Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem gestures during a European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, July 12, 2016. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir Fighting tax avoidance should be a cornerstone of a push by EU authoritie... More »
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker chairs a meeting of the EU executive body in Brussels, Belgium, July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir An EU ruling that Apple Inc must pay a huge tax bill to Ireland was clearly based on facts and existing rul... More »
China will gradually eliminate customs duties for 201 information technology products covered by a $1.3 trillion World Trade Organization (WTO) deal under a bill passed on Saturday by its legislature, state news agency Xinhua reported. More »
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie poses for a photo with convention goers at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni New Jersey Governor Christie said on Friday the state would begin taxing income earne... More »
Switzerland’s banks shed just over 1,000 jobs last year with the pace of staff cuts accelerating in the first half of 2016, although the outlook for the rest of the year was “stable”, the country’s banking lobby said on Thursday. More »
Companies in China may save up to 150 billion yuan ($22.5 billion) a year if they are allowed to contribute less to employees’ social security and housing plans, a research institute at the top economic planning agency said on Monday. More »
An employee works in an automobile factory in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, July 8, 2016. China Daily/via REUTERS/File Photo China urgently needs to transform its economy by implementing supply-side and structural reforms, the vice head of China’s cabinet ... More »
By Douglas Busvine and Nidhi Verma | NEW DELHI NEW DELHI Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took aim at supporters of “terrorism” in his Independence Day speech on Monday, ratcheting up criticism of Pakistan while avoiding direct mention of month-long protest... More »
By Amanda Becker and Susan Heavey | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Hillary Clinton on Friday released her 2015 tax returns, which showed the Democratic presidential nominee and her husband had $10.75 million in income that year and paid an effective federal tax rate of... More »
CAIRO Egypt has reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund after nearly two weeks of talks to secure a $12 billion lending program and will make an announcement on Thursday, two government sources said. The sources said no deal had be... More »
JAKARTA Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday urged citizens to take part in the country’s new tax amnesty and pledged his government will “go all out” to keep the law behind it from potentially getting blocked in court. In line with low payment rates in ... More »
JERUSALEM Israel’s tax authority, looking to crack down on unreported capital, said on Monday it has received a list from French authorities of more than 8,000 Israeli customers that held bank accounts at the Swiss arm of HSBC. HSBC early last year acknowledge... More »
JAKARTA The Indonesian government will start the implementation of its tax amnesty program on Monday, more than two weeks after parliament passed the law in an effort to bring home funds stashed abroad, a tax official said. The country’s finance minister will ... More »
OTTAWA Canada’s tax authority is probing real estate deals in British Columbia for underpayment of taxes, amid a boom in sales, prices and property flipping, and said on Friday it is not specifically focusing on foreign investors. The Canada Revenue Agency sai... More »
WASHINGTON Puerto Rico, the U.S. commonwealth that recently declared a historic default, could be shut out of debt markets for two more years as it battles with fiscal challenges, the island’s governor said on Tuesday. Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla said em... More »
PARIS French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said on Friday he would welcome London banks to Paris after Britain’s vote to quit the European Union, using the “red carpet” metaphor in an apparent dig at British Prime Minister David Cameron. Cameron triggered a wa... More »
MUNICH, Germany Europe’s growing army of robot workers could be classed as “electronic persons” and their owners liable to paying social security for them if the European Union adopts a draft plan to address the realities of a new industrial revolution. Robots... More »
ATHENS Greece’s government trumpeted a debt relief deal with other euro zone countries on Wednesday as the beginning of the end of its bruising six-year financial crisis but Greeks remained skeptical and markets were cautious. After years of austerity demanded... More »
BRUSSELS The euro zone and International Monetary are struggling with Greece’s debt crisis – not with Athens this time, but with each other over when to give Greece a break on its future massive debt repayments. The euro zone has begun talks on debt relief for... More »
ATHENS Greece’s parliament will vote on a new package of tax hikes and reforms demanded by its international lenders on Sunday, two days before euro zone finance ministers assess whether Athens qualifies for much-needed bailout loans. The bill would increase v... More »
