Tax attorney Rob Wood discusses his Forbes article “If An Individual Pulled The Tax Gimmicks Of Apple And Other Big Companies, They’d Go To Jail” that points out the tax breaks given to corporations by America’s tax code. Using tax breaks available to corporations, a mere 30 companies have $1.2… – Continue reading
Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder has backed calls for bigger cuts to the corporate tax rate, amid concerns that living standards and jobs could be at risk if Australia continues to fall behind Asia and the developed world in attracting big business. The 30 per cent rate has not changed in… – Continue reading
In an era when many companies seek international solutions that in simpler times might have been openly labeled “tax evasion,” governments around the world are seeking to ensure they are not cheated of legally due taxes by what is now euphemistically called “profit shifting.” Apple Inc. (AAPL) has been keeping… – Continue reading
NEW YORK • What’s greasing the wheels for the rise in mergers by U.S. companies? The tax man. Two tax-code quirks — one that charges U.S. companies when they repatriate overseas earnings, the other that allows them to claim a foriegn domicile without moving their senior leadership abroad — are… – Continue reading
Medtronic Inc. (MDT), the globe-spanning medical device maker founded in a Minneapolis garage in 1949, is poised to become the biggest company yet to escape the U.S. tax system by shifting its incorporation abroad. Medtronic said yesterday it plans to take a legal address in tax-friendly Ireland as part of… – Continue reading
Competition takes many forms in capitalism. Financial engineering by corporations to avoid paying taxes is one aspect of this competition — under the rigors of market competition, evading responsibility is an innovation to be emulated. The magnitude of tax evasion on the part of multi-national corporations through one channel —… – Continue reading
ZIMBABWE lost about $770 million in potential revenue between 2008 and 2012 through undervaluation and transfer pricing of its gems from the Marange diamond fields. VENERANDA LANGA SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER A report by Partnership Africa Canada on illicit financial flows in the diamonds industry said the gems were being exported… – Continue reading
EC launches Apple tax investigation The European Commission has launched a formal investigation into Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland The EC has announced three “in-depth investigations” into the transfer pricing arrangements on the corporate taxation of Apple, Starbucks in the Netherlands and Fiat in Luxembourg, as to whether they comply… – Continue reading
With the end of banking confidentiality, many Israelis are fleeing the long arm of the Israel Tax Authorityto the tax haven of Dubai, which has no bank reporting. Tightening tax regulations in many countries, beginning with the US, requiring banks to provide information about their customers, or face sanctions, has caused people… – Continue reading
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) has joined with other leading business organizations in sending a letter to every United States Senator expressing support for and calling for expeditious action on the bilateral double taxation agreements (DTAs) and protocols currently pending before the Senate. The NFTC has emphasized that “adoption… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Cracking down on corporate tax avoidance sounds like a winner, and officials are working on it, but the practical challenges are formidable and they dominated discussion at an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conference on Tuesday. The OECD, a Paris-based club of large economies, has an… – Continue reading
The Italian Supreme Court ruled, on April 16, that all transactions carried out between companies belonging to the same Group, and all of which have offices in Italy, are subject to the arm’s length principle. Ruling No. 8869 confirmed once more the Supreme Court’s position already expressed through Ruling No…. – Continue reading
US firms are using the UK as a haven in which they can symbolically shift their companies to benefit from the country’s relatively low corporation tax regime. Several American companies have already sailed parts across the Atlantic and set up in the UK by moving a handful of executives over… – Continue reading
Nothing about the narrow cream-colored lobby at 160 Aldersgate Street in the City of London financial district gives a hint of its role at the center of the offshore oil industry. That’s because the building is occupied by a law firm. Yet, on paper at least, it is also home to… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: UK-based telecom major Vodafone is facing tax claims and interest totalling more than Rs 27,000 crore in India, which includes Rs 14,200 crore for acquiring Hutchison’s stake in 2007, the company said in its annual report. Vodafone said that its Indian subsidiary had received a letter in January… – Continue reading
The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) has set up new tax determination guidelines aimed at providing consistency in tax administration on both domestic and cross-border transactions.The new system –“Transfer Pricing Regulation” will also provide taxpayers with insights on the procedures followed in determination of income tax, duty and levies in various… – Continue reading
The existing rules for international taxation are still grounded in doing business between countries and don’t take account of global business models. We’re all familiar with global business models even if we don’t always think of them as such. Consider a mother who decides to buy a laptop for her… – Continue reading
