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
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
(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
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
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
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 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: 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
(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
Luxembourg has been widely hailed as an international investment center for years. The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) provides a number of reasons underlying the country’s designation as a top fund-industry choice. Its legal and regulatory framework for investment funds is recognized for its excellence by the global… – Continue reading
Feb 26 (Reuters) – A former UBS AG banker pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to defraud the United States by helping wealthy Americans evade taxes. Martin Lack, a 51-year-old Swiss resident, pleaded guilty in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to a single conspiracy count in a 2011 indictment… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON: The U.S. has expanded its action against tax cheaters to countries such as India, Israel and Liechtenstein, a top U.S. official told lawmakers. So far, the U.S. action was primarily focused against tax cheaters on Switzerland. Since 2009, the Department has publicly charged 73 account holders and 35 professionals… – Continue reading
Authorities aren’t waiting for new reporting laws to go into effect to track down Americans who they say owe money The US needs money — and it’s willing to go to the ends of the earth, including Israel, to track down deadbeats who are evading their taxes. Israel was named… – Continue reading
Kevin Thorn of the Thorn Law Group comments on the recent guilty plea by a United States Taxpayer with undisclosed overseas bank accounts as one in a long line of ongoing IRS and DOJ investigations into U.S. citizens with hidden overseas bank accounts. Thorn observes the U.S. government’s expanded… – Continue reading
Switzerland must adopt a position on sharing bank client data with foreign tax authorities more quickly than originally thought and cannot hold back until all other countries have introduced the practice, its finance minister told a Swiss newspaper. So far, 42 countries have declared an interest in automatically sharing information… – Continue reading
UK Government and HMRC Crack Down on Secret Bank Account Tax Evasion. Here, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde (L) chats with Osborne before the G20 round table meeting in Sydney.Reuters Britain’s government and its taxman have announced the net is closing on people who are evading tax… – Continue reading
Feb 24 (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors are widening their probe of how Swiss banks helped wealthy Americans avoid taxes to look at insurers as well, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. Insurers in Switzerland have been preparing for months for U.S. officials to investigate products known as insurance… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Swiss bank UBS is prepared to pay a fine of up to 200 million euros ($274.5 million) in an investigation of alleged tax avoidance by the lender’s German clients, a German newspaper reported on Tuesday. The German authorities originally demanded 300 million euros from UBS, but a compromise… – Continue reading
Credit Suisse Group , Switzerland’s second biggest bank, went to great lengths to assist US customers trying to open Swiss bank accounts and evade taxes, entertaining them at a Swiss-themed ball in New York and golf tournaments in Florida and opening a branch in the Zurich airport to serve Americans… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Billions of dollars in U.S. taxes are going unpaid because Americans are exploiting Swiss bank accounts, and the U.S. government has failed to aggressively pursue Switzerland’s second-largest bank, a Senate investigation has found. The bank, Credit Suisse, has provided accounts in Switzerland for more than 22,000 U.S. clients… – Continue reading
NWC calls for full and complete investigation into wrongdoing and full protection for whistleblowers Washington, D.C. February 25, 2014. The Permanent Subcommittee On Investigations will hold a hearing on “Offshore Tax Evasion” on Wednesday, February 26, 2014, at 9:30AM, in Room G-50 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. More information can be found… – Continue reading
Feb 26 (Reuters) – Swiss EFG International said on Wednesday full-year net profit was virtually unchanged after the bank made a 6.5 million Swiss franc ($7.32 million) provision related to a probe into wealthy Americans evading taxes through hidden offshore accounts. The Zurich-based private bank is one of 106 Swiss… – Continue reading
Zara’s celebrity chic helps make its Spanish parent company, Inditex SA, the world’s biggest fashion retailer. Singer Taylor Swift, reality-television personality Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton, Prince William’s wife, have all been spotted wearing the stylish, low-cost brand. Another reason for Inditex’s industry-best profit margins of almost 15 percent: the… – Continue reading
The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing on a crackdown on offshore tax evasion that has stalled as prosecutors conduct criminal probes of 14 banks, including Credit Suisse Group AG. (C:US) The hearing will focus on “the status of efforts to hold Swiss banks and their U.S. clients… – Continue reading
The G20 finance ministers have once again agreed to cooperate to counter aggressive cross-border tax avoidance by multinationals. Many US firms are using tax avoidance schemes for their non-US earnings while they shamelessly claim they are paying appropriate taxes in the source countries in which they operate. The OECD responded to earlier… – Continue reading
Congress is on a roll, trying to track down hidden offshore accounts, and the latest news is a report that shows which states have the most taxpayers disclosing such accounts (California is No. 1), and where they are located (Switzerland is tops). All told, taxpayers in at least 45 states… – Continue reading
The United States permanent subcommittee will be holding a hearing as they try to solve issues surrounding offshore tax evasion as prosecutors conduct criminal probes of 14 banks including credit Suisse Group AG. According to a statement by the committee, the focus will be on the status efforts to hold… – Continue reading
Deal comes as federal authorities escalate criminal probe into allegations Credit Suisse and other Swiss banks helped U.S. clients duck taxes on assets in offshore accounts. Credit Suisse is paying $196 million and admitting wrongdoing to settle civil charges it violated federal securities laws by providing financial advisory services to… – Continue reading
