CANBERRA, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) — The amount of tax paid by Australia’s biggest companies has risen 20 percent in a single year, data has revealed. According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) ‘s corporate tax data for financial year 2016-17, which was released on Thursday, the nation’s 1,470 biggest companies… – Continue reading
A top Central Bank official has accused the OECD of trying to “hobble” the competitiveness of The Bahamas’ economic permanent residency regime by including it in an arbitrary “quasi-blacklist”. Charles Littrell, the regulator’s inspector of banks and trust companies, in a speech to a Turks & Caicos financial services conference,… – Continue reading
Consultants, private bankers and lawyers are seeing more business from PRC clients as they seek to shelter assets and income in overseas trusts ahead of new tax laws, which will be introduced in January. China’s tax law reforms that target high net worth individuals, set to come into force on… – Continue reading
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued guidance on the voluntary disclosure regime now in force, following the termination of its offshore predecessor on 28 September 2018. The new rules are effective for all disclosures after that date. And the possible penalties have gone up quite significantly. One of… – Continue reading
One month after the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) ruled that back office support services qualify as “intermediary” support services and not exports, officers of the indirect tax department have started issuing preliminary notices to captive units of multinationals and Indian companies exporting offshore support services. AAR’s directive meant several… – Continue reading
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is dragging its feet over actions against Pakistanis who couldn’t declare offshore investments to evade taxes despite that the tax authority has stumbled upon critical financial data under an international treaty, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Insiders said the apex… – Continue reading
The US government announced charges on Tuesday against four men it said laundered money and arranged tax avoidance schemes through the Panama firm at the centre of the “Panama Papers” scandal. The four were affiliated with Mossack Fonseca, the law firm that helped thousands of clients around the world move… – Continue reading
I. The background of the tax reform In connection with the international pressure on the Swiss corporate tax location, especially in relation to the Cantonal exemption of income for holding companies as well as the status privileged companies (“status privilege”) and the need of Switzerland to recover global recognition as… – Continue reading
Introduction – Offshore funds and Canada Revenue Agency’ reach Gone are the days when offshore bank accounts were outside the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)’s reach. With the advent of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), CRA automatically receives financial information of Canadian taxpayers who own bank accounts or assets in other… – Continue reading
Britain’s parliamentary upper house has requested the current investigation limit set out in the Draft Finance Bill 2018 be scrapped. The House of Lords’ request to HMRC would, if passed, remove the 12-year offshore investigation limit from the Draft Finance Bill 2018 – a proposal that has seen an outcry… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is fine-tuning a new law to join forces with the international community to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in line with a recommendation of a global financial watchdog, a top official said on Thursday. Khalida Habib, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) said… – Continue reading
Prime Minister, Mia Mottley has announced a major tax break for local business. In her mini-budget presentation made earlier this year, she had announced that come July 1, corporation tax will increase from 25 per cent to 30 per cent which was expected to raise $57M in a full year…. – Continue reading
While SARS is scrambling to meet collection targets, a new report estimates the country lost $37-billion in revenue to trade misinvoicing in five years. Trade misinvoicing is thought to be the largest component of illicit financial flows, draining developing countries of much-needed finances. In a new report, Global Financial Integrity… – Continue reading
Trusts still remain under public scrutiny, but can their reputation be safeguarded, asks Stuart Price A recent government consultation on the law of trusts brought out some interesting issues concerning how the status quo aligns with the principles of transparency, fairness and simplicity (the principles that, at least in the… – Continue reading
In general, investment and tax provisions relating to non-resident Indians (NRIs) returning to live in India are fairly generous. However, NRIs must carefully plan their return to India to ensure there are no surprises with respect to managing their overseas income and investments. In this article, we examine some of… – Continue reading
Changes to Britain’s centuries-old trust regime are looming as HMRC is concerned that trusts are letting some families pay less inheritance tax than those who do not pay accountants to set up the complex arrangements. To look at if the law should be changed, HMRC has published wide-ranging research of… – Continue reading
The misconceptions about transfer pricing being a tax avoidance or violation in Vietnam are creating challenges for multinational enterprises, said Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Amcham). In his opening speech at a workshop held to gain clarity on the changing world of transfer pricing,… – Continue reading
