Latest news with #taxauthorities
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
ION Founder to Pay €280 Million to Settle Tax Probe: Carlino
ION Group founder Andrea Pignataro has reached an agreement with Italian tax authorities to pay €280 million ($319 million) to end a probe into alleged tax evasion, Il Resto del Carlino reported on Sunday. Prosecutors in Bologna, where the fintech billionaire was born, had originally sought up to €1.2 billion in arrears, interest and other costs relating to a period up to 2023, according to the newspaper. He'll make the payments in instalments over five years, Carlino said. While a criminal case against him remains open, the settlement could work in his favor in that process, the newspaper said.
Khaleej Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
NRIs in UAE: How to file tax returns for capital gains
Question: I have not been filing my tax return in India after I came to the Gulf. However, during the financial year 2024-25 I made capital gains on sale of investments and therefore I will be filing my tax return. Can you please guide me and let me know the last date for filing the same? ANSWER: Generally the last date for filing the tax return is July 31 for persons who are not liable to file a tax audit report. However, this date has been extended to September 15 for the current assessment year 2025-26. The reason for this extension is that certain amendments have been made to the law which has necessitated revision of the format of income-tax returns requiring the tax department to streamline the technology platform as all returns have to be filed online. Given the increased reporting requirements, the extension of time till September 15, 2025 will give you the opportunity to ensure that proper disclosures are made in respect of the capital gains made by you during the financial year ended March 31, 2025. If any tax has been deducted at source from the interest or dividend earned, you will be able to collect the relevant details from Form 26 AS which is on the website of the tax department. You must ensure that the correct figures are reflected in your tax return so that the assessment is made seamlessly without any further inquiry from the tax authorities and any amount due to you is refunded immediately upon such summary assessment being completed. Question: Can you throw some light on the external commercial borrowing regime for Indian corporates. What are the guidelines? ANSWER: External commercial borrowings are allowed to Indian companies either under the automatic route or under the approval route where specific permission of the Reserve Bank of India/Finance Ministry needs to be taken. Indian companies raise loans in foreign currency primarily to access a substantial capital at interest rates which are lower than those prevailing in India. Thus, large scale projects can be financed at international interest rates. Loans can be obtained in foreign currency for import of capital goods as well as for overseas acquisition of foreign companies. Financial services companies are also eligible to resort to external commercial borrowings. In fact, during the financial year ended March 31, 2025, Indian companies were granted permission to borrow an amount of $61.8 billion which is a significant increase from $49 billion raised in the earlier financial year ended on March 31, 2024. The surge in external commercial borrowings highlights the growing confidence of foreign institutions in India's economic growth. Several Indian companies have been able to attract foreign funds to meet their working capital needs as well as to refinance existing loans. Investment in infrastructure projects attracted the major amount of loans from overseas agencies. The semiconductor industry, being the sunrise industry in India, was able to raise substantial funds in the last financial year. Question: Are professional services firms allowed to raise capital from foreign sources? Certain private equity firms are keen to invest in well-established firms in India. ANSWER: Professional services firms are permitted to raise funds from overseas markets within the regulatory framework. Globally, over the last two years, professional services firms have received private equity or sold holdings in their regional arms to fuel global expansion and invest in technology. This worldwide trend of private equity investing in professional services is gaining traction in India as well. While the Big Four are well capitalised, other accounting firms in India are using the merger and acquisition route to grow at a rapid pace. Some of these firms are looking to invest in small CPA firms in the United States for which they seek private equity funding. The India-US corridor offers great potential with Indian back-end capabilities supporting the American operations. In short, access to private capital provides a key competitive advantage which helps medium sized firms in India to invest in technology and acquire smaller professional outfits. Corporatisation and capitalisation are the two engines on which Indian professional services firms are planning to go international. Firms which originally provided audit and tax related services are now moving into technology-based services covering a diverse range of activities which require employment of highly paid technical personnel from different disciplines. The writer is a practising lawyer, specialising in corporate and fiscal laws of India.