TOKYO Japan would intervene in foreign exchange markets if the yen firmed to between 90-95 per dollar, even if it upset the United States, a key economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday, asserting the right to curb currency volatility. Koi... More »
BEIJING Cigarette sales in China fell slightly over the past year after a hike in tobacco taxes, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, as the country works to suppress a habit with major healthcare costs. The world’s largest producer and consumer of c... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump backtracked on Monday on his remarks about raising taxes on wealthy Americans, saying the rich might simply get a smaller tax cut than he originally proposed. Trump walked away from his Sunday comment t... More »
BRUSSELS/ATHENS Euro zone finance ministers offered on Monday to grant Greece debt relief by giving it longer grace periods and bond maturities from 2018 if the country delivers by then on all reforms agreed under its latest bailout. The offer, to be worked ou... More »
JAKARTA A tax amnesty program planned by Indonesia’s government could potentially attract home 560 trillion rupiah ($42.38 billion) of assets stashed offshore, the central bank governor told a parliamentary commission on Monday. The amnesty program could also ... More »
BERLIN Germany’s federal states appealed to media outlets on Friday to let prosecutors examine the full detail of the Panama Papers that revealed how offshore firms are used to stash the wealth of the world’s rich and powerful. The scandal broke in early April... More »
BRUSSELS/ATHENS Euro zone finance ministers are ready to hold an extraordinary meeting next week if negotiations on the review of the Greek reform program are concluded, a senior EU official said on Wednesday, commenting that talks remained difficult. Discussi... More »
TOKYO Tokyo is sticking with plans to raise the sales tax next year, barring a financial crisis or a major natural disaster, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday, without saying whether two deadly quakes in southern Japan qualified as such as disaster. The... More »
JAGODINA, Serbia Ultra-nationalists are set to return to Serbia’s parliament in an April 24 election after an absence of several years, boosted by growing discontent with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic’s pro-European Union stance and austerity policies. They ... More »
NEW DELHI India’s finance ministry is asking for regular progress reports from tax collectors and has set a date for an amnesty to pay off arrears on undeclared domestic assets, as the government intensifies efforts to meet its ambitious deficit target. A seri... More »
NEW YORK Out of sight, out of mind? Not for Americans at tax time. Unlike most other countries, Uncle Sam requires its estimated 7 million expatriates, whether citizens or resident aliens, to file an income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service. Those l... More »
BERN/GENEVA Banking watchdogs across Europe have begun checking whether lenders have ties to a massive document leak from Panama that showed how offshore companies are used to stash clients’ wealth. Switzerland’s financial watchdog FINMA said on Thursday that ... More »
LONDON Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority has asked 20 banks and other financial firms to check if they have any ties to Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, the regulator said on Thursday. A massive leak of documents from the firm released this week detailed h... More »
ST PETERSBURG, Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin said a friend of his named in the “Panama Papers” leaks had done nothing wrong and spent the money he earned from business on buying expensive musical instruments which he was donating to public institutio... More »
ZURICH/REYKJAVIK, Swiss police raided the European soccer body UEFA on Wednesday to seize information about a contract disclosed in the Panama Papers that was signed by Gianni Infantino, now head of the global soccer body FIFA. The impact of the leaked documen... More »
SYDNEY/PANAMA CITY Tax authorities in Australia and New Zealand are probing local clients of a Panama-based law firm at the center of a massive data leak for possible tax evasion. The leak involves more than 11.5 million documents from the files of law firm Mo... More »
PANAMA CITY The head of a Panama-based law firm at the center of a massive leak of offshore financial data on Sunday denied any wrongdoing, and said his firm has fallen victim to “an international campaign against privacy”. German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung... More »
TOKYO Making preparations with other governments for a Group of Seven summit next month, Japan has sought to emphasize the role of fiscal spending in countering deepening uncertainty over the global outlook, the Sankei newspaper reported on Monday. Monetary po... More »
TOKYO In late 2014, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe caught markets and voters off-guard when he postponed an unpopular sales tax hike and called a snap election. Less than two years later, the only surprise will be if he doesn’t repeat the play. With consum... More »
Presidential candidate Ted Cruz says he is the most consistent conservative left in the Republican race. The senator from Texas promises to cut taxes, slash regulations, crack down on illegal immigration and stick up for gun owners if he wins the White House. ... More »