Japan’s National Tax Agency has obtained information on more than half a million accounts held by Japanese citizens and companies at overseas financial institutions. The move comes amid heightened public interest in how the wealthy use offshore havens to evade paying taxes at home. The Japanese agency will analyze the… – Continue reading
Under pressure from international organisations, the Australian government has flagged that it is getting ready to reform the concessionally-taxed offshore banking unit (OBU) regime, a move that will hit big banks and hedge funds. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) forum on harmful tax practices has raised concerns… – Continue reading
A range of measures designed to crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion with a view to raise £2bn over the next five years have been announced by the government. HMRC will be made a preferred creditor in insolvencies, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced today. The government will end the practice of… – Continue reading
Jersey has tabled new laws to address the EU’s concerns over ‘economic substance’, the degree of real business activity carried out by companies registered in the Island. The new proposed requirements for an economic substance test for Jersey tax-resident entities have been published and are set to come into force… – Continue reading
THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) may now notify taxpayers that their information was sent to a requesting foreign tax authority as investigation reaches the final stages. Revenue Regulation No. 22-2018 states that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue can opt to notify the taxpayer in writing that a foreign tax… – Continue reading
KARACHI: A global investment migration association on Wednesday termed Pakistanis among high-risk nationalities who could exploit loopholes in the OECD’s common reporting standard (CRS) developed to curb offshore tax evasion and avoidance. “Of those nearly one million citizenships granted by the EU each year that are not related to CBI… – Continue reading
FRANKFURT AM MAIN: German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz in an interview said he backed a global minimum fiscal regime for multinationals as Europe looks to levy tax notably on US tech giants. “We need a minumum tax rate valid globally which no state can get out of (applying),” Scholz, a… – Continue reading
Macau (MNA) – The Macau Legislative Assembly (AL) has approved a bill revoking the current offshore law, with several legislators warning the government over the future of the local workers in the sector. The bill approved on Thursday had been proposed by authorities in order to comply with standards of… – Continue reading
Ireland’s 2018 Finance Bill legislates for a new exit tax regime compliant with the EU’s Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive. The exit tax charge was introduced via financial resolution on Budget night, October 9, 2018, and applies to certain events occurring on or after October 10. Finance Bill 2018 formally legislates for… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance is one of the most common tax “mistakes” made by medical professionals, according to IRAS. High-earning doctors, insurance agents, and lawyers who avoided paying their due taxes have been dealt a heavy blow by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). According to the Straits Times (ST), IRAS… – Continue reading
The Chinese government has decided to tight policies that target investors in the country and that hold their wealth overseas with the intention to avoid paying taxes. However, these investors that are now threatened by the government might move to cryptocurrencies and avoid being investigated by Chinese authorities. Most of… – Continue reading
The National Tax Agency of Japan has gathered details on 400,000 overseas bank accounts held by Japanese nationals in about 50 countries in a bid to fight fiscal evasion as only 9,000 citizens declared having an offshore account in 2016. The tax agency will compare the two sets of information… – Continue reading
The Lion City will not hesitate to impose action against firms with cross-border tax evasion. Singapore’s Ministry of Finance refuted a news article by CNBC Indonesia which claims that its Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) with Indonesia ‘indulges Singapore’. “Provisions under the DTA are reciprocal, like any other DTA,” the ministry… – Continue reading
On September 18, China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) issued the Circular about Further Optimizing Tax Deregistration Procedures for Enterprises (Shui Zong Fa [2018] No. 149) to further improve its business environment. The notice introduces tax clearance certificate exemption, optimizes the tax deregistration service, and simplifies the documentation required and… – Continue reading
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja signed executive order eight, tagged Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularization Scheme (VOARS) to make money laundering and tax evasion difficult. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement last night, said Executive Order 008, which was… – Continue reading
By the order, Nigerian taxpayers who hold offshore assets and incomes are expected to, within a period of 12 months, declare voluntary those assets and pay taxes on them. When they do this, they should expect to derive certain specified benefits. The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has stepped up… – Continue reading
