Three Swiss banks will pay a total of more than $81 million to the U.S. Justice Department to avoid possible prosecution for helping Americans to evade taxes, the department said on Thursday. The three banks, the Swiss unit of BNP Paribas SA (BNPP.PA); KBL (Switzerland) Ltd (LU0092281103.BR); and Bank CIC,… – Continue reading
The clock is ticking for American tax dodgers around the world after BNP Paribas SA’s Swiss unit and two other banks joined a U.S. program to avoid prosecution, revealing the exact methods of Swiss bankers’ legendary discretion. BNP agreed to pay $59.8 million in a program that has brought in… – Continue reading
On November 18, 2015 the Swiss Federal Council adopted a dispatch on the introduction of the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) in tax matters with Australia and submitted the dispatch to the Swiss Parliament for approval. The Federal Decree on the introduction of the AEOI with Australia was the subject… – Continue reading
Markets finished close to unchanged on Tuesday, but these stocks soared. Find out why. After big gains to start the week, the stock market treaded water on Tuesday, with most major benchmarks finishing close to the unchanged level. Yet for Airgas (NYSE:ARG), Nuance Communications (NASDAQ:NUAN), and Syngenta (NYSE:SYT), the day… – Continue reading
Offshore tax havens came under fire after the global financial crisis in 2008. Front and center among the countries calling for transparency was the U.S., which made a stand against Switzerland in particular, by demanding release of the names of ultra-rich account holders. So it might surprise you to learn… – Continue reading
In his seminal 1987 work Crisis and Leviathan, economic historian Robert Higgs traces the pattern of government growth as a response to catastrophic events. The federal government, in particular, grows over time through a “ratcheting up” effect, as politicians respond to disasters and catastrophes with calls to “do something,” often… – Continue reading
On November 10th 2015, the European Council announced that the EU Savings Directive 2003/48/EC (EUSD) has been repealed in order to eliminate the overlap with other legislation developed in the aspect of preventing measures of tax evasion. Brief Background The 2003 EUSD, which originally came into effect on 1 July… – Continue reading
Eight tax treaties and protocols were passed forward for a ratification vote by the full US Senate at a business hearing of the Committee on Foreign Relations on November 10, reports Tax News. The Committee approved the new US double taxation agreements (DTAs) with Chile and Hungary, and protocols to… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s new Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance will enter into force on January 1, 2016, now that it has been signed off on by the Federal Council. The AMLO amends the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and will introduce new due diligence obligations and reporting duties for traders. These requirements will be applicable… – Continue reading
The voluntary disclosure is passing under the banner of the last kilometer. By November 30, the games will be made. One can already say that the operation is a success announced. Order of Chartered Accountants of Milan has estimated that the transaction will derive from the tax authorities at least… – Continue reading
Plans to change Switzerland’s banking secrecy laws have been temporarily shelved. The reforms would have made it easier for the Swiss authorities to get information from domestic banks about suspected tax evaders. The cabinet said on Wednesday that the change of heart was due to the slim chance of success… – Continue reading
Normative Instruction no. 1.474, of June 20, 2014, excluded Switzerland from the list of Jurisdictions with Favoured Tax Treatment (JTF) and included it in certain cases within the concept of privileged tax regime (RFP). The matter is now governed by Law no. 11.727 which, as well as widening the concept… – Continue reading
The Swiss tax office has agreed to a request from the Netherlands to hand over information about Dutch nationals with accounts at the biggest banking group in Switzerland, UBS, reports Dutch News. The request targets Dutch nationals who have had more than €1,500 on their accounts over the past two… – Continue reading
PSDB amendment in Lower House cuts Speaker Cunha out of deal, but Senate still has final say BRASILIA — The Lower House of Brazil’s Congress has approved a controversial amnesty bill for undeclared offshore assets, despite criticism from opposition lawmakers who say it would allow the laundering of illegally gained… – Continue reading
Companies such as Apple, Starbucks, and Amazon are well known for legally using international law to their advantage when it comes to tax. Now a small Welsh town is mimicking their tactics. Independent traders in Crickhowell are moving their businesses “offshore” to avoid paying tax. The local businesses – including… – Continue reading
Canada is expected to join other G20 countries to sign off on an international deal in Turkey aimed at cracking down on “profit shifting” by large multinational companies seeking to reduce their tax bills. The changes, which are also aimed at exposing the corrupt use of tax havens to launder… – Continue reading
Ahead of a G20 meeting in Turkey this weekend that will tackle, among other issues, the GDP lost to global tax havens, the anti-poverty organization Oxfam is warning that it’s not just poor countries that suffer when corporations evade taxes. Julie Delahanty, Oxfam Canada’s executive director, says the only people… – Continue reading
