Category: Tax evasion investigations

Tax authorities mount raids on 19 German banks and houses

Investigation is linked to Panama Papers and part of money laundering allegations Eleven banks and eight private homes and offices across Germany have been raided by police and tax investigators as part of a wide-ranging investigation into tax evasion. The raids, which began at dawn on Wednesday and went on… – Continue reading

Kamal says fully foreign-owned cos no more to be allowed

Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that the foreign companies will be required to have local partners for doing business in Bangladesh as the government wants to bring them under the tax net. ‘No foreign company can do business alone here any longer,’ he told reporters on Thursday after… – Continue reading

Cyprus and Kazakhstan sign Double Taxation Convention

The Republic of Cyprus and Kazakhstan signed on Wednesday a Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and for the combating of Tax Evasion with respect to taxes on income. According to a press release issued by the Public Information Office, the Convention was signed in Nursultan, Kazakhstan, by the… – Continue reading

Wolfsberg Group Publishes Guidance on Customer Tax Evasion

Financial institutions should be able to leverage existing financial crime compliance, conduct and tax (including tax transparency regimes) procedures and controls, to address the risks of customer tax evasion. The Wolfsberg Group has published new guidance on customer tax evasion, designed to help financial institutions in developing, implementing and maintaining… – Continue reading

Taxing times for SMEs

Globalisation of the economy has resulted in a shift in the way Singapore corporations operate – from local country-specific business models, to global integrated supply chains which centralise functions at a regional or global level. Singapore, in particular is a popular location to house regional and global operations, due to… – Continue reading

Govt Approves Tax Certificate Reply To Oecd

The government has approved the creation of tax residency certificates for permanent residents so they can prove compliance with other countries’ laws, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday. Brent Symonette, minister of financial services, trade and industry and Immigration, told the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Caribbean Conference that… – Continue reading

48 KRA officers wanted for bribery, tax evasion

48 Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials were Monday morning expected at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters on Kiambu road for questioning. The individuals include 32 officers from KRA’s Domestic Taxes Department, 15 from the Customs and Border Control Department and one from the Investigations and Enforcement Department. They… – Continue reading

Court of BiH confirmed the Indictment to One Person for Tax Evasion in Amount of Half a Million BAM

On 11 February 2019 the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the indictment in the case of Selman Husejin et al. charging the accused Selman Husejin with the continued criminal offense of Tax Evasion or Fraud under Article 210(4) as read with Paragraph 1, and Article 54 of the Criminal… – Continue reading

Philippine FIU Seeks an End to Bank Secrecy Law

The AML Council is seeking additional powers to combat financial crime, including the lifting of the bank secrecy law, which would allow it to check all accounts regardless of transaction thresholds. The Philippine AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) is seeking additional powers to combat financial crime as part of the BSP… – Continue reading

A perspective on tax amnesty

Tax amnesty is defines as “grant of an opportunity to a specific class of society to declare their undeclared assets by payment of a meagre amount of tax in addition to grant of immunity from default surcharge, penalties and prosecution”. It is introduced by the governments to fulfill the slogan… – Continue reading

Metro Vancouver developer and builder sentenced for tax evasion

A developer and builder based in Anmore has been found guilty of tax evasion and making false statements under the Income Tax Act, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced on Friday. According to the CRA, Willi Isaak was sentenced to pay a $23,100 fine, after being found guilty on two… – Continue reading

India notifies pact with US to check tax evasion by MNCs

As per the agreement, it is intended to provide relevant and reliable information to perform an efficient and robust transfer pricing risk assessment analysis. Aimed at providing relief to subsidiaries of US multinationals and ensuring a check on cross-border tax evasion, India has notified the inter-governmental agreement with the United… – 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

MP CM’s nephew under fire for tax evasion

According to sources, the raids were conducted at Mr Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri’s company, Hindustan Powerprojects Pvt Ltd on April 7. New Delhi: The income tax department has detected tax evasion of more than Rs 1,350 crore during search and seizure operations conducted against Hindustan Powerprojects, a company owned by… – Continue reading

Australia establishes agreement with Taiwan on tax and finance transparency

Taiwan implemented ‘Common Reporting Standards’ in 2019, now recognized by Japan and Australia TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On April 22, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced Australia had officially agreed to accept Taiwan as a Common Reporting Standards (CRS) partner nation in matters of financial and legal transparency related to… – Continue reading

Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli to pay tax evasion fine

In late December, news of Refaeli’s potential indictment came about. Her mother, who was her modeling agent, was also subject to the money-laundering scheme, according to reports. Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli, who has been investigated by the nation’s Tax Authority since 2015, will have to pay taxes for the roughly… – Continue reading

Mauritius: blue skies, sunshine – and these noteworthy changes to its domestic laws

Not just the ultimate holiday stop, Mauritius is also a preferred jurisdiction for fund managers looking to establish African-focused funds, say Michael Denenga and Nicole Paige, partners at Webber Wentzel. “A scenic island off the coast of Africa, Mauritius’ main competitive advantage is its proximity to the jurisdictions that African-focused… – Continue reading

Amnesty for tax delinquents

In our previous articles, we’ve discussed Republic Act (RA)–1213, the “Tax Amnesty Act of 2019” (Tax Amnesty Act), particularly the fact that President Duterte vetoed several provisions, specifically the General Tax Amnesty (GTA). The GTA was supposed to cover all national internal revenue taxes (i.e., income tax, withholding tax, value-added… – Continue reading

Africa’s problem with tax avoidance

Every year African countries lose at least $50 million in taxes — more than the amount of foreign development aid. So where is it all going and how can multinational companies be held to account? NGOs continue to raise the alarm. African countries are being cheated out of billions in… – Continue reading

