The Diet on Tuesday approved legislation for tax system revisions for fiscal 2015, including postponement of the next consumption tax hike. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced late last year he was putting off the planned tax hike to 10 percent until April 2017, a year and a half after the… – Continue reading
U.S. multinationals represent the healthiest segment of the economy, with higher profits and more than $1 trillion of cash on hand. This has kept corporate tax reform alive as a political issue. ON Semiconductor had a solid 2014, boosting net income by 36 percent to $196 million on revenue of… – Continue reading
CO-OPERATION on investment within the SADC region is an integral part of achieving the overarching objectives of the SADC Treaty. Investment, be it foreign direct investment, cross-border investment or domestic investment is needed to enhance the productive capacity in the region, which is a pre-requisite for increasing trade across borders… – Continue reading
In order to guide the implementation of the Tax Law on amending key tax laws which was effective from January 20151, the following guidance regulations have been issued: Decree 12/2015/ND-CP dated 12 February 2015 of the Government (“Decree 12”); and Circular 26/2015/TT-BTC dated 27 February 2015 of the Ministry of… – Continue reading
Today the Justice Department announced that BSI SA of Lugano, Switzerland, one of the 10 largest private banks in Switzerland, is the first bank to reach a resolution under the Department of Justice’s Swiss Bank Program. The DOJ press release announcing the news is as follows: “Because of the department’s… – Continue reading
The Palestinian Authority has denied that an Israeli move to unfreeze the PA’s tax revenues was part of a deal to get the Palestinians to halt their bid to have Israel prosecuted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Ha’aretz reported yesterday. The report cited an anonymous senior Palestinian official. “We… – Continue reading
Australians working in Hong Kong should be aware of the various complexities that affect their residency, super and tax status. Going overseas to work is a grand adventure for many professionals. But the way income earned outside your home country is taxed is a complex area, and it’s worth seeking… – Continue reading
The Ministry of Finance yesterday issued two statements saying the government has yet to reach conclusions on tax rates or an implementation date for a proposed income levy on property gains. The ministry made the clarifications after the Cabinet called a meeting on the proposed tax and gave its go-ahead… – Continue reading
The UK’s Finance Bill was published on 24 March 2015. It was subsequently enacted on 26 March 2015 without further amendment and became the Finance Act 2015. The “disguised investment management fee” provisions contained in this Act, summarised below, will be effective from 6 April 2015. These rules apply to… – Continue reading
The Netherlands’ tax regime is enabling a Canadian gold mining company to pay less tax in Greece, a report by a Dutch foundation concluded Monday (30 March). The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations found that Greece has missed out on at least €1.7 million in tax revenues, because the… – Continue reading
LEGISLATION is needed to make multinationals pay their fair share if we are to help more people out of poverty, writes Jamie Livingstone. In the run-up to the General Election, Oxfam is urging politicians from all parties to commit to the introduction of a new Tax Dodging Bill within the… – Continue reading
March 27 — Competent authorities should step in to resolve potential disagreements between the U.S. and other jurisdictions on how to treat new accounts under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said. In a letter to the Treasury Department released March 27, SIFMA… – Continue reading
30 March 2015 – The International Tax Authority (ITA) of the Ministry of Finance, Government of the Virgin Islands, is informing the public that it has now published Version 2.0 of the Guidance Notes on the International Tax Compliance Requirements of the Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) between the British Virgin Islands… – Continue reading
Hungaryʼs Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó opened a Hungarian trading house in Santiago de Chile on Friday, the minister told Hungarian news agency MTI by phone early this morning following talks with Chileʼs Foreign Affairs Minister Heraldo Munoz and with Chilean businessmen. Szijjártó said on the phone that Chile is one… – Continue reading
Small banks say they will be hit harder by the bank deposit levy the government is planning to introduce in the budget because they are more reliant on deposits for funding and have thinner margins than the bigger institutions. Their view has the sympathy of the Australian Greens which said… – Continue reading
Rory McIlroy, the world’s number one golfer has set up home in Dubai, according to a report in the Sunday Times. The Northern Irishman, who has a long association with Dubai throughout his professional career, has filed documents in Ireland that state his primary residence is now in Dubai. During… – Continue reading
A major Swiss bank will pay $211 million in a deal to avoid prosecution on charges it secretly helped American clients evade U.S. taxes, the Department of Justice said Monday. The agreement with BSI SA makes the private bank the first to come clean under a federal program that encourages… – Continue reading
