Category: G7

Canada: Don’t Let Your Dream Vacation Home Become A Tax Nightmare

Renting your foreign property may require you to disclose information to the Canada Revenue Agency (the "CRA"). A Foreign Income Verification Statement is required to be filed with the CRA where the adjusted cost base of the property exceeds CDN $100,000.  ... - Continue reading

Corporate Canada’s Pile of Cash in Offshore Tax Havens Has Hit $353 Billion For the First Time in History

Luxembourg, Barbados and Bermuda are three of Canada’s top five destinations in the world for corporate cash After exploding to record levels under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, the amount of money Corporate Canada is funneling through offshore tax havens has hit a new all-time high. According to data newly released… – Continue reading

France to propose world business tax at G7: minister

DAVOS, Switzerland: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday that France would plead for global minimum corporate tax as a priority of its presidencyof the G7 nations group this year. “We need an effective minium corporate tax in all developed countries,” the minister said at a press conference… – Continue reading

Tax Reform Advocacy Group Outlines Pro-Growth Plan

With corporate tax reform still very much on the table, advocacy group Alliance for Competitive Taxation (ACT) has weighed in with a reform plan that it deems internationally competitive and pro-growth, and capable of driving transformational change in the U.S. economy. ACT doesn’t define its member businesses but says it… – Continue reading

German finance minister plans to clamp down on offshore firms with new draft law

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wants to force Germans to disclose their dealings with offshore firms in tax havens and make banks liable for lost tax income if they conceal their clients’ business with such firms, a draft law shows. Tax havens were thrown into the limelight in April when… – Continue reading

OECD BEPS tax avoidance plans fail to change tax approach

Nearly a year after release of the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) anti tax avoidance action plan, which introduces changes to the treatment of interest deductibility and profit shifting, the majority of businesses have not changed their approach to tax compliance. The major economies in the G7 (83%),… – Continue reading

Who’s got guts enough to go after Canada’s tax-dodging corporations?

In its time, the Irving empire has had plenty of federal contracts — all of them lucrative, many of them controversial. So it wasn’t a surprise to hear that a federal cabinet committee is reviewing Irving’s $26 billion sole-source (but still unsigned) contract to build a fleet of warships for… – Continue reading

Tax-dodging by the superrich is driving global inequality, Oxfam says

Tax dodging by the super-rich is one of the main drivers of global income inequality and must be sharply curtailed, according to a new report from the global nonprofit Oxfam. Citing research by Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman — a protégé of Thomas Piketty, author of the global bestseller on inequality,… – Continue reading

Countering terrorism financing through anti-money laundering measures

It is time for re-regulation; Europe is strengthening its AML/CFT measures in order to lower current terrorist financing (TF) risks. “Money is the lifeblood of terrorist operations,” declared George Bush after the 9/11 attacks. French finance minister Michel Sapin has beaten the same drum when he recently claimed that “the… – Continue reading

Law Enforcement and Regulators Agree: Bitcoin Not Useful for Terrorists, Already Regulated Appropriately

In the aftermath of the Paris attack on November 13, the European Union (EU) is looking to crack down on bitcoin with the hope of preventing the financing of future attacks. Regulators and advocacy groups agree, though, that kneejerk regulation is not what is needed; rather, it’s an increase in… – Continue reading

Ethiopia: Unmet Demands of the G20

The creation of the Group of Twenty (G20) was believed to serve as a remedy to the harsh realities of the world today. The initial formation of the Group of Seven G7 could do little to avert pertinent challenges both the developing and the developed nations face frequently. So a… – Continue reading

Senegal president calls on West to fight tax evasion in Africa

VALLETTA) – Senegalese President Macky Sall called Thursday for multinationals to pay their fair share of taxes following a summit with EU leaders aimed at curbing the poverty fuelling mass migration to Europe. Sall also said Africans should receive a a fair price for their natural resources when he addressed… – Continue reading

Switzerland still top tax haven, US jumps to No. 3

NEW DELHI: Switzerland has retained its top spot in the financial secrecy index (FSI) 2015, unveiled by the Tax Justice Network (TJN) on Monday. Switzerland is followed by Hong Kong, the US, Singapore and the Cayman Islands. The biggest surprise is the US, which has climbed to third place from… – Continue reading

