Behind Seattle's Amazon Tax: A tech boom that sent house rents soaring

It was, as the local public radio station said, the day “Seattle Nice” died. On May 2, the residents of Seattle were hit with a one-two punch. For months, the city council had been debating a new tax on large employers to raise $75 million for new affordable housing and services for the homeless, whose growing population had burst out of shelters and into tents around the city.

In the late morning, just before a council hearing, a columnist for the Seattle Times broke the news that Amazon.com Inc., the city’s largest employer, was playing hardball. The typically hermetic company said it paused expansion plans for buildings that would house about 7,000 employees pending the outcome of the upcoming tax vote.

Later that night, hundreds of residents packed a Methodist church in the gentrifying Ballard neighbourhood, turning what was supposed to be a civil town hall discussion into a scrum that exposed deep division in the city.

Wall Street climbs as tax reform enters last lap; bank stocks recover

U.S. stocks climbed higher on Thursday, boosted by gains in technology and banking shares and aided by news that the Republicans' tax code overhaul should face final votes in Congress before the year-end.

A final bill could be formally unveiled on Friday, with decisive votes expected next week in both chambers.

On Wednesday, Republicans in the Senate and the House reached a deal on final tax legislation that would slash the corporate tax rate to 21 percent.

"We have a pretty positive background, investors are focused on the tax deal that they are closed to an agreement between the House and the Senate," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

"It will take some time to go through the details, what that means for specific companies but it's consistent with the general positive tone."

At 9:40 a.m. ET (1440 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.29 percent to 24,655.57, on track to post six days of gains in a row.

The S&P 500 was up 3.14 points, or 0.12 percent, at 2,665.99 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 9.26 points, or 0.13 percent, at 6,885.06.

Walt Disney Co struck a deal to buy film, television and international businesses from Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox for $52.4 billion in stock. Disney's shares rose 1.77 percent and Fox shares were up marginally.
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Trump promises giant tax cut as 'Christmas gift' to American families, cos

US President Donald Trump today said the Congress has reached an agreement on tax legislation that will deliver more jobs, higher wages, and "massive tax relief" for American families and domestic companies.

Trump recognised the tax reform as a campaign promise during his run-up to the 2016 presidential election, saying the "giant tax cut" will be his "Christmas gift" to fellow countrymen.

"Now we're just days away ... from keeping that promise and delivering a truly amazing victory for American families. We want to give you, the American people, a giant tax cut for Christmas," Trump told a select audience at the White House as he delivered an address to the nation making a final pitch for his massive tax reform.

"As we speak, Congress has reached an agreement on tax legislation that will deliver more jobs, higher wages, and massive tax relief for American families and for American companies," he said.

Trump cited an example to explain the impact of the tax cut: "The typical family of four earning USD 75,000 will see an income tax cut of more than USD 2,000, slashing their tax bill in half."

It nearly doubles the amount of income taxed at the rate of zero, he said, adding that the proposed tax reforms also closes special interest loopholes; and lowers tax rates for families. It cuts taxes on businesses, which is expected to raise income by an average of more than USD 4,000, he said.
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Wall Street cheers Senate's approval of tax bill; Dow up 200 pts

Wall Street indexes surged on Monday after the U.S. Senate passed its version of a tax code overhaul, bringing the Republicans closer to implementing corporate tax cuts.

Some of the biggest gainers included bank and industrial stocks. Bank of America and JPMorgan rose more than 3 percent, while Caterpillar and Boeing gained about 2 percent.

"This is a positive reaction to the Senate's passage," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

The Senate on Saturday approved their version of tax bill in a narrow 51-49 vote. The Senate and the House of Representatives will have to settle differences in their respective versions before it becomes a law.

"That (reconciliation) can be a bit of a challenge because there are differences and the number of approvals to pass it is a little bit higher than it was for the individual two sides of the Congress," said Frederick.

The S&P 500 has risen about 18 percent this year on strong corporate earnings and solid economic growth and also on hopes that Trump's agenda of corporate tax cuts and looser regulations could come through.
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Trump mockingly tells media to compete for 'Fake News Trophy'

US President Donald Trump today slammed the allegedly biased news coverage of his administration, saying the media - except for Fox News - should compete for the "Fake News Trophy".

"We should have a contest as to which of the networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favourite President (me)," Trump said on Twitter.

"They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!" Trump wrote on his account which he uses daily to communicate with his large support base.

