The Netherland Antilles have officially been dissolved, with St Maarten and Curacao becoming constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Now questions are being raised about the future tax system of the remaining three municipalities, with some already claiming that they will become low-tax jurisdictions. On October 10th St Maarten and Curacao split from the Netherland Antilles, becoming constituent countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, gaining greater government autonomy, increased independence from the Netherlands Government, and the right to full use ... Read More

Worldwide tax changes and transparency measures need to be implemented soon in order to fight capital flight from poverty-stricken nations and worldwide tax evasion. Approximately USD 1 trillion worth of illicit capital outflows is experienced by developing nations every year, two thirds of which is attributed to tax evasion by multinationals companies. Curbing these outflows is essential for poorer countries, in order to mobilize the national economy and resources and eradicate local poverty. The information was provided at the recent annual conference of ... Read More

The amount of transactions between Denmark and tax havens over the last five years has totaled DKK 1 trillion (approx. USD 182 billion). The Tax Ministry of Denmark has released new data and launched an investigation into the vast amounts of transactions between Danish entities and tax havens. The investigation is part of the Ministry's Project Money Transfer, which began with request to national banks to provide extensive information on customers' money transfers to countries considered to be tax havens by the Tax ... Read More

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

The negative effect of international financial centers on the UK economy and tax revenues is dramatically overstated, and overall treatment of international financial centers in the UK has been “remarkably one-sided.” Allegations of unfairness have been laid against the OECD and the Governments of advanced economies, in regards to their treatment of international financial centers (IFC). While holding a debate in the UK Parliament on the topic of offshore financial centers on July 21st, Mark Field, Conservative MP, said that IFCs were not ... Read More