What is transfer pricing? Transfer pricing refers to the terms and conditions surrounding transactions taking place within a multi-national company. It concerns the prices charged between associated enterprises established in different countries for their inter-company transactions, i.e. transfer of goods and services. Since the prices are set by associates within… – Continue reading
The drive to scrap the corporate income tax won’t stop at zero. Wouldn’t it be nice if the government paid you on Tax Day? I’m not referring to getting a tax refund because you overpaid the federal government or a safety-net benefit labeled as a tax refund under the “Earned… – Continue reading
BUCHAREST, June 4 (Reuters) – Romania will introduce a new royalty tax system to reflect the difference in costs between onshore and offshore extraction of oil and gas, but the new levies will not affect current contracts, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Wednesday. Companies currently pay royalties ranging from… – Continue reading
U.S. corporations have reported to the Internal Revenue Service that 54 percent of their offshore profits are earned in 12 tax haven countries that, combined, only account for 4 percent of economic output among all countries where U.S. corporations do business. A new report by the advocacy group, Citizens for… – Continue reading
Republican tax law writers in the U.S. Congress and multinational businesses on Monday said international talks aimed at preventing companies from moving profits to low-tax countries could hurt the United States. Representative Dave Camp and Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah warned of the effect on U.S. taxpayers from the Organisation… – Continue reading
U.S. companies are increasingly viewing the U.K. as a place to relocate to pare their tax bills. Why? Relatively low tax rates and a business-friendly environment. Pfizer (PFE) was the latest high-profile example; it tried to take over the British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca (AZN). American and French media giants Omnicom… – Continue reading
International moves to shut down profit-shifting from high to low tax countries is starting to have an impact on Australian companies doing business offshore. A new EY report says these local companies are feeling the heat of a global trend of “increasingly aggressive” tax authorities. EY’s 2014 Tax Risk and… – Continue reading
If any U.S. company seems ripe for moving to an island tax haven, it’s Chiquita. Based in Charlotte, the company’s sale of bananas, grown largely in Central America, accounts for two-thirds of its profits. But Chiquita isn’t bound for the tropics. It’s headed to Ireland, where the climate may be… – Continue reading
Introduction Successive surveys of tax executives and senior finance professionals at multinational companies show that risks associated with transfer pricing have become the number one tax-related concern for businesses operating across several jurisdictions. Ernst and Young’s (EY’s) latest Global Transfer Pricing Survey shows that businesses are taking increasing heed of… – Continue reading
Ireland has been “unfairly singled out” as a tax haven for corporations, Dublin-based Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said Monday on CNBC. “I wish we were, but we’re not,” he said. As one of Ireland’s wealthiest businessmen, O’Leary also described as “egregious” personal tax rates there. “The top tax rate … is about… – Continue reading
Many countries, especially Nigeria, like Mauritius’ tax friendly jurisdiction option for strategic business opportunities. “People refer to [Mauritius] as a tax haven, whereas actually it is a low tax jurisdiction, and its popularity is [that it] offers treaty benefits to countries without actually having a treaty with the island,” Richard… – Continue reading
IT’S BECOMING increasingly apparent that the OECD’s plan to reduce tax base erosion and profit-shifting, as laudable as it is, is hugely reliant on the US making significant and drastic alterations to its corporate regime if it is to be successful. The cases of Starbucks and Google have shown us… – Continue reading
When Business Council of Australia chief Jennifer Westacott weighed in on plans for an Australian tax crackdown on multinationals last week, she warned the move could risk competitiveness and lead to companies being double taxed. Last year the Australian government passed new laws to prevent multinational companies shifting their profits to avoid the payment… – Continue reading
MILAN — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ new London headquarters will have a staff of about 50 people, most of whom will have a finance background, said two people familiar with the details of the automaker’s plan to shift its tax residency to the UK. Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and Fiat… – Continue reading
A tax crackdown on multinationals including tech giants Google and Apple could make Australia less competitive, the Business Council of Australia warns. Moves by Australia to prevent profit shifting could lead to companies being double-taxed, BCA chief executive Jennifer Westcott told a conference in Canberra yesterday, which was attended by… – Continue reading
You’ve seen a recurring headline at the top of the business section this year: “ABC Corp. buys XYZ Inc. in multibillion merger.” When one company buys another, it’s typically done because there’s a fundamental belief that the sum is greater than the parts (Apple for Dr. Dre’s Beats Music, for… – Continue reading
