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19 Aug, 2019
In this week's column, we will be looking at Ireland, which - understandably - in the run-up to the UK's Brexit deadline, has been seeking clarification on the likely impact of the British move...
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18 Jul, 2016
The Malta Retirement Programme Rules (Legal Notice 317/2012) is a programme designed to attract nationals of the EU, EEA and Switzerland who are not in an employment relationship and who are in receipt of a pension as their regular source of income...
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18 Jul, 2016
EU, EEA or Swiss nationals that are neither permanent Maltese nationals, nor third country nationals, are eligible to apply for residence in malta on the basis of this financial scheme...
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12 Feb, 2014
Germany is in the grips of its economically destructive Grand Coalition agreement, which we have previously had cause to criticize, and which will prevent any business-friendly tax measures from being implemented for as long as it lasts, so we should at least give a subdued cheer for Finance Minister Schauble's determination to press ahead with an increase in the pension age, although the increase, from the current 65 (as almost everywhere) to 67 by (wait for it) 2029, is underwhelming. Life expectancy in Germany has risen by 10 years in the last 50 years to 80 years at present: that may not sound very much, but consider that post-retirement lifespan has therefore gone up from 5 years to 15, on average, while the retirement age has not changed.
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23 Jan, 2014
Now is the time to set-up a regulated asset protection structure (RAPS), in a low-tax jurisdiction outside of your country of residence. Simply put; it's time to invest offshore and set-up an overseas retirement plan, and Hong Kong is the best jurisdiction for asset protection.
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26 Sep, 2013
"A rose by any other name smells just as sweet" says Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, so we need not pay too much attention to the OECD's declaration that Ireland is not a tax haven â and never has been. Apparently he was responding to the European Commission's decision a week ago to begin a preliminary investigation into any special tax deals that may have been granted to multinational companies by Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, which in turn is linked to the G20's discussions on "base erosion and profit shifting" by MNCs, and, in particular, to the recent controversies in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany over the low taxes collected from American companies, such as Apple, Starbucks and Google.
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04 Sep, 2013
As Pascal Lamy bids goodbye (31st August) to the World Trade Organization, he will regret that he was unable to bring the world's squabbling nations into alignment in the Doha Round; but he can reflect that the playing field of the world of trade is a far more level place than when he took office eight years ago, and surely he can take the credit for much of this.
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09 May, 2013
One swallow doesn't make a summer, and we can't herald an outbreak of competition in the European Union just because the UK has announced an expansion of its fiscal support for film-making. But coming on the heels of the announcement of the Patent Box, and further reductions in the rate of corporation tax, it does show that there are ways for a country to compete even within the strait-jacket of the EU's State Aid rules. It seems illogical and even perverse that Brussels allows a range of national corporation tax rates from 10 percent to 33 percent, yet will not allow say an SEZ in the waterlogged fens outside Cambridge with an incentive rate of 10% for technology start-ups. Of course that situation is not the Commission's choice they would prefer a harmonized tax rate across the Union. Let's hope they never get their wish: it would be like entering a boxing match with your hands tied behind your back.
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01 Apr, 2013
Net assets of German households are on average much lower than Italian or Spanish ones and the country is faced with serious impacts of the economic crisis. This startling conclusion is reached by the German central bank. Germany, the driver of the European economy.
The main reason for this conclusion is the fact that the Germans own significantly less real estate than Southern Europeans.
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01 Nov, 2012
I wasn't quite sure about it when Hong Kong introduced its Mandatory Provident Fund ten years ago or so, because I am seldom in favour of anything mandatory, other than cocktails before lunch, but doubtless I am wrong. If there is a country on the planet which doesn't force its citizens to save for their old age, then it doesn't come to mind, but perhaps there is some beknighted corner of Africa that would qualify. If people are stupid enough to get to retirement without savings, then let them starve, would be my motto. That's what families and charities are for: it's no business of the State. But I am a lone voice crying in the wilderness, for sure. Anyway, the MPF exists, and Hong Kong gets a star for actually reducing the fees it charges its members. How many countries would do that?
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