PARIS, France– Ministers and high-level officials from six countries, including two in the Caribbean, have signed the BEPS Multilateral Convention, the first multilateral treaty of its kind. The Convention will enable governments to swiftly update their networks of existing tax treaties and further reduce opportunities for tax avoidance. Barbados, Jamaica,… – Continue reading
U.S. Representatives David Valadao (R-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA) are collecting signatures on a bipartisan letter urging their Congressional colleagues to request that Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin renegotiate the existing, outdated Double Tax Treaty with Armenia, an obsolete Cold War-era accord, recognized today by the U.S. but not… – Continue reading
U.S. Representatives David Valadao (R-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA) are collecting signatures on a bipartisan letter urging their Congressional colleagues to request that Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin renegotiate the existing, outdated Double Tax Treaty with Armenia, an obsolete Cold War-era accord, recognized today by the U.S. but not… – Continue reading
Toronto lacks a tax advantage that the 19 other contenders on the short list to host Amazon’s second headquarters now enjoy. The recently adopted U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provides companies based in the United States with an effective tax rate of 13.125 per cent on a portion… – Continue reading
After a B.C. resident was swindled out of $3,000 in a bitcoin tax scam, the RCMP is warning the public not to pay any tax bill using cryptocurrency. The incident occurred in North Vancouver on Jan. 18 when the victim received a phone call from someone claiming to be an… – Continue reading
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Government of Jamaica has signed an agreement with the Republic of Italy for the elimination of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and for the prevention of tax evasion and avoidance. The signing took place at the Ministry of Finance and Public Service’s… – Continue reading
(CMC) – The St Lucia government Friday said it expects to join fellow Caribbean Community (CARICOM) neighbours, Barbados and Grenada, in being removed from a new list of global tax havens by the European Union. The EU has signalled its intention to remove the CARICOM countries after they submitted plans… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 16: Panama, a popular tax haven that was in the eye of a data-leak storm dubbed ‘Panama Papers’ in 2016, has finally signed an international agreement that would pave the way for exchange of financial account information with the international community. By signing this agreement — CRS… – Continue reading
ST GEORGE’S – Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell says Grenada is expected to be removed from the European Union Blacklist by the end of January. The decision to remove Grenada, one of 17 countries blacklisted by the EU, is expected to follow a meeting of the Financial and Economic Unit… – Continue reading
The General Department of Taxation called last week on banks, insurance companies and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to accurately report the taxpayer identification numbers (US-TIN) of clients with US citizenship. The statement, issued on January 3 and signed by GDT’s general director Kong Vibol, said reporting accurate US-TIN numbers is necessary… – Continue reading
The Internal Revenue Service is looking to tax early adopters of cryptocurrencies who profited from it. Now the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has set its sights on the early adopters of cryptocurrencies, particularly those who earned from the blockchain technology. The IRS is concerned that between 2013 and 2015, only… – Continue reading
Taiwanese Premier Lai Ching-Te has directed the Ministry of Finance to work towards a Taiwan-US tax treaty. Speaking at a strategic briefing to the National Development Council on January 4, 2018, Lai noted that the US is one of Taiwan’s most important trading partners. A tax treaty would ensure that… – Continue reading
The GOP tax bill that was signed into law by the white house late last year, significantly reduced corporate taxes which has piled pressure on other significant economies around the world to adjust so as not to lose investors to the United States. Just hours after President Trump signed the… – Continue reading
A 10% tax that China has slapped exclusively on foreign companies’ profits from equity investments will temporarily be waved if the earnings are plowed into government-targeted sectors, according to a statement issued Thursday by four central government ministries. The move will help retain foreign investment and stabilize cross-border capital flows,… – Continue reading
A number of trends are converging, and U.S. tax reform will make navigating them more complex. Those handling international M&A tax planning are facing two sets of challenges that require more proactive tax planning across the board. The first is the tightening fiscal net around the structure and financing of… – Continue reading
European finance ministers are worried. They say the United States’ big tax reform bill contains measures that would unfairly disadvantage European business and contravene global fair-taxation rules. Are they right? Last week, the finance ministers of Europe’s five biggest economies — Germany, France, the UK, Spain and Italy — wrote… – Continue reading
Offshore tax havens conjure up a wonderland for the well-heeled and their wealth. But investigations based on the Paradise Papers leak has found that millions of ordinary Canadians also have an interest in money parked in tax havens — almost certainly without knowing it. Seven of the country’s so-called Big… – Continue reading
