Tax Evasion

Google pays France over $1 billion to settle tax case

French investigators have since 2015 been investigating whether Google failed to pay its dues to the state by avoiding to declare parts of its activities in the country.

Big firms pile up ‘phantom’ investments to skirt tax

Trillions of dollars in international investments by large corporations is nothing more than accounting gimmickry.

Europol says Russian money is biggest laundering threat

A European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation high official said that Baltic banks are threatened by money laundering coming from Russia.

Chinese star Fan Bingbing re-emerges after tax scandal

The popular actor disappeared from public view for months after Beijing authorities charged her a whopping $129 million in fines and overdue taxes for concealing past dues.

EU adds 10 countries to tax blacklist, including UAE

The European Union expanded its tax haven blacklist by 10 countries, adding the United Arab Emirates and Bermuda despite the objections of powerful member states.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2020 threatened by EU’s blacklist

The European Union has proposed a bill to blacklist the kingdom for a lack of effective regulations to battle money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

EU adds Saudi Arabia to draft list of terrorism financers

The move comes amid heightened international pressure on Saudi Arabia after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate on October 2.

Spanish prosecutors file tax evasion charges against Shakira

Spanish prosecutors filed charges against Colombian singer Shakira, accusing her of failing to pay 14.5 million euros in tax ($16.3 million).

Chinese actress Fan Bingbing released from detention, fined $130 million

China's highest-earning actress Fan Bingbing, 37, ordered to pay the fine for evading taxes, reports say. She disappeared from the public eye in June after allegations that she had evaded taxes on a lucrative movie shoot.

Pakistan placed on global terror financing watchlist: foreign office

Meanwhile, Islamabad has removed Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, head of the sectarian Ahl e Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) group, from its terror watchlist.

EU blacklists 17 non-European nations for tax avoidance

Enforcement remains the biggest challenge, with EU countries split over whether blacklisted countries should be subject to financial sanctions or if featuring on the list itself is shame enough.

Real Madrid's Marcelo admits tax fraud

The Brazilian international Marcelo admits to tax fraud, after being accused using front companies to hide $579,348 he earned from image rights in the 2013 financial year, a sum which he will now pay back.