Category: Tax Planning Failures

The Big Picture: Wealth and Estate Planning in Argentina

It is said that Argentina faces an economic and political crisis every 10 years. Whenever a crisis arises, Argentinians’ right of ownership is at risk. Devaluation, asymmetric pesification and the current foreign exchange restrictions are a few examples of the challenges we face. What’s more, according to a recent OECD… – Continue reading

Looks like Cheryl Womack may be pleading guilty in her criminal case

Mission Hills businesswoman Cheryl Womack is scheduled to appear in federal court in Kansas City on November 12 for a change of plea hearing in her criminal case. Womack had earlier entered a not guilty plea to charges of avoiding income taxes and lying to investigators. (Update, 9:03 p.m) It’s… – Continue reading

Is tax the reason Tim Cahill is cranky?

According to a report published in the Sydney Morning Herald on October 6, Tim Cahill may be dealing with an irksome tax problem, stemming from investments made when he was living and working in England. The newspaper claims to have seen documents linking Cahill to a company called Phoenix Film… – Continue reading

The Marzen decision: a typical example of BEPS

On June 10, 2014, the Tax Court of Canada (“TCC”) delivered its most recent decision on transfer pricing, one which involved a Barbados structure. In Marzen Artistic Aluminum Ltd. v. The Queen[1] (“Marzen”), Justice Sheridan upheld the Canada Revenue Agency’s (“CRA”) transfer pricing adjustment as well as the penalty under… – Continue reading

Disgorgement Remedy Based on Unpaid Taxes From Wylys’ Securities Trading Profits

Sept. 29 — Samuel Wyly and the estate of Charles Wyly must pay a total of $188 million plus prejudgment interest based on taxes they would have paid on profits from offshore trusts (SEC v. Wyly, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:10-cv-05760, 2014 BL 267268, 9/25/14). Judge Shira A. Scheindlin issued an order… – Continue reading

Hiding Assets Under Pet Names Looks Willful, Even For Lionel Messi With 400 Goals

There is nothing illegal about tax planning. Yet some things are legal while others are not, and the lines can sometimes get fuzzy. Add to that the fact that some people go to extraordinary lengths to avoid paying taxes, and it can be a recipe for disaster. Increasingly, if you… – Continue reading

Massimo Cellino’s Leeds reign under renewed threat after tax evasion ruling

 Italian judge rules Cellino guilty of ‘Machiavellian’ tax evasion • Football League rules bar club owners convicted of dishonesty • Cellino’s lawyer says judge’s ruling is ‘full to the brim of errors’ • How an elegant yacht became vital to Leeds United’s future • Cellino: I don’t know why I… – Continue reading

Conservative MP implicated in tax avoidance scheme

A CONSERVATIVE MP invested in an alleged tax avoidance scheme currently under investigation by HM Revenue & Customs. Conservative Geoffrey Cox QC – a top lawyer at Thomas More Chambers – is one of 230 who put cash into Pheonix Film Partners, run by Ingenious Media, the Mirror reports. Pheonix… – Continue reading

U.S. tax evasion and money-laundering sting nabs Canadians

A contingent of so-called “corrupt clients” from Canada have been caught in the net of a massive fraud investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney, a source close to the investigation told CBC. CBC News reported Wednesday that two Canadians, along with four others, were indicted in the U.S…. – Continue reading

Caribbean-Based Investment Advisor Sentenced for Using Offshore Accounts to Launder and Conceal Funds

Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—September 5, 2014. Joshua Vandyk, an investment advisor, was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison for conspiring to launder monetary instruments, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Vandyk, a U.S. citizen, and Eric St-Cyr and Patrick Poulin, Canadian citizens, were indicted by a grand… – Continue reading

‘Vaccine’ tax avoidance scheme loses in court

A cynical tax avoidance scheme which “abused the reliefs” offered for research into life-saving vaccines to claim back £77m, has been rejected at a second tribunal. HMRC said investors in the scheme used a Jersey registered limited partnership which claimed to be involved in creating and exploiting intellectual property from… – Continue reading

Six Corporate Executives and Six Corporate Entities Indicted for Orchestrating a $500 Million Offshore Asset Protection, Securities Fraud, and Money Laundering Scheme Defendants Created Three Brokerage Firms in Belize to Assist U.S. Citizens in Fraudulent Manipulation Schemes of Publicly Traded Companies, Including Cannabis-Rx Inc. (CANA)]

