Recent News

The double tax treaty between Denmark and Russia has been in force since 1996. Now the Danish government has begun consultations to end it. Such a bill was introduced in Denmark on April 20, 2023. The decision is due to the fact that Russia was blacklisted by the EU. What does it mean? The inclusion of an aggressor country on the EU "black list" immediately limits its cooperation with international financial organizations. As of January 30, 2023, there were 12 countries and territories on the EU "black list": American Samoa, Anguilla, Bahamas, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu, and on February 14, 2023, the Council of the European Union updated the blacklist to include the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, the Marshall Islands and Russia. The agreement is expected to end in 2024. Tax Minister Jeppe Bruus commented: “This is contrary to the general considerations that Denmark usually pursues when concluding double tax treaties. Namely, that Denmark has an agreement with a country on the black list of EU tax havens. Therefore, after a specific assessment, the Government decided to terminate the agreement....

Recently, the EU Parliament approved the licensing of cryptocurrencies and the rules for transferring funds. Legislators voted for a new cryptocurrency licensing regime - MiCA. A separate law, known as the Funds Transfer Ordinance, has also been enacted, which requires crypto operators to identify their customers (in an attempt to stop money laundering). The vote followed debate in which lawmakers heavily supported plans to force cryptocurrency wallet providers and exchanges to seek a license to operate across the block and require issuers of stablecoins pegged to the value of other assets to maintain sufficient reserves. In a tweet, Mairead McGuinness of the European Commission called the vote "a first in the world" on cryptocurrency rules. “We protect consumers, ensure financial stability and market integrity,” McGuinness said. "The rules will start to apply from next...

At the end of March, the European Parliament adopted a draft of amendments to the EU Directive of 2003, which provides for the simplification of obtaining the status of a long-term resident of the European Union (PMP) by citizens of third countries. Source:https://internationalwealth.info/residence-permit-abroad/v-evrosojuze-hotjat-uprostit-pravila-poluchenija-pmzh-inostrancami/ What changes does the bill propose? 1. Permanent residence in EU countries can start providing after a three-year period of legal residence. 2. Persons who have the status of temporary protection will have the possibility of deeper social integration. 3. Having a long-term residency in the European Union, the immigrant will be able to move freely between EU countries. 4. Dependent children will automatically acquire residence permit in the European Union. Speeding up the procedure for obtaining permanent residence in the EU Now, in many European countries, you need to live legally in the EU for 5 years, after which you can get a permanent residence. This term can be shortened to 3 years. It is also allowed to sum up the periods of stay on a legal basis in different EU countries. Legal reasons...

On April 1, 2023, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) announced changes in the filing of income tax returns. The innovation was called "the beginning of a new era" - although this kind of wording is uncharacteristic for the department. Source:https://internationalwealth.info/offshore-tax/izmenenija-v-pravilah-podachi-nalogovyh-deklaracij-v-gonkonge/ The main point on which the IRD is betting is to significantly expand the possibilities of electronic submission of documents and for Hong Kong this is a big step forward. A course on digitalization of all organizational processes related to taxation was also officially announced. Many analysts are inclined to believe that this initiative is a successful and timely attempt to smooth out dissatisfaction in the business environment caused by the partial rejection of the territorial principle of taxation. The main innovation is the launch of extended services, which actually introduce the option of electronic filing of income tax returns. It is planned to make the tax field more digital and improve the efficiency of Hong Kong's fiscal policy by significantly reducing the risk of errors when preparing and submitting returns. Thus,...