Khaleej Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE: Firms urged to start preparing for 2026 e-invoicing rollout
Companies should start analysing and preparing early ahead of the rollout of e-invoicing in the UAE next year, said Niraj Hutheesing, founder and managing director of The UAE introduced e-invoicing regulation in the second quarter of 2025 while technical and functional specifications will be rolled out soon, he said. The first phase of e-invoicing will go live in the UAE in July 2026. Speaking during the New Age Finance and Accounting Summit organised by Khaleej Times on Wednesday, Niraj said tax authorities create data warehouses as they move towards implementing the e-invoices to identify the type of risk they see, whether it is a behavioural or related to filing and transaction. He noted that risk engines which are built behind the tax data warehouse identify fraudulent transactions and intervene where there is a necessity from the government side. 'These are the types of risk engines being developed or implemented by most of the tax authorities globally. That is what we need to be aware of when we implement our invoicing solution,' he said, adding that tax authorities are becoming 'technology companies' as they are using more artificial intelligence (AI) and analytic platforms. 'When the tax authorities build their data warehouse, everything is in a single system. They are able to interact between the two data points, analyse them and find the right anomalies. So this is critical for us to understand. These are the timelines most of you will be aware and a lot of people ask me whether it will happen in June 2026, I am pretty sure it's going to happen,' he said while giving a presentation on E-Invoicing & Digital Compliance at the 6th edition of the Summit. He added that they can help companies generate all invoices digitally, and send them to customers and similarly, companies can also receive all the invoices digitally and automate their peer-to-peer processes as well. He also highlighted the importance of verification of data and invoicing and stressed storing the data locally. 'Verification of invoicing is extremely important in terms of where your data is going to reside. There is no compulsion from UAE right now that the data has to be stored within the country. If you ask me, the way the global governance is going and the global governments are taking a stand, you need to ensure data is stored locally,' he added. Earlier in the day, Andrew Hass, regional vice president, Anaplan and Harsh Punjabi, director of business transformation, Damac Properties, held a fireside chat on the topic of 'Power of decision making is critical.' The New Age Finance and Accounting Summit was sponsored by Anaplan, Qashio, Cleartax, Al Tamimi, MCA, Andersen, Tally, Signzy and Jedox.
The Independent
24-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Is it legal for Croatian restaurants to offer a discount for paying with cash?
Q We are on holiday in Croatia. In every bar and restaurant, we are asked whether we are paying by cash or card. We thought it was just so they could get the card machine ready. But one restaurant openly told us there is a 5 per cent discount for cash. Is this legal? Julie P A I shall look at this '5 per cent off for cash' transaction through the opposite end of the telescope. The restaurant is effectively saying: 'We charge 5.26 per cent more for paying with plastic.' (Trust me on the numbers, please.) That is definitely not legal. The European Union tells traders across Europe: 'You're not allowed to charge your customers extra for using a credit or debit card.' One reason the EU can make this demand is because it limits the commission that financial institutions can slice from each transaction. This is in marked contrast to the US. Surcharges of 3 to 4 per cent are widely applied for paying with plastic, reflecting the fees businesses must pay to credit card providers. One restaurant in Oyster Bay, Long Island, even prints menus with dual pricing. So what is happening in Croatia? I shall begin with a couple of benign possibilities: that the restaurant needs a cash-flow boost to pay staff wages. Getting your payment immediately rather than waiting a week or two for the bank to hand it over will help. Or perhaps the proprietor just loathes paperwork and prefers to deal only with cash. I suspect, though, that the real reason is to conceal from the tax authorities the true revenue of the restaurant. That can be a strong temptation; across the Adriatic, the Italian authorities fought back against tax evasion by demanding that every customer of a merchant be given a proper tax receipt and must carry it off the premises. Doubtless, many visitors to Croatia are tempted to cut the cost of eating and drinking by taking up the cash offer – more so, I imagine, if they are citizens of nations where the euro is also the national currency. Whether or not you avail yourself is up to you. Just bear in mind that withdrawing cash from ATMs increasingly involves a commission payment that could wipe out the savings. Q Why do you have to be searched three times at Dalaman airport? Jon O A In common with other Turkish airports, everyone entering the passenger terminal at Dalaman on the Mediterranean coast is screened, along with their baggage, before proceeding to check-in. This arrangement is at odds with most airports in Europe, where there is unrestricted access for passengers and their baggage. The entry check was actually in place before the 2016 terrorist attack at Istanbul's old airport in which more than 40 people died. Since then, security measures for airport terminals have been stepped up. After check-in, passengers proceed 'airside' through the normal security checkpoint that every airport has. But passengers on flights bound to the UK – of which there