On December 15, 2017, the CRA released the final version of Information Circular IC 00-1R6 – Voluntary Disclosures Program (“VDP”) for income tax, after receiving and considering community input on the June 2017 draft version. This article summarizes the important differences between the draft and the final ICs and discusses… – Continue reading
The GOP’s consolidated tax bill, unveiled Friday, could be bad news for Puerto Rico. That’s because Puerto Rico is sometimes considered a foreign country for tax purposes. The designation means corporations doing business on the island could face a minimum 10 percent tax on profits abroad, as well as a… – Continue reading
CASTRIES, St Lucia, Thursday December 14, 2017 – The St Lucia government says it will introduce tax reform measures to bring the country in line with European Union (EU) standards, after the country was among four Caribbean nations on a list of 17 global tax havens released by the EU…. – Continue reading
The European Union is reportedly threatening to blacklist Antigua and Barbuda if it does not harmonise its tax rates for onshore and offshore financial services. This is according to Prime Minister Gaston Browne who was speaking in the parliament on Tuesday during the presentation of the Automatic Exchange of Financial… – Continue reading
HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC) — Bermuda has signed a new tax agreement with the United States that premier David Burt says demonstrates the island’s continued commitment to transparency. Burt, who left here over the weekend for Jamaica, said the Country by Country Competent Authority Agreement signified that the PLP government had… – Continue reading
Treasury Analysis Asserts Tax Cuts Will Pay for Themselves: Today, the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy released its analysis of the Senate’s tax reform plan. The one-page report used the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget projections of a 2.9% real growth rate over 10 years. The analysis expects the… – Continue reading
Belgian police raided the offices of state bank Belfius as part of a probe into possible tax avoidance by companies exposed in the Panama Papers. Belgian police raided the offices of state bank Belfius on Tuesday as part of a probe into possible tax avoidance by companies exposed in the… – Continue reading
Coinbase, the world’s largest Bitcoin brokerage and wallet platform, has won a partial but significant victory in its fight against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as Cointelegraph previously reported. Brief history of Coinbase v. IRS On January 15, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong revealed that the IRS sent the company a… – Continue reading
The Canada Revenue Agency’s recently announced “postal code project” targets Canada’s richest neighbourhoods, to identify non-compliance apparent from discrepancies between residents’ tax reporting with their apparent wealth. Even prior to the postal code project, which focuses on any potential high net worth individual, the CRA had enhanced audit activity on… – Continue reading
The International Monetary Fund has said Trinidad and Tobago needs to further hike taxes. The territory has struggled due to low energy prices. Energy revenue accounted for only 27 percent of total government revenue in the 2015 fiscal year, compared to around 55 percent during the preceding decade. A new… – Continue reading
In this Update On June 7, 2017, Canada signed the OECD’s Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the MLI) The MLI will modify up to 75 of Canada’s bilateral tax treaties, including adding a broad anti-avoidance rule to these treaties (the… – Continue reading
Multinationals have been getting away with not paying their fair share to the U.S. for too long, says this business founder With Washington pushing full-tilt on tax reform, it’s time to tackle the unfair tax advantage enjoyed by multinational enterprises. Addressing this longstanding problem could provide a unique opportunity to… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD/LONDON: The thirty-eight-page trust deed of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen’s offshore trust was signed and formalised in Geneva, Switzerland, and facilitated by HSBC Guyerzeller Trust Company Geneva – raising questions about Swiss bank accounts. During the hearing before Pakistan’s Supreme Court, Tareen was asked no questions about… – Continue reading
Canada and Antigua and Barbuda have signed a new tax information exchange agreement. The agreement was signed on October 31, the Canadian Government announced on November 14. Negotiations were launched in November 2010. The agreement provides for the mutual exchange of tax information that is possessed by, or is accessible… – Continue reading
114 taxpayers in Canada’s voluntary disclosure program say that the Israeli bank helped them evade taxes. As if the headache of the investigation by US authorities were not enough, Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI), managed by CEO Arik Pinto, discovered two days ago that Canada was also taking aim at it…. – Continue reading
In the aftermath of Satoshi Nakamoto’s groundbreaking paper in 2009, money began travelling via a new financial route – virtual currencies. The first Bitcoin exchange was established on February 6, 2010 where Bitcoin traded for the first time for 0.3 cents. Last June, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants… – Continue reading
Plan proposes 12.5% tax rate on intellectual-property income Bills ‘upend decades of U.S. tax policy’ on tight deadline U.S. companies that make billions of dollars from patents and other intellectual property held offshore would be eligible for a special 12.5 percent tax rate on those earnings under the Senate tax… – Continue reading