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved, for a second time, the following income tax treaties and Protocols. 12 November 2015 Switzerland: A Protocol to amend the income tax treaty with Switzerland—the Protocol was signed in 2009. Luxembourg: A Protocol to amend the income tax treaty with Luxembourg—the Protocol was… – Continue reading
Corporate corruption is still prevalent in rich Group of 20 nations despite their pledges last year to close loopholes, according to Transparency International. It has listed Brazil, China and the US among the offenders. Transparency International on Thursday labeled this weekend’s G20 summit in Turkey as a mere “photo opportunity,”… – Continue reading
Tax: Luxembourg among countries helping US firms cut their tax bills by more than a quarter, campaigners say. The abuse of holding company structures in the Grand Duchy, and fiscal regimes in several other countries, allows American firms to avoid paying billions of dollars in corporate profit taxes, two NGOs… – Continue reading
BRASILIA, Nov 11 (Reuters) – The lower house of Brazil’s Congress approved amnesty for undeclared offshore assets on Wednesday despite criticism from opposition lawmakers who said it would allow the laundering of illegally gained money. To reduce its budget deficit, President Dilma Rousseff’s government is hoping to raise 11 billion… – Continue reading
In a surprising development, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on November 10 approved without amendment eight pending US tax treaties and protocols. Proposed income tax treaties with Chile, Hungary, and Poland; proposed tax protocols with Japan, Luxembourg, Spain, and Switzerland; and a proposed protocol amending the multilateral mutual… – Continue reading
The Swiss Federal Council has adopted a dispatch on a protocol to the double tax agreement (DTA) with Albania. The protocol was signed on September 9 and the dispatch was adopted on November 11. Its aim is to bring the DTA into line with Switzerland’s current policy on tax agreements…. – Continue reading
Thanks to the FiTAX tax reporting solution, some 2,000 financial institutions successfully met the reporting requirements of tax authorities. FiTAX FATCA covers more than 45 countries. ZURICH, SWITZERLAND—(Marketwired – Nov. 12, 2015) – 2015 marks a turning point in the FATCA timeline: for the first time, Financial Foreign Institutions (FFIs)… – Continue reading
The Department of Justice announced today that Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (Suisse) SA (BIL Switzerland) and Zuger Kantonalbank (ZGKB) have reached resolutions under the department’s Swiss Bank Program. These banks will collectively pay penalties totaling more than $13 million and continue to cooperate with the department. “The agreements reached today… – Continue reading
The canton of Zug is planning to make it a lot easier for wealthy foreigners to settle in the area. It will mean one rule for the rich and one for the poor. (SRF/swissinfo.ch) Foreigners applying for “C” residence permits in a German-speaking canton normally have to prove they can… – Continue reading
While the United States works to get tax dollars from corporations hiding assets elsewhere, they offer the same opportunity in U.S. states to businesses from other countries. To some, “tax haven’’ is a dirty word, describing as it does a place where wealthy people and large corporations can hide assets… – Continue reading
Bern, 11.11.2015 – During its meeting today, the Federal Council adopted the Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance (AMLO). It will enter into force on 1 January 2016. In February 2012, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published the revised international standards concerning the combating of money laundering and terrorist financing (FATF recommendations)…. – Continue reading
Britain has done more to tackle secretive company ownership practices which facilitate corruption than other leading economies, while the United States and China are falling short of their promises, a leading anti-corruption group said. Britain has made good progress on making beneficial ownership information accessible, having legislated for a central… – Continue reading
Clare Maurice, Arabella Murphy and Sophie Mazzier, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP For better or worse, the concept of “fairness” is here to stay in relation to taxation, whether domestic or international. Politicians of all persuasions like to insist that their respective policies will ensure that everyone pays his or her… – Continue reading
Headline: G20 among biggest losers in large-scale tax abuse – but poor countries relatively hardest hit G20 countries are the biggest losers when US multinationals avoid paying taxes where they do business. This is the main finding of a new report on the global tax system, ‘Still Broken,’ released by… – Continue reading
The Council of European Union has revoked Directive 2003/48/EC, which has allowed tax administrations better access to information on private savers since 2005. By revoking the directive, which is part of a tax transparency package presented by the Commission in March this year, the Council says it strengthens measures to… – Continue reading
United States corporations avoid an estimated $US1.45 billion ($2.06b) of tax in Australia each year by shifting their profits to low or no tax countries, research shows. A joint report by advocacy and union groups Tax Justice Network, Oxfam, Global Alliance for Tax Justice and Public Services International says in… – Continue reading
