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TAX INFORMATION EXCHANGE WITH BERMUDA

A new tax information exchange arrangement between the United Kingdom and Bermuda was signed in London on 4 December 2007 by Meg Munn, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the foreign and commonwealth office and Paula A Cox, the deputy premier and minister of finance of Bermuda. The text of the arrangement can be accessed on the HMRC website and will in due course be laid as schedules to a draft order in council for consideration by the House of Commons. It will then also be available from the Stationery Office.

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.

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.

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.

ECOFIN ACCEPTS CYPRUS’ VAT EXEMPTION
European Union Finance Ministers have accepted a request from Cyprus to postpone VAT on the purchase of foodstuff, medication and restaurant services until the end of 2009. The decision was taken unanimously at the European Union Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) by all 27 member-states, after negotiations, which took place with the participation of Cyprus Finance Minister Michalis Sarris. The Cypriot Minister had the support of Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union Laszlo Kovacs and the Portuguese President of the Council. According to the accession agreement to the EU, Cyprus had gained an exemption as regards the VAT on medication, food and restaurant services until 31st December 2007, which meant that from 1st January 2008 Cyprus would move on to impose VAT and further increase the price of the specific goods and services.

CYPRUS AND KYRGYZ CENTRAL BANKS SIGN MOU
The National Bank of Kyrgyz Republic and the Central Bank of Cyprus, expressing their mutual interest and willingness in establishing and promoting bilateral ties in the domain of supervision of credit institutions, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The National Bank of Kyrgyz Republic is the competent authority for the licensing, regulation and supervision of credit institutions operating in Kyrgyz Republic. The Central Bank of Cyprus is, also, Cyprus’s licensing as well as banking supervisory authority.

REVEALED: HOW UK BANKS EXPLOIT CHARITY TAX LAWS
Britain’s high street banks have raised billions of pounds in funds through complex financial deals that use supposedly charitable trusts which are not donating a penny to good causes, the Guardian has learned. A dozen of the country’s best-known banks and financial institutions have raised funds on the back of £234bn-worth of home loans over the past seven years, using trusts which have charitable status but rarely give anything to charity.

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LUXEMBOURG DEAL PAVES WAY FOR EU VAT
Luxembourg finally agreed at the Eurofi Conference of EU finance ministers in Brussels to a deal which will apply VAT to services in the country where they are consumed, rather than the location of the company which sells them, paving the way for sweeping changes to the way electronic services are taxed.

PRIVATE BANKING: NEW MONEY SETTLES IN SINGAPORE
The private banking business in Asia is so good these days that banks are flying aircraft-loads of customers for weekends away just to say thank-you – whereas in the past they might have sent a year-end gift hamper. Banking for high net worth clients is one of the fastest growing segments of Asia’s financial services industry. Private wealth in Asia grew 10.5 per cent last year to $8,400bn.

BANKS RESISTING HMRC CALLS FOR OFFSHORE ACCOUNT DETAILS
Banks and building societies are becoming increasingly restive at the taxman’s attempts to extract confidential information about clients with offshore bank accounts. ‘The banking and building society industry believes a balance must be found between maintaining appropriate customer confidentiality and tracking down people who fail to pay their taxes,’ says a statement from the British Bankers Association (BBA).

CZECH GOV’T APPROVES LAW AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING
The Czech government on Tuesday approved a law against money laundering under which banks may require documents from their clients conducting transactions over 1000 euros (1477 U.S. dollars). If passed by the legislature, the law is to take effect from mid-2008 onwards, the Czech news agency CTK reported. According to the existing legislation, banks must only ask for the documents if the sum in question exceeds 100,000 crowns (5591 dollars).

NZ CONSULTATION ON REFORM OF INTERNATIONAL TAX RULES
The latest round of consultation on the reform of New Zealand’s international tax rules got under way today with the release of an issues paper seeking feedback on suggested changes to the treatment of foreign dividends under the proposed reform.
“With the release of this third consultative document, all is on track for the introduction in May of a bill that gives effect to the comprehensive reform of the way we tax New Zealand companies that have offshore subsidiaries,” Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said today

TWO HELD FOR DUPING DOZEN BY LOTTERY BAIT
Two young men who allegedly cheated over a dozen people by offering them “lottery prizes” worth 10 lakh pounds through e-mails have been arrested by the South Delhi police. A hunt has been launched for the masterminds, a Nigerian and his Indian accomplice.

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 11:16 am and is filed under offshore asset protection, offshore companies, tax havens, banking privacy, offshore bank account, Offshore Banking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.