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Main Aspects of Automatic Exchange of Financial Information under the CRS

Published: 27/07/2018 | blog

Tags:

#Banks #Business #Confidentiality #Exchange of tax information #Legislation #Tax planning #Tax reporting #Taxation #Ukraine

In September 2017, a significant event for financial institutions around the world took place - the first automatic exchange of information for tax purposes in accordance with the CRS (Common Reporting Standard). The source of information exchange were banks, as well as other financial institutions (pension funds, investment and insurance companies, etc.). The second large group of countries is also joining the process of automatic information exchange in 2018. CRS provides for an annual automatic exchange of tax information between Member States of the Multilateral Cooperation Convention between the competent authorities on automatic information exchange under the CRS (MCAA Convention). The exchange of information on accounts of legal entities and natural persons will be made automatically, annually and on the principle of residency (in contrast to the FATCA law, which uses the principle of citizenship). The essence of the exchange is that banks collect information on financial activities on corporate accounts of the companies, individual accounts of natural persons, private funds and trusts, and then transfer it to the tax authorities of their country, which send this...

Gaming business in Sweden

Published: 18/06/2018 | blog

Tags:

#Legislation #Sweden #Taxes

The Government of Sweden has decided to review its policy on gaming by adopting a bill on the legal regulation of gaming, the entry into force of which is planned for January 1, 2019. The bill was supported by over 90% of the present members of Swedish Parliament. The only political force that voted against was the Left Party (ex-Communists). Nevertheless, it did not affect the final result. The result of the adoption of this bill was the transition of Sweden to a regulated market of gaming both online and offline. The new rules provide for changes in tax rates, increased requirements for operators and introduction of a licensing system in the country. The history of the development of gaming business in Sweden is very interesting. The control over gaming has been carried out and is carried out by the only state company Svenska Spel. The state owns all the rights to open and regulate the gaming business, private companies in Sweden are forbidden to make gaming business. The company Svenska Spel regulates the market of lotteries, poker, bingo, as well as the market of land casinos, which belong to its subsidiary company Casino Cosmopol AB. Initially, it was planned to open six...

Analysis of exchange of tax information and investment in exchange for citizenship, taking into account the first results of the discussion organized by the OECD

Published: 24/05/2018 | blog

Tags:

#Asset Management #Business #Citizenship #Confidentiality #De-offshorization #Double taxation #Financial statements #Investments #Legislation #OECD #Offshore accounts #Offshore schemes #Offshores #Residence Permit #Tax planning #Tax reporting #Taxation

Back in the first quarter of 2018, namely on February 19, 2018, a draft of advisory document was published on the official website of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which called on all interested parties to join the discussion on the OECD strategy for combating the loopholes on using the Common Reporting Standard (CRS, Single standard of tax information exchange) in the “citizenship by the investment” (CBI - granting citizenship in exchange for investments) and “residence by the investment” (RBI - granting a residence permit in exchange for investments). To date, more than 70 jurisdictions in the world offer these schemes. On April 17, 2018, a 96-page document was published on the OECD website (PUBLIC INPUT RECEIVED ON MISUSE OF RESIDENCE BY INVESTMENT SCHEMES TO CIRCUMVENT THE COMMON REPORTING STANDARD), which, in fact, summarized the first results of the discussion and the contents of the official letters to the organization. More than 20 structures were the speakers, including: AFME office in London (Association of Financial Markets in Europe, it brings together the largest agents in the capital markets in the region); ...

The Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive Has Been Adopted

Published: 17/05/2018 | blog

Tags:

#Business #Confidentiality #Corporate law #Law and the corporate m&a #Legislation

After the approval of the agreed text by the Parliament on April 19, 2018, the European Council adopted a Directive on 14 May, 2018, regulating the European rules aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorism funding. These rules are the fifth in a series and the latest update of the European Anti-Money Laundering Directive, for which they have received the name 5AMLD. 5AMLD is aimed at improving the security in Europe by stopping the financing of criminal activities without preventing the normal functioning of payment systems. It is partly a response to the terrorist attacks in Europe in 2016 and introduces such major changes into the directive 2015/849: verification of the client for virtual currencies; public access to information about the real owners of companies; strengthening of transaction checks with the participation of third countries with a high level of risk; cooperation between financial intelligence units; reduction of the threshold for identification of owners of prepaid cards from 250 to 150 Euro; extension of the Directive to all tax advisers, agents, dealers, as well as suppliers of electronic wallets and cryptocurrency...

Offshore for Trading Activities: Is It Necessary

Published: 16/05/2018 | blog

Tags:

#Business #Corporate law #De-offshorization #Export #Import #Legislation #NBU #Offshores #Tax planning #Tax reporting #Taxation Transfer pricing

Until recently, offshore companies have been actively used by the Ukrainian entrepreneurs in international trade to reduce the tax burden and keep business confidentiality. We will consider in this blog whether the situation has changed in the conditions of global deoffshorization, and in particular, tightening of the Ukrainian legislation. The field of trade has always been the simplest and most popular for offshore applications. One of the main goals of using offshore schemes in export-import transactions was to regulate the customs value of the goods, and, accordingly, the company’s trading profits. Offshore companies in such schemes were used as intermediaries between the seller and the buyer for the understatement of the value of goods during the export and overstatement - upon import. However, the process of deoffshorization has reached our country. The provisions for the control of transfer pricing started working in the Ukrainian legislation. The Cabinet of Ministers has approved and periodically reviews the list of the countries with preferential taxation (it includes both classic offshores and jurisdictions, the income tax rate for the companies which have 5 or more...

