Category: Common Reporting Standard

The Common Reporting Standard: Automatic Information Exchange Goes Global

Automatic exchange of information for tax law enforcement purposes started first in Europe with the EU Savings Tax Directive, went international with the US Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act, and, from 2017, will go global with the recently-agreed Common Reporting Standard, the subject of this feature. Introduction To The Common… – Continue reading

Compliance costs banks dearly

Pretoria – The constant stream of new data requirements by the South African Revenue Service from South Africa’s major banks is costing the sector millions of rand and affecting the economy and banking costs. Tax heads at the banks raised questions during the recent Tax Indaba in Sandton about the… – Continue reading

Common Reporting Standard

On 20 October 2014 Ireland along with 50 other countries signed a multilateral competent authority agreement to automatically exchange certain information between tax authorities of signatory jurisdictions. The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) involves the collection of information in relation to financial accounts from financial institutions and the annual transmission of… – Continue reading

Isle of Man signs Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the Cayman Islands

The Isle of Man has continued its programme of developing closer economic and taxation co-operation with other countries by concluding a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the Cayman Islands. This is the Isle of Man‘s 33rd TIEA. The agreement was signed by Hon. G. Wayne Panton MLA, the Cayman… – Continue reading

4th FATCA and Global Tax Compliance Forum

NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwired – September 23, 2015) – With the global implementation of FATCA and anticipation of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), legal and compliance professionals within the banking industry have never seen such a regulatory overload and focus on ensuring proper compliance processes. As these multi-national regulations become implemented… – Continue reading

Australian CRS rules to apply to all foreign residents

The Australian Government has released an exposure draft of the legislation implementing the OECD Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (known as the Common Reporting Standard, or CRS), and an accompanying explanatory memorandum (available here). The draft requires Reporting Financial Institutions to report to the Commissioner of Taxation… – Continue reading

Taxation issues concerning high networth individuals

What constitutes an HNI is a tricky question? In general parlance, HNIs are understood to be the individuals with ultra-high networth with deep pockets having surplus investible funds. As per the Credit Suisse global wealth report, currently India is home to around 1,500 ultra-high networth individuals with wealth of at… – Continue reading

What NRI investors need to take note of in the latest IRS Notice

There are many Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from the US that are fearful of being involuntary discovered through the impending Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) disclosures of their Indian accounts by their foreign banks. The US Internal Revenue Service has issued a notice extending the time under which certain transitional… – Continue reading

Your taxes: Info exchange inner workings

The OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and FATCA in the United States are long-winded. So the OECD published on August 7 a much shorter and lighter guide: the “Common Reporting Standard Implementation Handbook” (the CRS Handbook). The CRS and FATCA represent a sweeping change toward automatic information exchange and away… – Continue reading

New global tax crackdown could impact asset owners

A new wave of global tax compliance regulation is a game changer in the way asset owners and investment management companies report activities. Globalization of financial markets has made it increasingly simple to make, hold and manage investments outside an asset owner’s own tax domicile. A standard on automatic exchange… – Continue reading

Luxembourg: Luxembourg Leads On FATCA Transparency

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is ranked third in the world for the number of financial institutions per-country that have now signed up to report under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). IRS figures report 8,525 Luxembourg firms have registered with the FATCA portal, and the total is surpassed… – Continue reading

Cayman Islands: Impact Of The Common Reporting Standard On Cayman Islands Financial Institutions – Top 5 Questions Clients Are Asking About CRS

1. What is CRS? “CRS” or Common Reporting Standard is a regime developed by the OECD to facilitate and standardise the exchange of information on residents’ assets and income, primarily for taxation purposes, between numerous jurisdictions around the world. Officially referred to as the OECD Standard for Automatic Exchange of… – Continue reading

Dutch Tax Plan 2016

Speed read On 15 September 2015 the Dutch government published its Tax Plan 2016. In this e-alert we discuss the legislative proposals in the Tax Plan which are of interest for companies. 1 INTRODUCTION Today, the Dutch Ministry of Finance published its Tax Plan 2016. In fact, the government sent… – Continue reading

Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (including US FATCA)

HMRC has today published new draft guidance notes to cover the automatic exchange of financial account information under the International Tax Compliance Regulations 2015 (SI 2015 No. 878) (the Regulations), which were made in the spring. The main document is a new draft HMRC guidance manual covering the Regulations. The… – Continue reading

