“Commercial Awareness Is Global.”
By: Ainsley Brown In a very surprising move HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has extended it tax amnesty program – the New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO). The NDO was set to expire on November 30 of this year but has been extended to January 4 of next. Under the program tax payers with undisclosed offshore accounts nestled away in any number
By: Ainsley Brown Jamaica is set to hire global legal giant Baker & MacKenzie (Baker) as its consultant on its new International Financial Centre (IFC). The deal, the details of which are still immerging, is subject to Cabinet approval and would see Baker advising the Jamaican government on the best ways to implement the IFC in this current economic climate.
By: Ainsley Brown There is nothing new with European Commission having to balance competing constituents – both market and geographic. The case remains the same with the anti-dumping duties put in place in 2006 to protect EU shoe manufacturers from cheaper Chinese and Vietnamese imports. The EU will decide tomorrow if it will continue or end the duties on the cheaper Chinese and Vietnamese
By: Ainsley Brown The UK taxman is now using YouTube to get its message across. I mean literally the “UK Taxman” – Permanent Secretary for Tax in HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), Dave Hartnett. And what is his message. Well you guessed it, pay your taxes or else. Yes I know, that’s just a little bit too simplistic but it
By: Ainsley Brown The Russian Federal Customs Service has dropped its $22.5 billion suit against Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), the world’s largest custodian of assets. Yes, you read that correctly that 22.5 Billion with a B. The suit was brought by the Russian Federal Customs Service in 2007 alleging that BNY was at the centre of illegal money
By: Ainsley Brown It has been reported in the Times that ¨up to 5, 000 British investors have an estimated £3 billion stashed away in secret accounts in Liechtenstein. It is a good thing then, well good from the perspective of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), that Liechtenstein and the UK Government have reached an agreement on the sharing of
By: Ainsley Brown There are no more countries left on the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Tax haven black list. Does this mean that the black list is no more? No, not exactly. The OECD has removed Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco from its black list of non-compliant tax havens. The three countries were the last remaining on the
By: Ainsley Brown UBS, the world´s largest wealth manager, has found itself embroiled in a diplomatic row between Washington and Bern. At issue is the interpretation of the current US-Swiss double taxation treaty and at stake is the newly inked, yet to be ratified, revised US-Swiss double taxation treaty. Does the future of the revised US-Swiss double taxation treaty depend
By: Ainsley Brown The world economic down turn has had many knock on effects, many of which unexpected. It seems that bad times has the uncanny effect of making the once unthinkable, unsayable and undoable all very much possible. The Swiss banking model can be best characterized with one word: Secrecy. This don’t ask don’t tell attitude is more than
By: Ainsley Brown The between tax evasion and legitimate tax planning is a fine one indeed. This line is now set to get even thinner. How? Before I get into the specifics of this a little background is in order. The issues of cross-border taxation are as old as commerce itself, as are the issues of tax evasion and tax