10/07/2015 – The OECD set out a clear path for Lithuania’s accession to the Organisation, reinforcing the OECD’s commitment to further extend its global membership. On 8 July 2015 the 34 OECD Members adopted the Roadmap for the Accession of Lithuania to the OECD Convention setting out the terms, conditions… – Continue reading
International aid agency Oxfam says it warmly welcomes the European Parliament’s decision to vote in favor of legislation that obliges large companies across all sectors to publicly declare their earnings and taxes in locations they operate. The legislation is part of the vote on the Shareholder’s Rights Directive. “By requiring… – Continue reading
Swiss Poised To Support Greek Tax Amnesty by Matthew Allen, swissinfo.ch Struggling to pay off more than €300 billion (CHF313 billion) in debts, Greece is banking on Switzerland to help it recover a treasure trove of undeclared assets that tax cheats have stashed in alpine vaults. But anti-tax haven campaigners… – Continue reading
Large European companies would have to reveal how much profit they make, subsidies received and taxes paid in each country they operate in under a draft law backed by EU lawmakers on Wednesday. The aim of the draft law on shareholders’ rights is to encourage more transparency at companies on… – Continue reading
Nairobi – Two European tax havens receive more than a quarter of all global foreign direct investment, ActionAid said on Tuesday, calling for an international deal to tackle tax avoidance and reduce poverty. Luxembourg and the Netherlands receive almost 26% of the world’s foreign investment, although they earn less than… – Continue reading
MEPs have backed rules that would require multinationals to report their tax payments on a country-by-country basis. Deputies in Strasbourg voted by a 556 votes to 67 margin on Wednesday (8 July) to approve plans to re-write the EU’s eight-year old Shareholders’ Rights Directive that would require listed companies to… – Continue reading
Barbados and other Caribbean leaders who held a recent summit in Bridgetown want the European Union to lift the blacklisting of Caribbean offshore jurisdictions immediately, reports the Barbados Advocate. The demand is contained in the Heads of Government Communique which was issued following the July 2-4 summit at the Hilton…. – Continue reading
The FINANCIAL — Tax is firmly under the spotlight and in the global insurance industry, the ramifications for finance and tax teams will be felt in both a new set of business demands and an overhaul of how these functions interact and operate. However, a new report from PwC says… – Continue reading
The present French Tax Update will focus on an overview of several noteworthy French tax court decisions issued during the past few months. BUYBACK AND CANCELLATION OF OWN SHARES The tax treatment of buybacks, from the shareholders’ point of view, has now been simplified through a change of legislation, i.e.,… – Continue reading
The UK Government’s goal is to make the UK the best place in the world to locate an international business; it has one of the most open economies globally, a highly skilled workforce, access to capital markets, a first-class infrastructure, and a highly competitive corporate tax system. UK tax policy… – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – the leading international standards-setter for tax transparency and cooperation – has underlined Guernsey’s reputation as a cooperative jurisdiction, reports Guernsey Finance. Monica Bhatia, Head of the Secretariat of the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes… – Continue reading
Concerns have been raised that there is an anomaly in the Canadian overseas pension schemes system, as under Canadian law savers are allowed to encash them at any age, irrespective of the UK’s pension age test, reports the FT Adviser. HM Revenue and Customs’ pension age test requires schemes to… – Continue reading
Around 700 people have applied for Malta’s ‘cash-for-passports’ scheme, described as on the most popular schemes run by Henley & Partners, their vice-chairman Andrew Taylor said during a radio interview on a South African radio station, reports the Maltese Independent. Extolling the virtues of the scheme, Mr Taylor said that… – Continue reading
The Republic of Latvia has removed Gibraltar from its blacklist of tax havens, the latest EU country to recognise that the Rock complies with international rules on exchange of financial information, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle. The decision by Latvia comes after the EU last month published a list of the… – Continue reading
Greece has proposed a tax amnesty in an effort to collect revenue on billions of euros that its citizens are believed to have quietly stashed in Swiss bank accounts, the NZZ am Sonntag paper reported, reports Reuters. The plan, which still needs Greek parliamentary approval and a final accord with… – Continue reading
The OECD has backed Guernsey in its fight against tax haven status, describing the crown dependency’s inclusion on the European Commission’s list of top 30 non-compliant tax jurisdictions as “very surprising”. Monica Bhatia, head of the secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Global Forum on Transparency and… – Continue reading
The gross revenue generated from the system of tax retention on interest payments made in Switzerland to European Union (EU) taxpayers was down from CHF510.1m (USD542.9m) in 2013 to CHF317m in the 2014 tax year. In compliance with the agreement with the EU on the taxation of savings, in force… – Continue reading