Worldwide: Structured Finance: FATCA And The OECD Common Reporting Standard

More than 90 jurisdictions, including all 34 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) and the G20 members, have committed to implement the Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of tax information (“CRS”). Building on the model created by FATCA, the CRS creates a global standard… – Continue reading

The Changing Face of Luxembourg Finance

“Luxembourg is famous for two things: its steel industry and its rose cultivation industry”. This quote from an Italian guidebook of the 1930s was uttered by Luxembourg’s Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna at the annual conference of the Luxembourg Directors’ Association on 17 June 2015[1]. The economic outlook of the tiny… – Continue reading

Not international business as usual

BARBADOS’ OFFSHORE FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR is again under threat. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), G20 and the European Union (EU) are acting in concert, armed with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). Once implemented, the confidentiality which once protected financial… – Continue reading

PwC makes acquisition for high speed FATCA and CRS reports

PwC has acquired software company Ellis Financial Systems in a bid to more rapidly meet new tax information reporting required under such regimes as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). It has been re-named PwC Tax Information Reporting, and will operate from London. The acquisition represents one of many… – Continue reading

Tax evader crackdown could reduce offshore banking options for expats

An initiative intended to catch tax dodgers could have a negative impact on those with perfectly legitimate bank accounts. Tax expert Howard Bilton offers advice The draconian Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), introduced by the US Government to tackle tax evasion by its citizens, has already affected Britons living… – Continue reading

The Implications for International Tax Planning From the Looming Fiscal Crisis

The international financial sector faces a perilous future. Major challenges loom over an uncertain global economy, while a decidedly negative political climate poses an existential threat to the offshore financial community. With each passing year, thanks to demographic changes and poorly designed fiscal policies, politicians from high-tax nations will be… – Continue reading

Colleen P. Waddell, Managing Director, Outlier Solutions to Speak at the Knowledge Group’s FATCA Event

New York, NY, September 05, 2015 –(PR.com)– The Knowledge Group/The Knowledge Congress Live Webcast Series, the leading producer of regulatory focused webcasts, has announced today that Colleen P. Waddell, Managing Director, Outlier Solutions will speak at the Knowledge Group’s webcast entitled: “Latest Regulatory Developments Under FATCA: Best Compliance Practices Uncovered… – Continue reading

LUXEMBOURG: FINAL VERSION OF FATCA GUIDANCE

The Luxembourg tax authorities released a final version of an administrative circular and an updated administrative circular to implement provisions under the FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) regime concerning the automatic exchange of information between Luxembourg and the United States. An intergovernmental agreement (IGA), that follows the Model 1… – Continue reading

Global tax reporting: Regulatory challenges loom

Reevaluating reporting options and investmentsSmart choices and targeted investments today may help contain the approaching resource crunch and the long term costs of compliance FATCA has placed tax reporting front and center with management committees of financial institutions, but it represents just the tip of a potentially larger iceberg. Legislation… – Continue reading

marcus evans to Host the 4th FATCA and Global Tax Compliance Forum

This Annual Conference Provides Global Tax Compliance Experts With Insight on Adopting an Internationally Accepted Standard of Tax Transparency and Compliance NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwired – August 25, 2015) – marcus evans, the world’s largest event management group, will host the 4th FATCA and Global Tax Compliance Forum on November 4-6,… – Continue reading

New tax rules could erode financial privacy

Security fears; Global authorities to begin sharing sensitive data If you have a bank account somewhere overseas, that information will make its way back to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in a couple of years. In 2018, international tax authorities will begin automatically sharing financial information under the terms of… – Continue reading

Canada Court Ruling Could Put Brakes on FATCA

Aug. 19 — Tax authorities and practitioners around the world are awaiting a Canadian court’s ruling on the legality of Canada’s legislation to comply with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. The Federal Court of Canada is due to issue by Sept. 30 a ruling on the validity of the… – Continue reading

THE ISSUE: ‘Bowing’ to global pressure

IN THE LAST TEN YEARS the international community has tried to pressure Barbados into signing tax information exchange agreements. Successive administrations, however, have resisted by continuing to show preference for double taxation treaties. That has not stopped the pressure, and some would argue that in some ways the global players… – Continue reading