Trump returned to the White House last night after spending the Thanksgiving weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

He also said he is now focusing on the tax cut bill, which once passed by the Congress would bring in massive tax relief to the middle class.

"The Tax Cut Bill is coming along very well, great support. With just a few changes, some mathematical, the middle class and job producers can get even more in actual dollars and savings and the pass-through provision becomes simpler and really works well!" he said.
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Paradise Papers: EU pushes for tax blacklist after leak

EU finance ministers sought today to break resistance against creating Europe's first ever blacklist of tax havens after new revelations from the "Paradise Papers" showed how major firms escape tax.

The 28 members of the European Union have struggled for over a year to finalise a list of non-EU tax havens, with smaller countries such as Ireland, Malta and Luxembourg loath to scare off major firms headquartered in their low tax capitals.

Soon-to-quit Britain has also drawn up resistance, hoping to protect the near zero-tax rates offered in several of its dependencies, such as Jersey or the British Virgin Islands, that have been identified in the series of leaks that also include Panama Papers and the Luxleaks scandal.

The island of Jersey, a few kilometres (miles) off the coast of France, was where the latest reports said Apple shifted much of its offshore wealth when Ireland changed its laws under pressure from the EU.

"It is important that this list comes out (...) in 2017, it must be credible and up to the challenge," said EU Economics Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, who is leading the blacklist effort.

The EU ministers will try to bridge their differences and draw up an official list of unwanted tax havens in December, whittling down an initial list of 92 countries finalised last year.

Sources said EU officials have warned about 60 countries that their tax policies may be problematic and at risk of blacklisting, demanding further information before a November 18 deadline.
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Paradise Paper leaks reveal Wilbur Ross' offshore ties to Putin 'cronies'

After becoming commerce secretary, Wilbur L. Ross Jr. retained investments in a shipping firm he once controlled that has significant business ties to a Russian oligarch subject to American sanctions and President Vladimir V. Putin’s son-in-law, according to newly disclosed documents.

The shipper, Navigator Holdings, earns millions of dollars a year transporting gas for one of its top clients, a giant Russian energy company called Sibur, whose owners include the oligarch and Mr. Putin’s family member. Despite selling off numerous other holdings to join the Trump administration and spearhead its “America first” trade policy, Mr. Ross kept an investment in Navigator, which increased its business dealings with Sibur even as the West sought to punish Russia’s energy sector over Mr. Putin’s incursions into Ukraine.

Partnerships used by Mr. Ross, whose private equity firm has long been the biggest shareholder in Navigator, have a 31 percent stake in the company. Though his personal share of that stake was reduced as he took office in February, he retained an investment in the partnerships valued between $2 million and $10 million, and stood to earn a higher share of profits as a general partner, according to his government ethics disclosure and securities filings.

Mr. Ross’s stake in Navigator has been held by a chain of companies in the Cayman Islands, one of several tax havens where much of his wealth, estimated at more than $2 billion, has been tied to similar investment vehicles. Details of these arrangements surfaced in a cache of leaked files from Appleby, one of the world’s largest offshore law firms, which administered some 50 companies and partnerships in the Caymans and elsewhere connected to Mr. Ross.

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Millions of leaked Paradise Papers reveal where the elite hide their money

It’s called the Paradise Papers: the latest in a series of leaks made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists shedding light on the trillions of dollars that move through offshore tax havens.

The core of the leak, totaling more than 13.4 million documents, focuses on the Bermudan law firm Appleby, a 119-year old company that caters to blue chip corporations and very wealthy people. Appleby helps clients reduce their tax burden; obscure their ownership of assets like companies, private aircraft, real estate and yachts; and set up huge offshore trusts that in some cases hold billions of dollars.

The New York Times is part of the group of more than 380 journalists from over 90 media organizations in 67 countries that have spent months examining the latest set of documents.

As with the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers leak came through a duo of reporters at the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and was then shared with I.C.I.J., a Washington-based group that won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the millions of records of a Panamanian law firm. The release of that trove of documents led to the resignation of one prime minister last year and to the unmasking of the wealth of people close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

The predominantly elite clients of Appleby contrast with those of Mossack Fonseca — the company whose leaked records became the Panama Papers — which appeared to be less discriminating in the business it took on. Much of the material makes for dull reading: Spreadsheets, prospectuses and billing statements abound. But amid these are documents that help reveal how multinational companies avoid taxes and how the superrich hide their wealth. The records date back to 1950 and up to 2016.
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Paradise Paper leaks reveal US commerce chief, UK queen's offshore investments

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has business ties to a shipping firm linked to Vladimir Putin's inner circle, according to a vast leak of financial documents that also revealed Britain's Queen Elizabeth II's investments in tax havens.

