Recent News

The Bank of France has tapped a special reserve fund to cover losses of 12.44 billion euros in 2023 after the ECB's rapid rise in interest rates pushed up the cost of servicing deposits. Source:https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/french-central-bank-taps-provisions-cover-12-bln-euro-loss-2024-03-15/ Many central banks are reporting losses as they raised rates over the past two years, leading to large interest payments on the excess liquidity commercial banks parked with them. Anticipating such circumstances, the Bank of France has built up rainy day reserves in recent years to cover potential losses, reaching €16.4 billion in 2022 before being used to offset pre-tax losses in 2023. Villeroy promises that the Bank of France will not need taxpayer help. Future losses could be covered by about 18 billion euros held in another reserve fund and potential asset...

At the moment, inheritance in Switzerland is not subject to tax. But members of the Swiss Socialist Youth movement and environmental activists have already collected 108,988 signatures in support of the initiative to introduce a 50% inheritance tax on assets exceeding 50 million francs. The initiators calculated that the innovation would bring in about 6 billion francs annually. In their opinion, this amount should be spent on climate protection and green transformation of the economy. A referendum is due to take place soon, where voters will be able to express their views. Let us remind you that consultations are also underway in Switzerland on the implementation of new rules to combat money...

In this way, leader Nayib Bukele seeks to attract capital and wealthy foreigners to the country. Previously the rate was 30%. The tax is waived regardless of the amount of money deposited. Source:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-13/el-salvador-eliminates-income-tax-on-investment-from-overseas?srnd=undefined Some cryptocurrency enthusiasts have moved to El Salvador in recent years after Bukele made bitcoin legal tender. In addition, the crime rate in El Salvador has decreased significantly due to some actions taken. The country's dollar bonds have risen in recent weeks after Bukele told investors the country was working to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund. El Salvador recently achieved credit rating upgrades from S&P Global Ratings and Fitch...

The Directive is awaiting approval by the EU Council. In this way, it will be possible to confiscate Russian assets due to violation of sanctions and the onset of criminal liability. The bill concerns all restrictions that Brussels will introduce. Bypassing sanctions will be considered a punishable act. The initiative guarantees criminal liability and even imprisonment, and companies may be subject to fines. The European Parliament believes that there is now a practice of searching for sanctions violators in EU countries “with the weakest law enforcement.” The new law aims to establish “consistent definitions of violations,” including not freezing funds, violating travel bans or arms embargoes, or transferring money to sanctioned individuals. It will also be a crime to provide financial services or legal advice in violation of...

All foreign banks operating in Dubai (except those holding a DIFC license) will be subject to a 20% tax. According to the innovation, foreign banks will be taxed at the rate of 20% of annual taxable income. If corporate tax is paid in accordance with the law, its amount will be deducted from the total tax liability. The law will be finally adopted after publication in the official...

Back in November 2022, a lawsuit was filed in the United States by the National Small Business Association. Thus, they made a request to block the requirement to register beneficiaries for small businesses. The law has already come into force since the beginning of this year and is designed to prevent criminal abuse by anonymous shell companies. The petitioners argue that the beneficiary disclosure rule violates the Constitution, is burdensome on small firms, violates privacy and free speech protections, and infringes on states' business management powers. A few days ago, the court ruled that the Corporate Transparency Act was unconstitutional and that Congress had exceeded its authority, making the resulting requirements...

At the G20 meeting, Brazil's finance minister proposed a global tax on the super-rich to combat “rampant tax evasion.” Fernando Haddad suggested that the problem of tax evasion could be solved through international cooperation so that “these few people can contribute to our society and to the sustainable development of the planet.” Brazil is pushing for G20 members to adopt a declaration on international taxation, which could be ready in July. At the press conference following the meeting, the minister indicated that the path will not be easy. When planning long-term, you need to take into account that the introduction of such a tax may be quite...

The bill provides for changes in several areas of the tax system. Most of them concern the regularization of tax assets. For example, the document proposes that persons with tax or customs obligations be given the opportunity to apply for a regularization regime and the disclosure of undeclared assets. Taxpayers can apply from the effective date of the country's Federal Tax Administration regulations. In addition, these individuals will have access to a number of tax benefits. Even if individuals were not tax residents of Argentina on December 31, 2023, or if they were registered as taxpayers with the Federal Tax Administration, the asset regularization regime may apply to individuals, undivided assets and corporations. There are also tax changes that provide for changes in excise taxes and the abolition of the tax on the transfer of real estate for individuals. It is envisaged, among other things, to introduce certain export duties. The bill is currently under...

In 2022, 112,700 Moroccan citizens received EU citizenship, ranking first in terms of naturalization rates. Syrians took second place with 90,400 people. Third - Albanians - 50,300. Romanians ranked fourth in obtaining citizenship of another EU member state. By the way, it is Romania that in 2022 has the highest naturalization rate throughout the EU. The naturalization rate is the ratio of the number of persons who received citizenship of the country in which they lived during the year to the number of non-citizens living in the same country at the beginning of the year. In 2022, Romania's naturalization rate was 26.8 citizenships acquired per 100 non-citizen residents. Next in the ranking is Sweden with 10.6, the Netherlands with 4.4, Italy with 4.2. With the lowest coefficients are Latvia and Estonia (both 0.4), Austria and Bulgaria (0.7), Malta and the Czech Republic...