August 4th, 2009
There is much speculation about the nature of the deal the US has come to with Switzerland over the UBS case and the US demand for 52,000 names concerning accounts they think might have resulted in US tax abuse.
No one knows what the agreement is, but there’s
lots of noise. In that there’s considerable spin going on.
I can say one thing for sure: the US won’t get what it asked for and Switzerland will claim it’s banking secrecy will survive.
The latter claim seems unlikely to be true. First, it’s thought that maybe 5,000 names will be given....
July 29th, 2009
Ernst & Young have published their latest “
Tax policy and controversy brie?ng: A quarterly review of global tax policy and controversy developments”. On page 13 they say:
Country-by-country reporting concept attracts attention
At the Berlin meeting, a report which advocates the introduction of country-by-country reporting by multinational companies received some attention. The report, Country-by-Country Reporting: Holding multinational corporations to account wherever they are was authored by the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development, a global group of civil society organizations. It was reported that at the Berlin meeting...
July 29th, 2009
Oxford Journals (linked, of course, to the University of the same name) says in its FAQs:
What is a ‘Conflict of Interest’?
Any financial interests or connections, direct or indirect, or other situations that might raise the question of bias in the work reported or the conclusions, implications or opinions stated – including pertinent commercial or other sources of funding for the individual author(s) or for the associated department(s) or organization(s), personal relationships, or direct academic competition.
How can I be sure if I should declare something?
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July 28th, 2009
I hope people have noted I’m not a great fan of Tax Information Exchange Agreements. The basic reason is that they are virtually impossible to use. As the standard TIEA makes clear, a TIEA request must provide or state:
(a) the identity of the person under examination or investigation;
(b) what information is sought;
(c) the tax purpose for which it is sought;
(d) the grounds for believing that the information requested is held within the jurisdiction of which request is made;
(e) to the extent known, the name and address of any person believed to be in possession of the requested information.
The reason...
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