Belgian tax authorities have clarified their standing on a one-year old tax law on fund transfers to tax havens, after tax professionals claimed that the new rules were unclear and in need of more specifics. Recently the tax authorities of Belgium released a long-awaited circular intended to clarify a tax law that was introduced into the Belgian tax code on December 23rd 2009. The law concerned the reporting requirements for Belgian resident and non-resident business entities operating in the country which transfer ... Read More

Indian tax authorities are beginning a series of new investigations to uncover evidence of tax evasion committed by over 100 different Indian companies suspected of dodging their tax obligations through intricate offshore company structures. On December 12th the Finance Ministry of India announced that it would launching investigations to uncover evidence of tax evasion committed by over 100 high net-worth Indian businesses with operations in offshore tax havens. The investigation, which has been dubbed “Lifting the Corporate Veil”, will be run by ... Read More

One of the world’s largest beer manufacturing companies, SABMiller, has been accused of actively dodging its taxes in the developing countries where it operates, leading to nearly GBP 20 million in lowered tax revenues across the African continent. On November 29th ActionAid, an international anti-poverty agency, launched a campaign accusing SABMiller, the world’s second largest beer company, of avoiding their full tax obligations in the developing nations where it operates, by actively structuring its operations and subsidiaries to lower the company's overall corporate ... Read More

The UK Government is now expecting to make a GBP 10 billion windfall over the next five years from a series of new tax information exchange agreements, greatly exceeding the previous estimate of GBP 1 billion. Three countries have recently approached the UK Government with the intention of initiating negotiations for new tax information exchange agreements. In a media statement the HM Treasury explained the significance of the potential agreements, saying, "These agreements, by allowing us to get information from tax havens, means ... Read More

The global decline in top personal tax rates looks like it has come to an end, as governments worldwide look at taxing high earners in an effort to battle their continuing budget deficits, raising the average rate by 0.3 percent in 2010. For the last seven years top personal income tax rates have experienced a steady decline throughout the world. However, throughout the 2010 year the trend seems to have been reversed, with many countries opting to either maintain their tax rates or ... Read More