A multi-count indictment was unsealed this morning in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, against six individual defendants: Robert Bandfield, a U.S. citizen; Andrew Godfrey, a citizen of Belize; Kelvin Leach, a citizen of the Bahamas; Rohn Knowles, a citizen of the Bahamas; Brian De Wit, a citizen of Canada;… – Continue reading

Searches at several Romanian companies in software sale tax evasion case

The police conducted on Monday morning, September 8, searches at several companies in Romania in a case of tax evasion in the sale of software. The searches took place at 7 places in Bucharest and Ilfov and Giurgiu counties, targeting the suspects’ homes and several companies. According to sources quoted by… – Continue reading

First landmark ruling on Indian indirect transfer taxes! Delhi High Court restricts their applicability

The Delhi High Court upholds the non-taxability of gains from sale of shares of overseas entities by the Copal Group to the Moody’s Group. Interpretation of the indirect transfer tax provisions in a restrictive manner. 50% threshold for substantiality based on guidance by OECD/ UN material and Shome Committee Report… – Continue reading

EBT scheme’s defeat will protect £2.4m, says HMRC

A tax avoidance scheme that routed a film financing venture’s profits via Employee Benefit Trusts at the behest of the venture’s owner, an ex-accountant, has been blocked by a tribunal. Operated by John Dryburgh, a former partner with Deloitte & Touche, the scheme  involved extracting profits from a series of companies named… – Continue reading

Kenya: KRA Claims Sh25 Billion As Tax From Foreign Firms

KENYA Revenue Authority is currently recovering Sh25 billion outstanding tax from international companies that a recent audit showed were involved in transfer pricing, it announced on Friday. Commissioner general John Njiraini said the authority has recently conducted transfer pricing audits involving over 50 cases which have so far yielded tax… – Continue reading

Furious investors admit defeat in £5bn tax fight: Celebrities set to settle bills as deadline over discounts looms

Millionaire investors in a £5billion alleged tax avoidance scheme run by financier Patrick McKenna’s investment firm Ingenious are preparing to settle with the taxman rather than face a court battle with the authorities. The Ingenious scheme, revealed by The Mail on Sunday four years ago, is one of the biggest… – Continue reading

Tax avoidance is ‘OK’ declares Farage as he dismisses ‘ridiculous’ attacks for using firm to halve tax bill on £45,000 extra earnings

● UKIP leader says no-one would pay more tax than they had to ● Says he paid money into company Thorn in the Side Limited to save cash ● He saved £11,000 by paying 20p corporation tax instead of 40p income tax Nigel Farage has said that some tax avoidance… – Continue reading

Study: 70% of Fortune 500 Companies, of Which 5 are Wisconsin-Based, Used Tax Havens in 2013

Madison, June 5 – Tax loopholes encouraged more than 70 percent of Fortune 500 companies – includingJohnson Controls, Rockwell Automation and Manpower here in Wisconsin – to maintain subsidiaries in offshore tax havens as of 2013, according to “Offshore Shell Games,” released today by WISPIRG Foundation and Citizens for Tax Justice. Collectively, the companies reported booking… – Continue reading

Gabby Logan invested in tax avoidance scheme used by Gary Barlow and two Take That bandmates

World Cup presenter Gabby Logan invested in the tax avoidance scheme used by Gary Barlow and two Take That bandmates. Gabby, who is on the BBC’s frontline team for Brazil, ploughed cash into part of a £12.3million partnership which aimed to shelter earnings from the taxman. The TV star, who… – Continue reading

Now tax what I call music – the fantasy festival line-up

Three members of Take That are reported to have invested in a tax avoidance scheme – so will they join our festival line-up of stars who, through schemes or leaving the country, have avoided tax? Whether by moving country or through schemes and accountants, celebrities finding ways to avoid tax… – Continue reading

Take That’s Gary Barlow blasted on Twitter over tax avoidance allegations! Here’s why we SHOULDN’T go for his jugular!

Yesterday, headlines in the majority of the press focussed on allegations that Gary Barlow and his Take That band mates had used a “shady investment scheme” in order to avoid paying taxes on their whopping incomes… The Sun reported that following a tribunal, Gary and band mates Mark Owen and… – Continue reading

Nokia India, Finnish parent discuss tax evasion in emails

The department had slapped a tax demand of Rs 2,080 crore on the company last year while re-opening the assessment for AY 2006-07 and 2007-08. As Finnish phone-maker Nokia strives to meet the April 30 deadline for sealing the $7.2 billion deal with Microsoft, its tussle with the Indian tax… – Continue reading