Ghana’s financial secrecy – the tendency to facilitate tax evasion, money laundering and illicit financial transfers – has been rated at a fairly high 67 per cent. The Tax Justice Network, an organisation concerned with tax havens and tax evasion, ranked Ghana 48th out of 92 territories, in its 2015… – Continue reading
FRANKFURT (The Street) — Europe’s allure as a tax haven for U.S. multinationals may be coming to an end. That’s because European Union regulators are closing up tax loopholes that U.S. companies have been enjoying for years. The first two to feel the heat are Starbucks (SBUX – Get Report)… – Continue reading
Call to halt bank sale in favour of reform rejected by UK Government UK MINISTERS decided to “wash their hands” of a tax evasion scandal in a subsidiary of the government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, according to damning testimony given by a former treasury official who is now a Labour… – Continue reading
On September 7, 2015, the local tax court of Cologne (the “Court”) issued an injunction against the German Federal Central Tax Office (“FCTO”) to prevent the FCTO from conducting a coordinated exchange of information with the E6 countries Canada, Great Britain, France, Australia and Japan, which aimed at gathering intelligence… – Continue reading
The UK government has a ‘Janus-faced’ approach to tax, a new report suggests: promising an increasingly intolerant approach to evasion and avoidance while being an aggressive participant in global tax competition and tolerating the UK tax havens which facilitate financial crime across the world. The report, Fifty Shades of Tax… – Continue reading
A former finance minister yesterday slammed as “patently false” suggestions by a prominent tax advocacy group that the Bahamas is “disregarding the rules” and flouting global information exchange and transparency standards. James Smith, also an ex-Central Bank governor, hit out at the Tax Justice Network after its 2015 Financial Secrecy… – Continue reading
TThe Income and Capital Tax Treaty between Cyprus and Switzerland entered into force on 15 October 2015. The provisions of the treaty will become effective on 1 January 2016. The treaty was signed on 25 July 2014. In accordance with the treaty, the following withholding taxes will apply: Dividends: 0%… – Continue reading
The Bahamas will likely suffer a 25 per cent contraction in the number of financial services industry players, a senior international private banking executive said yesterday, as institutions merge to acquire scale and maintain profitability. Ricard Tubau, Andbank’s global chief executiv, said that not only is the financial services industry… – Continue reading
Today the EU and Andorra initialled the text of a new tax transparency agreement, marking another important step forward in the fight against tax evasion. Under the new agreement, Andorra and EU Member States will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts of each other’s residents from 2018. Pierre Moscovici,… – Continue reading
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is “still failing UK taxpayers” because of its “abysmal” performance in dealing with queries from taxpayers. The cross-party committee of MPs stressed that the “unacceptable” quality of HMRC’s customer service is a “genuine threat” to the collection… – Continue reading
Hong Kong is the world’s second least transparent financial center, making it vulnerable to tax evasion, money laundering and other wrongdoing. It is topped only by Switzerland in a global survey by Tax Justice Network, a coalition of researchers and activists focused on tax avoidance issues. The United States ranks… – Continue reading
They say the only certain things in life are death and taxes, but a large number of non-U.S. citizens may have found a way to avoid at least one of those. Under U.S. tax law, the estates of foreign holders of U.S. assets, such as stocks, real estate and valuables,… – Continue reading
The US has overtaken Singapore, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands as an attractive haven for super-rich individuals and businesses looking to shelter assets behind a veil of secrecy, according to a study by the Tax Justice Network (TJN), reports The Guardian. The US is ranked third, behind Switzerland and Hong… – Continue reading
Billionaire JP McManus sought to pay just €200,000 in tax on gambling earnings of €15.8m. The disclosure was made in filings to a US court, where the horse owner and philanthropist is seeking the refund of $5.2m (€4.7m) in taxes taken from his winnings by the US government. Authorities there… – Continue reading
Tax authorities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia have purchased a USB stick reported to hold evidence of tax avoidance and illegal deals worth more than €600m (£427m). Investigators are believed to have paid more than €5m for the data, the highest amount handed over for such information, according… – Continue reading
The Department of Justice announced today that Banque Bonhôte & Cie SA (Banque Bonhôte) has reached a resolution under the department’s Swiss Bank Program. The Swiss Bank Program, which was announced on Aug. 29, 2013, provides a path for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States…. – Continue reading
The U.S. government’s refusal to take part in a global system for exchanging bank data has moved it above the Cayman Islands in a financial secrecy list compiled by the Tax Justice Network. The U.S. trails only Switzerland and Hong Kong in a league of offshore havens after refusing to… – Continue reading
