Category: Corporate Tax

Deloitte: Romania faces growing fiscal competition as 8 EU member states cut corporate tax rates since 2017

Romania will be able to count less on the low taxation advantage in order to attract investments due to growing competition, after eight EU member states have reduced their corporate tax rates since 2017, according to a study released by Deloitte Romania. “Even in the new context, the Romanian corporate… – Continue reading

IRS issues new advance pricing agreement template

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new template that corporate taxpayers need to use when asking for an advance pricing agreement with the IRS. Advance pricing agreements are prior agreements between multinational companies and the IRS on the appropriate transfer pricing method to use for a given set of… – Continue reading

Unions Say McDonald’s Restructuring Allows Less Transparency On Taxes

BRUSSELS (Alliance News) – US fast food giant McDonald’s has reshuffled its corporate structure to make tax-avoidance practices less transparent after the EU had opened an investigation into the company’s tax schemes in 2015, a group of trade unions said Monday. The report by a coalition of European and US… – Continue reading

14 whistleblowers get N439m reward from FG

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun has disclosed that the Federal Government paid N439.3 million to fourteen whistleblowers who gave vital information in the recovery of billions of Naira and some millions in hard currency from some corporate tax evaders. While she did not name the offending companies, Adeosun told… – Continue reading

Withholding Corporate Income Tax in China

In China, withholding Corporate Income Tax (CIT) is applied to the following China-sourced incomes derived by non-resident enterprises without establishments in China, or to that derived by non-resident enterprises with establishments in China but whose income is not related to these establishments: Dividends, bonuses, and other equity investment proceeds; Interests,… – Continue reading

New UK Law May Shut Down the Biggest Tax Havens — Aside from the U.S.

The United Kingdom’s parliament has enacted a new law requiring its overseas territories — which include notorious tax havens like Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands — to start disclosing by 2020 the owners of corporations they register. This could shut down a huge amount of offshore… – Continue reading

Even the CBO Says the GOP Tax Reform Will Incentivize Corporate Offshoring

The Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the new tax law suggests it could incentivize companies to offshore investments and jobs, which is directly at odds with GOP claims about the tax law. After the release of the GOP’s tax reform plan, several outlets, including the Prospect, noted that new tax… – Continue reading

Corporate Taxation Dumped In Eu Bill

The Government has stripped corporate taxation from its anti-blacklisting response, as a top attorney yesterday warned: “Time is not our friend.” Michael Paton, who co-heads the financial sector working group dealing with the European Union (EU) concerns, told Tribune Business it will be “a long summer” as the Bahamas seeks… – Continue reading

Corporate Tax Promise Not ‘Concrete’ For Eu

THE Bahamas will be unable to satisfy the European Union’s (EU) demands by merely promising to implement corporate taxation, a prominent attorney has warned. Michael Paton, who co-heads the financial services industry working group assessing the Government’s ‘blacklisting’ response, told Tribune Business in a recent interview that time and the… – Continue reading

Activists stage ‘die-ins’ at French Apple stores to protest impact of tax avoidance on social services

The Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Citizen’s Action —or Attac for short —staged “die-in” protests at two French Apple stores on Saturday, once again charging the company with exploiting loopholes to avoid paying its fair share of taxes. Around 70 members participated in an action at the… – Continue reading

Luxembourg Vulnerable To International Tax Developments, Says IMF

International tax developments could have a negative impact on Luxembourg’s tax revenues and economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said in its latest Luxembourg country report. The report, published on April 3, warns Luxembourg that a number of external tax events are likely to have “important implications” for Luxembourg,… – Continue reading

Qc Backs Income Taxes To Ease ‘Rich/Poor Divide’

AN outspoken QC is backing the introduction of corporate and personal income taxes as a way to reduce “the gulf between rich and poor” in the Bahamas. Fred Smith QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner, has added his voice to those urging the Government to use the European… – Continue reading

Ibcs Face ‘Much Damage’ Through Blacklisting Bill

THE Bahamas’ ‘blacklisting’ response threatens to “cause a lot of damage” to its IBC business and create “much less certainty” for the financial services industry, a top attorney is warning. Michael Paton, a former Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) chairman, told Tribune Business that the proposed Multinational Entities Reporting Bill… – Continue reading

