The government’s planned changes to the tax law for South Africans working abroad – either permanently or on a long-term contracts – has brought financial emigration into sharp focus. Financial emigration is a formal process with the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to change your tax status from “resident” to… – Continue reading
Survey respondents cite high marginal rates and lack of staff reward schemes as negatives More than half of Irish business owners view the State’s tax code as a barrier to growth rather than a support, according to a survey by accounting and professional services firm Deloitte. Respondents cited Ireland’s high… – Continue reading
The latest changes in Australia’s housing affordability laws are likely to have an effect on property sales tax liabilities for Australian citizens and associated property taxes for expats living and working in the country as well as property investors. Firstly, Aussie citizens living overseas may lose their Capital Gains Tax… – Continue reading
…as tax dispute escalates Vodafone Ghana has filed a motion at the High Court of Justice, Commercial Division in Accra, against the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) disputing tax assessments of GH¢160 million, according to the Writ obtained by ghanabusinessnews.com. The GRA has asked Vodafone to pay 30 per cent of… – Continue reading
ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka will charge a 10 percent capital gains tax on investments other than listed shares, under a new inland revenue bill to be effective from April 2018. The principle residence of a person, which has been owned for more than three years and in which a person… – Continue reading
The Treasurer has recently released exposure draft legislation (Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Tax Integrity) Bill 2017) in relation to removal of the CGT main residence exemption for foreign residents. The changes are part of the Commonwealth Government’s ‘housing affordability’ reforms announced in the 2017-18 Budget. This will affect both Australian… – Continue reading
INTRODUCTION HMRC have successfully challenged the offshore residence of Jersey companies holding UK real estate. In the case of Development Securities, the First Tier Tribunal held that Jersey companies set up to hold UK real estate were resident in the UK for tax purposes. This case serves as a timely… – Continue reading
The Act currently provides for income taxable as ‘capital gains’ to be computed after taking into account the full value of consideration received or accrued on transfer of a capital asset “A person doesn’t know how much he has to be thankful for until he has to pay taxes on… – Continue reading
The Australian Government has unveiled a package of housing tax breaks, including a new scheme for first-time buyers, a superannuation incentive for downsizers, and tighter rules for foreign residents. In a joint release, Treasurer Scott Morrison and his Assistant Minister, Michael Sukkar, said: “Housing affordability is a major issue affecting… – Continue reading
The Australian Government has moved to clarify the tax treatment of foreign investors, following concerns over the practical operation of the Investment Manager Regime (IMR) and the new tax system for managed investment trusts (MITs). The aim of the IMR is to attract foreign investment to Australia and the promote… – Continue reading
A new report shows the offshore jurisdiction is home to assets of $1.5tn, double an estimate by the International Monetary Fund in 2010. Assets held offshore in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) are worth $1.5 trillion (£1.19 trillion), double the International Monetary Fund’s 2010 estimate. That’s according to a new… – Continue reading
In Federal Budget 2017, the Government is clamping down on tax avoidance by foreign investors in real estate, by tightening the foreign resident capital gains tax withholding regime. The new laws apply to both Australian resident and foreign resident vendors: Australian resident vendors of real property of $750,000 or more… – Continue reading
Regulator Sebi is mulling tightening its investigation and enforcement mechanism to check misuse of stock market platform for generating “bogus” long-term capital gains to launder black money. The markets watchdog has also come across cases wherein fraudulent tax benefits have been claimed through trades in some blue-chip stocks, as against… – Continue reading
You may be liable for capital gains tax. Here’s how. There is a common misconception that the sale of a person’s primary residence will never result in capital gains tax being payable; this is incorrect. For most taxpayers the sale of a primary residence will not result in a taxable… – Continue reading
Grandfathering is term for alteration of rules that apply to a certain investment technique Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) based in Mauritius and Singapore had, it now appears, rushed to take advantage of the ‘grandfathering’ clause in the new Double Tax Avoidance Agreement signed between both the governments of the two… – Continue reading
Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison’s 2017 Budget focused on measures to cool the housing market and crack down on tax avoidance. Morrison handed down the Budget on May 9. He said the the budget would return to a surplus in 2020-21 and remain in surplus over the medium term. The Budget… – Continue reading
Foreign ownership of new developments will be restricted, there will be steeper charges applied to purchases, less favourable tax treatment and charges on those with empty properties, in a raft of measures in the federal budget aimed at taking the sting out of the housing market. One measure to be… – Continue reading