NEW YORK A consultant to Iran’s mission to the United Nations has been criminally charged with violating a U.S. law against dealing with that country, according to an indictment made public on Wednesday. Ahmad Sheikhzadeh, 60, faces seven charges including con... More »
BEIJING China’s wider fiscal deficit budgeted for 2016 will be mainly used to finance tax cuts, a senior official of China’s cabinet research unit said on Wednesday. The comments from Huang Shouhong, deputy director of the State Council Research Office, came f... More »
JAKARTA Global Internet-based firms could have their services blocked in Indonesia if they do not obtain “permanent establishment” status in the country and pay Indonesian tax, government officials said on Monday. Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told rep... More »
MOSCOW President Vladimir Putin has called for a meeting with top managers of Russia’s leading oil producers on Tuesday, which is is expected to be dominated by low oil prices and taxation, industry sources said on Monday. The Vedomosti business daily cited a ... More »
NEW DELHI The government unveiled a budget for the poor on Monday, announcing new rural aid schemes and skimping on a bank bailout, in a strategy shift that seeks to boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party in coming state elections. Finance Minister ... More »
TOKYO Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he has no plans now to freeze or postpone a sales tax hike to 10 percent from 8 percent scheduled in April next year. Speaking in parliament, Abe also confirmed his previous remarks that it would not make... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz released tax returns for several years on Saturday in an effort to pressure billionaire front-runner Donald Trump to follow suit. Rubio, whose financial decisions earlier in his life have c... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz released four years of his and wife Heidi’s tax returns on Saturday, ranging from 2011-2014, showing $389,124 taxes paid on $1.2 million in 2014. Cruz’s filings follow a similar release of returns on Saturd... More »
WASHINGTON Two leading House Democrats introduced legislation on Tuesday intended to curb corporate tax inversion deals by preventing companies from lowering the effective tax rates of U.S. business operations after moving their headquarters overseas. A bill, ... More »
LONDON Britain’s opposition Labour party demanded on Sunday that the finance ministry explain how it arrived at a back tax payment by Internet giant Google that has put the government on the back foot. The settlement of 130 million pounds ($185 million) for th... More »
Nashua, NEW HAMPSHIRE U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that she would consider making investment income taxable through Social Security deductions in a bid to keep the government program afloat, the Wall Street Journal rep... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. President Barack Obama will propose in his upcoming budget measures to help more than 30 million Americans save for retirement, such as automatically enrolling workers in Individual Retirement Accounts and making it easier for workers to keep s... More »
CHARLESTON, S.C. Democratic White House candidate Bernie Sanders went on the offensive against front-runner Hillary Clinton on Sunday in the most contentious of their four presidential debates, accusing her of cozying up to Wall Street and misrepresenting his ... More »
CHARLESTON, S.C. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders released details on Sunday evening about his “Medicare-for-all” universal healthcare funding plan and how he would pay for it. The plan was released hours before Sanders was to square off i... More »
NEW YORK Viacom Inc (VIAB.O) was sued by a former vice president who said the media company fired her in retaliation for opposing its alleged plan to illegally avoid paying U.S. taxes on the international licensing rights for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In a... More »
WASHINGTON Locked in budget talks in the twilight of his Senate career, Harry Reid saw an unexpected opening to bargain for his legislative wish list. It had become apparent to Senate Democratic Majority Leader Reid that lifting the longstanding ban on U.S. oi... More »
General Electric Co (GE.N) expects to announce a decision next month about whether it will move its headquarters out of Connecticut, a spokesman said on Sunday. GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt had previously said the U.S. conglomerate planned to decide the futu... More »
MANCHESTER, N.H. U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton backed elements of President Barack Obama’s strategy to fight Islamic State militants in a debate on Saturday, drawing criticism from all sides for saying “we now finally are where we n... More »
SAN FRANCISCO/BENGALURU Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook dismissed as “total political crap” the notion that the tech giant was avoiding taxes. Cook’s remarks, made on CBS’ 60 Minutes show, come amid a debate in the United States over corporations avoiding t... More »