Assad’s uncle ‘Butcher of Hama’ to stand trial on graft charges in France

Assad’s uncle ‘Butcher of Hama’ to stand trial on graft charges in France The uncle of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad is to stand trial in France on charges of building up a big property empire in the country using funds from Syrian state coffers, legal sources said on Wednesday. An investigating… – Continue reading

EU passes legislation protecting whistleblowers to encourage wrongdoing

Whistleblowers across the European Union have won greater protection under landmark legislation aimed at encouraging reports of wrongdoing. The new law, approved by the European Parliament on Tuesday, shields whistleblowers from retaliation. It also creates “safe channels” to allow them to report breaches of EU law. It is the first… – Continue reading

Tax hope

Barbados is hopeful that it will be removed from a European blacklist of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions by next month, the head of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) has said. Julia Hope said her organisation, which represents international business companies and offshore financial services, will be giving every support it… – Continue reading

HMRC targets accountants over tax evading clients

HMRC sent 1,414 requests to professional services firms demanding confidential information on clients suspected of tax evasion in the 12 months to 31 March 2018, according to law firm RPC. The production orders are issued by HMRC’s Criminal Investigation Directorate to force third parties, such as accountants, lawyers and other… – Continue reading

Indonesians who hide assets abroad face punishment

The Directorate General of Taxation will seriously investigate Indonesian assets that are not reported through the annual tax return form (SPT), and is preparing punishment for non-compliant taxpayers, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said over the weekend. She said the first step would be for the Directorate General of Taxation… – Continue reading

HMRC vows crackdown on offshore tax evasion in Spring Statement

The UK has published a policy paper setting out the direction for HMRC’s updated strategy for offshore tax compliance, offshore tax compliance strategy: No Safe Havens 2019. In the document, published alongside the chancellor’s Spring Statement, HMRC said it will use hefty punishments for those who enable offshore tax avoidance…. – Continue reading

Finance Ministry calls on parliament to adopt laws for cooperation with IMF, EU

The Ukrainian Finance Ministry has called on the Verkhovna Rada to approve a package of bills that will open access to further macro-financial assistance from the EU and help continue cooperation with the IMF, the ministry’s press service has reported on its Facebook page. “This week, the Verkhovna Rada will… – Continue reading

EU Report Calls For Finance Authorities, AML Oversight

European Union lawmakers released a report on Wednesday (Feb. 27) recommending that the EU create a police unit dedicated to the investigation of tax and financial crimes, as well as a watchdog organization to fight money-laundering, according to a report by Reuters. The report, which is the result of a… – Continue reading

Malta: How Beneficial Owners Registers Aim To Curb Money Laundering And Tax Evasion

With more complicated company structures being used, it has become increasingly more difficult to establish who the ultimate beneficial owners of entities are. In light of the new regulation, do you believe that the Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) Register can help in any way to prevent financial crime? The UBO… – Continue reading

Ginimbi $22 Million Tax Evasion Investigations Complete

Businessman Genius Kadungure was back in court yesterday for continuation of his $22 million tax evasion case. Kadungure was represented by Jonathan Samkange when he appeared before Harare regional magistrate Vongai Guuriro. Prosecutor Shephered Makonde told the court that investigations have been completed. He said a trial date will be… – Continue reading

Foreign income declaration mandatory

KARACHI: The income tax law has made it mandatory for taxpayers to declare foreign income and assets in order to avoid penalty, Vishno Raja Qavi, former chief tax policy, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), said on Thursday. He was highlighting the key points of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) at… – Continue reading

Australian tax agency to crack down on lawyers protecting tax-evading clients

CANBERRA, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) — Australia’s tax collector has announced a crackdown on lawyers who misuse legal privilege to protect their clients. In a post on its website, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) said it was preparing to launch “range of (legal) cases in the short to medium term” against… – Continue reading

Ikea Being Investigated for Dodging Taxes of More than $1.1 Billion

According to a Green party report in the European Parliament, Ikea has been accused of tax dodging for as much as 1 billion euros or $1.1 billion in its taxes from 2009 to 2014. The political organization has accused the retailer of a large scale avoidance of taxes. In the… – Continue reading

Prize bonds to be made registered instrument to broaden tax base

ISLAMABAD: The government decided to convert almost all the prize bonds into registered instruments in a move to keep record of investors and curb tax evasion and money laundering, sources said on Friday. Presently, prize bonds can be purchased from open market and used as an instrument to evade taxes…. – Continue reading

Pakistanis’ assets abroad: Government requests 10 more countries for info exchange

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has made formal requests to 10 more countries under the OECD mechanism as well as Switzerland separately for exchange of information about those Pakistanis who stashed their assets abroad to evade taxes. “We have made requests to 10 more countries for getting automatic exchange of information and so… – Continue reading

One in nine US multinationals ‘fail to comply with tax transparency law’

Analysis of more than 600 US multinational corporations has revealed that 12 per cent failed to comply with UK law requiring them to publish their tax strategies. With the UK estimated to lose £25 billion in corporate tax revenue each year due to multinational corporations shifting profits out of the… – Continue reading

Apple settles 10-year tax battle with France, paying a reported €500M ($570M)

Apple has settled a ten-year tax battle with France, agreeing to pay a reported half a billion Euros ($570M) in back tax. The French government had accused Apple of evading or avoiding tax due on sales made in France. The line between tax evasion, which is illegal, and aggressive tax-avoidance,… – Continue reading

Tunisian Government Estimates Tax Evasion at USD8.3 Billion

Prime Minister’s adviser in charge of tax reform Faisal Derbal has revealed that tax evasion is estimated to reach TND25 billion (around USD8.3 billion) in Tunisia. He denied, during a press conference in the government’s headquarters, rumors circulating about the tax evasion value rising to double of the mentioned number… – Continue reading