Under Kazakhstan law, generally, both resident and non-resident legal entities may own shares in a Kazakhstan bank. National Bank Pre-Transaction Consent. Generally, there are two thresholds entailing the necessity to obtain the National Bank of Kazakhstan (the ‘NBK’) (financial regulator) pre-transaction consent: (i) “large participant”, whereby an entity controls ≥10%… – Continue reading
The US Foreign Account and Tax Compliance Act is a complex piece of legislation that has, unsurprisingly, triggered a number of enquiries in recent months from advisers seeking to understand the implications for them and their clients. So, what do you need to know? Fatca is a US Internal Revenue… – Continue reading
Kenya, India to ratify double taxation agreement NAIROBI, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) — Kenya and India will soon ratify an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation, officials said on Tuesday. India’s Deputy High Commissioner to Kenya Sushil Singhal told Xinhua in Nairobi that the ratification of the agreement signed in… – Continue reading
Business editor Duncan Foulkes quizzes three prominent Isle of Man businessmen on their thoughts ——————– Chris Eaton, Chief Executive Officer, The ILS Group There is no one major issue or initiative that faces the CSP and TSP sectors in 2015. Rather, they face more of a continued barrage of supra… – Continue reading
CBDT to make provisions for MAT and reduce tax liability on Reits Jayshree P Upadhyay | New Delhi January 9, 2015 Last Updated at 00:50 IST Real estate investment trusts (Reits), notified last year, have so far found few takers due to taxation-related issues. To address this, the Central Board… – Continue reading
Maples and Calder Michael Gagie, Richard Grasby, Tim Clipstone, Christopher Capewell, Jon Fowler and Tim Frawley Do trustees need to register with the US Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) before 1 January 2015? Does registration need to be made in respect of a trust? These questions need to be given… – Continue reading
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on Monday held a hearing on the role of accountancy firms in tax avoidance and PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), the Big 4 accounting firm, was represented by Kevin Nicholson, PwC head of tax in the UK and former HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) tax inspector,… – Continue reading
This Black Friday, legions of shoppers will throng to their local Walmart in frenzied pursuit of holiday deals. But it turns out that Walmart has saved the sweetest deals for itself. In a recent analysis of Walmart’s tax spending, Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) found that the company “avoids $1… – Continue reading
Private sector arm of DfID and other EU development institutions channel significant investments to offshore havens, study finds More than two-thirds of the investments made by the private sector arm of the UK’s aid programme last year were channelled through “notoriously secretive” tax havens, according to a report that calls… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 11: Indian companies looking to raise money abroad through offshore bond issuances to overseas investors are in a bind, thanks to the new company law requirement around private placement of securities. They are now looking up to the Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA) to provide clarity on whether… – Continue reading
The sharemarket has settled into a consolidation phase at between 5400 and 5600 index points, mirroring changes in overseas markets. While analysts are confident the current reporting period will not produce unexpected changes to their forecasts, international political instability makes further upward movement in prices unlikely. Compared with overseas markets… – Continue reading
Financial advisors often have to answer questions from expats about the difference between a self-invested personal pension (SiPP) and a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS). On the face of it, both work in similar ways, allowing the retirement saver to manage their own investments. But the underlying tax and… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man, Dubai and Guernsey, all known as captive domiciles, are being joined by a new rival – the US state of Ohio. Legislation has recently been signed meaning that businesses will be able to create captive insurance companies in the state in order to cater for their… – Continue reading
MULTINATIONAL companies shifting their profits from Africa to low-tax jurisdictions are only partly responsible for the erosion of the continent’s tax revenue bases. The African Tax Administration Forum (Ataf) believes some countries have signed away their tax revenue because of weak domestic policies, and ill-conceived tax incentives and mining contracts…. – Continue reading
Dear Reader, This is a really timely question. Renting vacation homes, or even a part of your primary residence, is becoming more common thanks to a variety of online sites that make it easy to market property and attract renters. The pluses are obvious. Not only can a vacation home… – Continue reading
MONTREAL — Changing a liquidator and the tax consequences of owning two properties were among the topics raised in the latest batch of reader questions. Here’s what they wanted to know. Q: “My father recently passed away. He named a financial institution as co-liquidator but they tell me their fee… – Continue reading
Despite being among the smallest countries in terms of area and population, over the past 40 years Cyprus has developed into one of the world’s most important financial and business centres. It has numerous advantages, including a strategic location, a mature and transparent legal system based on common law, world… – Continue reading
DALLAS, TX, Jul 29, 2014 (Marketwired via COMTEX) — This week, the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing to question leaders of major banks and hedge funds about an alleged tax avoidance strategy. According to the Senate’s report, these entities have used basket options to skirt billions in… – Continue reading
New Delhi: The government Wednesday ruled out any tax amnesty scheme to unearth black money saying it goes against honest taxpayers even as it sought to send out a positive signal to investors by promising a re-look at the controversial GAAR shortly. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also referred to demands of… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance, the American way. Little Rock, Arkansas-based telco Windstream has caused a stir by announcing a novel scheme to reduce the amount of federal taxes it has to pay. It intends to spin off certain network assets into a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT). In so doing,… – Continue reading
It’s a bad idea when governments demand information on your bank accounts and investments so they can impose economically destructive double taxation. It’s a worse idea when they also demand the right to tax economic activity in other jurisdictions (otherwise known as “worldwide taxation“). And it’s the worst possible development… – Continue reading
Cyprus and Switzerland have signed a double taxation avoidance agreement and a relevant protocol that will contribute to further developing trade and financial relations between the two countries as well as with other countries, the Ministry of Finance said. It added that “by bringing up to date, maintaining existing and… – Continue reading