GENEVA: Athens wants a tax amnesty deal for Greeks who have stashed cash in Swiss banks, in a bid to bring much-needed revenue to the debt-laden country, a Swiss newspaper reported Sunday. The government in crisis-hit Greece, where citizens were voting Sunday in a vital referendum on EU-imposed austerity measures,… – Continue reading
Apple is most valuable company in the world – worth an estimated £500bn But it funnels sales though Ireland to whittle down its tax bills in the UK Company made £1.9bn profit in UK last year worth £400m incorporation tax But they paid just £11.8million – only £400,000 more than… – Continue reading
The City of London is the money-laundering centre of the world’s drug trade, according to an internationally acclaimed crime expert. UK banks and financial services have ignored so-called “know your customer” rules designed to curb criminals’ abilities to launder the proceeds of crime, Roberto Saviano warned. Mr Saviano, author of… – Continue reading
BMI View: Montserrat’s economic growth will slow significantly in the coming years as the key financial services sector faces headwinds from an international crackdown on tax havens in the Caribbean. Additionally, th e end of a government programme of capital investment will also temper the island’s economic activity beginning in… – Continue reading
The Automatic Exchange of Information is fast becoming widely recognised as the most effective instrument to fight against tax evasion. With cooperation between tax administrations being high on the agenda in the ongoing fight against tax evasion, protection of integrity of tax systems, and transparency processes seem to be infiltrating… – Continue reading
The Cyprus government has introduced radical tax reforms that aim to attract foreign direct investments and non-domiciled individuals, simplify levies for properties, return tax-collection to local municipalities and encourage tax-breaks for direct injections where local companies are strained for cash-flow, reports the Financial Mirror. Finance Minister Haris Georghiades said that… – Continue reading
ARBADOS’ CONTROVERSIAL BLACKLISTING by a group of European Union (EU) countries is “hypocritical” and “grossly discriminatory”, says outgoing Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) president Connie Smith. But Smith also thinks the time is right for “engaging in bilateral discussions which could hopefully conclude in double taxation agreements and bilateral investment… – Continue reading
James Angelos’ book looks at widespread tax evasion and benefit fraud Includes case of the island where 498 people pretended to be blind Also reveals how super-rich bought camoflage for pools to avoid tax Greece is on the brink of collapse as it decides whether to reject EU bailout Greece… – Continue reading
A firm directly involved in one of Europe’s largest tax scandals is now giving tax advice to the European Commission and member states. The audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), sits in a group called the EU Joint Transfer Pricing Forum. The forum’s been around for years, but its mandate was recently… – Continue reading
Georgia’s capital Tbilisi will host dozens of top officials including members of the G20 at a special meeting in October to discuss tax avoidance strategies on national tax bases. A group of delegates from 30 countries from Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the EU are due to take part in… – Continue reading
Ireland’s attractively low rate of corporate taxation is once again under pressure with the recent release of the European Commission’s new action plan to tackle tax avoidance. The commission has been prompted into this politically ambitious move by public outcry over big, usually American, companies avoiding tax in the EU…. – Continue reading
Leaders of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have ended a meeting in Grenada criticising the European Union over its decision to blacklist several Caribbean countries as tax havens. In addition, the leaders of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Montserrat, St Kitts… – Continue reading
Action 3 of the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) agenda promised to address how countries could use controlled foreign corporation (CFC) rules to combat BEPS. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon one’s vantage point), as is pretty much universally agreed, the OECD’s draft report on CFC rules (the “draft”)1… – Continue reading
The independent intergovernmental organization FATF or The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering), headquartered in Paris, has published a report as a guide for using digital currencies titled “Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Currencies.” It includes benefits of digital currencies as well as potential risks of money… – Continue reading
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) maintains its popularity as the jurisdiction of choice for international business companies by ensuring it is at the forefront of corporate legislation and international cooperation. The popularity of BVI companies continued unabated in 2014, with incorporations of approximately 60,000 new business companies during the year;… – Continue reading
Latvia has become the second European state to remove Bermuda from its blacklist of uncooperative tax jurisdictions In June, the European Commission (EC) published a list of 30 uncooperative tax jurisdictions, with a so-called master blacklist comprising of countries that were targeted by 10 or more EU member states. Bermuda… – Continue reading
Latvia has become the second European state to remove Bermuda from its blacklist of uncooperative tax jurisdictions In June, the European Commission (EC) published a list of 30 uncooperative tax jurisdictions, with a so-called master blacklist comprising of countries that were targeted by 10 or more EU member states. Bermuda… – Continue reading