How the rules for LP of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will change

Published: 08/05/2018 | blog

Tags:

#Business #Corporate law #De-offshorization #Investments #Legislation #Offshore schemes #Reforms

Essence of the scandal On April 29, a publication on the use of thousands of SLP in criminal activities appeared in the British newspaper The Times. According to the British officials, SLP was used through shills in complex schemes for money laundering. In particular, by means of the scheme, including more than 100 Scottish Limited Partnerships, about 58 billion pounds sterling, accumulated illegally, was withdrawn from Russia. More than 20 SLP was used in a fraudulent scheme, by means of which about 742 billion pounds sterling was withdrawn from Moldova. There is also a link between SLP and organized criminal groups from Eastern Europe for the purpose of conducting weapon delivery deals. All this became a reason for the announcement of the beginning of struggle against fictitious companies by Britain. And on the next day, April 30, a consultative document was posted on the official website of the British government with a number of proposals on reforming the legislation on limited partnerships to reduce the risks of their use in criminal schemes. Importance of Limited Partnerships It is worth noting that a Limited Partnership (LP), including its Scottish form, continues to...

The EU Financial Market after Changes in Legislation: Will It Become More Transparent and Stable?

Published: 28/04/2018 | blog

Tags:

#Business #Funds #Investments #Legislation #Reforms

The newspaper “Journal du Dimanche” previously published information about the intentions of the French President Francois Hollande to hold a meeting with the leaders of Germany, Spain and Italy on March 6 in Versailles, dedicated to the future of the European Union. This mini-summit, among other things, should have to demonstrate the unity of the leaders of the four major European powers of the euro zone in the face of the many threats and crises that the EU is currently facing. The agenda also included the study of the issues “related to ensuring the strengthening of the development of the European Union”. On March 6, the government supported the changes to the Law on the Financial Instruments Market, the Law on Alternative Investment Funds and their Managers, as well as the Audit Services Act. What is the ultimate goal of these changes? They should make the EU financial market more transparent and stable, reduce systematic risks, protect depositors, and ensure the effectiveness of financial markets and reduce the costs of their participants. The changes in the laws have been designed to adopt the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the markets of...

Implications of Brexit for Customs and VAT Rules

Published: 19/03/2018 | blog

Tags:

#Accounting #Business #Export #Import #Legislation #Reforms #Tax planning #Taxation

In a press release of January 29, 2018, the Council of Europe announced the second set of additional directives on the negotiations detailing the position of the EU-27 (27 EU Members without the UK) regarding the transition period with respect to Brexit. These directives give the Commission the authority to initiate discussions with the UK on the terms of Brexit and establish a transition period, no longer than until December 31, 2020. During the transition period in the UK, full and constant application of the EU legislation is provided. However, the state will no longer participate in the EU administration and the decision-making process. On January 30, 2018, the EU Commission published a document warning the companies of the key challenges in the customs and VAT that they will have to be overcome when the United Kingdom is not a Member of the EU. If no other transition period is agreed between the EU and the UK, the European Customs and VAT regulations in the UK will no longer apply from March 30, 2019, as the UK officially announced its intention to leave the EU on March 29, 2017. This document provides a brief overview of the customs and VAT implications that will arise...

Reforming VAT Rules for Online Sales in the EU

Published: 02/03/2018 | blog

Tags:

#Business #Import #Legislation #Reforms #Tax planning #Tax reporting #Taxation #VAT

On December 5, 2017, the European Council adopted amendments to the legislation regulating VAT rules for online sales of goods and services in Europe, developed by the European Commission a year ago. These legislative changes were adopted within the framework of the strategy of “single digital market” and aimed at simplification of the payment of VAT on purchases of goods and services on the Internet by the European consumers. The changes assume: simplification of the current Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) mode for cross-border telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services transition to taxation at the place of destination (location of the recipient) and simplified reporting through MOSS for remote sales of goods introduction of an obligation to pay VAT for electronic interfaces (for example, platforms) that facilitates the delivery of low-value goods imported or sold in the EU by the suppliers from outside the EU Since the new legislation consists of a two-tiered package of measures, it comes into force in two phases: in 2019 and 2021. From 2019, the changes will touch the MOSS system. There is an exception that allows micro-enterprises of the EU to pay for...

Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority Published Regulatory Guidance for ICO

Published: 26/02/2018 | blog

Tags:

#Business #Cryptocurrency #ICO #Legislation #Switzerland #Tokens

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority has issued regulatory guidance on ICO. Switzerland is still on the list of the most popular jurisdictions for the organization and development of the activities that are related or based on blockchain, many of which are funded through ICO. In this regard, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (hereinafter referred to as FINMA, the Authority) published regulatory guidance on February 16, 2018 determining the direction for future normative regulation in this field. In addition, FINMA has also clarified the expectations regarding the requirements for the requests relating to the application of the Swiss financial markets legislation in the context of the specific ICO projects. The document, entitled “FINMA Recommendations regarding requests on legislative regulation of Initial Coin Offering”, published on February 16, 2018, is a continuation of the initial recommendations on the legislative regulation of ICO, which were published in September 2017. The purpose of these recommendations of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority is to inform future and existing market participants about how FINMA intends to...

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