to be reaching the final stages. The Latvian authorities have now published the text of the final draft agreement, which requires the approval of the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers before signature…. – Continue reading
Charging offshore companies stamp duty for owning mansions in Britain has brought an unexpected tax windfall. The move to close a loophole that allowed celebrities and the wealthy to avoid stamp duty on multi-million homes owned by offshore companies was expected to raise around £20 million a year. Instead the… – Continue reading
The President of Tynwald, the Hon Clare Christian, has welcomed His Excellency Mr Dominik Furgler, Ambassador of Switzerland to the United Kingdom, to Tynwald. His Excellency was joined by his wife, Mrs Hayam Furgler and Ms Rebekka Benesch, First Secretary for Financial and Fiscal Affairs on a two-day visit which… – Continue reading
When a bipartisan Senate panel last week lambasted Swiss bank Credit Suisse for helping rich Americans evade billions in taxes, some watching the high-profile hearing couldn’t help but notice an elephant in the room. That is, Sen. Rand Paul. The connection? Paul for years has single-handedly blocked an obscure U.S.-Swiss… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: As part of its strategy to curb offshore tax evasion and promote foreign investment, India has recently operationalised seven new Income Tax Overseas Units (ITOUs) in countries like Germany, USA and France. A similar Income Tax office in Cyprus has, however, not been activated as India, last year in November, classified the island nation… – Continue reading
Members of limited liability partnerships still face uncertainty – and the prospect of big, unexpected tax bills – under measures aimed at curbing tax avoidance, business tax advisers warned last week. New rules aimed at curbing the abuse of partnership status by ‘disguised employees’ for tax reasons come into force… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: The Swiss authorities have told the Indian government they will not be able to share information on bank accounts without the consent of the account-holders. In a letter last month, Switzerland’s finance minister also told her Indian counterpart that the 2011 Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, under which India… – Continue reading
Liechtenstein, one of the world’s most uber secretive tax havens, has joined Switzerland in freezing the assets of ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich’s administration. An unnamed senior Liechtenstein government source told Reuters that Liechtenstein was freezing the assets of former party officials in the Ukrainian administration after other jurisdictions launched… – Continue reading
Gibraltar lawmakers unanimously approved new legislation that will dramatically expand Gibraltar’s network of agreements for the exchange of tax information. The legislation implements OECD’s Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in Gibraltar ahead of the March 1 deadline. The move is part of the Government of Gibraltar’s policy… – Continue reading
Pension professionals in Gibraltar will soon be able to offer Qualifying Non-UK Pension Schemes (QNUPS) from Gibraltar. The Gibraltar Government has, in consultation with the Gibraltar Association of Pension Fund Administrators (GAPFA), worked to enable the sector to offer Gibraltar QNUPS. Discussions then took place between the Government… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on Wednesday demanded movement in European Union tax talks with Switzerland and other non-EU countries and linked this to whether Vienna will agree to automatically exchange data on cross-border savings. His remarks to reporters after he met Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel appeared to… – Continue reading
Feb 26 (Reuters) – Luxembourg is talking to China about allowing mutual recognition of investment funds based in the two countries, a senior Luxembourg official said on Wednesday. Such an agreement would boost the European financial centre’s bid to be a major hub for the offshore renminbi, or yuan, currency,… – Continue reading