In late March, French prosecutors raided five of the largest banking institutions, including Société Générale and BNP Paribas, as well as the Paris offices of HSBC Holdings, Natixis and units of BNP Exane. Source:https://internationalwealth.info/news-of-the-offshore/francija-prokuratura-provodit-obyski-krupnejshih-bankov/ An investigation is underway to find out whether these banks are indeed involved in a series of tax evasion operations. They are suspected of using a "cum/cum trading" or "cum/ex trading" scam. The history of investigations began in Germany in 2018 and spread to other countries, including USA, Great Britain, Denmark, Belgium, Austria. A common feature of cum/ex schemes is that the parties agree to buy shares before the dividend is registered. But the settlement according to the agreement takes place already after the announcement of the amount of dividends, so the share is delivered without this income. So, you can file multiple capital gains tax returns but pay the tax once. Tax authorities collect tax on dividends once, but refund it twice, paying amounts equivalent to this tax. Probably, the size of the fraud is estimated at 55.2 billion euros (in...

On March 27, the European Parliament decided to tighten the rules on combating money laundering (AML), crime financing, and sanctions evasion in the EU. The decision was made by the committees of ECON (on economic and monetary issues) and LIBE (committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs). What changes are we talking about: Adopt a resolution establishing a pan-European regulatory body, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which will be given supervisory and investigative powers to ensure compliance with AML requirements; Create a regulation that establishes requirements for customer verification, disclosure of information about beneficiaries, the use of crypto assets and work with them, as well as for Golden visa programs in the EU countries; Implement the 6th Directive on AML (The Directive reforms the national legislation of the participating countries in the field of supervision and regulation of the financial sector, and also provides for a certain level of access for regulators and financial intelligence to registers of beneficial ownership and information about assets located in free zones); Implement the MiCA regulation, which...

On 31 March 2023, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) issued an updated anti-avoidance guide to the Corporate and Personal Income Tax Supplement. The IRAS e-Tax Guide should improve the legislation, simplify the control procedure and provide the IRAS with more effective tools to combat tax evasion. The main objectives of the second version of the manual: presentation of the general concept of CIT (Comptroller of Income Tax); assisting Singapore taxpayers in identifying questionable transactions; description of cases of application of additional tax obligations, as well as options for exemption from it. Options for aggressive tax optimization in Singapore by classificationIRAS/CIT: circular flow; круговий рух коштів (round-tripping of funds); conduit entity; assignment of debt; registration of several legal entities in order to obtain illegal tax advantages; the income received during the conduct of business corresponds to economic reality. How exactly the new version of the guide is applied in practice has not yet been tested. Necessary changes and additions will be made to the text as...

This week, the IMF warned of "vulnerabilities" among so-called non-banking financial institutions, saying that global financial stability could depend on their resilience. The Bank of England drew attention to this problem last month. Source: Global investors polled by Bank of America pointed to a group of US non-banks as the most likely source of the credit crunch. What are non-banks and how risky are they? These are financial firms other than banks that provide all types of financial services, including lending to households and businesses. Non-banks range from pension funds and insurance companies to high-risk mutual funds and hedge funds. Non-banking assets account for almost half of all global financial assets. After the crisis, interest rates reached their lowest level, when many depositors and investors turned to non-banks in search of higher profits. As regulators imposed more and more restrictions on bank lending, certain types of borrowers, such as riskier consumers, increasingly turned to nonbanks for funding. Non-banks that provide loans are known as "shadow banks", although the term is often used inaccurately to refer to all non-banks. Shadow banks...

If you send money to Ukraine, we have important news for you. Paysera is partnering with Ukraine's largest bank, PrivatBank, to make sending money even easier and more convenient. Thanks to this new partnership, Paysera customers can now transfer money directly to any Ukrainian bank account, or even better, to a PrivatBank card! You can do it in just a few minutes - up to 10 minutes to be exact. Sounds better than 2 business days, doesn't it? Here are some key details you should know about this service: the transfer takes up to 10 minutes. You can only send money in euros, and the recipient can receive it in euros or Ukrainian hryvnias. The fee is 1.5% of the transfer amount. This service is available for private clients only. The service has already been implemented; you just need to follow a few simple steps: log in to your Paysera account in the Money Transfer menu, select PrivatBank Transfer, enter the transfer details and the recipient. When entering the recipient's account number, specify the IBAN of the card account or the IBAN of the current account, depending on the type of transfer you want to make. Paysera is a Lithuanian payment system that is a leader among...