As money laundering is estimated to cost over €1 trillion a year, MEPs are set to vote on measures to set up an EU register of beneficial company owners. One of the hot topics at this week’s plenary session is parliament’s proposed measures against money laundering and terrorist financing, which… – Continue reading
In 1934, a distinguished American jurist, Judge Learned Hand, famously opined that “one may so arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to… – Continue reading
Treasurer Joe Hockey is facing criticism for both acting too quickly and not doing enough on tax avoidance by multinational ¬companies after tabling legislation on Tuesday night to stop companies shifting taxable profits out of Australia. An unnamed 30 multinational companies with more than $1 billion in revenue from Australia… – Continue reading
The Australian Taxation Office is probing Commonwealth Bank over a nine-figure sum arising from tax breaks claimed by the nation’s largest company for research and development. In a hostile environment for tax minimisation by large corporates, CBA and the ATO are wrangling over an amount ¬believed to be in excess… – Continue reading
Technology companies need to stop “extremely aggressive” tax planning, the man charged with reforming global tax rules has told the BBC. He says these “push the boundaries of what is legal”. Pascal Saint-Amans, who runs the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy, said that new standards would require companies to pay… – Continue reading
Frank Lowy’s Westfield Corporation intends to take another step in cutting ties with Australia by shifting its head office overseas, once an offshore stock market listing is finalised. The company is entirely focused on shopping malls in the United States, Britain and Europe, with all Westfield-branded centres in Australia and… – Continue reading
There are two pressing concerns facing us in 2015. First, the increased crackdown on multinational corporations reportedly using offshore tax hubs to avoid taxes will make summer 2015 the make or break season for the global economy. On the one hand, the argument is made that firms such as Apple,… – Continue reading
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is planning to broaden the use of subpoenas of documents in cases where the name of a taxpayer under investigation is not known. The so-called John Doe summonses were a breakthrough for the IRS in tackling offshore tax evasion when they were first addressed to… – Continue reading
There are fears the Government’s plans to prevent foreign controlled banks from slipping under the taxman’s radar, could end up hitting their New Zealand customers in the pocket. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is proposing to impose a higher tax burden on non-resident investors who get income from interest, dividends… – Continue reading
VietNamNet Bridge – How to deal with transfer pricing – whether to view it as an inevitable part of foreign direct investment (FDI) or take drastic measures to stop it – remains a controversial matter among Vietnamese. METRO Cash & Carry Vietnam (MCC) will have to pay VND507 billion (US$23.8… – Continue reading
The Government and the IRD are moving to crack-down on the big banks, overseas customers, and other offshore-owned entities that are not believed to be paying their fair whack of New Zealand tax. The IRD’s produced a 46 page issues paper making suggestions for new rules that would tighten up… – Continue reading
The major accounting firms and other consultants would be forced to disclose all meetings with the federal government and the Australian Tax Office under a policy proposal to be debated by the ALP National Conference. If adopted, a future Labor government would also force ministerial staffers to observe a cooling-off… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) has been placed under formal investigation in France as part of a probe into alleged tax evasion by senior managers at investment firm Wendel (MWDP.PA), a court official said on Wednesday. A Paris-based spokesman for JPMorgan declined to comment on the move, part… – Continue reading
The Central Board of Direct Taxes [CBDT] on 26th March 2015 issued a Circular no. 4/2015 wherein they have clarified that while interpreting the provisions of Section 9(1)(i) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 [herein after referred to as ‘Act’] read with Explanation 5 inserted to the said section by… – Continue reading
Dropbox has become the latest technology firm to skirt local tax rates after confirming it will bill its customers from a company set up in Ireland. In an email sent to users on the weekend, Dropbox confirmed it would bill its international users using the entity Dropbox Ireland from June…. – Continue reading
Cracking down on sweetheart tax deals with multinational corporations is proving more difficult than the European Commission had anticipated. Delays, uncooperative member states, and missed deadlines are among the frustrations highlighted Tuesday (5 May) by the EU’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager. Speaking at a special committee on tax rulings at… – Continue reading
US fast-food giant McDonald’s could be facing a European Commission (EU) investigation into its tax affairs. EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she is looking into trade union allegations that the restaurant chain avoided paying more than €1bn (£658m; $1.1bn) in corporate taxes between 2009 and 2013. Unions claim McDonald’s… – Continue reading
