Germany is looking to recover millions of euros in previously evaded taxes, as charges are filed against directors of companies accused of carrying out carbon credit tax fraud. Germany’s investigations into carbon dioxide tax credit fraud are coming to fruition, with prosecutors filing charges against six individuals accused of being responsible for over EUR 230 million in evaded taxes. The legal actions were announced in a statement on March 30th by Guenter Wittig, prosecutor for the Office of the Attorney General of ... Read More

To address the problem of tax revenues floating overseas, the government of Brazil is once again increasing the tax rate on corporate loans and banks’ debt-selling abroad. In an effort to lower the exchange rate of the national currency, on March 29th the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff announced a decree instating a tax rate increase on international borrowing by Brazilian banks and companies. Active immediately, the decree mandated that overseas loans issued by corporate bodies in Brazil be subjected to a 6 ... Read More

In an effort to shore funds for the reconstruction of the disaster struck Japan, the government is considering cancelling the planned cuts to the national corporate tax rates. The government of Japan is indicating that it could drastically change its previously held plans for the economic development of the country. The economic strategies have been a long standing-block for Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and one of the central points of debate with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the largest opposition party in ... Read More

Kenya’s newly proposed air fare tax has been blasted by the airline and tourism industries, with the charge being described as “haphazard” and a means of covering for ministry failures. Over the weekend Kenya’s tourism sector voiced its disapproval for the government’s plan to introduce a new air fare levy to the national tax system, with commenters saying that it would lower visitor numbers and ultimately lead to seriously negative impacts to the economy. The proposed levy was revealed last week by the ... Read More

The Philippine’s two primary tax agencies are considering a new cooperative project aimed at reducing smuggling and tax evasion by companies registered in the Philippines. In a statement released on March 24th the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) of the Philippines announced its new proposal for the Bureau of Customs (BOC), which would require local companies to present their latest income tax returns before being granted clearance for their imports. According to the BIR, the new obligations would allow the two tax agencies to ... Read More

The 2011 budget has been unveiled by the UK government revealing an unexpected hike to tax rates faced by banks and oil companies, and a set of cuts to corporate taxes. The 2011 budget was presented in the UK Parliament on March 23rd, described by the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne as tax neutral, with the increased levels of taxation, faced by banks and oil companies, being offset by cuts to the corporate rate. As additional taxation measures, the budget will ... Read More

Peru is experiencing significant levels of growth in tax revenues this year, and is expected to see an overall budgetary surplus in 2011. According to a statement released by Peru’s tax agency SUNAT on March 22nd, the country's overall tax collections grew by 17.1 percent in February, compared to the same month last year. Total tax and customs collections by the central government for the month amounted to PEN 1.59 billion (approx. USD 1.86 billion). In a statement SUNAT commented on the results, saying, ... Read More