Israel looks to join int’l anti-money laundering task force

A Financial Action Task Force (FATF) delegation visits Israel this week to consider Israel’s application for membership. “Israel is working tirelessly to upgrade its standing as a regional leader in the struggle against money laundering and financing of terrorism through persistent regulatory changes and a more effective regime. Up until… – Continue reading

Richards: Island’s critics have double standards

A blistering attack on major countries who brand offshore financial centres as tax havens has been launched by Bob Richards. The Minister of Finance warned that pressure on the offshore sector from abroad will continue into the foreseeable future. Mr Richards, speaking at the launch of a British Virgin Islands… – Continue reading

Senior lawyer suggests simple solution to anti-money laundering law arbitrage opportunity, says judgment against FMA well constructed and logical

The four entities tasked with upholding New Zealand’s anti-money laundering law should team up to close off the law’s obvious arbitrage opportunity by stopping financial services companies that only have clients overseas from being able to sidestep the law, a leading lawyer says. As first highlighted by interest.co.nz in August… – Continue reading

National Assembly committee wants to hear from banks at tax haven hearings

Quebec — Tax havens are depriving Quebecers of at least $1.5 billion a year, said Québec solidaire MNA Amir Khadir on the opening day of parliamentary hearings on the worldwide phenomenon. The National Assembly’s public finances committee decided last June to dedicate several days this fall to the study of… – Continue reading

No Plans To Harmonize EU CIT Rates, Says Moscovici

Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has confirmed that the European Commission has no plans, formal or informal, to harmonize corporation tax rates across the European Union. In a written question to the Commission, Jonathan Arnott, a UK Member of the European Parliament, asked the Commission to confirm its latest position on… – Continue reading

Business Leaders Doubt Global Agreement On BEPS

Only 23 percent of business leaders feel that recommendations from the OECD on base erosion and profit shifting will be successfully implemented, according to the findings of a new survey by Grant Thornton. Three quarters of business leaders would pay more taxes in exchange for greater clarity from authorities on… – Continue reading

Business leaders renew appeal for clarity on ‘acceptable’ tax planning

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Three quarters of business leaders would pay more taxes in exchange for greater clarity from authorities on what is acceptable, according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), a global survey of 2,580 businesses in 35 economies. And while few expect a global agreement any time soon, the… – Continue reading

The OECD BEPS Project, part III: the impact of BEPS in the United States

This article is the third in our current three part series discussing various impacts of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) efforts to address the perceived global tax problem of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The first article provided an overview of the key aspects of the… – Continue reading

Japan MoF names Masatsugu Asakawa as top financial diplomat

Japan’s Ministry of Finance said international policy veteran Masatsugu Asakawa will become the country’s top financial diplomat, whose tasks include co-ordinating with other nations and the IMF as well as arranging currency interventions. Asakawa’s broad network with policymakers both inside and outside Japan puts him in an ideal position to… – Continue reading

G7 to Clamp Down on Tax Avoidance Via Transfer Pricing

Multinational firms said to be ‘cheating’ African countries out of billions of dollars that could be used for health care and education. G7 leaders Monday pledged to reform the international tax system by minimizing transfer pricing, according to Public Finance International. Transfer pricing involves internal transactions between a large company’s… – Continue reading

G7 fails to stop the dirty money trail, tax evasion

Dirty money resulting from crime, corruption and tax evasion is estimated to cost over one trillion dollars every year. It exacerbates poverty and inequality, and should be regarded as one of the most pressing issues globally. An Oxfam report found that G7-based companies and investors cheat Africa out of tens… – Continue reading

G7 leaders move toward automatic exchange of tax information

Heads of state meeting at the G7 Summit in Bavaria, Germany committed to promoting automatic exchange of tax information and tax rulings to discourage multinational companies from shifting profits from country to country to avoid taxes, reports Accounting Today. In a joint declaration, the G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to… – Continue reading

Switzerland plans to drop tax privileges for holding companies

ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss government said on Friday it is doing away with a frequently criticised privileged tax status for holding companies based in Switzerland, which will lead to a billion-franc shortfall in annual tax revenue. “While these arrangements made a valuable contribution to the business location’s appeal in… – Continue reading