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Dear Colleague,
This week:
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Kate James
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Tax-News.com
Headlines
UK Tops Global
'VAT-Friendliness' Survey,
by Mike Godfrey, Tax-news.com, Washington Thursday,
August 21, 2008 |
| The UK has been rated
as having the most user-friendly VAT regime in a study of countries
with GST and VAT style sales tax systems, commissioned by the
Canadian arm of business advisors KPMG. [
FULL
STORY ] |
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McCain And Obama
Take Different Roads On Tax,
by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York Thursday,
August 21, 2008 |
| A recent examination
of the tax proposals of the presumptive presidential candidates
Senators Barack Obama and John McCain (pictured) by the Tax
Foundation finds the nominees taking starkly different approaches
to taxation to achieve their economic goals. [
FULL
STORY ] |
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US
Requests WTO Panel In Challenge To EU High-Technology Tariffs,
by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York Thursday,
August 21, 2008 |
| United States Trade
Representative Susan C. Schwab (pictured) announced on Tuesday
that the US, Japan and Chinese Taipei have called on the WTO
to investigate whether the EU has breached trade rules by applying
tariffs to certain hi-tech products. [
FULL
STORY ] |
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US Inventor Wins
'Unprecedented' USD388 Million In State Tax Case,
by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington Wednesday,
August 20, 2008 |
| An inventor and scientist
has been awarded USD388 million by a court in the US state of
Nevada against the Franchise Tax Board of the State of California,
after a jury found the he had been over-zealously pursued by
the Californian tax authorities, in a case that has been in
dispute for a decade. [
FULL
STORY ] |
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Jersey Fiscal Policy
Panel Prepares First Report,
by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London Wednesday,
August 20, 2008 |
| Jersey's Fiscal Policy
Panel (FPP) is now finalising its first report, which is due
to be published on Friday 5th September. [
FULL
STORY ] |
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Dubai
Financial Regulator Signs MoU With Banque De France,
by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus Wednesday,
August 20, 2008 |
| The
Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) expanded its network
of agreements with foreign regulators this week by entering
into an agreement with the French Banking Supervisor, the Commission
Bancaire, the supervisory arm of the Banque de France. [
FULL
STORY ] |
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| Offshore
Barbados
Barbados
Is In The Caribbean And Caricom
Barbados is a sub-tropical island in the Caribbean; it is a member
of Caricom, the Caribbean Common Market. Quite densely populated,
with 280,000 people of mostly African descent on 430 sq km, Barbados
is an independent Commonwealth member. It is politically stable;
English is the official language; and the Barbadian dollar is fixed
against the US dollar at 2:1. The climate is warm and humid; sea
breezes compensate for high summer temperatures. GNP/head of US$19,700
at PP is reasonable.
One-Crop Economy Has Successfully Diversified
Barbados was mostly a sugar producer but the island has diversified
into tourism, manufacturing (with a host of incentives), informatics
and financial services. After a bad time in the 1980s, Barbados
has grown well in the 1990s, although slowing down in 1998/99. The
impact of 9/11 was moderately serious, with the economy contracting
slightly in 2002, but rebounding between 2003 and 2007. Unemployment
has been reduced from catastrophically high levels to less than
10%. In the last ten years the Government has been business-friendly
and economically sound.
Barbados's Lowtax Specialisations
Barbados has preferred quality to quantity, and has developed a
remarkably wide range of offshore formats to suit all tastes! A
good US tax treaty and the Foreign Sales Corporation legislation
(now repealed) have particularly encouraged US interest; Canada
has also been a traditional partner. The offshore insurance sector
is as big as the BVI's, and there are 57 offshore banks. Barbados
is very picky about who it will have, and probably stands in better
with the OECD than many OIFCs, although it is nervous about current
developments. There is a stock exchange, fully computerised as from
July 2000, with a central depositary; but mutual funds have not
yet developed strongly. Barbados probably has a good shot at becoming
an e-commerce centre if it plays the right cards - so far the Government
doesn't seem sufficiently aware of this.
Learn more
in our full Barbados
Knowledgebase. |
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Directory
For Visitors
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provider specialising in the field of your choice, in the jurisdiction
of your choice, with just a few clicks. We only list confirmed entries
to reduce the number of dead-ends and strictly enforce categorisation
criteria to ensure that you find exactly the service you are after.
As of September 2007 we have begun to implement a new, expanded
format to make the directory even more user friendly and comprehensive.
Click
here for the new directory home page.
For Service Providers
The Lowtax Offshore Service Provider's Directory offers
firms the ability to highlight their services to one of the web's
largest specialised tax, legal and offshore audiences. Our visitors
include large numbers of corporates and HNWIs. Standard entry in
the directory is free as long as your details are kept up to date.
Premium entry options are available. Please contact diectory@lowtax.net
for further details.
Click
here for the new directory home page.
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| Offshore
Andorra
Charlemagne
Made Andorra Independent in 748 . . .
. . . but in practical terms Andorra became independent in 1278.
Its co-princes are the French president and the Spanish Bishop of
Urguel, but they don't interfere! Andorra is a parliamentary democracy.
Squeezed between France and Spain in the Pyrenees, with 467 sq km
and a population of almost 83,900, Andorra has an amazing 11.6 million
visitors annually. The skiing is excellent, but the valleys are
warm enough in summer to grow tobacco, the dominant agricultural
activity. There's no airport but the roads to France and Spain are
good. The language is Catalan.
Economy Based on Tourism
Tourism accounts for 80% of the economy one way or another. There
is some local manufacturing (including tobacco processing) but Andorra
is structurally import-dependent. There is no unemployment and growth
is around 5%; inflation tends to mirror that in France and Spain.
Andorra has no currency - most important currencies are acceptable;
but the Government works in Euros. There is a budget surplus; national
debt is very low. GDP per head at $38,800 is the eleventh highest
in the world. Andorra protects its domestic business sector with
ownership restrictions.
Andorra's Lowtax Specialisations
There are no taxes in Andorra for companies or individuals other
than modest annual registration fees, municipal rates, property
transaction taxes, and a sliding scale capital gains tax introduced
in 2007. There are no special regimes for 'offshore' entities and
no trusts (Andorra is a civil law jurisdiction). The problem for
offshore enterprises is that Andorra insists on two-thirds majority
ownership of all types of business entity by Andorran nationals
or long-stay residents. Although nominee arrangements can bypass
this problem in day-to-day terms, the legal reality remains. This
has tended to limit Andorra's offshore business to wealthy individuals.
Andorra's Bank Accounts Are Very Secret
As a home for money, Andorra is hard to beat. Banks are solid, and
there are no capital or exchange controls. Numbered accounts are
said to be known about only to you, your banker and God. Strict
anti-money laundering legislation stops criminal activity, but excludes
tax avoidance which is no crime in Andorra. In June, 2004, however,
Andorra was obliged to accept the EU's Savings Tax Directive, and
as from July, 2005, is imposing a withholding tax of 15% on returns
on savings paid to citizens of Member States of the EU, of which
75% is remitted onwards to the States concerned.
Immigration
Controlled by Residence and Work Permits
To encourage
immigration by high-net-worth individuals (often retired) the Government
offers Passive Residence Permits, which are not cheap, and are subject
to a quota which is determined periodically according to the “economic
and social needs of the Principality of Andorra”. Otherwise,
long term residence is only possible to those with work permits,
which are controlled by quotas. It is possible to get around this
system by owning a nominee company, which is relatively expensive,
but the Government watches closely, and any kind of doubtful activity
(or competition against locals) will bring rapid expulsion.
Learn more in our full Andorra
Knowledgebase. |
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