Corporate Taxation On The Way For Bahamas

The Government’s planned legal reforms pave the way for the introduction of “corporate taxation” on a wide range of Bahamian financial services products, it was revealed yesterday. Carl Bethel QC, the Attorney General, confirmed to Tribune Business that legislation intended to address the European Union’s (EU) ‘blacklisting’ concerns was designed… – Continue reading

Brussels raises new 3% tax on technology sales

The assessment to companies like Google, Facebook or Apple would raise 5 billion a year Google, Facebook and Apple have specialized in locating in a fictitious way their operations in microaffiliates located in territories or countries where corporate tax is low or even practically nil. And they have thus turned… – Continue reading

UK’s Proposed Digital Tax ‘Would Cauterize Investment’

The introduction of a unilateral revenue tax on digital businesses in the UK would stymie investment and be a strangely timed gamble, says accountancy firm Moore Stephens. The Government’s position paper, “Corporate tax and the digital economy,” released at the recent Spring Statement, includes a proposal to tax certain tech… – Continue reading

Pakatan’s SST Will Not Relieve People’s Burden, Senseless For The Future

Pakatan Harapan had unveiled an election manifesto earlier this month stating that they will restore the Sales and Service Tax (SST) after abolishing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) within the first 100 days of its administration. While the Prime Minister had pointed out earlier that Malaysia will only be… – Continue reading

Bahamas ‘Failed To Read Tea Leaves’ On Corporate Tax

THE Bahamas’ failure “to read the tea leaves” and introduce a corporate income tax “for ourselves” has contributed to Europe’s planned ‘blacklisting’, a financial executive argued yesterday. Paul Moss, Dominion Management Services’ president, told Tribune Business that implementing such a tax would mean the European Union (EU) “cannot accuse us… – Continue reading

Last-Ditch Bid To Halt Eu Blacklist

The Deputy Prime Minister and minister of financial services were yesterday travelling to Europe in a last-ditch bid to plead the Bahamas’ case against being ‘backlisted’. Carl Bethel QC, the Attorney General, confirmed to Tribune Business that both K P Turnquest and Brent Symonette are leading a government delegation that… – Continue reading

Revealed: not a single person has been prosecuted under the Tories’ offshore tax evasion laws

While more and more people who can’t afford to pay council tax are being prosecuted and jailed. Not a single person has been jailed or even prosecuted for tax evasion since the Tories brought in what they claimed were “tough” new measures against tax dodgers, it was shown today. Two… – Continue reading

Foreign investors oppose tax amnesty scheme for offshore assets

KARACHI: Foreign investors expressed concern over a proposed tax amnesty scheme to bring back offshore investments, terming it as an injustice with compliant taxpayers, officials said on Monday. Overseas Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), representing major foreign companies in Pakistan recently shared its concerns, through a letter, with… – Continue reading

Dutch Cabinet Approves Anti-Evasion Measures

The Government of the Netherlands has announced a comprehensive package of tax anti-avoidance proposals designed to bring the jurisdiction’s rules into line with new European Union anti-avoidance laws and fulfill its obligations under the international BEPS agenda. The plans were detailed in a parliamentary paper sent by State Secretary for… – Continue reading

Tax avoidance rife among Australia’s largest companies

Amid all the hoopla over company tax cuts, it’s easy to forget that hundreds of companies across Australia haven’t paid corporate taxes in the last decade. From The ABC: Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, one of the most prominent supporters of the Turnbull Government’s proposed big business tax cut, presides over… – Continue reading

Amazon Inc. Paid Zero in Federal Taxes in 2017, Gets $789 Million Windfall from New Tax Law

From a decades-long strategy of exploiting state sales tax loopholes to its ongoing “HQ2” sweepstakes, Amazon’s leaders have rarely turned down a chance to use the tax system as the source of their competitive advantage. The online retail giant has built its business model on tax avoidance, and its latest… – Continue reading

Israel set to adjust tax policies to counter Trump reform, tax chief says

Also, multinational companies with a physical presence in Israel will soon get their first tax bill Israel will need to amend its corporate tax policies to counter the effects of US President Donald Trump’s tax reform, the head of Israel’s Tax Authority head acknowledged — but only slightly. “There will… – Continue reading