New digital identity systems could be used to combat money laundering and terrorist financing risks linked with the use of virtual currencies, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has said. In new guidance (48-page / 622KB PDF) it has issued, FATF said a risk-based approach is required when imposing measures… – Continue reading
The European Commission has released a working paper that looks at how significant the introduction of the modified nexus approach will be for the tax affairs of multinational companies that use patent box regimes Entitled Patent Boxes Design, Patents Location, and Local R&D, the paper suggests “that in the majority… – Continue reading
Insurance and financial advisors are being reminded that they will be in the position from time to time to defend Barbados’ reputation as a ‘fine jurisdiction’ in the area of international and financial services, reports the Barbados Advocate. This was pointed out by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade,… – Continue reading
Banks and other financial companies want the new Conservative government to cut the cost of complying with a swath of new regulation, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry, reports The Guardian. When the employers’ lobby group asked firms what the government should do to help the… – Continue reading
“THE decision by a group of European Union (EU) Member States to blacklist Barbados as being non-cooperative and further claim that Barbados and 29 other countries, mostly small islands, do not meet its standards of transparency, exchange of information and fair tax competition, is hypocritical and on the face of… – Continue reading
Belize’s banking sector has caught up with the standards and regulations set by the US and European Union for accountability and transparency in our offshore sector. That’s what the new Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit had to say at press conference rarely called by the stat. Unless you’re a… – Continue reading
Transnational agrochemical and seed giant Monsanto has reiterated its desire to merge with fellow chemical-producing behemoth Syngenta, a company that has already rebuffed three previous purchase attempts by Monsanto. Announcing unexpectedly positive third quarter earnings late last week, Monsanto said that it is still seeking ways to woo Switzerland-based Syngenta… – Continue reading
The Baltic republic of Latvia has pulled Bermuda off its blacklist of uncooperative tax jurisdictions supplied to the European Commission. And the move means the Island has dropped below the ten-nation threshold for inclusion on the EU hitlist — leading Finance Minister Bob Richards to demand Bermuda be taken off… – Continue reading
The UK’s Supreme Court has ruled that a KPMG scheme to enable dealer group Pendragon to recover VAT on demonstrator cars sold as used cars was “abusive” of the law. Its decision earlier this month has overturned a previous Court of Appeal ruling on the scheme, which Pendragon used on… – Continue reading
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement will not be ratified in the UK this year, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has confirmed. In a statement sent to Out-Law.com, the IPO ruled out ratification of the Agreement this year but said that it intends to complete the “domestic preparations” for ratification… – Continue reading
Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), an international intergovernmental organization created to combat money laundering has recently issued guidance in the form of a report titled ‘Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach to Virtual Currencies’ for closer monitoring of cryptocurrency exchanges. The report discusses about various benefits associated with… – Continue reading
Luxembourg, home of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, is the EU’s richest country and a notorious tax haven for multinationals including Disney, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Office Depot — among more than 300 firms who allegedly shifted profits to Luxembourg through sweetheart tax deals uncovered in last year’s ‘LuxLeaks scandal. The… – Continue reading
(Seychelles News Agency) – Seychelles’ Finance Minister says his ministry remains committed and on track towards complying with the widely-recognised Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s regulations on the sharing of tax information. “Seychelles is making considerable and steady progress in achieving the OECD standard in relation to the… – Continue reading
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) issued a statement on Thursday to “strongly” oppose a recent blacklisting of its members as “non-cooperative” tax jurisdictions by the European Union (EU). The list published last week named 14 Caribbean states and territories, including Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Grenada, St. Vincent and… – Continue reading
The countries’ leaders say the label is doing untold damage to their reputations, reports The Voice. A number of Caribbean prime ministers have said the blacklisting by the European Union (EU) is unacceptable and they will not take the move lightly. The Union’s European Commission said the countries were singled… – Continue reading
SEOUL, June 25 (Yonhap) — More than half of big business groups in South Korea have set up companies in overseas tax havens, with SK Group, the nation’s third-largest conglomerate, having the most, data showed Thursday. Out of 61 business groups with combined assets of more than 5 trillion won… – Continue reading