SYDNEY Australian tax authorities on Thursday took the unprecedented step of publishing the records of hundreds of companies, including Google Inc (GOOGL.O) and Apple Inc APPL.O, which show they paid little or no tax on their in-country earnings. Of more than ... More »
OMAHA, Neb. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Wednesday proposed expanding the “Buffett rule” to raise effective tax rates on the wealthy. Appearing in Omaha, Neb. alongside Warren Buffett for who the rule is named, Clinton said it will b... More »
CARACAS Venezuela’s opposition trounced the ruling Socialists on Sunday to win the legislature for the first time in 16 years and gain a long-sought platform to challenge President Nicolas Maduro’s rule of the OPEC nation. The opposition Democratic Unity coali... More »
SYDNEY Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Monday unveiled a A$1.1 billion ($806 million) package to boost innovation in Australia, using his first major economic policy statement since becoming leader to map out a pathway beyond the country’s fading resources ... More »
BOSTON U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton plans to make job creation the focus of her campaign over the next month, beginning with a $275 billion infrastructure spending plan that will be released this week. Clinton’s plan to increase the f... More »
TOKYO Japan’s government plans to raise the minimum wage and introduce other steps to revitalise the economy, but the draft of stimulus measures seen by Reuters on Monday appeared to break no new ground on reforms that analysts say are needed to end decades of... More »
CLINTON, Iowa U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday proposed a tax credit offsetting up to $6,000 in costs associated with caring for elderly and disabled family members, and allowing caregivers to accrue Social Security retirement b... More »
NEW DELHIIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet leaders of his party on Monday to discuss whether to overhaul policies and priorities in the wake of a humiliating defeat in elections in the eastern state of Bihar. Modi was due to huddle with a dozen sen... More »
LONDONBritish finance minister George Osborne will spell out on Monday the first set of spending cuts to be imposed on government departments as part of an overall 37 billion-pound ($56 billion) austerity plan to turn Britain’s deficit into a surplus by 2020. ... More »
ATHENSGreece’s parliament approved early Friday a bill with reforms prescribed by the country’s international lenders, ahead of a euro zone finance ministers meeting in three days which will decide if Athens qualifies for fresh bailout funds. Greece needs to l... More »
WASHINGTON House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan on Sunday ruled out working with President Barack Obama on overhauling U.S. immigration policy, saying it would be “a ridiculous notion” to pursue legislation because Obama cannot be trusted on the issue. R... More »
TOKYO The Bank of Japan need not boost its massive monetary stimulus this week as the labor market remains tight, a key economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday. Koichi Hamada, an emeritus professor of economics at Yale University, also tol... More »
WARSAW Poland’s eurosceptic Law and Justice party (PiS) claimed victory on Sunday in a watershed election that risks putting the ex-communist state on a collision course with key European Union allies. Run by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of Poland’s la... More »
WARSAW Poland’s Law and Justice party (PiS) would consider a partnership with rock star Pawel Kukiz and his anti-establishment grouping if they fall short of a clear majority in the final results of Sunday’s election, the party’s likely candidate for defense m... More »
IOWA CITY, Iowa Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said on Sunday he plans to give a major speech soon to explain his belief in democratic socialism, acknowledging the political label could be a stumbling block to winning over American voters. Th... More »
LIMA, Peru A senior International Monetary Fund official has urged Japan to go ahead with a sales tax hike scheduled for April 2017 to maintain its long-term fiscal credibility. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, the IMF’s deputy managing director, warned on Sunday that flex... More »
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton on Thursday called for the breakup of large banks that take excessive risks as part of a sweeping plan to curb what she says are Wall Street abuses. Under the proposal, large financial fi... More »
ATHENS Greece will unveil a painful 2016 draft budget on Monday meant to satisfy international creditors, projecting the economy will stay in recession next year before returning to growth in 2017, in line with the estimates by the country’s lenders. After sev... More »
WASHINGTON Jason Chaffetz, a rising star among congressional Republicans, on Sunday declared a bid to become speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, complicating further an internal party struggle to replace John Boehner when he steps down. In a challeng... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said in an interview that aired on Sunday on the eve of the unveiling of his tax plan that a “large segment” of U.S. taxpayers would have a zero rate if he wins the White House. Trump’s campaign has ... More »
