A joint investigation by The Guardian newspaper, BBC Panorama and the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has revealed a thriving trade in offshore tax evasion in a series of articles and films which throw a light on the unscrupulous behaviour of some UK based tax specialists.
International life companies on the Isle of Man may face losing their special zero-10 tax status when the Government’s long awaited tax strategy is due to be announced at the Tynwald sitting on December 11 and 12.
A landmark tax deal between Germany and Switzerland has been blocked by Germany’s upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat.
HM Revenue & Customs is sending letters directly to 1,500 people who it believes have signed up to one particular avoidance scheme.
Britain’s overseas territories, including the Crown Dependencies, Gibraltar and the Cayman Islands, are expected to be seeking official confirmation with some urgency of a report that the UK government is planning a ‘son of FATCA’ aimed at obtaining information on all accounts held by British taxpayers.
The United Arab Emirates ranks the best in the world as a tax system where medium sized businesses can flourish, according to tax and accountancy practice PwC’s highly regarded 2012 global tax league report.
HM Revenue & Customs has shuffled its team of agents who handle Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility disclosures, to the frustration of some specialist tax experts who say they are now having to start from scratch in developing a working relationship with their counterparts at the Revenue.
New US regulations governing the way US institutions send money abroad on behalf of individuals are being cautiously welcomed by advisers and currency trading experts outside the US. But some worry they could be too onerous, at least in the beginning.
HM Revenue & Customs is currently investigating 41,000 cases of tax avoidance in the UK with an estimated £10.2bn at stake, according to a detailed report conducted by the National Audit Office, which said “there is little evidence HMRC is making progress in preventing the sale of highly contrived tax avoidance schemes”.
The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) has accused the US of "behaving like a bully" in imposing unfair costs on UK investment managers through the implementation of FATCA.
40% of asset managers are unprepared for the impact of AIFMD, which will become law in every EU member state by July 2013, according to research from specialist fund service provider KNEIP.
The US Treasury has quietly unveiled what it is calling its "FATCA Model 2 template" agreement, as an alternative to a FATCA "intergovernmental model agreement" released earlier this year.
