Jurisdictions news

12.12.2012 U.S. imposes heavy fines on banks

To absolve themselves of charges of violating sanctions against Iran, the British bank Standard Chartered Bank has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $ 327 million.

11.12.2012 Hong Kong still at the first position

Up to now Hong Kong has a leading position among the cities of China, but analysts predict that Shanghai may soon catch up with him in many ways.

10.12.2012 Strarbucks and Britain: a new scandal with multinational company

Most recently, a new scandal erupted between the authorities of the United Kingdom and one of the largest multinational companies - American network cafes Starbucks. The scandal was triggered by allegations that the coffee chain does not pay income tax in the UK for 3 years. Authorized UK authorities note that, Starbucks paid only 8.6 million pounds in taxes for 3 years on revenue of 3 billion pounds. In response to this guide Starbucks, so as not to stir up a scandal on and does not get to court, promised to pay into the treasury of the UK 10 million pounds, or 20 million pounds over two years.

07.12.2012 A unified standard for offshore: European Commission takes action on tax evasion

The aim of the European Commission today is to create an effective plan of action to help combat tax evasion. The plan includes the development and introduction of the Code of the taxpayer, the Common EU tax identification number, and the revision and updating of the existing key tax legislation.

06.12.2012 Any percentage is important: Britain lowers taxes

The Government's anti-crisis program is a combination of reducing the budget deficit, increasing the investment attractiveness and many more beautiful things.

05.12.2012 New Zealand will be operating with OECD only

Due to numerous discussions of the issue of taxation of multinational companies (Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc.), the Minister of Finance of New Zealand has decided to clarify the position of his Government.

04.12.2012 Belgium made changes in tax rates

November 21, 2012 the Belgian Government submitted tax changes that had planned in the budget for 2013.

03.12.2012 Austria saw the results of the reduction of corporate tax

Back in 2005, the Austrian government has reduced corporate tax rate from 34% to 25%. However, Australia makes the conclusions just now: Despite the low tax rate, according to Finance Minister Maria Fekter, tax revenues increased from 2005 to 2008. In 2005, this figure was EUR 5 billion, while in 2008 is already 6.3 billion euros.

30.11.2012 The new fiscal policy in the dependent territory of the UK

The United Kingdom is actively negotiating with its dependent territories, including the British Virgin Islands, about the possibility of a more thorough exchange of tax information. According to some reports, the British authorities are developing an act that would be similar to the U.S. law on fiscal compliance requirements for foreign accounts (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA).

29.11.2012 Germany did not sign the DTA with Switzerland

The upper House of Parliament of Germany did not agree to sign tax agreement with Switzerland. The German government is not sure in the provisions that were offered by the Swiss side of the agreement.

28.11.2012 The research: is the British confidentiality profitable for Russian billionaires?

The British magazine Guardian in conjunction with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ICIJ created a project to study the secrets of doing business in offshore jurisdictions.

27.11.2012 Living in the UK will cost £ 2 million

If we do not take into account the education and work for hire, the only way to obtain a visa to stay in the UK is business immigration. For this visa a lot of Russian citizens are living currently in the UK.

26.11.2012 Triplet of creditors does not give money to Cyprus

The European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund, the three main components of the international lenders, after difficult negotiations have not taken a final decision on the allocation of financial assistance for Cyprus. 

23.11.2012 EU summit did not come to an agreement on the budget 2014-2020

November 23 in Brussels EU summit ended, at which the Chair of the European Union, Herman Van Rompuy, said that before the start of next year will not be able to reach agreement on seven-year financial perspective for the EU 2014-2020. According to him, it is necessary to discuss additionally the long-term budget plan for the EU. 

22.11.2012 The procedure for obtaining a residence permit will be simplified in Spain

While the Spanish authorities have only confirmed its intention to simplify the procedure for obtaining a permit soon. The authorities are planning to make it possible to obtain a residence permit for foreigners by buying real estate worth more than 160,000 euros. 

21.11.2012 Changes in the regulation of transactions in foreign currency in Ukraine

November 19, 2012 Resolution of National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) № 475 of November 16, 2012 has entered into force, which makes two significant changes in the regulation of transactions in foreign currency: 

20.11.2012 The Addition to tax treaty between Russia and Switzerland entered into force

November 9, 2012 the Addition to the DTA between Russia and Switzerland came into force.. However the Addition will be applying from 1 January 2013. 

19.11.2012 New regime of holdings in Latvia

In December 2011, the Latvian Parliament adopted amendments to the law "On Corporate Income Tax", which will come into force from 1 January 2013. Since then Latvia will be able to compete with major holding powers such as Cyprus and Malta. 

15.11.2012 Latvia's credit ratings increase

14.11.2012 Cyprus is not in “black list” of Russia any more