Two weeks before the first OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) reporting deadline of  May 31, Barbados, Curacao, and Niue and Trinidad and Tobago have been withdrawn from the OECD list of reportable jurisdictions for 2017, and have been moved to the list of reportable jurisdictions for 2018.

The following are now the Reportable Jurisdictions for the 2017 reporting year, in respect of 2016 reportable accounts:

1. Austria,
2. Argentina,
3. Belgium,
4. Bulgaria,
5. Colombia,
6. Croatia,
7. Cyprus,
8. Czech Republic,
9. Denmark,
10. Estonia,
11. Faroe Islands,
12. Finland,
13. France,
14. Germany,
15. Gibraltar,
16. Greece,
17. Greenland,
18. Guernsey,
19. Hungary,
20. Iceland,
21. India,
22. Ireland,
23. Isle of Man,
24. Italy,
25. Jersey,
26. Korea,
27. Latvia,
28. Liechtenstein,
29. Lithuania,
30. Luxembourg,
31. Malta,
32. Mexico,
33. Montserrat,
34. Netherlands,
35. Norway,
36. Poland,
37. Portugal,
38. Romania,
39. San Marino,
40. Seychelles,
41. Slovakia,
42. Slovenia,
43. South Africa,
44. Spain,
45. Sweden, and
46. the UK.

The UK tax authority is advising financial institutions that have already compiled their files to submit them anyway if they are unable to remove data on financial accounts for the four jurisdictions that have been withdrawn from the 2017 OECD list, until 2018.

Sources

• HMRC

According to various news reports, US multinationals are "pushing" the US government to further reduce the tax rate on offshore profits. Major U.S. multinationals are pushing the Trump administration to deepen the tax break it has already tentatively proposed on $2.6 trillion in corporate profits being held offshore by more than 500 U.S. companies.
 
Nearly a third of that is held by 10 companies, including Apple, Microsoft Corp, Pfizer Inc and General Electric Co, the firm said.

These companies and hundreds of others could bring their foreign profits into the United States at any time, but they do not in order to avoid paying the 35-percent tax due.
 
President Trump's tax reform proposed to reduce the tax rate on the repatriation of offshore profits to 10 percent from 35 percent. However, lobbyists are making an aggressive case that cutting the tax rate on offshore profits to 10, as the administration has indicated it may favor, is not enough.
 
They propose a bifurcated rate of 3.5 percent on earnings already invested abroad in illiquid assets, and 8.75 percent on cash and liquid assets.  Lobbyists are telling the White House and Treasury Department that if companies are forced to bring home, or repatriate, foreign earnings, they want a sharply reduced tax rate".
 
The deferral rule has incentivized multinationals to park profits offshore and about $2.6 trillion in earnings is being held overseas by more than 500 U.S. companies, according to Audit Analytics, a corporate research firm.
 
Nearly a third of that is held by 10 companies, including Apple, Microsoft Corp, Pfizer Inc. and General Electric Co. All four of those companies declined to comment. These companies and hundreds of others could bring their foreign profits into the United States at any time, but they do not in order to avoid paying the current 35-percent tax due.
                                 

If the $2.6 trillion overseas were repatriated at once, two things would happen. First, Washington would get a big jolt of tax revenue. Second, repatriated profits not collected by the Internal Revenue Service could be put to use in the economy.

The repatriation tax break now being discussed differs from Bush's: repatriation would not be voluntary, but mandatory, so foreign profits would have to be brought home.

In addition, lobbyists said they have talked to the administration about ending deferral and exempting foreign profits from taxation. The administration has floated this as an option. Lobbyists said there has been discussion about limiting that exemption to 95 percent of repatriated foreign earnings. 

Sources:


Reuters
CNBC
President Trump (Contract with the American Voter, PDF)

there is a repeal of the ACA and associated taxes. While at this time, it is unclear what a replacement bill may look like.

 

For individuals, expect:  

1. The elimination of the alternative minimum tax,
2. The elimination of the estate and gift taxes
3. An individual tax cut and a collapsing of the current seven tax brackets into three tax brackets as contained in the Ryan blueprint introduced last year. (House GOP. (2016). “A Better Way.” 
4. Reduced capital gains and dividend tax rates

For Corporations: 

1. Lowering the top corporate rate to 30 percent from the current 35 percent, 
2. Capping the top rate on pass-through entities at 25 percent and
3. A permanent reduction in the tax rate for profits from overseas to 8.75 percent for cash and cash-equivalent profits and 3.5 percent on other profits.

Wall Street and corporate America also view President Donald Trump’s bold agenda for a sweeping tax overhaul as largely dead for the year.

Executives, lobbyists and Wall Street analysts increasingly believe the administration, distracted by repeated crises while facing a short and crowded legislative calendar, will be unable to deliver on Trump’s promise to slash corporate and individual tax rates this year and ignite significantly faster economic growth.

“It is just completely unrealistic to think they can get a big tax reform bill done this year,” said Greg Valliere, chief global strategist at Horizon Investments. “They haven’t even agreed whether they are doing tax cuts or tax reform. They haven’t decided if it needs to be paid for or not and I don’t think they appreciate just how big a fight the debt limit is going to be.”

To make matters worse according to Law360,  the GOP Has No Tax Plan B Without a Border Adjustment Tax.

“There’s not a plan B,” Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill. said when asked if the House GOP has a backup tax proposal, without border adjustment, in the event the controversial plan proves too toxic to pass.

“2017 is the year,” Roskam said, arguing that if tax reform isn’t passed this year the momentum could be lost. 

 

Need Tax Advice?

 

 

 

Contact the Tax Lawyers at 

Marini& Associates, P.A.  

 

 

for a FREE Tax Consultation

at: www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com or

Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888) 882-9243

 

 

 

.

The British Virgin Islands’ Government has signed new legislation regarding Beneficial Ownership & Technical Protocol with the UK which will come into force in June 2017, which is hoped to improve the exchange of beneficial ownership information between the UK & BVI law enforcement for taxation rulings.

• Company name.
• Incorporation number.
• Registered Office Address.
• Incorporation date.

Beneficial Owner details will include the following:

• Beneficial Owner name.
• Beneficial Owner date of birth.
• Beneficial Owner Particulars such as passport number.
• Status of Entity (whether active or inactive etc.).
• Date Liquidation commenced & completed (where applicable).
• Reasons as to why any information is incomplete or not provided.

Each agent registered with the system will have their own user profile and secured space to store the required information (as listed above).

Do You Still Have Undeclared Income from

Offshore Banks or BVI Companies?

 

 

 

Want to Know if the OVDP Program is Right for You?

 

Contact the Tax Lawyers at 

Marini& Associates, P.A.  

 

 

for a FREE Tax Consultation

at: www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com or

Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888) 882-9243