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Tax and Jurisdictions

Budget: The new "competitive" UK tax system

March 21, 2013

Cuts to corporation tax and a £2,000 (€2,300) allowance towards employer national insurance contributions are among the measures most likely to affect family businesses in the latest UK budget.

George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, announced corporation tax would be reduced to 20% from April 2015 – making the UK tax system "one of the most competitive in the G20", according to the UK's coalition government.

Disclosure better than jail, family offices told

March 8, 2013

Family offices are being warned it is “risky” to ignore the introduction of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act next year.

Tom Humphreys, head of the federal tax practice group at law firm Morrison & Foerster, said the US government is “marching along fairly deliberately to implement Fatca” on 1 January 2014. It has signed a number of inter-governmental agreements with countries recently.

It's not tax-dodging, it's protecting the family business: Arnault's citizenship plans

January 25, 2013

Bernard Arnault’s complicated fiscal dealings in Belgium are all designed to keep luxury goods giant LVMH well under the Arnault family's control and not to avoid France’s proposed 75% super-tax, according to the company.

The response from LVMH came as the patriarch of French industry again faced attack from the French public after further details of his financial plans and efforts to gain Belgian citizenship were revealed.

Rich hiding more than $21 trillion in offshore tax havens

July 23, 2012

The rich and their families are hiding more than $21 trillion (€17.36 trillion) in offshore tax havens, equivalent to around $250 billion in lost tax revenues for governments, according to a report released on Sunday.

Conducted for the Tax Justice Network, a pressure group that campaigns against tax havens, the study drew on data from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for International Settlements and national treasuries.

Austerity? What austerity?

June 26, 2012

Austerity? What austerity? In the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, the weathy have rarely had it so good. According to surveys by Royal Bank of Canada/Capgemini and Boston Consulting Group, global net worth has recovered over the last four years.

Austerity? What austerity? In the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, the weathy have rarely had it so good.

According to surveys by Royal Bank of Canada/Capgemini and Boston Consulting Group, global net worth has recovered over the last four years. Their assets suffered a slight fall in Europe to $10 trillion (€8 trillion) in 2011, said RBC, but the actual number of millionaires rose to 3.2 million, thanks to growth in Russia, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Wealthy families missing chance to clear up “tax skeletons”

March 7, 2012

The Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility may have been in the news a lot recently, but many accountants in the UK are still unaware of the benefits it may offer wealthy families and individuals.

That’s according to a recent survey by UK-based accountancy firm Crowe Clark Whitehill, which found that a fifth of accountants do not understand the tax amnesty facility.

Sean Wakeman, a partner in the firm’s tax investigations group, reckons this would deprive wealthy individuals in the UK of a chance to clear up their tax arrears.

Extending Liechtenstein tax amnesty an “important development”

February 9, 2012

Giving ultra-high net worth families and individuals in the UK more time to come clean about their assets in Liechtenstein is an “important development”, according to a top legal expert.

But Philip Marcovici, a former partner at Baker & McKenzie, told CampdenFB that waiting until the end of the deadline to disclose tax arrears could be “dangerous”.

Family offices should be preparing for FATCA

December 2, 2011

Family offices should already be taking steps to prepare for the introduction of the new US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a leading tax lawyer has warned.

Tom Humphreys, from law firm Morrison & Forester, said family offices need to get in contact with their financial institutions and find out what they are required to provide and when.

Switzerland's banks to lose billions on tax crackdown

November 30, 2011

A new study by consulting firm Booz & Co says that wealth managers in Switzerland could lose as much as €41 billion as a result of a tax crackdowns by the UK and German governments.

Based on interviews with senior wealth management experts in Switzerland, the report also said that private banks will also lose around €1 billion in revenues as clients with offshore assets start withdrawing their money.

But some reckon that the tax treaties signed with the UK and Germany will benefit the Swiss financial sector in the long run.

UBS should ditch investment banking – now

September 19, 2011

Following last week’s arrest of rogue trader Kweku Adoboli, Swiss bank UBS has probably had as much fun in investment banking as its wealthy clients can stand.

Adoboli was accused of fraud after incurring a potential $2.3 billion loss for the bank. A UBS spokesman won’t say how it happened, but the problem appears to relate to unhedged dealing losses, disguised by fake trades.