WASHINGTON Blasting hard-line conservatives as “false prophets,” U.S. House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday said Congress will avoid a government shutdown this week and he will push through as much unfinished legislation as possible before leaving at the end of... More »
BOSTON Vanguard Group Inc could be forced to raise its fees to cover new tax payments, possibly undercutting a low-cost advantage that has made the company the dominate player in the U.S. mutual fund industry, a tax expert for a plaintiff in a lawsuit said on ... More »
PARIS French Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin has ruled out allowing prime time advertising on public TV broadcasters, saying an increase in their funding should come from a slight increase in the TV tax. Last Tuesday Finance Minister Michel Sapin had raised th... More »
CERNOBBIO, Italy A common euro zone budget should initially be funded through joint debt issuance and taxpayers’ money should only be used at a later stage, French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday. France wants the euro zone to have its own jo... More »
SAN JUAN Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio told residents of Puerto Rico on Friday the island needed new political leadership as it grapples with its fiscal crisis, but protection under bankruptcy laws would not solve the U.S. territory’s problems.... More »
BEIJING Government spending in China jumped by nearly a quarter in July to a three-month high as authorities accelerated spending on state projects and hiked wages of civil servants as planned, data showed on Wednesday. Beijing hopes faster government spending... More »
ATHENS Greece and its international lenders reached a multi-billion euro bailout deal on Tuesday to keep the nation in the euro zone and prevent financial meltdown, officials said. Here are some of the details of what Greece is required to do for up to 85 bill... More »
WASHINGTON, August 3 Women’s health group Planned Parenthood, under attack by anti-abortionists posting hidden-camera videos online, will be the focus of a partisan showdown on Monday in the U.S. Senate, with any wider influence on voters from the charge still... More »
WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidates will test their messages in New Hampshire on Monday, with the exception of Donald Trump, in a pivotal week on the 2016 campaign trail that will be dominated by their first head-to-head debate on Thursday. Fourteen ... More »
ATHENS Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, struggling to contain a revolt in his left-wing Syriza party, said on Wednesday that his government would not implement reform measures beyond those agreed with lenders at a euro zone summit this month. Tsipras faces... More »
BERLIN The German government’s panel of independent economic advisers favors creating an insolvency mechanism for euro zone states and says countries should be able to leave the single currency as a last resort. The Greek crisis has called into question the fu... More »
LONDON Britain’s government is asking some departments to prepare to cut day-to-day spending by as much as 40 percent by the 2019/20 tax year, in a major spending review launched by Conservative finance minister George Osborne on Tuesday. The finance ministry ... More »
NEW YORK U.S. presidential contender Hillary Clinton’s proposed plan to overhaul capital gains taxes aims to foster long-term growth by taxing some short-term investments at higher rates, an aide for her campaign said on Monday. Although details of the plan ha... More »
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush vowed on Monday to cut government spending and more tightly limit lawmakers’ connections with lobbyists if he reaches the White House, part of an attempt to separate himself from a large pack of R... More »
PARIS French President Francois Hollande called on Sunday for the creation of a euro zone government and for citizens to renew their faith in the European project, which has been weakened by the Greek crisis. Reviving an idea originally put forward by former E... More »
NEW YORK Presidential contender Hillary Clinton will pledge to “reform” capital gains taxation in coming weeks as part of her plan to fight an excessive focus on quick profits in capital markets, according to a campaign talking points document seen by Reuters.... More »
BRUSSELS Euro zone leaders at a summit in Brussels were reviewing a draft proposal from their finance ministers that sets out conditions for Greece to open negotiations on a bailout. The following is a summary of the paper, seen by Reuters. * Greece to pass by... More »
BRUSSELS Euro zone leaders at a summit in Brussels were reviewing a draft proposal from their finance ministers on Sunday that sets out conditions for Greece to open negotiations on a bailout. Following is the draft of the paper, seen by Reuters. Square bracke... More »
LONDON Governments around the world should increase taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products to save lives and generate funds for stronger health services, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. In a report entitled “The Global Tobacco Epid... More »
LOS ANGELES The “happiest place on Earth” will keep a special tax exemption in Anaheim, California, for 30 more years if the City Council approves the Walt Disney Co’s plan for a $1 billion-plus expansion of its theme park complex in the city. The five-member ... More »
