International taxes

Although a recent ABC News/Washington Post Poll found just 6 percent of voters who lean Republican and 4 percent of those who lean Democrat rank taxes as the most important issue impacting their vote, one in five public company tax directors feel differently.

Apple Inc., facing a European Union probe into its fiscal affairs in Ireland, told a panel of EU lawmakers Tuesday it pays all taxes due in the nation and doesn’t get an unfair advantage compared with other companies there.

Foreign bank account report filings surpassed the 1 million mark last year, up more than 8 percent from 2014, the Internal Revenue Service reported Tuesday.

Sales tax technology vendors have been expanding their efforts to help small and midsize businesses cope with the dizzying array of tax rates and rules across states, localities and countries.

The American Institute of CPAs recommended the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service make a number of changes to improve the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program and the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures that allow U.S. taxpayers to voluntarily disclose previously unreported offshore assets and comply with U.S. tax laws.

The Internal Revenue Service is seeking to force UBS Group AG to turn over records on an account in Singapore held by a U.S. citizen, potentially opening a new front against offshore tax evasion beyond Switzerland.

Facebook Inc. will stop routing advertising sales of its largest U.K. clients through Ireland, increasing its British tax bill by millions of pounds in a bid to improve transparency after facing criticism on tax avoidance.

The American Institute of CPAs is asking the Treasury Department to provide tax relief to the cross-border savings accounts of U.S. and Canadian citizens.

Despite government disapproval, corporate inversions still have fans

The Internal Revenue Service has followed up on the Obama administration’s opening of diplomatic relations with Cuba by releasing a new revenue ruling that removes certain restrictions on income earned in Cuba.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has agreed on a new framework that will allow all interested countries and jurisdictions to participate in drawing up international tax rules.

The Treasury Department has issued a newly revised U.S. Model Income Tax Convention to provide the baseline text it will use when negotiating tax treaties with other countries. It was last updated in 2006.

Google saved $2.4 billion in worldwide taxes in 2014 by shifting 10.7 billion euros ($12 billion) in international revenues to a Bermuda shell company, Alphabet Inc., the parent of the Web-search provider, regulatory filings show.

Swedish home furnishings giant Ikea has become the latest multinational company to be accused of dodging taxes.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has reportedly fired off a letter to officials in the European Union complaining about recent tax investigations of U.S.-based multinationals like Apple, McDonald’s, Amazon and Starbucks.

Two client advisers from Julius Baer Group Ltd. accused of helping Americans evade taxes are expected to plead guilty in New York on Thursday, when the Swiss bank will resolve its own criminal case by agreeing to pay $547 million, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Starting February 16, the Internal Revenue Service will begin accepting requests for bilateral advance pricing agreements between the U.S. and India for the taxation of multinational companies.

After three years and $1.37 billion in penalties, the U.S. is ending a disclosure program that forced Swiss banks to reveal all the secret ways they helped Americans evade taxes.

European Union competition chief Margrethe Vestager said Thursday morning she’s ready to investigate Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s 130 million-pound ($185.5 million) tax deal with the U.K. if there are complaints. It didn’t take long for the first to surface.

Companies shouldn’t be able to get away with paying very low taxes—or none at all—in countries where they earn profits, EU Economic Affairs and Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said as he introduced a package of proposals designed to curb tax evasion.