It’s a u-turn, but unavoidable: bankers and politicians are preparing for the automatic exchange of tax information. Switzerland has helped develop the new standard, which the OECD wants to fast-track worldwide. The days when Swiss finance ministers said banking secrecy was non-negotiable and carved in stone are over. Switzerland has… – Continue reading
The Committee for Economic Affairs and Taxation (CEAT) of the Swiss Council of States has unanimously agreed to return to the Federal Council for renegotiation the bilateral agreement concluded with France, aimed at preventing double taxation with respect to inheritance tax (IHT). The CEAT committee has specifically tasked the Government… – Continue reading
Tensions are rising in canton Valais, Switzerland, pitting the local authorities against citizens over the benefits of urban development versus cultural preservation. The reason? A plan to end lump-sum taxation for wealthy foreigners that will come to a nationwide vote next year. The historic village of Lens, located on the… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Continuing its crackdown on black moneymenace, India has entered into an agreement with Switzerland for liberal interpretation of identity requirements for gathering information about illicit funds stashed away by its citizens in Swiss banks. “Government has also signed a mutual agreement with government of Swiss Confederation for liberal interpretation of the… – Continue reading
Switzerland must adopt a position on sharing bank client data with foreign tax authorities more quickly than originally thought and cannot hold back until all other countries have introduced the practice, its finance minister told a Swiss newspaper. So far, 42 countries have declared an interest in automatically sharing information… – Continue reading
Singapore’s wealth management industry grew 22 percent in 2012 to 1.63 trillion Singaporean dollars ($1.29 trillion US), and its share of global offshore wealth is expected to outstrip Switzerland by 2020, according to data from WealthInsight, an industry research group. Learning from the recent scandal when Swiss banks, including UBS… – Continue reading
Swiss banks are set to be in Capitol Hill’s crosshairs next week over tax evasion. Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, is planning to lead the latest tax-evasion hearing in the permanent subcommittee on investigations, which he heads. The focus this time is the status of efforts to hold Swiss… – Continue reading
NICOSIA, Cyprus — When the Cypriot government forced bank depositors — many of them Russian — to pay their share of an international bailout last spring, Vasilis Zertalis’s phone started ringing. The companies his consultancy helps incorporate on this breezy Mediterranean island — many of them Russian, too — wanted… – Continue reading
New Delhi: Cracking down on alleged wealth stashed by Indians abroad, the government has initiated enquiries in several cases while information has been received in 67 such cases and prosecution for wilful tax evasion has been launched in 17 other cases. Giving an update on alleged tax evasion through offshore… – Continue reading
Thousands of Swiss bank account holders and others have already come forward to settle unpaid UK tax bills and avoid costly tax penalties – but the LDF window won’t be open for ever. The Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) was launched in 2009 and continues to be available until 5 April 2016. It… – Continue reading
Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger had hinted that Austria might be happy to exchange data on bank account holders with EU countries even is similar agreements have not been finalised with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Austria and Luxembourg had come under criticism in December after they previously said they will block EU… – Continue reading
Feb 11 (Reuters) – Austria signalled on Tuesday flexibility on exchanging cross-border bank account data with fellow European Union members even absent a final EU accord with Switzerland. “As far as banking secrecy for foreigners goes, it is important for us that there are similar accords with neighbours like Switzerland… – Continue reading
Swiss bank UBS is at the centre of embarrassing revelations that it helped to set up a secretive offshore firm for the wife and daughter of a former senior Chinese official who has since been convicted of corruption. Zhang Shuguang, a former deputy chief engineer of the disbanded railways ministry,… – Continue reading
The U.S. and Britain have got themselves in another fine mess over populist measures against tax havens that don’t work and smack of hypocrisy Obama has set off once more on his crusade against foreign tax havens. His tactic is to extend the jurisdiction of the IRS to cover the… – Continue reading
Yahoo! Inc is shifting its main European tax base to Ireland from Switzerland, a Reuters examination of company statements and accounts shows, as pressure mounts on the Alpine nation to abolish some corporate tax incentives. The internet search group said the shift reflected a streamlining of its European operations and… – Continue reading
Greece’s chronic difficulties with tax evasion was a topic of discussion today when Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras met his Swiss counterpart Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf in Athens. “We reiterated that we want the British model” for Greece, Stournaras said after the meeting, referring to a 2011 withholding tax agreement between Switzerland and… – Continue reading
U.S. prosecutors on Thursday announced they indicted Peter Amrein, a Swiss asset manager, on charges that he assisted U.S. taxpayers in evading millions in taxes by hiding money in offshore trusts at multiple Swiss banks. Prosecutors accuse Amrein, who worked at an unidentified asset management firm, of working with Edgar Paltzer,… – Continue reading
It is becoming increasingly dangerous to maintain secret offshore accounts. The Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service have been engaged in an aggressive program to identify unreported offshore accounts. Kathy Keneally, Assistant Attorney General for Tax recently told tax lawyers at a Phoenix conference that the U.S. government… – Continue reading
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has received 106 requests from Swiss credit institutions willing to participate in its tax regularization program, which aims to put an end to attempts by US taxpayers to conceal their wealth in Switzerland. The figure corresponds to one-third of all banks in the Confederation…. – Continue reading
About a third of Swiss banks have applied for amnesty from the U.S. for helping Americans cheat the Internal Revenue Service, the top U.S. federal tax prosecutor said. The U.S. government gave more than 300 Swiss banks until Dec. 31 to seek non-prosecution agreements if they had “reason to believe”… – Continue reading
