criminal law

18
Feb

Government will negotiate with the US to ensure that institutions like credit unions, pension funds, government entities and international institutions that present a low risk of US tax evasion are exempt from the provisions of FATCA under a special annex to the IGA Barbados is moving steadily towards an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with the United States to give effect to the Foreign Account Compliance Act (FATCA). 03 February 2014 Minister of Industry Donville Inniss, Bank Secretary of the Central Bank Elson Gaskin and Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Sabina Walcott- Denny at a press conference highlighted the logistics of the initiative. According to Gaskin, the timeline that the negotiation team has set for actually getting the IGA into place is April 30, 2014, while the deadline for signing is June 30. It was noted that Barbados will have at least until September 30, 2015 to ensure that all matters needed to operationalise FATCA, including the passage of legislation are in place. The Bank secretary explained, "The threshold for bank accounts is USD 100 000 on an aggregate basis. On the July 1, 2014 you will be subject to FATCA reporting. Or if you have an insurance contract with a Cash Surrender Value ...

22
Aug

Switzerland wants to allow German authorities to make back-dated inquiries about Germans who stashed cash in secret Swiss accounts to avoid tax when a bilateral deal on tax evasion comes into force The arrangement would allow German tax authorities to make requests dating back to 2011 about people they suspect of moving their money from Switzerland to another country before the agreement to tackle German tax dodgers hiding money in Switzerland takes effect, Focus weekly magazine said. The Swiss parliament is due to pass a law to allow this in the coming months, the magazine said, adding it would not require any change or renegotiation to the agreement which Berne struck with Berlin in April to levy taxes on German assets in Swiss accounts. That would make the deal more appealing to the Social Democrats (SPD), Germany's main opposition party, who have said they would veto it in its current form. The German government needs SPD backing for it in the upper house. finance.yahoo.com

22

A proposal for a Quick Reaction Mechanism (QRM), that would enable Member States to respond more swiftly and efficiently to VAT fraud, was adopted by the Commission 31 July 2012 Under the QRM, a Member State faced with a serious case of sudden and massive VAT fraud would be able to implement certain emergency measures, in a way which they are currently not allowed to under VAT legislation. In this context, the proposal provides that Member States would be able to apply, within the space of a month, a "reverse charge mechanism" which makes the recipient rather than the supplier of the goods or services liable for VAT. This would significantly improve their chances of effectively tackling complex fraud schemes, such as carrousel fraud, and of reducing otherwise irreparable financial losses. The Quick Reaction Mechanism would be valid for up to one year. ec.europa.eu

16
Aug

The Swiss branch of bank HSBC has confirmed it handed further documents to the United States containing the names of staff, details of business trips, internal reports, phone calls and emails in connection with tax evasion investigations HSBC spokesperson confirmed a report in Tuesday's edition of the Geneva-based Le Temps newspaper. He added all affected staff had been informed and that no client data had been handed over. The bank employees, who dealt with wealthy US clients, apparently had no possibility to prevent the transfer. The spokesman said the bank had reduced the number of business trips to the US to minimise legal risks for its staff. swissinfo.ch

21
Jul

Thousands of wealthy yacht owners are fleeing Italian shores to escape a tax evasion crackdown Prime Minister Mario Monti launched a campaign six months ago against suspected tax evaders targeting upmarket ski-resorts in the Alps and the Dolomites. But now he has waged war on the country's marinas by hunting down owners of luxury yachts in an attempt to tackle Italy's €1.9 trillion debt crisis. It means as many as 30,000 yachts have fled to safer shores in the hope they will not be caught including Corsica, Cote d'Azur, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Greece. Owners of expensive boats are notoriously known to declare only a small income, or none at all. But Assomarinas, the Italian Association of Marinas, says the mass exodus has cost the industry €200 million in lost revenue. Roberto Perocchio, president of Assomarinas, told The Telegraph: 'We've lost 10 to 15 per cent of our regular customers. 'This is the worst crisis in Italian boating history. The authorities are using scare tactics and creating a climate of fear.' A new tax of up to €700 a day on large yachts in Italian ports was introduced in December. However, the government backed ...