Fugitive Tax-Slaves

French capital flight spikes as Hollande hits business

"Simon Ward from Henderson Global Investors said the net loss of funds was €53bn (£43.8bn) over the two months, roughly the period when Mr Holland unveiled a string of tax rises and suffered a collapse in relations with French business. A key gauge of the French money supply -- six-month real M1 -- has been contracting at an accelerating rate ever since Mr Holland's election in May. It has fallen to levels last seen in the depths of the crisis in 2008. France's money data is now flashing more serious warnings than numbers in Italy or Spain." Continue reading →

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IRS ramps up audits of taxpayers in Israel

"Americans filing their tax returns from Israel are being audited by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service with a frequency that industry professionals have never seen before, according to several certified public accountants. While some of the accountants are not convinced Americans living in Israel are being singled out for audits more than other Americans living abroad, some maintain that the IRS has given indications it will pay more attention to Israel, Hong Kong and Singapore. All are cautioning filers to take note of a new 'vigilance' among U.S. tax authorities less than two months before the June 15 filing deadline for taxpayers living outside the U.S." Continue reading →

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Take Steps Today To Say “Adieu” Tomorrow

"Governments are becoming increasingly hostile toward citizens that leave for greener pastures, and they will use any means to prevent the outflow. They will publicly humiliate expats; Hollande has called Depardieu 'pathetic' and 'unpatriotic.' They will enact laws to specifically punish expats for leaving; the US Congress attempted to pass a law aimed at punishing Eduardo Saverin, the Brazilian-born co-founder of Facebook who renounced his US citizenship. They will even take proactive steps to prevent citizens from leaving, either by limiting their citizens' ability to freely travel or by limiting their citizens' ability to relocate their capital abroad." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTake Steps Today To Say “Adieu” Tomorrow

Havana scraps exit visas, but most Cubans won’t be going abroad

"Exit visas are one of the first hurdles Cubans have had to face when it comes to travel. But a new law set to come into force today scraps the requirement for the costly 'white card,' allowing Cubans to travel freely with just a passport. They will be allowed to remain out of the country for as many as two years before they lose certain rights in Cuba, such as health care and their property. There are more obvious caveats in the wording of the law that say that those of value to the Revolution – professionals such as scientists and engineers – will have a much harder time obtaining the necessary permissions to leave." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHavana scraps exit visas, but most Cubans won’t be going abroad

Now Greece Bans Cash – Again

"Greece is going to ban most cash transactions. As of last year, cash transactions over 1500 euros were banned. This moves the ban down by 1,000 euros. In fact, the Greek Parliament is voting today on a new tax bill that broadens the tax base to raise another 2.5 billion euros, and also introduces new annual income thresholds for salaried taxpayers. It does away with tax breaks for the self-employed. Entrepreneurs have emerged as the latest 'bandits' in Greece's ongoing efforts to bleed the wretched Greek carcass of its last available drop of revenue. Government benefits have been slashed, taxes raised and Greeks are being pursued with maniacal determination." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNow Greece Bans Cash – Again

UK government publishes 30 tax cheats’ photos on Flickr

"Over 30 of the UK’s top tax cheats are being publicised on Flickr as part of HMRC’s current tax evasion campaign. Exchequer secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said, 'The government is committed to closing in on tax evaders. Collectively the 32 criminals have been sentenced to more than 150 years. Most people play by the rules and pay what they owe, but HMRC is cracking down on those who don’t. We hope that publishing these pictures will help get across that it always makes sense to declare all your income, and tax dodgers are simply storing up trouble for the future.'" Continue reading →

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Tunisia: financial offshore centre

"The desire to continue the $3 billion Bahraini project in Tunisia has been renewed by the Bahrain investment bank Gulf Finance House (GFH). The project will be Tunisia’s first financial offshore centre and construction is poised to begin this month with bids already issued. The billion dollar project is set to have four business clusters including investment banking and advisory centre, a corporate centre, a Takaful/insurance hub and the region’s first international financial exchange. There will also be a variety of residential and leisure facilities including a marina, a residential complex and an 18-hole championship golf course." Continue reading →

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Expats in Spain warned to declare offshore assets

"Advisers with expatriate clients who are tax-resident in Spain say they are urgently reaching out to their clients to warn them that they must begin reporting to the Spanish tax authorities about any overseas assets they hold worth more than €50,000, following a recent change in the country’s tax regime. The new rules took effect yesterday, with Spanish residents with offshore holdings being expected to provide their first accounting of their non-Spanish assets between that date and 31 March 2013." Continue reading →

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French budget minister under probe for tax fraud

"French Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac is under investigation for tax fraud after a media report that he had an undeclared UBS account in Geneva which he then moved to Asia, prosecutors said Tuesday. Cahuzac, who is in charge of battling tax evasion, has denied the report by the respected Mediapart investigative website that he had an undeclared Swiss account which he then transferred to Singapore." Continue reading →

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‘We can no longer afford to be American citizens’

"Well, you could always move to Canada, right? Think again. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) comes more fully into effect this year, and as The Globe and Mail's Barrie McKenna explains, 'FATCA will force the hand of many Americans in Canada, making them choose between compliance or giving up their U.S. citizenship.' Here's why." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘We can no longer afford to be American citizens’