South Africa is looking for new ways to increase tax compliance in both South Africa and other African nations, including targeting "aggressive tax schemes" by multinational companies, hiring “tax soldiers”, and investigating the possibility of harmonious tax policies across Africa. On September 20th at the 2010 Africa Tax Conference held in Mpumalanga, South Africa, Oupa Magashula, Tax Commissioner of South Africa, spoke in front of a panel of tax experts and tax department representatives of various African nations on the possible means of ... Read More

UK tax authorities are preparing to launch a new anti-tax evasion campaign that could net as much as GBP 7 billion annually. Speaking at annual Liberal Democratic Party Conference on September 20th Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasurer, announced that the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are about to spend GBP 900 million on a new anti-tax evasion and tax fraud investigation campaign. According to Danny Alexander, if the new initiative will be successful, it could net an approximate tax revenue boost of ... Read More

Nearly 9 percent of taxes due to the UK HM Revenue and Customs last year were not paid out, due to underpayments, tax evasion and fraud. In 2009 the UK's tax gap, the difference between total taxes owed and the taxes collected, grew by GBP 4 billion to a total of GBP 42 billion, the highest amount since the year 2005. The figure was revealed in Measuring Tax Gaps 2010, a new report by the HM Revenue and Custom’s (HMRC) released on ... Read More

Vietnam will soon boost its investigations into transfer pricing practices of local businesses, in order to decrease the occurrence of tax evasion and spurn national tax revenues. The tax authorities of two of Vietnam’s primary business centers are launching pilot programs of increased investigations into the transfer pricing behavior of local units of international businesses. According to Nguyen Van Mo, deputy head of the tax department in Hanoi, and Le Thi Thu Huong, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City tax authority, ... Read More

According to South African trade unions the national Government needs to set a new economic growth path based on several new taxes and a more active and aggressive role in the economy. Speaking on behalf of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) on September 14th Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of COSATU, said that the Government needs to follow a new economic direction in order to revive the currently “dysfunctional economy.” According to Zwelinzima Vavi, unemployment levels in South Africa are worsening and ... Read More

Indian units of foreign companies could soon benefit from eased regulations surrounding the scrutiny and compliance issues of transfer pricing in their annual tax returns. New “safe harbor rules” could soon be instated in India, allowing tax authorities to accept the transfer pricing returns of local units of foreign companies without scrutiny. The announcement was made on September 13th by S S N Moorthy, Chairman of the Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Currently local subsidiaries of foreign firms are required to clear ... Read More

The fear of reprimands from witches and fortune tellers has reportedly halted the passing of new tax rules in Romania. Last week the Romanian Senate rejected a proposal to instate a new tax on witches and fortune tellers, as politicians apparently feared a backlash of curses. Under the initial proposal, individuals who identify themselves as witches and fortune tellers would be required to keep accurate receipts of all services provided and incomes made, whereupon they would be levied with the country’s typical income ... Read More