Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Links Aug 31

India: No tax amnesty for money stashed away in Swiss banks The Hindu Business Line
Aug 25 - "The Government has ruled out tax amnesty for money deposited by Indians in Swiss banks." Commenting on the Swiss-German deal and the Swiss-UK deal, "senior Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) official told Business Line, 'India will not go for such a treaty. Rather, we would prefer criminal investigation and action thereof.'” Hat tip Offshore Watch.

Swiss tax deal prompts switch to Liechtenstein accountancy
Aug 31 - Commentary on jurisdiction shopping: "Accountants are predicting that wealthy Britons who hold funds in Swiss bank accounts may opt to switch their funds to Liechtenstein following the announcement of the tax agreement between Switzerland and the UK, in order to take advantage of lower tax rates." The point is, hidden funds move around secrecy jurisdictions, which is why the solution is international cooperation on automatic information exchange, on a multilateral basis.

Major money-laundering scandal hits Geneva swissinfo
Aug 29 - On a bribery and money-laundering case with ramifications in three continents, involving millions of dollars laundered through a Swiss private banking institution.

See also:
Pictet Bank Sued by Saudi Company, Accused of Aiding Bribery Scheme Bloomberg
Aug 26 - “Pictet’s part in the conspiracy was clear -- it was charged by the corrupted employees with responsibility of concealing their receipt of the bribe money”.

Governments concerned that some corporations unfairly claim losses to avoid taxes OECD
Aug 30 - The OECD releases a new study on agressive tax planning. "Due to the recent financial and economic crisis, global corporate losses have increased significantly ...Though most of these claims are justified, some corporations find loop-holes and use ‘aggressive tax planning’ to avoid taxes in ways that are not within the spirit of the law."

Glencore to declare support for ethical mining to spruce up its image This is Money
Aug 29 - We've been blogging on the Glencore tax dodging scandal, such as here. Now Glencore is professing its support for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

I am not a masochist but the rich must pay more Financial Times
Aug 29 - "If the wealthy can endure higher taxes without complaint, the less privileged may feel able to bear the pain that sharp-edged reforms will entail. I never thought I would find myself saying this, but it is time to increase my share of taxes." See also our blog on Wealthy people acting for tax justice.

The real cost of tax cuts Financial Review
Aug 31 - While proponents argue there are economic benefits in cutting tax rates, a recent poll shows Australians understand their opportunity cost implications.

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