The offshore yuan strengthened the most this month on speculation traders are paring bets the currency will weaken after a surprise drop in U.S. consumer confidence pushed down the greenback. A gauge of the dollar’s strength fell for a second day as an index of consumer sentiment slumped to the… – Continue reading
Participants listen to an expert during the seminar hosted by KPMG Qatar. KPMG in Qatar held a seminar recently to help chief financial officers and chief compliance officers from financial institutions understand the implications of Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and what they need to do to comply. The seminar comes… – Continue reading
Eight out of ten Europeans think there should be a legal clampdown on tax havens, a pan-European poll commissioned by 24 NGOs has found. The results of the YouGov poll of more than 18,000 EU citizens, released ahead of a vote in the European parliament tomorrow to approve recommendations to… – Continue reading
Multinationals should pay their taxes where they make their profits, according to one of the recommendations by the tax rulings committee, which were adopted by MEPs on 25 November. Report authors Elisa Ferreira (S&D, Portugal) and Michael Theurer (ALDE, Germany) told us it had been difficult for the committee to… – Continue reading
News Hour: Today the European Parliament voted in favor of specific recommendations aimed at stopping corporate tax avoidance across the European Union. The plenary adopted the report of its special committee on tax rulings, which had been created after the Luxleaks scandal. Oxfam welcomes the parliament’s broad consensus on ending… – Continue reading
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
Corporation tax in Northern Ireland is on its way ‘The future depends on what you do today’. It’s a very simple mantra but it rings so true when you consider the author and what he achieved, Mahatma Gandhi truly was a man of iconic vision and wisdom. As details of… – Continue reading
On 17-18 November 2015, a new regional meeting as well as a governmental workshop on BEPS was held for the Latin America and the Caribbean region to discuss the outcomes of the BEPS Project, and the ways that the countries can explore to be involved on an equal footing in… – Continue reading
Protecting the tax base of extractive industries, moving toward more responsive and flexible fiscal regimes, and improving international cooperation have become priorities in the Andean region, as commodity prices and revenues from extractive industries continue to decline, participants at a recent IMF conference heard. The three-day conference, Determining the Tax… – Continue reading
Steptoe & Johnson LLP Today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) announced that the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on December 1, to examine the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) reports and the European Union’s (EU) State Aid investigations… – Continue reading
In order to encourage the growth of international trade including that of financial services, successive Maltese governments have sought to conclude double tax treaties with important trading partners as well as with emerging countries. This policy is expected to continue in the future. To date, treaties are in force with… – Continue reading
Over 90 jurisdictions have committed to the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS), creating comprehensive global automatic information exchange for financial assets and the entities through which such assets may be held. Over 70 jurisdictions have signed the OECD’s Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement, which implements the CRS. The CRS is scheduled… – Continue reading
Did we only yesterday (November 23, 2015) report that the State of Israel increases enforcement ability against tax evaders and that on November 18, 2015 the Israeli Knesset approved a bill to increase the enforcement ability against tax evaders and that the bill promotes the affiliation of Israel to the… – Continue reading
Taxpayers in Romania and throughout the world can expect to pay more tax in the years ahead as governments expand their tax systems to repay debt and pay for increased social welfare, and international efforts to update tax legislation for the 21st century take hold. These are the conclusions of… – Continue reading
Pfizer $160bn purchase of Allergan will see firm move HQ to Dublin Ireland’s exchequer is in line for an annual boost of up to €620 million following the announcement that Pfizer is buying rival Allergan in a $160 billion (€151 billion) deal. The takeover will see Pfizer move its corporate… – Continue reading
MILAN (Reuters) – San Marino is looking for a new central bank governor to clean up its banks – traditional havens for tax dodgers – and fix their badly damaged balance sheets. Big problems for the micro-state began in 2009 when Italy, hit hard by the global financial crisis, added… – Continue reading
The evidence is in: company tax harms investment, innovation, and entrepreneurship — and even reduces wages. Not that you’d know this from reading some stories this week, which claim advocates of company tax cuts had avoided using evidence. This seems to be wilfully ignoring the strong evidence that is in… – Continue reading