It was also revealed that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's top fundraiser and senior advisor Stephen Bronfman, heir to the Seagram fortune, moved some $60 million to offshore tax havens with ex-senator Leo Kolber.

The findings have emerged as part of the Paradise Papers released by the US-based   (ICIJ), which was behind the Panama Papers made public last year.

There is no suggestion that Ross, Bronfman or the queen's private estate acted illegally.

But Ross's ties to Russian entities raise questions over potential conflicts of interest, and whether they undermine Washington's sanctions on Moscow.

The revelations about Bronfman could spell trouble for Trudeau, who was elected two years ago riding on the coattails of promises to reduce economic inequality and tax avoidance.

In the case of Queen Elizabeth's private estate, critics may question whether it is appropriate for the British head of state to invest in offshore tax havens.

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News digest: INS Kiltan joins Navy, wholesale inflation falls, and more

Markets sparkle ahead of Diwali as Sensex, Nifty gain 0.6% each

The Diwali week started on a positive note with the benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices ending at new record highs. Positive global markets and the ebbing of foreign investor selling saw the benchmark indices gain 0.6 per cent and the rupee appreciate 0.3 per cent against the dollar. Read more

Like all its predecessors, INS Kiltan joins Navy with major vulnerabilities

Like numerous Indian warships before it, the navy’s newest anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, INS Kiltan, joined the fleet on Monday without equipment crucial for discharging its primary role – detecting and destroying enemy submarines. Read more

Wholesale inflation falls to 2.6% in September

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation data released on Monday provided yet another indicator of improving macroeconomic parameters.
 Wholesale inflation fell to 2.60 per cent in September from 3.24 per cent in August due to a subdued rate of price rise in food items, particularly vegetables.  Read more

RBI governor calls for better access to currency swap lines

The governor of the Reserve Bank of India on Sunday called on major central banks to extend their network of currency swap lines deep into emerging markets, saying a type of “virtual apartheid” in the provision of foreign currencies hampers efforts to fight financial instability

Dow, Nasdaq eke out record highs over Trump's proposed tax reforms

US stocks inched higher on Monday, with the Dow and the Nasdaq hitting fresh records, on rising optimism over President Donald Trump's proposed tax overhaul.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 7.43 points, or 0.03 percent, to 22,781.1. The S&P 500 gained 2.06 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,551.39. The Nasdaq Composite added 7.26 points, or 0.11 percent, to 6,597.44.
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Deloitte hit by cyber attack, says 'very few' clients affected

Global accountancy firm Deloitte said on Monday it had been hit in a cyber attack that had compromised the data of a small number of its clients but gave few details about how its systems had been breached.

Attackers had accessed data from the company's email platform, the company said in a statement, confirming a report by the Guardian newspaper.

Deloitte, one of the "big four" accountants, said it had mobilised a team of cyber-security experts to review its systems and to discover what information had been put at risk.

It said the review had found "only a very few clients" had been affected.

"No disruption has occurred to client businesses, to Deloitte's ability to continue to serve clients, or to consumers," a spokeswoman said in a statement.

The firm, which provides auditing, tax advice and consultancy to multinationals and governments, did not say when the attack occurred or how its defences had been breached.

The Guardian said the firm discovered the hack in March, but the cyber attackers could have had hacked into its systems as long ago as October or November 2016.
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Last day for filing tax returns: Step by step guide to do quickly

Have you filed your tax returns already? If you haven't, this is the last day to file your returns for 2016-17 fiscal or assessment year 2017-18.

Keeping in view the government's inclination towards technology, the filing of returns has become speedy and hassle-free exercise for the citizens.

Here is how you can file your ITR online

People with salary income who are eligible to use ITR 1 or ITR 4 form can file their tax return completely online via the income tax e-filing website without having to download any form/software. Follow these steps:

1. Create your e-filing account on the Income Tax website https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and register yourself. Registration will be completed by clicking activation link sent via email and providing one-time password (OTP) received on the mobile. Click on the 'Registered user' if you have already registered yourself on the website.

Download the Form 26AS and Form 16. Form 26AS is a consolidated tax statement which summarises the amount paid against each PAN number.