Indian tax authorities have initiated a $4.75 billion penalty charge against Cairn Energy for failing to pay a capital gains tax demand of $1.58 billion on a 2006 transaction. Under Section 271(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act, Indian tax authorities can levy a maximum 200 percent penalty against transactions after… – Continue reading
Slovakia should tackle value-added tax and corporate tax evasion, the International Monetary Fund has said. In its annual report for the country, the Fund said that measures to target tax fraud and non-compliance have reduced the VAT gap – the amount lost compared with the theoretical maximum were the headline… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Stockmarkets cannot be allowed to be misused by manipulators for evasion of taxes and the BSE has put in place a strong surveillance mechanism to check any such misdeeds, the exchange’s CEO Ashish Chauhan has said. He also urged the government to have a fresh relook at the… – Continue reading
Former Prime Minister and Coordinator of Naya Shakti Party Nepal, Baburam Bhattarai, has said that the offshore deal to transfer 80 percent of the shares in Ncell was an attempt to evade taxes. “Attempts have been made to evade tax by not registering share transfer information at the Office of… – Continue reading
These three CGT exclusions have remained unchanged for five years. Over the last few years government has collected a significant amount of tax revenue by not fully adjusting the personal income tax tables for inflationary increases in earnings, thereby increasing the effective tax rate of individuals. A middle-class individual earning… – Continue reading
The Hong Kong Government has put forward a proposal to amend its tax laws to establish a dedicated tax regime for aircraft owners/lessors based in Hong Kong and leasing to offshore (including PRC) lessees/airlines (see Timeline / References below) (“Proposed Regime”). Assuming there are no surprises or drafting issues in… – Continue reading
A bombshell hidden in the detail of the 2017 Budget review relates to the taxation of offshore trusts. It refers to the 2015 Budget review in which it was announced that measures would be introduced to the tax treatment of foreign companies held by interposed trusts. No specific countermeasures were… – Continue reading
In the public vote held on February 12, 2017, Swiss voters rejected the Corporate Tax Reform III Law Proposal (CTR III). Nevertheless, this issue is not yet resolved and remains on the table! A «CTR III 2.0» is expected in a timely manner. Information about the newest developments, but also… – Continue reading
Individuals who will be deemed UK domicile from 6 April 2017 should be considering their options with regard to offshore trusts as a matter of priority. On 5 December 2016, the UK Government published the Reforms to the taxation of non-domiciles: further consultation outcome, which provided clarity on the following… – Continue reading
Main residence exemption costing budget $61.5bn, almost double the $33bn lost to super concessions The federal government’s tax breaks for home owner-occupiers are dwarfing tax breaks for superannuation. New figures show the capital gains tax concession on the family home is now worth $61.5bn, almost double the $33bn lost to… – Continue reading
CROSS-border taxation in current times is poised for significant changes. Tax is key in foreign ventures. Absent tax strategies and foreign tax leakages would erode margins and return of investment. Although international tax-efficient strategies to mitigate capital gains tax (CGT), withholding tax (WHT) and the risk of creating a taxable… – Continue reading
The most important task of the Finance Minister in the 2017-18 budget is to tame the “Indirect Transfer Provisions” monster born out of amendments to Section 9 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. In response to the Supreme Court’s judgement in the famous Vodafone case, the Finance Act, 2012 amended… – Continue reading
Given the recent developments in the Indian economy, the upcoming Union Budget will certainly be critical and important in determining the future outlook of the economy. The financial services industry has been one of the key drivers of growth due to its strong cause and effect relationship with the economy…. – Continue reading
The Israeli Tax Authority has issued an official draft circular to clarify the tax guidelines that apply to bitcoin adopters. In an announcement last week, the Israel Tax Authority released its draft [PDF] on the proposed taxation of virtual currencies which are considered “assets”. Pointedly, the announcement also cites the… – Continue reading
India is unlikely to amend its tax treaty with the Netherlands as it did with Mauritius, Singapore and Cyprus and this could shape the investment strategy of foreign portfolio investors (FPI) and private equity (PE) funds investing in India, said three people in the know. “There were talks to amend… – Continue reading
Starting April 1, 2017, India will have the right to tax capital gains arising on Indian equity shares sold by a Singapore resident. The governments of India and Singapore have amended the double taxation avoidance treaty between the two countries, in line with the changes India recently made to a… – Continue reading