are a substantial number – are subject to a third search at the departure gate. That is at the insistence of the Department for Transport and Infrastructure, the ministry responsible for aviation security. The extra check before boarding the aircraft was brought in at a time when there were serious concerns about terrorism in Turkey. For a time, both the UK and the US banned large electronic devices such as laptops and tablet computers from the cabins of flights from Turkey. The sudden ban appeared to be based on intelligence suggesting that bomb makers belonging to al-Qaeda in the Middle East had improved their skills and expanded their geographic spread. The authorities in London and Washington DC feared that would-be suicide bombers could try to bring down an aircraft with explosives concealed in consumer electronics. While that ban ended relatively quickly, the UK government continues to demand additional aviation security on flights from Turkey. Britain's biggest budget airline, easyJet, says: 'There is no requirement to come to the airport earlier than shown on your confirmation email, but please make sure you arrive at the gate as soon as your gate is announced.' Passengers are advised to ensure their personal electronic items are charged ahead of the check. 'If you cannot turn on your device, you may be required to travel without it or place your item for safe carriage in the hold,' easyJet says. Similar extra security measures are applied to flights from Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco and Egypt to the UK. Q A friend of mine has recently had an operation involving a general anaesthetic and says he has been told he can't fly for six months. Why is this? Shamus McF A Anyone who has a general anaesthetic is likely to have had some significant surgery, which presents some risk of the potentially fatal condition of deep vein thrombosis. There is some inconsistency about how long you should leave before flying again. I have not heard of a six-month grounding, but I dare say in some circumstances this would be appropriate. The Civil Aviation Authority offers something of a surgery tariff, saying: 'It is appropriate to allow one to two days following keyhole surgery and between four and five days for simple abdominal surgery. Major chest or abdominal surgery requires a period of approximately 10 days. Simple cataract or corneal laser surgery do not cause major complications and therefore 24 hours is an adequate gap between surgery and flying.' The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham tells patients who undergo serious work on the operating table: 'Avoid long-haul travel for four weeks either side of your surgery.' It adds: 'The risk of DVT within the general population is 1:1,000. This risk is increased with long journeys (more than four hours), particularly flying.' Patients are also urged to 'inform your surgeon of your travel plans' – presumably so that he or she can provide an opinion of the wisdom of making a journey soon after surgery, and possibly offer advice such as wearing 'travel socks' during the trip. Airlines are always keen to know if passengers have had recent medical treatment – bluntly, because they don't want to have to divert flights due to a medical emergency. It is worth talking to the carrier in any situation where health could be an issue at altitude. On a related subject, a reminder that anyone who has a plaster cast because of a fracture will not be permitted to fly unless the cast has been split for its entire length. This will allow room for the limb to swell when the air pressure drops. A letter from the practitioner explaining the injury and confirming fitness will also be useful. Q I saw you comparing fares on Ryanair and easyJet with British Airways from Edinburgh to London. Out of interest, how many people actually manage to get hold of Ryanair or easyJet tickets for that actual price? The add-ons as you move to the payment page mean that these starting prices are often wildly optimistic. Name supplied A The background: you are referring to my article highlighting an extremely high fare on British Airways for the few remaining seats on a mid-morning departure in four weeks. The 10.25am flight from Edinburgh to London Heathrow on Friday 21 June is currently priced at £1,183. This is 70 times the Ryanair fare for its morning flight to Stansted of £17; easyJet's cheapest trip to Luton is £19. As the article explains, BA prices those particular seats at a level that no one would rationally pay. The airline does not want anyone to book a seat just between Edinburgh and Heathrow. The aim is to keep space available for a late-booking, premium intercontinental passenger – who might spend £5,000 on a one-way flight via Heathrow to the Middle East or the US. The 10.25am departure uses a small A319 aircraft and has a lot of potentially lucrative long-haul connections. To answer your question about the other end of the price spectrum: plenty of people manage to buy Ryanair and easyJet flights at fares below £20. I have never found these starting prices on easyJet and Ryanair to be 'wildly optimistic'. You simply have to decline all the options you are offered during the online purchase journey: speedy boarding, baggage, advance seat selection, etc. Those of us who travel light and generally alone are well versed in dodging all the add-ons. To be sure of getting the best deal, book direct with the airline rather than through an 'online travel agent' who may add extra charges. But bear in mind that the small cabin baggage limit will be strictly enforced. Of that £17 Edinburgh-Stansted fare on Ryanair, the first £13 goes to chancellor Rachel Reeves as air passenger duty, and once airport charges are paid, the airline is looking at a loss. So, understandably, airlines are always keen to augment their 'ancillary revenue'.
