South Africa finalises Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme

19 January 2017, the Taxation Laws Amendment Act 2016, which confirmed the final details of the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme (SVDP), was promulgated. The SVDP provides a final window of opportunity for taxpayers to regularise their tax and exchange control affairs before automatic exchange of information under the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) gets underway…

US signs FATCA IGAs with Bahrain and Greece

18 and 19 January 2017, the US signed Model 1 intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) with Bahrain and Greece respectively US to facilitate compliance with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by financial institutions (FIs). FATCA is intended to ensure that the US Internal Revenue Service obtains information on financial accounts held at foreign financial…

A Parigi il meeting della task force JITSIC 30 amministrazioni fiscali condividono le conclusioni e sviluppano le azioni sui Panama Papers

Al meeting organizzato a Parigi il 16 e il 17 gennaio 2017, 30 amministrazioni finanziarie hanno condiviso le loro conclusioni sulle indagini dei Panama Papers, in particolare sul ruolo degli intermediari fiscali, inclusi istituzioni finanziarie, consulenti, avvocati e commercialisti, che hanno favorito l’evasione e l’elusione fiscale. La riunione della task force ha visto il più…

CJEU opinion on court challenge to French tax information exchange request

10 January 2017, an opinion issued by the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) found that Luxembourg should allow a company to challenge the legality of an information order issued in support of a French exchange of information request on the grounds that the request lacks “foreseeable relevance”. In Berlioz Investment Fund SA v Directeur de…

UBS loses €1.1 billion bail challenge in European Court of Human Rights

12 January 2017, the European Court of Human Rights rejected UBS’s challenge to a €1.1 billion security which had been imposed by the French authorities in 2014 in the context of the court supervision of the Swiss bank, which has been placed under formal investigation for alleged illegal direct selling of banking products and aggravated…

UK introduces new penalties for “enablers of offshore tax evasion”

1 January 2017, the UK government introduced new civil penalties for the facilitators of the tax evasion who provide planning, advice or other professional services or physically move funds offshore. HMRC will also be able to name the enabler publicly. The Treasury said the government’s new powers would see individuals or firms who take deliberate…