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25 Jul, 2013
For owners and users of private yachts and aircraft in Europe, navigating the European UnionÂ’s all-pervading tax rules is a daunting task, especially when they are subject to change on a regular basis.
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15 May, 2013
This feature explores the various plurilateral efforts underway to achieve more standardization in the exchange of information (EoI) for tax purposes between national revenue authorities, including the European Union (EU) Savings Tax Directive, the United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) lesser known tax treaty TRACE project.
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16 Apr, 2013
Located in the Irish Sea between the North West of England and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man's economy rests solidly on the provision of offshore financial services to wealthy individuals and multinational corporations in a low-tax environment. However, e-commerce, and in particular e-gaming, has quickly grown to become the second pillar of the island's economy.
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04 Apr, 2013
The island of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands between England and France, is a self-governing British Crown dependency with a thriving offshore financial centre.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey includes the inhabited islands of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqou and Lihou. Guernsey itself is the second largest of the Channel Islands and is situated in the Gulf of St Malo 130 kilometres south of England and only 48 kilometres west of Normandy, France. The island has a land area of 65 sq. km.
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10 Jan, 2013
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA for short, might be targeted towards US taxpayers.
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08 Jan, 2013
Major changes to the regulation of the gambling industry in the United Kingdom were brought about by the Gambling Act in 2007, and this report examines how yet more proposed changes to the legislation will affect remote gambling and gaming firms offering their services to British gamblers.
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13 Dec, 2012
The islands, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman cover an area of just 100 sq miles in the Western Caribbean Sea, but, together, the Cayman Islands punch well above their weight in terms of their importance to the global financial system.
The Cayman Islands has the world's largest offshore banking sector, is second only to Bermuda as a captive insurance centre, and has recently established itself as the domicile of choice for the hedge fund and offshore mutual fund industry. During 2003 and 2004, China's explosive entry into world markets saw the Cayman Islands emerge as one of the primary routes for financial flows into and out of the Chinese mainland.
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29 Nov, 2012
We hear a lot about how international offshore financial centres (IOFCs) are continuing to thrive despite the uncertain economic outlook, which is stymieing investment in many parts of the world. However, while new incorporations and corporate renewals in the major offshore jurisdictions are generally holding up well after some wobbles from 2008 to 2010, these figures do not tell the whole story; governments in a number of offshore territories are finding it just as difficult to balance the books as are the administrations of onshore governments, and some are having to make tough choices in terms of tax.
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15 Nov, 2012
Following on from our feature last May, in which we introduced the British Virgin Islands and explored the various facets of the jurisdictionÂ’s offshore legal framework, in this feature we take a look at recent developments which have served to reinforce the BVIÂ’s position as one of the most respected international offshore financial centres.
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22 Oct, 2012
With flexible and responsive regulatory systems and low or zero rates of taxation, it is not surprising that the internet gaming industry has a found its home offshore. Those jurisdictions which have invested in an appropriate legal framework and advanced telecommunications infrastructure have generally reaped the benefits of the rapid growth in this sector over the last decade. The tiny Caribbean territory of Antigua and Barbuda, and the Mediterranean island of Malta, a member of the European Union (EU), are two such jurisdictions. However, legislative and regulatory developments in the United States and the EU have put the very existence of the internet gambling industry in these places under threat, with disastrous economic consequences, actual in the first case and potential in the second.
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