Greece Raises BEPS Concerns With Bulgaria

The heads of the Greek and Bulgarian tax authorities have met to discuss ways in which bilateral cooperation can be boosted with a view to reducing levels of tax avoidance and evasion, particularly with respect to Greek companies shifting profits to Bulgaria. “The major issue of tax avoidance by Greek… – Continue reading

Tax evasion: Spanish taxmen comb Messi’s accounts again

Lionel Messi’s problems with the Spanish tax authorities are far from being over as the accounts of his foundation come under scrutiny. The tax authorities are investigating whether payments from FC Barcelona to Lionel Messi’s foundation were used to help the player evade taxes, Spanish daily El Mundo reported on… – Continue reading

The tide continues to turn for offshore companies.

The case of Development Securities (No. 9) Ltd and other v HMRC [2017] UKFTT 0565 is the latest in a line of cases concerning the UK corporate tax residence of offshore companies. The case once again highlights the difficulties in preserving an offshore company’s non-UK tax resident status, whilst giving… – Continue reading

Ireland, Hungary Unite Against EU Tax Harmonization

The leaders of Hungary and Ireland have both expressed their opposition to the prospect of additional tax harmonization within the EU. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar was in Hungary to visit his counterpart, Viktor Orban. Reuters reported that, during a joint news conference following their meeting, Orban said that his… – Continue reading

There Is a Raging Battle of Tax Codes with China and the US Starting the Race

The GOP tax bill that was signed into law by the white house late last year, significantly reduced corporate taxes which has piled pressure on other significant economies around the world to adjust so as not to lose investors to the United States. Just hours after President Trump signed the… – Continue reading

Bulgarian Presidency Outlines EU Tax Plans

The “fair and efficient” taxation of corporate profits and the fight against tax avoidance and evasion through enhanced administrative cooperation are among the priorities of the new Bulgarian presidency of the European Union, which commenced on January 1, 2018. The recently released program of the Bulgarian presidency states that it… – Continue reading

Singapore Urged To Enhance Tax Offering

Ernst and Young Solutions LLP, Singapore, has released its wish list for the Singapore Budget 2018, calling for reforms to sharpen the territory’s competitiveness. The firm said that Singapore should maintain its 17 percent corporate income tax (CIT) rate, which is one of the lowest in the world, but recommended… – Continue reading

US tax reform breaks global rules, EU says

European finance ministers are worried. They say the United States’ big tax reform bill contains measures that would unfairly disadvantage European business and contravene global fair-taxation rules. Are they right? Last week, the finance ministers of Europe’s five biggest economies — Germany, France, the UK, Spain and Italy — wrote… – Continue reading

Amazon Agrees To A $118 Million Tax Settlement With Italy

Amazon reached a major tax settlement with Italy by agreeing to pay €100 million ($118 million) to the European country in order to put an end to an investigation of potential back taxes it owes that spanned the majority of this year. According to initial reports on the matter, Italian… – Continue reading

Facebook Korea to pay tax here on ad income

Facebook has decided to start paying tax to Korea on advertising revenue earned here, bowing to mounting complaints over multinational online giants’ tax avoidance. The U.S. social media company’s decision will place other global information players such as Apple, Google and Cisco under more pressure to follow suit. They have… – Continue reading

Transfer Pricing and BEPS to Increase Tax Revenues in Georgia

The FINANCIAL — Transfer Pricing Rules were implemented by the Government of Georgia in 2011, based on OECD guidelines. Since the number of international companies in Georgia is increasing steadily, Transfer Pricing Rules have become a point of obvious interest. However, multinational companies operating in Georgia are not sufficiently well-informed… – Continue reading

AmCham EU Speaks Out Against EU Digital Tax Proposals

The American Chamber of Commerce in the European Union has criticized the proposals put forward in the European Commission’s recent consultation on options for new tax rules or a new tax on digital firms. The aim of that consultation is to help the Commission to define an approach to the… – Continue reading

Bahamas ‘Done Everything Possible’ To Avoid Blacklist

THE Deputy Prime Minister believes the Bahamas has “done everything we could possibly do” to escape the European Union (EU) ‘tax haven’ blacklist that will be issued tomorrow. K P Turnquest told Tribune Business that the Minnis administration “has no reason to think” this nation will be deemed a ‘non-cooperative… – Continue reading