The latest Tax Reform Business Barometer survey, issued by The Tax Council and Ernst & Young, found that tax professionals expect Congress to approve tax reform legislation no earlier than 2017, with most congressional leaders having all but given up hope that tax reform is achievable in the remainder of… – Continue reading
A European Parliamentary debate this afternoon discussed measures that would lead to the curtailing of tax evasion and avoidance. A debate was sparked last year when it was revealed that Luxembourg had struck preferential multi-billion dollar tax deals with some of the world’s largest multinational corporations. This debate has been… – Continue reading
Wealth inequality is a scourge of many countries. Last year, Credit Suisse reported that the richest 0.7% of adults in the world owned 44% of global wealth. Closer to home, earlier this year, the Lien Centre for Social Innovation’s ‘A Handbook on Inequality, Poverty and Unmet Social Needs in Singapore‘… – Continue reading
Earlier we already reported that Malta and Curaçao had signed a DTA. When we wrote our earlier article we had not yet been able to locate the text of the DTA. Now however, the English version of the Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal… – Continue reading
Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci says the country is set to follow in the footsteps of Spain, Portugal and Cyprus and launch its own Golden Visa scheme to grant citizenship to those foreigners who invest from €500,000-€1m in property, reports Property Showrooms. Leading Istanbul agent, Universal21, says the move could… – Continue reading
The OECD proposals make it imperative for MNEs to review their means of doing business in India With the global economic recovery hanging in a humdrum, increasing curbs on welfare spending even within developed countries, and business boundaries being blunted in a virtual world with resources spread across the globe,… – Continue reading
Switzerland is on its way towards the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI). The AEOI will lead to the transmission of sets of data from a reporting financial institution (e.g. a bank) to the domestic tax authority. The domestic tax authority will have to exchange such data with the respective foreign… – Continue reading
Following a ruling by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration, payments of interest under the DDM Treasury SEK 300 million Senior Secured Notes with ISIN SE0005280831 (the “Notes”) are subject to Swiss withholding tax since the refinancing executed in June 2015. On 23 June 2015 certain amendments to the documentation in… – Continue reading
The World Bank has placed India twelve notches higher than last year in its Ease of Doing Business rankings for 2016. This comes close on the heels of the country’s sixteen place leap on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness index. These rankings underline the impact of the recent spate… – Continue reading
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, K C Chan, has emphasized that the Government is committed to complying with the latest international tax developments, including on tax transparency and tackling base erosion and profit shifting. In his speech to the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong 2015 CTA… – Continue reading
As the founder of a startup company, one of the first questions you need to consider is “where should I incorporate my company?” Investors are drawn to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for its flexible and modern corporate regime, tax neutrality, respected legal system, political stability and effective regulatory framework…. – Continue reading
Today, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released statistics for the 2014 reporting period on the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) caseloads of all of its member countries and of non-OECD economies that agreed to provide such statistics. The OECD has already provided MAP statistics for reporting periods 2006… – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) today released annual statistics on the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) caseloads of all its member countries and of non-OECD economies that agree to provide such statistics for the 2014 reporting period. Today’s OECD release explains: The MAP statistics correspond to the 2014… – Continue reading
On 10 November 2015, the Danish Ministry of Taxation introduced a draft bill (bill no. L46) including an amendment to section 3B of the Danish Tax Control Act (skattekontrolloven). The purpose of the proposed amendment is to implement Action Point 13 of the BEPS Initiative (Guidance on Transfer Pricing Documentation… – Continue reading
Through tweaks to the Model Tax Convention, the OECD believes its work on profit shifting will stem elaborate structures, such as commissionaire arrangements, used by large multinationals to avoid the creation of a permanent establishment. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, however, responded to concerns from taxpayers by narrowing… – Continue reading
The U.K. and the U.S. governments will adopt different approaches to implementing the OECD’s final package of measures to tackle base erosion and profit shifting, panelists at a London forum said. The U.K. government considers an inclusive, multilateral instrument to upgrade bilateral tax treatments as the “best way” for countries… – Continue reading