Tax expert warns Liechtenstein disclosure facility replacement will be tougher

Anyone with undisclosed overseas income, gains or assets will be wise to make use of the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility while it lasts, according to tax experts at Baker Tilly, reports FT Adviser. Andrew Hubbard, a partner at the firm, warned advisers that everything he has heard has led him to… – Continue reading

SA taxpayers have nowhere to hide

South Africans with undisclosed offshore accounts may feel exposed after their offshore Swiss bank account information found its way into the public domain this year. The theft of information relating to some 30 000 HSBC accounts – the biggest banking leak in history – actually took place five years ago… – Continue reading

Cayman Islands: Cayman Islands Implementing OECD Common Reporting Standard By October 2015

On 16 June 2015 the Department of International Tax Cooperation (the “DITC“) of the Cayman Islands government announced that it was moving forward with the implementation of the OECD Common Reporting Standard (“CRS“), via the introduction of Cayman Islands domestic law, by October 2015. The CRS represents a significant step… – Continue reading

OECD Releases Its Annual Tax Administration Report

On August 11, 2015, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its annual report addressing global tax administration. The OECD’s stated mission is to “promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.” The OECD describes its annual report as follows: Tax… – Continue reading

Cayman Islands: Proactive Guidance Needed To Help Entities Meet FATCA Deadlines

The first reporting cycle for the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) kicked off with the 31 March deadline set by the US Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) for countries and territories such as Hong Kong that have a Model 2 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). Although the IRS has granted… – Continue reading

New FATCA / CRS guidance: clarifications to self-certification requirements

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has further updated its guidance material on the Australia-US FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). This is especially important in relation to self-certification requirements. The ATO has followed the US interpretation that a FATCA self-certification must be obtained before a new individual account is opened. The OECD… – Continue reading

Isle of Man: Global Tax Investigations Conference – Isle of Man, September 2015

Following successful conferences in the Isle of Man in 2014 and in Gibraltar in March 2015, leading offshore law firm DQ Advocates and global law firm Latham & Watkins will be hosting their latest Global Tax Investigations Conference in the Isle of Man on 11 September 2015. The conference is… – Continue reading

OECD releases three automatic information exchange reports

THE OECD has published three reports outlining the framework for the automatic exchange of financial information between governments as part of its efforts to curb tax avoidance and evasion. In October last year, the organisation announced the agreement to automatically share tax information on individuals by the year 2018, to… – Continue reading

FinMin notifies rules on foreign account tax Act

India follows common approach for implementation of FATCA and CRS New Delhi, Aug 8: The Finance Ministry has come up with the rules for information reporting under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), spelling out the timelines and the entities have to comply with the new requirements. The new… – Continue reading

Sars to waive penalties for voluntary disclosure?

Fears of a VDP application giving rise to a ‘witch hunt’ are ill-founded. The rapid development in international tax transparency over the past two years in the form of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Common Reporting Standard (CRS) has caused many South African taxpayers to consider regularising… – Continue reading

OECD publishes a Common Reporting Standard (CRS) Implementation Handbook

On August 7, 2015 the OECD published a Common Reporting Standard Implementation Handbook (Hereafter: the Handbook). According to the introduction included in the Handbook, the purpose of the Handbook is to assist government officials in the implementation of the Standard for the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax… – Continue reading

Singapore’s easiest days as a finance hub are over

SINGAPORE’S easiest days as a financial hub are over. The city remains a gateway to Asia, a great base for basing multinationals, settling lawsuits and parking money. But elsewhere, the city is being sidelined; the worry is that is a sign of things to come. In just 50 years, the… – Continue reading

SARS wants exchange of information treaties to include tax information

THE South African Revenue Service (SARS) wants to be able to share disclosed financial information with countries with which it has multilateral exchange of information agreements. The ability to automatically exchange information with revenue authorities and with SA’s treaty partners would allow SARS to expand its tax base and help… – Continue reading

OECD Common Reporting Standard to come into effect in Canada on July 1, 2017

Canadian financial institutions will be subject to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Common Reporting Standard as of July 1, 2017 with the first exchanges of financial account information beginning in 2018. The CRS, known formally as the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax… – Continue reading