Group of wealthy expats facing prison for failing to declare property purchases in Marbella A NETWORK of foreign businessmen and lawyers are facing 48 years in prison for tax evasion on the Costa del Sol. The group are to go on trial for using offshore companies to avoid paying taxes… – Continue reading
A federal judge demanded to know more about HSBC Holdings Plc’s compliance with its trade sanctions and anti-money-laundering deal with the U.S. after a monitor said the bank was “too slow” to mend its ways. U.S. District Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn, New York, ordered the government to file a… – Continue reading
Authorities in Milan said on Monday that they have detained a former Swiss banker for allegedly helping wealthy Italian clients evade taxes and launder large sums of money, including the proceeds of embezzlement. Italian financial police (Guardia di Finanza) from Varese northwest of Milan said that Filippo Dollfus, a former… – Continue reading
Bermuda is listed as 14th in a survey of the world’s biggest tax havens, by a US activist non-profit organisation. The Global Citizen organisation placed the Island just ahead of Guernsey in the Channel Islands to round its 15-strong list — well behind the US, UK and number one spot… – Continue reading
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has given the Senate inquiry into tax avoidance a blueprint on how to properly calculate the amount of tax multinationals should be paying each year on their Australian operations. A critical new methodology provided to the inquiry by the ATO, and seen by the ABC,… – Continue reading
Interpreting corporate tax data shouldn’t be like playing “Where’s Waldo.” Analysts seeking to understand whether big corporations are engaged in tax-avoidance hijinks should be aided, not thwarted, by the information that companies make available in their annual financial reports. A long-brewing effort to require country-by-country (CbC) reporting of corporate income… – Continue reading
Singapore is not a tax haven, it’s a value-adding hub. That is the claim of the island nation’s Economic Development Board, the Singaporean government agency that’s been charged with attracting business and investment. It has disputed recent claims at the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance that it’s being used… – Continue reading
Deferring income helped the billionaire hedge fund manager build his fortune George Soros likes to say the rich should pay more taxes. A substantial part of his wealth, though, comes from delaying them. While building a record as one of the world’s greatest investors, the 84-year-old billionaire used a loophole… – Continue reading
With the Delhi High Court to resume hearing on Wednesday on the Rs.20.495 crore tax case slapped on Cairn India, experts voiced the apprehensions of foreign investors about an adversarial tax regime. “Foreign investors expect stability and clarity in tax policy, which has been coming from the top with the… – Continue reading
Can you trust a company to run a clean and profitable coal mine when its financial controller has a case of the vagues? If the testimony of Adani executives in the witness box in the past few days is any indication, the prospects for Australia’s biggest coal project are not… – Continue reading
BHP Billiton is contesting $522 million in Australian tax bills on its Singapore marketing operations up to 2010, after having paid almost no tax in Singapore since 2006, the global miner told an Australian Senate panel. The figures were released on Monday by a Senate committee that is investigating corporate… – Continue reading
International finance centres (IFCs) are frequently used to structure Russian inward and outward investment and it has been observed that in 2012, 11 of the 40 main recipients of Russian FDI were IFCs1. The BVI is at the forefront of offshore investment into Russia, and the share of outward FDI… – Continue reading
Across the state and nation this past month, individuals filed and paid their personal federal and state income taxes. However, there was one notable exception — the Fortune 500 companies singled out in a recent Citizens for Tax Justice report called “Fifteen Reasons Why we need Corporate Tax Reform.” This… – Continue reading
European finance ministers have backed efforts to fight rampant tax avoidance by multinationals in the wake of the LuxLeaks scandal. But European Union members face tough negotiations to work out the details. Under a new plan the bloc’s 28 countries would share tax deals agreed with some of the world’s… – Continue reading
Sofia. The Silistra District Court ruled on April 3, 2015, that United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) and DSK Bank should pay offshore company (and sham creditor of Bross Holding) DC & Chem Co BGN 1,305,005.24 each for the remuneration of the legal adviser appointed by the offshore company, the Capital weekly… – Continue reading
The Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) is urging parliament to expedite a batch of bills aimed at facilitating much-needed foreign investment in Cyprus. Chief among the proposals are the establishment of foreign leasing companies and cell companies, opening up the professional provident fund business to foreign concerns, and updating company… – Continue reading
