British Territories in Trouble Over Annual Reports

It might raise a few eyebrows to learn that the last time the Cayman Islands submitted an annual report was in 2003. With that in mind, it may be more concerning to find that the National Audit Office says that this is one of the better performing British Territories in terms of robust regulatory frameworks.

Nonresidents own $606.8 Billion in Swiss Financial Sector

Nonresident individuals owned $606.8 billion of assets in Switzerland’s financial sector at the end of 2006, enabling them to easily avoid taxes on those assets in their home countries, Tax Notes magazine reports today.

Venezuela reviews use of US Dollars Withdrawls Abroad

With a goal to put an end to the so-called “unlawful” use of the US dollars each Venezuelan citizen is allowed to spend on a yearly basis during travels abroad, the chair of the Foreign Exchange Administration Board (Cadivi) Manuel Barroso launched an operation to monitor cash withdrawals of US dollars abroad, even though there is not a clear definition of the related offenses.

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Russia creates Black List of Offshores

Russia’s Finance Ministry promulgated yesterday a list of offshore firms and territories, the registration in which won’t enable the companies to transfer tax-free dividend to Russia. The emergence of Finance Ministry’s list of 41 offshores could be attributed to amendments to the Tax Code that take effect January 1, 2008. The amendments set a zero tax rate for the dividend profit generated by companies from interest in the capital of other organizations (i.e. their subsidiaries). So far, the respective tax rate has been 9 percent and even 15 percent, should a foreign company pay the dividend.

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Money Pours into Monaco Banks

Monaco and Andorra – Europe’s top two tax havens – are seeing an influx of funds to their banks, despite governments worldwide actively trying to stop their citizens using tax havens to bank their money. Some industry analysts estimate it could be as much as 20 billion Euros over the last eighteen months, with 70 billion in total managed assets overall.

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Have your say on international tax rules

An issues paper on international tax rules changes was released for consultation today.  The paper seeks feedback on proposed changes to the treatment of foreign dividends.

In a joint statement Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said a bill reforming tax law would be introduced in May.

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HUTCHISON WHAMPOA UNIT LOSES TAX BATTLE WORTH HK $1 BILLION

Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal has ruled in favor of the city’s tax department in a claims case against a unit of conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK) involving more than HK$1 billion in back taxes, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday. The report said the five judges of the Final Court of Appeal unanimously allowed the Inland Revenue Department’s appeal against Hongkong International Terminals Ltd. and confirmed a decision rejecting the port operator’s tax deduction on interest payment for a US$1.73 billion note issuance in 1994 to finance a Shenzhen port development.

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CAP GAINS TAX APPLICABLE EVEN IF INVESTING FROM UAE

The Government has notified amendments to the India-UAE tax treaty and CNBC-TV18 tax correspondent Arun Giri has found out that the significant change is the capital gains exemption so far enjoyed by the UAE residents investing in Indian companies, has been done away with. This means that the UAE residents investing in Indian companies and selling shares of Indian companies will no longer have the capital gains exemption benefit. Along with that, they will also be deprived of the residents rules, which means only persons living in the UAE for 183 days or more in a year, will be entitled to the benefits of the treaty.

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ESCA SIGNS MOU WITH ISLE OF MAN COUNTERPART

The Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA) and Financial Supervision Commission of Isle of Man, part of the British Isles, signed on Wednesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for boosting joint financial cooperation.

The MoU defines areas of cooperation between the two regulators which include exchange of information, regulation of financial disclosure, mitigation of trading risks and securities markets’ protection.

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Q&A: Why Panama attracts wealthy foreigners

Panama’s generous tax laws have long made it a haven for wealthy investers from overseas.

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