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We could file suit against Trump at WTO over border tax: Germany

Germany could file a suit against the United States at the World Trade Organization over President Donald Trump's proposed border tax, the economy minister said on Friday ahead of a meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Trump later in the day.

Trump has warned that the United States will impose a border tax of 35 percent on cars that German carmaker BMW plans to build at a new plant in Mexico and export to the U.S. market.

Asked how Germany would react to the proposed tax, Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries told Deutschlandfunk radio it was very difficult because of the complexities of such a tax system.

"The other option is that we file a suit against him at the WTO - there are procedures laid out there because in the WTO agreements it is clearly laid out that you're not allowed to take more than 2.5 percent taxes on imports of cars," Zypries said.

Later on Friday Trump and Merkel are due to hold their first meeting since the new U.S. president took office in January. Merkel is likely to press Trump for assurances of support for a strong European Union and a commitment to fight climate change while he is expected to seek her support for his demand that NATO nations pay more for their defense needs.

Germany's 50 billion euro trade surplus with the United States has been a source of tension between Washington and Berlin.

"We know ourselves that that's a problem and we're working on it," Zypries said.

"Thankfully we just heard today that wage rises have been agreed again so that means domestic demand can increase again and we want to address tax incentives for research ... so we're on a good path," she added.

Around 72,000 steel workers in northwestern Germany will get 2.3 percent more pay from April and then a further wage increase of 1.7 percent from May 1, 2018 employers' group Arbeitgeberverband Stahl said on Friday.

"The Americans need our machines and our plants ... and the other point is that we only have an export surplus in the machines and plants sector; in the service sector it's the other way round," due to big internet companies in the United States, Zypries said. (READ MORE)

Tap property tax potential at city level, suggests Economic Survey

Latest News - With rapid urbanisation posing tremendous challenges in delivery of services, the Economic Survey on Tuesday suggested that municipalities should tap the potential of "property tax" to generate additional revenues at the city level.

The survey found through a study that bengaluru and Jaipur are currently collecting no more than 5-20 per cent of their respective potential for property tax. It suggested that "satellite imagery" should be used for improving urban governance by facilitating better property tax compliance.

"Urbanisation will pose considerable challenges for municipalities over the (Read More)

Modi govt plans expansive budget despite growth, revenue worries

Latest News - India's finance minister is likely to borrow more than originally planned when he presents the budget on Feb. 1, senior aides and officials said, despite counting on revenues from a national sales tax whose launch date is still unknown.

Arun Jaitley is looking at how to fund giveaways to taxpayers and higher public investment to help nurse Asia's third-largest economy back to health after the government's shock decision in November to abolish high-value banknotes.

That is raising concern among some economists and investors that the government will take too many fiscal risks.

Yet officials say that, given the choice, they would choose growth sustained by (Read More)

Tax rationalisation, digitisation key areas for Budget: HSBC

Latest News - Among the key expectations from the ensuing Budget are a new fiscal policy framework, corporate tax rationalisation, higher rural capex and focus on efficient social sector spending, says a HSBC report.

According to the global financial services major, the government should continue with its fiscal consolidation in a "practical fashion" and stick to the 3 per cent pre-announced fiscal deficit for 2016-17, but give itself headroom for compensating States for revenue losses once GST is in place.

"In our view, a balancing act would be to stick to the 3 per cent of GDP target for the core fiscal deficit, and, if necessary, use extra headroom of strictly under 0.3 per cent of GDP for compensating States for (Read More)

GST Council meet today to try and bridge differences

Latest News - A fortnight ahead of the start of the Budget session of Parliament, the goods and services tax (GST) Council will on Monday try to find the resolution to issue of administrative turf between the Centre and states, as well as definition of coastal states.

Sources said shortage of time due to the coming elections in five states could come in the way of finding an early solution.

Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu hoped a solution to both issues might be found out at the meeting. He will not attend the meeting but will send an officer to represent the state as he is going to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Uttarakhand’s Indira Hridayesh told Business Standard some solution to (Read More)

Budget 2017 wishlist: Five expectations from infrastructure sector

Latest News - The Union Budget 2017 is expected to give an impetus to infrastructure sector in order to boost industrial growth amid global slowdown and lower corporate spending at home. 

A Business Standard report said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley might announce a third straight year of record capital spending, which could be 12-14% higher than the 2016-17 Budget Estimates of Rs 2.47 lakh crore. That would put(Read More)