In Depth There is mixed news for affected individuals, including far-reaching changes relating to offshore trusts and a further wait (possibly until March 2017) for the rest of the draft legislation. The following are highlights from the government’s response and the draft legislation. Deeming Provisions Deemed Domiciled: Non-doms will become… – Continue reading
For myriad reasons, Malta has over the years established itself as an ideal jurisdiction to hold intellectual property rights. The country offers many tax benefits on income derived from Intellectual Property. Apart from the tax exemption on income derived from patents, copyrights and trademarks as will be further explained below,… – Continue reading
A major Revenue crackdown on tax-avoidance schemes used by Ireland’s richest people has clawed back more than €36m for the taxpayer in the past year. The tax-avoidance team at Revenue’s large cases division has agreed settlements with a number of high-wealth individuals – defined as those with net assets greater… – Continue reading
The U.K. government said it would investigate bringing nonresident companies’ income into the country’s corporation tax regime. The consultation on the move is expected to begin at Budget 2017 in March, the Treasury said in its Autumn Statement Nov. 23. “The government wants to deliver equal tax treatment to ensure… – Continue reading
Mumbai: The government plans to withdraw tax exemption on long-term capital gains (LTCG) made on the sale of penny stocks to end the use of stock markets for tax evasion as part of a series of steps to eradicate black money, two people familiar with the development said. “The government… – Continue reading
Institute for Economic Affairs says changes would make those at top 13% better off, but incomes of those at bottom would rise 26% National insurance, business rates, stamp duty, the TV licence fee and excise duties on alcohol and tobacco should be among 20 taxes abolished by the government, a… – Continue reading
India has notified the revised double tax avoidance agreement with South Korea under which capital gains tax will be levied at the source with effect from April 1, 2017. The existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention, which has been in vogue for three decades, provides for residence-based taxation of capital gains… – Continue reading
The narrowing figure of £36bn roundly condemned for ignoring estimated tens of billions lost in profit shifting and tax avoidance by multinationals Tax experts warned that HM Revenue & Customs was underestimating the size of Britain’s tax avoidance problem after the agency claimed that Britain’s annual tax shortfall was only… – Continue reading
Argentina and Chile yesterday announced the implementation of a long-awaited agreement to eliminate double taxation for residents of both countries in order to encourage investment and prevent tax evasion. Chile’s Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz, Public Works Minister Alberto Undurraga, and Finance Minister Rodrigo Valdés met with Argentina’s Finance Minister Alfonso… – Continue reading
Expats who have money or assets outside Britain can expect to start receiving letters from the UK tax man soon. Hundreds of thousands of letters are being drafted for expats who have returned to the country after spells abroad and for expats considered UK taxpayers who have had overseas assignments…. – Continue reading
Tough rules to regulate tax advisers, banks and lawyers who help companies avoid tax are set to be advanced by European Union finance ministers. The Council of Economic and Financial Affairs Oct. 11 also will likely move toward a system of automatic exchange of beneficial ownership registers to better target… – Continue reading
A category has been added to HMRC’s factsheet on higher penalties for offshore matters, with the added section providing information on less extreme penalties given for territories that exchange information with the tax authority automatically Penalties for category 1 territories have been added showing them to be less extreme than… – Continue reading
Singapore is seeking more time to revise the two-decade old tax treaty with India, saying its investors need more time to shift to source-based taxation. India has, however, rejected any deferment in the revision of the treaty that will help prevent Singapore, which is the top source of FDI into… – Continue reading
What will happen to clean capital, tainted trusts and enveloped assets under the new tax regime? John Goodchild reports. The UK government has at last disclosed further details of the tax changes for UK resident non-domiciled individuals first announced in July 2015. The government remains determined to implement all the… – Continue reading
With India re-working taxation treaty with Singapore, an influential grouping of overseas investors has said capital gains tax exemption should be retained in the pact for FPIs in listed securities as that would “greatly ease” concerns of foreign investors. Seeking elimination of capital gains tax on portfolio investments in listed… – Continue reading
Mauritius, the island nation that accounts for the second-largest FDI, has sought a line of credit and more investments from India as it gets ready for implementation of the revised tax treaty from April 2017. Mauritian Minister of Finance and Economic Development Pravind Kumar Jugnauth yesterday met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley… – Continue reading
Current rules allow over 100,000 wealthy residents to pay a lower rate of tax, even if they have lived in UK for many years. The Government is risking more than £6bn of tax revenue by changing rules governing non-domiciled taxpayers, an international law firm has warned. Pinsent Masons said that… – Continue reading
