Cristiano Ronaldo arrives with his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez to appear in court on a trial for tax fraud in Madrid, Spain on Jan 22, 2019. (Photo source: Reuters/Susana Vera) Sporting sunglasses and a smile, accompanied by his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez, Ronaldo arrived at the court in northeastern Madrid for a brief hearing. He was handed a two-year jail sentence immediately reduced to a fine of €365,000 and another penalty of €3.2 million, according to the sentence. Accused of having avoided paying €5.7 million in taxes due on his image rights between 2011 and 2014, Ronaldo has already paid the taxman €6.7 million for what he owed plus interest, the sentence read. That - plus the court fine - comes to more than €10 million. In June, the player's lawyers and Spain's taxman came to an agreement that Ronaldo would pay a grand total of €18.8 million. That amount was not mentioned in the sentence but a source at the court, who refused to be … [Read more...] about Ronaldo avoids jail but hit by hefty fine for tax fraud in Spain
Penalties for tax evasion
Deputy PM calls for crackdown on Chinese digital wallet payments
By Anh Minh  September 5, 2018 | 03:35 pm GMT+7 A green sign on the door of a store in Nha Trang indicates that WeChat Pay, a Chinese digital wallet service, is available as a payment method. Photo by VnExpress/An Phuoc The Vietnamese government wants to stop tourists from using Chinese electronic wallets, saying it results in tax evasion. Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has ordered ministries and other agencies to crack down on the use of WeChat Pay, AliPay and illegal points of sale devices at travel hotspots frequented by Chinese tourists. He has also ordered the State Bank of Vietnam and the Ministry of Finance to consider international financial regulations and come up with solutions to prevent the use of foreign electronic wallets. He also instructed them to put in place a legal framework to tax such payments. According to some tour guides in tourist areas, many Vietnamese shop owners have bank accounts in China and payments made by Chinese visitors … [Read more...] about Deputy PM calls for crackdown on Chinese digital wallet payments
Tax implications on Vietnam’s bond market
Tax implications on Vietnam’s bond market Currently, there are four types of bonds issued and traded on the Vietnamese bond market, including: Government bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance to raise funds for the state budget or specific investment projects and programmes within the scope of the state’s investment; Government guaranteed bonds issued by enterprises, financial and credit institutions, and social policy banks prescribed by the Law on Public Debt Management; Municipal bonds issued by the people's committees of cities and provinces to raise funds for the local projects; and Corporate bonds issued by businesses in all economic sectors. Generally, a bond is an instrument of indebtedness of the bond issuer to the holder in which the issuer owes the holders a debt and has an obligation to pay the holder interest depending on the terms of the bond. During the tenor of the bond, the holder may transfer its ownership of the bond to another investor, or the … [Read more...] about Tax implications on Vietnam’s bond market
Uber and Saigon tax man still at odds
The tax department of Ho Chi Minh City and ride-hailing firm failed to find common ground at a meeting organized by the local court to sort out a tax dispute. The department continued to insist that Uber has to pay its back taxes and the firm insisted that it was not subject to them in the first place. Ho Chi Minh City has been trying to make Uber B.V. pay taxes since last year, saying that the Netherlands-based company had operated in the city as a transport firm. Uber B.V. did not just provide technology services, but directly managed and carried out all transportation business activities, from assigning drivers to setting prices and running promotions, and it paid drivers, which it described as partners, once a week. The company should be subjected to taxes like any other transport company, a tax department representative told the reconciliation at the court on Friday. In September last year, the department ordered Uber B.V. to pay VND66.7 billion ($2.91 million) in back taxes and … [Read more...] about Uber and Saigon tax man still at odds
Grab says it will not pay any back taxes owed by Uber in Vietnam
Used Grab and Uber helmets are seen at a used-helmet shop in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 2, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Beawiharta Ride-hailing firm Grab Vietnam on Thursday said it would not be paying any back taxes rival Uber might still owe in Vietnam despite its deal to acquire the latter's operations in Southeast Asia. "This matter is Uber's responsibility. Grab did not buy Uber's legal status in Vietnam, which is the unit bearing all legal responsibilities for settling tax-related issues with the tax department," a Grab representative told VnExpress, adding that all questions related to the issue should instead be sent to Uber. An official from Ho Chi Minh City's tax department said that the department is still waiting for Grab to submit an official report on the acquisition deal before deciding on how to handle the issue. Commenting on Grab's announcement, lawyer Doan Van Hau, chairman of the Vietnam Lawyers' Commercial Arbitration Center, said Grab's refusal is in violation of … [Read more...] about Grab says it will not pay any back taxes owed by Uber in Vietnam