Qatar has become the 115th jurisdiction to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The Convention is touted by the OECD as “the most powerful instrument for international tax cooperation.” It provides for all forms of administrative assistance in tax matters: exchange of information on request,… – Continue reading
THE Government has been urged to “get across the line before year-end” on global tax information exchange standards, amid hope the relevant legislation will reach Parliament tomorrow. Michael Paton, a former Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) chairman, told Tribune Business that the Bahamas needed to upgrade its existing legislation to… – Continue reading
Under President Trump’s political and economic climate, stocks and the economy have been soaring. Trump constantly aims for three percent GDP growth as a result of cutting corporate income and individual income taxes, which aims to encourage spending across different family incomes. However, these corporations the tax cuts favor have… – Continue reading
The Senate Finance Committee released its tax reform plan on November 9, presenting a draft bill with marked differences to that agreed by the House Ways and Means Committee on the same day. The proposal was drafted by Finance Committee Republicans under the leadership of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin… – Continue reading
Luxury yachts built in Dutch shipyards are being sold to suspect buyers around the world through tax havens, Trouw and the Financieele Dagblad reported on Friday. The dubious yacht transactions were revealed through an investigation being carried out into the Paradise Papers by the two Dutch newspapers . The documents… – Continue reading
Universities are always looking for new ways to increase returns on their endowments. The hunt for lucrative investments has reportedly led several institutions offshore. College endowments are typically exempt from federal taxes. However, when income is earned on an endowment outside of the core educational mission, it can be subject… – Continue reading
The company known for the ‘double Irish’ scheme is moving its subsidiaries’ tax residency. A set of leaked documents from offshore law firm Appleby has revealed that Apple stashed $250 billion in Jersey, a tiny island off the coast of France known for being a tax haven. The tech titan… – Continue reading
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has released a database of around 13.4 million documents revealing over 25,000 companies owned by the world’s rich and influential individuals. The ICIJ coordinated the Panama Papers investigation into offshore companies. The latest files have disclosed the financial details of politicians, corporations, and… – Continue reading
On October 2 the US Government released the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, setting out in legislation its plans for comprehensive reform of the US tax code. For businesses, the bill will bring about a landmark shift to a territorial corporate tax system, replacing the current worldwide tax basis regime… – Continue reading
Goltsblat BLP advises that the Federal Tax Service (FTS) has approved BVI’s removal from the list of countries (jurisdictions) not exchanging information with the Russian Federation for tax purposes from 1 January 2018 (the relevant order is pending registration with the Ministry of Justice). A country’s removal from the FTS… – Continue reading
Goltsblat BLP advises that the Federal Tax Service (FTS) has approved BVI’s removal from the list of countries (jurisdictions) not exchanging information with the Russian Federation for tax purposes from 1 January 2018 (the relevant order is pending registration with the Ministry of Justice). A country’s removal from the FTS… – Continue reading
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Thursday November 2, 2017 – The Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between the Government of Barbados and the Italian Republic has entered into force. The instruments of ratification for the Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with Respect to Taxes on Income and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion… – Continue reading
T&T faces possible sanctions after the Global Forum recognised this country as the only jurisdiction not considered to have made sufficient progress towards satisfactory implementation of the agreed tax transparency standards. Speaking at a media conference on Friday afternoon, Attorney General Faris Al Rawi said this has negative implications for… – Continue reading
The Canadian Government is pressing ahead with plans to cut the small business tax rate. The Government has tabled a Notice of Ways and Means Motion in the House of Commons that proposes phased reductions in the small business tax rate. Under the changes, the rate will fall from 10.5… – Continue reading
The European Parliament’s PANA Committee has approved draft recommendations calling for increased scrutiny and regulation of emerging technologies, including virtual currencies and FinTech. The committee also approved a report delving into the findings of an 18-month probe into breaches of EU law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and… – Continue reading
Shadow assistant treasurer suggests companies consider the image their tax minimisation methods project Andrew Leigh, the shadow assistant federal treasurer, has said companies using offshore tax havens to “get around corporate tax” in Australia risk losing what they save in tax via damage to their reputation. Speaking to Guardian Australia… – Continue reading