Government questions dividend imputation and company tax rate Australian investors appear to have dodged a bullet, with the government’s first paper on tax reform discussing the dividend imputation system but falling short of attacking it outright as an idea that has outlived its usefulness. David Murray’s inquiry into the Australian… – Continue reading
Ted Cruz has developed a reputation as the most conservative of the major 2016 Republican presidential candidates, but he hasn’t taken many specific policy positions to earn that moniker. One exception? His longtime support for a flat tax. The flat tax dramatically lowers the top tax rate and exempts capital… – Continue reading
Luxembourg’s Direct Tax Administration has published a circular on February 12 clarifying issues relating to residency certificates for Luxembourg funds. These are applicable to both UCITS and non-UCITS funds regulated by Luxembourg’s investment fund legislation of December 17, 2010, which transposed the UCITS IV Directive, as well as Specialised Investment… – Continue reading
British expats in France can claim a share of millions of pounds of compensation after the European Court ruled in their favour against unfair social security payments imposed by President Francois Hollande’s government. Around 200,000 expats who have rented out or sold homes in France during the past three years… – Continue reading
Greece’s economic recovery is being undermined by large-scale corporate tax avoidance, whereby companies use loopholes in places like the Netherlands and Luxembourg to pay little or no income tax, according to a new report from Dutch research group, SOMO. Greece has been gripped by harsh austerity measures imposed by the… – Continue reading
When Boris Johnson ran for mayor he told the BBC he wanted “a crackdown on tax dodgers and tax avoiders of all kinds”. The comment was a deliberate reference to his then-opponent Ken Livingstone’s use of a “personal service company” (PSC) to allegedly limit his tax bill. Use of PSCs… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: Being overwhelmingly impressed by the Turkish Tax System, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa will brief Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on his recent visit to Turkey. “In the upcoming board and council meeting, members of the delegation will inform the finance minister and other officials concerned about… – Continue reading
Government money handed to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to blitz tax avoidance has given a return of more than 100 times the investment. The incoming coalition government pledged £900 million to bolster HMRC’s compliance departments in 2011. The money was spent on sophisticated technology and recruiting specialist investigators. Since… – Continue reading
NICOLA Sturgeon is currently the most impressive political leader in the United Kingdom. Last week, in TV interviews with Jeremy Paxman, David Cameron looked stiff and out of touch; Ed Miliband looked callow and desperate. Yesterday in Glasgow, giving her keynote speech to the SNP spring conference, Sturgeon was poised,… – Continue reading
Taxes are complex, so you might assume just about anything can be called an innocent mistake. Actually, the tax law draws a line between non-willful and willful, and steep penalties or even prosecution can hang in the balance. ‘Gee, I didn’t know,’ doesn’t always cut it. Ignorance of even complex… – Continue reading
This article continues our series on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, and the Action Plans that have so far been submitted, by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). We now look at Action Plan 15 on Developing a Multilateral Instrument to Modify Bilateral Tax Treaties…. – Continue reading
NATIONAL debt will soon come under effective and professional control, thanks to the national debt management office whose establishment is reportedly in the final stages, the national assembly heard on Friday. Deputy Finance Minister Mwigulu Nchemba under the envisaged office, the national debt will be effectively, efficiently and closely monitored… – Continue reading
New York, NY, March 28, 2015 –(PR.com)– The Knowledge Group/The Knowledge Congress Live Webcast Series, brings together the world’s leading authorities and industry participants through informative two -hour webcasts. It has scheduled a live webcast entitled: “FATCA for Government Agencies: What You Need to Know in 2015 Live Webcast.” This… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: Income-tax authorities on Friday issued draft assessment orders against nearly 150 foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) asking them to pay minimum alternate tax (MAT), a move that is bound to reinforce India’s reputation for aggressive tax enforcement. The 15-page draft assessment order sent to FPIs provides reasoning as to why… – Continue reading
The International Tax Authority (ITA) of the British Virgin Islands has recently announced the issue of Version 2.0 of the Guidance Notes on the International Tax Compliance Requirements of the Intergovernmental Agreements between the British Virgin Islands and the United States of America and the United Kingdom (IGAs). The initial… – Continue reading
Armenian National Committee of America Government Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian testified yesterday before a key Congressional panel in support of increased U.S. assistance to Nagorno Karabakh, Armenia, at-risk Middle Eastern Armenian communities, and the Javakhk region of Georgia. In her opening remarks, Nahapetian thanked House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations… – Continue reading