Government plans to establish a tax haven that will encourage wealthy corporations to move their operations to Macedonia have won a mixed response.Financial experts have broadly welcomed plans by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski to set up tax havens on the ground that they will boost employment in the financial and… – Continue reading
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has yet to adopt a view on proposed rules to tighten policy on tax avoidance by foreign investors, a senior finance ministry official said on Monday. The general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) announced by the previous government had sparked alarm among foreign investors because of provisions… – Continue reading
Gary Barlow, his manager and fellow Take That stars Mark Owen and Howard Donald ploughed £66million into the programme called Icebreaker Gary Barlow is thinking of suing experts who advised him to invest millions in a tax avoidance scheme after telling a pal: “I’m not evil.” The Sunday People reports,… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: In order to encourage foreign investment, the finance ministry is likely to introduce safe harbour rules for transfer pricing of capital transactions which will bring about certainty in taxation of such deals. The finance ministry, according to sources, may introduce the changes in the Budget to be presented… – Continue reading
At a beachside bar in Oistins; – a tourist district on the blue-water coast of Barbados, Frenchman Julius Francois handed over a black coloured Visa Card to the bar cashier who swiped it, and soon collected payment for the drinks that he and some other business colleagues had consumed for… – Continue reading
Exempting domestic currency government bonds from withholding tax is long overdue in much of South and East Asia as the move would have a significant and beneficial economic impact. The mature economies in Europe and North America (and also Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore) no longer withhold tax on government… – Continue reading
New Delhi: Foreign Direct Investment inflows from Mauritius have almost halved during April-February period of last fiscal to USD 4.48 billion, according to the data of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). India had received USD 8.97 billion during April-February 2012-13. According to an expert, investors are apprehensive… – Continue reading
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — (SBWIRE) — 05/08/2014 — ICO Services, the international company specialized in the formation of offshore companies and offshore banking, has recently expanded their services to the American business world by launching their service of setting up a company in Belize, the only fiscal paradise in Central… – Continue reading
Deloitte experts have commented on the changes that will occur as a result of the Expo 2020 Dubai win, as well as the challenges facing senior management in the GCC countries and wider MENA region as the countdown to FATCA becomes more imminent. Deloitte experts believe that Expo 2020 will… – Continue reading
Foreign institutional investors face new extraterritorial oversight July 1 this year marks the dawn of the FATCA new world order. Giving the U.S. Internal Revenue Service unprecedented extraterritorial powers to gather information on foreign financial institutions and their underlying account holders, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act represents the U.S…. – Continue reading
Mauritian conglomerate Ireland Blyth IBLP.MZ says uncertainty over new tax rules by key trading partner India has affected its business by putting off investors using the Mauritius financial center to invest in India. Nicolas Maigrot, chief executive of the group which has a wide range of interests in financial services,… – Continue reading
In this sponsored Q&A, Gibraltar Finance’s Philip Canessa shares his views on the benefits of Gibraltar as a European Union jurisdiction, as well as the attractions of the territory’s fund regime, tax incentives and regulatory framework for the funds industry. Hedge Funds Review: How will Gibraltar-based funds benefit from all… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands is one of the world’s leading offshore jurisdictions for the establishment of investment funds. As at 30 September 2011, there were 9,444 funds (predominantly hedge funds) registered with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) under the Mutual Funds Law. There are also significant numbers of private equity… – Continue reading
The Cayman Islands continue to be the pre-eminent offshore jurisdiction for hedge funds. Around 85 per cent of the world’s hedge funds are domiciled in the Cayman Islands, enabling the jurisdiction to outrank competing offshore centres (the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Jersey among them) as the top spot for… – Continue reading
India had received in $8.17 bn during April- January 2012-13 Foreign Direct Investment inflows from Mauritius have almost halved during April-January period of last fiscal to $4.11 billion on fears of impact of GAAR and possible re-negotiation of the tax avoidance treaty. India had received in $8.17 billion during April-… – Continue reading
The much-anticipated initial public offering of Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group could be a double-edged sword for the company: Investors are drooling for a piece of the action in that country’s burgeoning online payment market, but its growing use in illegal transactions could attract scrutiny from Chinese government regulators. Alibaba,… – Continue reading
Every foreign entity must take steps immediately to determine whether FATCA will apply to it and, if so, whether FATCA registration will be required by April 25, 2014. FATCAi will go into effect on July 1, 2014. Foreign entities that must be FATCA-compliant by July 1, 2014 must register with… – Continue reading
Deadlines are fast approaching for funds to comply with FATCA, the IRS announced an April 25 deadline for fund managers to register their offshore funds and offshore master funds with the IRS. Funds have until May 5 2014 to get their Global Intermediary Identification Numbers. Notably, the IRS has also… – Continue reading
Canada is clamping down on off-shore tax shelters used by private-equity funds, in a move that may curb investment in the oil and gas industry by KKR & Co. and Blackstone Group LP. (BX) The government has given private-equity firms and other interested parties until April 11 to respond to proposals tucked… – Continue reading
Expats should put their financial affairs in order while they have the chance as governments around the world prepare a global tax net aimed at wiping out avoidance. The operation is headed by the Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and closely follows the lines of the controversial US… – Continue reading
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA and CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – March 27, 2014) – Tax announcements don’t usually get the same attention as the Olympics, politics or other stories that commonly hit the front page of newspapers. But if you are a US person who has not complied with your annual US tax filing… – Continue reading
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