Pakistan has been unable to get much cooperation from 11 countries known as tax havens around the world to share information on offshore wealth amid a global clampdown on tax evasion. Under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) new automatic exchange of information programme, effective since September 1,… – Continue reading
Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing has been ordered to pay more than US$129 million in overdue taxes and fines. Tax evasion cases involving celebrities are seldom heard of in Hong Kong, thanks to our simple tax regime and low tax rate. Hong Kong’s income tax rate is capped at 15 percent,… – Continue reading
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) said it would create a team to monitor initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrencies. Australia’s market regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is considering a new tactic in regulating digital currency exchanges and raising the monitoring of initial coin offerings (ICOs)… – Continue reading
7.What are Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement (MAAAs) The new IRA defines the “Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement” to mean a tax information exchange agreement or other international agreement for mutual administrative assistance in relation to taxation matters. Section 75 (5) of new IRA “Mutual administrative assistance agreement” means a tax information… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has again banned non-filers of tax returns from purchasing property and vehicles, Geo reported. Addressing the National Assembly, Finance Minister Asad Umar announced that the ban has been re-imposed on non-filers. “Non-filers still have time, they can pay their returns and become eligible to purchase property… – Continue reading
The deputy prime minister has reiterated that The Bahamas “must address” access to beneficial ownership information for all corporate entities domiciled in this jurisdiction. KP Turnquest said the Government was looking to the Register of Beneficial Owners Bill 2018 as the solution, although beneficial ownership will not be publicly available…. – Continue reading
The ministry of finance last night said The Bahamas had met the September 30 deadline to begin automatic tax information exchange (AEOI) with some 35 partner jurisdictions. Revealing that the first such exchange with another country had already occurred, the ministry said this further demonstrated The Bahamas’ commitment to meet… – Continue reading
Magistrates’ Court ruled that Ilya Yurov persecution was politically motivated because of his connections with Khodorkovsky. Westminster Magistrates’ Court refused to extradite Ilya Yurov, the former part owner of Trust Bank, who is on the international wanted list, RBC reported. The court believes that the extradition would violate human rights…. – Continue reading
KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is all set to launch a major crackdown against individuals with concealed and untaxed offshore assets from next week as the revenue body bets on financial information shared under an international treaty, officials said on Friday. The officials said the FBR finalised the… – Continue reading
The new Tax Identification Number (NIF) of Angola for individuals and companies goes into effect on 1 October, said on Friday in Luanda, the head of the Registration and Collection Directorate of the General Tax Administration (AGT). The entry into operation of the new NIF, which will be the same… – Continue reading
The tax regime in Sri Lanka historically imposes WHT on both domestic as well as cross border payments. WHT on domestic payments eases revenue collection (e.g.: PAYE) while WHT on cross border payments are adopted by most countries to ensure that the fair share of tax is retained in the… – Continue reading
MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 20 ICICI Bank plans to raise funds through overseas instruments this fiscal, for which its board will meet on September 24. “It will consider offshore fund raising in single or multiple tranches in any currency through public or private placement by way of issuances of debt instruments, certificate… – Continue reading
The Finance Ministry, last day informed that the Government is planning to introduce income tax exemption to the interest income on the specified Offshore Rupee Denominated Bonds. “Legislative amendments in this regard shall be proposed in due course”, the Ministry said. Interest payable by an Indian company or a business… – Continue reading
Four pharmaceutical giants have been named and shamed for depriving Australia of $215 million a year in tax avoidance. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD Australia), and Abbott – which make household name brands like Band Aid, Baby Oil, Centrum and ChapStick –were found to have unfairly… – Continue reading
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is scheduled to meet with the European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier to push for an annex addressing smuggling in the British territory, as well as cross-border workers and tax evasion. Gibraltar is also on the agenda. As for Gibraltar, however, Spain will reportedly not… – Continue reading
In June this year, the Chinese government announced much-anticipated revisions to the country’s individual income tax laws. KPMG Partner and Senior Advisor Michael Olesnicky says that these new revisions will likely have ‘profound implications’ within the wealth management community in Asia. Hubbis CEO Michael Stanhope recently spoke with him about… – Continue reading
The British High Commission has advised British citizens to report and pay their tax on foreign income and assets. In a media release, the Commission said as part of the British Government’s “Requirement to Correct” legislation UK taxpayers must make sure that all their foreign income and assets, where there… – Continue reading