This is an interesting little piece of news. As Fiat Chrysler sorts itself out after the full merger of the two companies it has announced that it will be, as a company, domiciled in Britain. This would seem to be a vindication of recent changes to the UK’s corporate taxation… – Continue reading
Here come the tax acronyms; FATCA, AEOI, specified US persons & the potential for a tax residence licence in your wallet alongside your driver’s licence Posted in Personal Finance April 15, 2014 – 07:22am, By Gareth Vaughan First we get FATCA then we’ll get AEOI. Apologies for the acronyms. FATCA… – Continue reading
Where do you stand on the issue of taxing profits earned overseas by American companies? I ask because Caterpillar (CAT) found itself on the U.S. Senate hot seat last week. There, what should have been an information-gathering hearing about offshore earnings turned into a full-blown attack on Caterpillar and its… – Continue reading
Australian tax laws are inhibiting the export of financial services and the nation’s development as an “international financial centre”, according to Macquarie Group. In its submission to the Financial System Inquiry, Macquarie said Australia’s tax provisions are becoming “increasingly detailed, complex and hard to interpret, making it difficult for businesses… – Continue reading
Irish Corporate Tax 2014: The Government today issued what it calls a technical paper on effective corporation tax rates to effectively confuse the public by avoiding the key issues about its facilitation of corporate tax avoidance. It’s irrelevant to the core issues as it is simply trying to divert attention… – Continue reading
If you asked financial professionals to list the world’s biggest “tax havens,” they would quickly identify some of the most obvious international financial centers. Switzerland would be on virtually every list, as would the Cayman Islands. Other logical choices would be Jersey and Luxembourg. But would anybody, if asked to… – Continue reading
CFOs of multinationals face growing confusion because of mixed message on new tax rules around the world that threaten investment and the global recovery, a new study revealed on Wednesday. A total of 74 percent of finance chiefs polled in the study by Taxand, a global tax adviser, said political… – Continue reading
Corporate Tax Reform: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) held a briefing and webcast at its Paris headquarters Wednesday on its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project and Pascal Saint-Amans, the director of the OECD’s tax centre confirmed that “Double Irish Dutch” sandwich tax schemes, which involve… – Continue reading
ActionAid Ghana (AAG) said Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) was depriving Africa of billions of dollars each year, more than is received in overseas development aid or foreign direct investment combined. It said IFFs were commonly associated with criminal activity like drug dealing, smuggling or human trafficking, adding that the United… – Continue reading
The decision by Luxembourg and Austria to automatically exchange tax data with other European Union countries has isolated Switzerland in the global crusade against banking secrecy, a Tax Justice Network (TJN) expert tells swissinfo.ch. The two European Union states caved in to demands last month by signing up to the revised… – Continue reading
The Bahamas needs to position itself as a ‘low tax’ jurisdiction to access potential benefits from tax and investment treaties with other countries, a Tax Coalition co-chair warning yesterday that a ‘flat’ or ‘no tax ‘ posture would “cause problems”. #Robert Myers told Tribune Business that the Bahamas needed to… – Continue reading
Tax avoidance is a huge economic issue. Although it’s heavily frowned upon by governments, it’s technically a legal practice, as long as you know how to play the tax game right. The Coalition promised to crack down on tax avoidance, but it seems to have decided to focus on the… – Continue reading
Recent discussions about the movement of capital and offshore accounts have to be a major cause for concern. During a Central Bank seminar recently, Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, sounded the warning that compliance with the recently passed Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act… – Continue reading
European Union competition watchdogs ordered Luxembourg to hand over details of tax breaks for businesses after they said the Grand Duchy was hindering a state-aid probe spanning several EU nations. Luxembourg refused to deliver details concerning the 100 largest companies benefiting from a special program for companies whose profits stem… – Continue reading
Irish Corporate Tax 2014: The current Irish governance system has remained unchanged through boom and bust and the addiction to political spin, distortion and sometimes lies, works at least in the short term while in some cases it has an enduring impact. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, it’s possible “to… – Continue reading
More than 150 attendees gathered at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas for the Global Financial Summit. Our theme this year was “Market Solutions to World Problems,” as opposed to government solutions. In this tax haven just off the U.S. borders, we gained some valuable advice. Peter Schiff, president of EuroPacific… – Continue reading
On the menu for the lunch French President Francois Hollande is hosting today for the chiefs of the likes of Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.: carrots and sticks. In the first official trip by a French president to San Francisco in 30 years, Hollande will seek to woo Facebook’s Sheryl… – Continue reading
