Cross-border tax issues, expat filing rules, and international tax policy — because taxes don’t stop at the U.S. border.
Taxpayer asks: I am a permanent resident overseas. I file my USA tax return every year, but never have to pay tax as I pay enough here in this country. Will I still get the rebate and how can they direct credit if they have never been given my bank account details? I have a…
Over the past ten years, the tax burden on wages has eased in most of the world’s industrial countries, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Those changes have benefited the lower and middle class, for the most part. Only, there some exceptions. The OECD pointed fingers at a small group of…
Yahoo! has confirmed that it will move its European headquarters from London to Geneva – just a few skips away from Google, which is now located in Zurich. Yahoo! claims that the move is to “increase financial performance” which has been widely translated as related to taxes. The announcement from Yahoo! was made only a…
One of my favorite tax stories to come out of the BBC (yes, even more than the new UK budget) is the saga of Hatsue Shimizu and Yoshiko Ishii. The two Japanese sisters have been arrested for alleged tax evasion – the National Tax Agency in Japan is calling it the biggest ever case of…
Is the UK going green? You might think so. Since we’ve been here, we’ve been inundated with organic produce and eco-renovation television programming – my son is even using environmentally friendly diaper wipes. What else is going green? UK tax policy. The Chancellor has introduced a new budget which includes a substantial tax on higher…
I’ve posted before about sin taxes – this notion of using tax as a means of controlling or modifying behavior. In the UK, the Chancellor delivered the new budget this week. The budget included little in the way of new or increased taxes since the UK is in the throes of many of the same…
After vowing not to change its banking system despite a tax scandal spiraling out of control, the principality of Liechstenstein may be changing its mind. Prime Minister Otmar Hasler has reportedly told the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung that “the reform process has already begun and I support it being continued.” He says that he…
The crackdown on tax evaders who depend on Liechtenstein in order to shield income has escalated. Nine countries from the Organization for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD), Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Sweden, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, have reportedly received and are examining information on Liechtenstein accounts from two banks. The Bundesnachrichtendienst…
Last week, hundreds of wealthy Germans had their homes and offices searched in Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Ulm as German officials crack down on what is perceived as massive tax fraud. The German government believes that as much as €3.4 billion ($5 billion US) have been transferred to Liechtenstein in an attempt to evade…
Germany is getting tough on tax evaders hot on the heels of Zumwinkel’s arrest. Much of the money is headed Liechtenstein, a haven for tax evaders because of its strict confidentiality laws. Liechtenstein doesn’t want to cooperate – they cite high German taxes as a reason for the mass exodus of cash. Germany has other…