LK Hewlett Customers throughout the region are likely to see additional or increased fees and charges as their banks incur mounting financial burden in the face of FATCA and CRS. The regional banks have recently had to expand their IT, security and human resources to become compliant with the US’… – Continue reading
Big name companies have faced a lot of criticism from the media about the low taxes they pay in some countries. Lately, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has finalised a set of recommendations to stop base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The rules are aimed at curbing… – Continue reading
The OECD’s final report on Action 13 under the base erosion and profit shifting project—which calls for countries to adopt a country-by-country reporting template, master file and local file—has the potential to be one of its “greatest legacies.” Marlies de Ruiter, head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s… – Continue reading
The European Commission has requested that the Netherlands amend the limitation on benefits clause in its double tax treaty with Japan. The Commission said that, on the basis of previous cases such as Gottardo (C-55/00) and Open Skies (C-466/98), a member state concluding a treaty with a third country cannot… – Continue reading
Nawaz Sharif has turned his full attention for close relations with Central Asian states since the five of them broke away from Russia 23 years ago. Fast track negotiations between Central Asian and Pakistani leaderships are slated to turn their countries into a big, new economic zone. Their desire and… – Continue reading
“India’s concerns are known…there can be no compromise on the issue of terror…India’s longstanding position is that there is no good or bad terror and all forms of terrorism are unacceptable and must be fought by the global community as well as each and every country”, the source told reporters…. – Continue reading
Towards compliance with tax information sharing laws put in place in recent times, all financial intermediaries are mandated to seek information from account holders. They are also obliged to share information of your account with relevant authorities. SEBI too has issued guidelines on identification of beneficial ownership and mandated all… – Continue reading
The North will have its own 12.5pc corporate tax rate from 2018. This means that it will compete harder against the Republic for FDI projects, writes Dan White The 12.5pc company tax rate will no longer be confined to the southern part of the island. Last week’s ‘Fresh Start’ agreement… – Continue reading
On the face of it, Malta literally has the highest corporate tax rate in the EU. At 35%, it hardly seems to be a competitor to European tax havens like Ireland and Cyprus, both applying a rate of 12.5%, or territories like Gibraltar. At a rate of 10%, the latter… – Continue reading
The United States is on the verge of economic collapse. It is being tipped over the edge by its own government with an unquenchable thirst for taxes and incurable addiction to spending. The financial system in the United States and everywhere else in the world is in danger of disintegrating… – Continue reading
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
The blacklisting saga did not start with Spain, but it did end with a timely correction related to it. Harbour Times explains how Hong Kong was taken off the Spanish tax haven list. Friends of Harbour Times would be familiar with the remedy of Hong Kong being named a non-cooperative… – Continue reading
The European Commission has requested that Spain amend its rules on the taxation of certain income obtained by foreign non-profit entities and of certain contributions to such entities. The crux of the Commission’s complaint is that foreign non-profit entities that derive income from Spain, but which are established in another… – Continue reading
The UK has climbed to 15th place in the latest World Bank Group and PwC Paying Taxes report, and is third top among G-20 countries, behind Saudi Arabia and Canada. Paying Taxes 2015 measures how burdensome a country’s tax regime is on the average medium-sized company. The report found that… – Continue reading
We are all aware of “base erosion and profit shifting” or “BEPS”. On 5 October 2015, the OECD released its final reports in connection with its BEPS Action Plan including its final report on Action 15 dealing with the development of a multilateral instrument to modify bilateral tax treaties (“Final… – Continue reading
The UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Responsible Tax will on November 23 launch a public consultation on the impact of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting on the tax rules in place in the UK. Led by Margaret Hodge, the former Chair of the UK’s Public Accounts Committee, the… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Finance issued a regulation with guidance concerning the procedures for the exchange of financial information with other jurisdictions and countries. The “automatic exchange of information” (AEOI) process will allow for the exchange of data to verify and confirm compliance with tax obligations, including information from financial institutions…. – Continue reading