Businesses still have concerns over the drafting of a new tax on multinationals said tax expert Heather Self of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-law.com. She was commenting after the UK’s Finance Bill, which contained the legislation for the new tax, completed its rapid progress through Parliament when it… – Continue reading
A vote in favor of repealing FATCA sends a message: a message to foreign banks that they can get back to helping wealthy Americans hide their assets and use offshore accounts to evade tax. In anticipation of yesterday’s Senate’s budget resolution “vote-o-rama,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has introduced an amendment… – Continue reading
The Luxembourg supervisory authority, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), has recently issued FAQs regarding the immobilisation of bearer shares and units, as well as a press release to remind Luxembourg alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs) and non-EU AIFMs that market alternative investment funds (AIFs) in Luxembourg under… – Continue reading
ISLAMABAD: FBR has established huge tax evasion by model Ayyan Ali in a money laundering case and a formal reference in this regard will be filed soon, The News learnt Thursday. Official documents available with The News show that the FBR’s Intelligence & Investigation (I&I), Inland Revenues (IR) has completed… – Continue reading
NAIROBI: Insurance brokers have contested the introduction of 10 per cent levy on their brokerage commission. Eighteen insurance brokerage firms have moved to court under a certificate of urgency, suing Commissioner of Domestic Taxes and the Attorney General. The firms complain that introduction of 10 per cent levy on their… – Continue reading
Dividend payment by an overseas company with related assets in India will not be taxable in India, the govt says New Delhi: The income tax department on Thursday clarified that dividend payment by an overseas company with related assets in India will not be taxable in India, as part of… – Continue reading
Except for a few family members and a dwindling number of those who consider him a dissident, most people who have followed the Mukhtar Ablyazov story have nothing good to say about him. They see him as an embezzler, swindler and con man par excellence – a guy whose theft… – Continue reading
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has approached Finance Minister Ishaq Dar seeking withholding tax exemption on the payments made or transactions carried out by the IFC, through an amendment in the Second Schedule of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 along with an exemption certificate from withholding tax provisions from July… – Continue reading
All too often, changes to tax legislation happen at a glacial pace. As a nation, we can’t afford to let that happen with the GST changes required to modernise the law and processes to capture GST from overseas online purchases. Budget 2015 provides a suitable time for the government to… – Continue reading
Public accounts committee advocates legislation making promotion of aggressive tax avoidance illegal and review of government tax relief schemes The next government should introduce new laws to prosecute financial advisers who help wealthy individuals and firms in aggressive tax avoidance, a comprehensive parliamentary report has found. The public accounts committee,… – Continue reading
Modi’s government is focused on expanding manufacturing, lightening the regulatory burden on companies NEW DELHI—Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has a simple message for critics pushing for deeper change in the economic policies of the world’s largest democracy: It’s coming, be patient. In an interview Thursday, Mr. Jaitley, a corporate… – Continue reading
Introduction Every non-US entity has FATCA status Passive NFFEs report substantial US owners Trustee of trust or its sponsoring entity will report US persons Other reporting FFIs in structure will carry out FATCA due diligence Reporting when US account holders are identified Enforcement Comment Introduction The policy statement in the… – Continue reading
On March 6 Luxembourg’s government adopted the draft legislation transposing into national law the grand duchy’s intergovernmental agreement with the US and facilitating compliance by the country’s financial institutions with the requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. FATCA, which was signed into law in 2010 but only took… – Continue reading
HMRC’s reporting of tax reliefs does not enable Parliament to scrutinise them effectively to determine whether they are providing value for money and the complexity of tax law and the constraints on HMRC’s resources mean that it is fighting an uphill battle against those who are determined to cheat the… – Continue reading
There are over 100 countries around the world that are now “FATCA-compliant.” Mexico is one of the earlier Latin American countries to comply. This means that Mexican banks will be sending to the IRS specific information regarding accounts held by U.S. persons. In this article, we discuss how FATCA is… – Continue reading
Timatex Vietnam Co. Ltd. has taken legal action against the HCMC Tax Department over the collection of US$2.8-million tax arrears but it is still open for negotiation to solve the problem. Speaking at a dialogue with the tax department yesterday, a representative of the company demanded an explanation of the… – Continue reading
Michael Wilson rants that a long-cherished distinction between avoidance (OK) and evasion (not OK) is being eroded by political doublespeak. And that the demise of the 1936 ‘Duke of Westminster’ legal principle has gone sadly unnoticed. Where will it end? You hardly need telling that there’s an election on the… – Continue reading