Summary:Australia and the UK have reached a deal aimed at helping tackle profit-shifting practices by multinational companies, such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Australia and the United Kingdom have agreed to form a joint working group to tackle profit shifting by multinational companies such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft. The… – Continue reading
The Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance will unexpectedly return on Wednesday after the Australian Taxation Office requested a supplementary public hearing to refute allegations made in evidence by former ATO executive Martin Lock. Mr Lock told the inquiry earlier this month that the Tax Office gives up “billions of… – Continue reading
Macquarie Telecom has given full voice to an extremely serious problem facing Australian technology companies: That is, the gaming of the global tax system by multinationals puts Australia’s home-grown technology players who pay tax in Australia at a significant competitive disadvantage. This is a simple equation. It doesn’t matter how… – Continue reading
Nothing is certain in India except death and tax disputes. Ask foreign portfolio investors: they now face demands for past dues of as much as $6.4 billion. The wrangle stems from the Minimum Alternative Tax, or MAT, which officials say leads to a 20 percent levy on capital gains by… – Continue reading
Chinese authorities will cooperate with Indonesia to confiscate more than $500 million of ill-gotten assets illegally transferred to China by corrupt Indonesian banking officials. Under the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between China and Indonesia that took effect in 2006, the Ministry of Justice will “give support… – Continue reading
Last week some of Australia’s biggest and richest companies voluntarily fronted up to a senate inquiry on corporate tax avoidance. Bigwigs from big brands, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals, squirmed under the spotlight as they were grilled about how they (legally) shift profits offshore… – Continue reading
ENERGY giant Woodside Petroleum says its Singapore office was set up for marketing, not tax minimisation. “THE office in Singapore for us is actually not set up at all for tax optimisation, it’s set up because that’s where marketing is done,” chief executive Peter Coleman told Woodside’s annual general meeting…. – Continue reading
China started a campaign to stop the use of offshore companies to transfer the ill-gotten gains from corruption and bribery overseas. The People’s Bank of China, the central bank, will join with four ministries including the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, to crack down on underground banks, offshore company accounts… – Continue reading
Racing Minister Nathan Guy has signalled that the Government may crack down on online gambling, announcing a working group to look into the “problem”. The TAB, operated by the New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB), holds a monopoly on all racing and sports betting within New Zealand, but the growth of… – Continue reading
THE NUMBER of Slovak companies residing in tax havens dropped in the first three months of this year to 4,248, which is by 114 less than in the end of last year. Most companies left Monaco and Jersey. The trend is the opposite rose by 23 to 13,270, the TASR… – Continue reading
“Tax day” comes and goes each year, but unfortunately, the systemic issues that plague American taxpayers linger on without resolution well past the mid-April deadline. The U.S. tax code has long been manipulated by corporate lobbyists and their corporate tax attorneys. (President Jimmy Carter once called the loophole-ridden tax laws… – Continue reading
As the saying goes, there are two certainties in an uncertain world: death and taxes. The corporate world, while unable to eliminate the former, is doing everything in its considerable power to eliminate the latter. As recent developments over the past couple of years show, transnationals are determined to not… – Continue reading
Research by the Guardian and the Tax Justice Network reveals 28 English clubs with substantial shareholdings overseas, opening up the football leagues to criticism for allowing ownership structures that could be used for tax avoidance Almost one in three of the 92 Premier and Football League clubs are now substantially… – Continue reading
[JURIST] A Milan court declared on Tuesday that former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi [BBC profile, JURIST news archive] has fully served his sentence for tax fraud and will now be permitted to travel out of the country. Berlusconi was found guilty of tax fraud [JURIST report] in 2012 and… – Continue reading
The Minister of Finance for Luxembourg says his country – labelled by critics as a tax haven for multinational corporations – is committed to sweeping international tax reforms being pushed by the G20 and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, as long as they create a “level playing field.”… – Continue reading
Amid calls for a major overhaul of the federal tax system, a new study shows that 15 major Fortune 500 companies avoided paying taxes on $23 billion in profits in 2014. Moreover, these companies — including CBS Corporation, Mattel, Prudential and Ryder System — paid almost no federal income tax… – Continue reading
The U.S. Congress must find a way to tax offshore profits stored by some of the world’s largest corporations. Currently letting their earnings safely mount up abroad, lawmakers are considering a special “deluxe” tax rate to get money from the companies. A recent study from the Center for Effective Government… – Continue reading
