Hunter Biden indicted on nine new federal tax evasion charges in California, which carries a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison. It follows previous charges of tax evasion and unlawfully owning a gun filed in July. United States President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, has been indicted on nine new tax charges by a special counsel investigating his business dealings. The new charges in California follow not guilty pleas he made in July to two separate tax evasion charges and gun possession charges. The White House declined to comment on the new indictment.  What is Hunter Biden accused of? Hunter Biden is accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million (€1.29 million) in taxes he owed between 2016 and 2019. If convicted, the younger Biden could face up to 17 years in prison. The special counsel probe remains open, the Justice Department said. Special counsel David Weiss said in a statement: "Hunter Biden spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills." The indictment said that Hunter Biden "spent more than $1.8 million, including approximately $772,000 in cash withdrawals, approximately $383,000 in payments to women, approximately $151,000 in clothing and accessories" among other expenditures. "The Defendant did not use any of these funds to pay his taxes in 2018." In response to the new charges, defense attorney Abbe Lowell accused Weiss of "bowing to Republican pressure" in the case. "Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter's last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought," Lowell said in a statement. Could this affect Joe Biden? With less than a year until the next US presidential election, the new indictment comes as Joe Biden continues to face a possible impeachment inquiry from congressional Republicans. It is claimed that the US president engaged in an influence-peddling scheme with his son. The House is expected to vote next week on formally authorizing the inquiry. No evidence has emerged so far to prove that Joe Biden, in his current or previous office, abused his role or accepted bribes.  What are the previous charges Hunter Biden is facing? The 53-year-old entered a not guilty plea in July to two charges of not paying tax on more than $1.35 million (€1.22 million) in income in 2018 and 2018, with prosecutors saying that he owed more than $100,000. This is in addition to the charge of unlawfully owning a firearm while addicted to and using a controlled substance. This is classified as a felony under US law, which Biden pled not guilty to in October. Those charges came after a pretrial diversion agreement for just the tax evasion charges with federal prosecutors in Delaware fell apart. It was an alternative to prosecution that allows defendants to avoid conviction and prison time and prosecutors had planned to recommend two years of probation. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. However, US District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika said she was concerned about the language in the plea deal and recommended lawyers discuss it. 

Hunter Biden indicted on nine new federal tax evasion charges in California, which carries a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison. It follows previous charges of tax evasion and unlawfully owning a gun filed in July. United States President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, has been indicted on nine new tax charges by a special counsel investigating his business dealings. The new charges in California follow not guilty pleas he made in July to two separate tax evasion charges and gun possession charges. The White House declined to comment on the new indictment.  What is Hunter Biden accused of? Hunter Biden is accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million (€1.29 million) in taxes he owed between 2016 and 2019. If convicted, the younger Biden could face up to 17 years in prison. The special counsel probe remains open, the Justice Department said. Special counsel David Weiss said in a statement: "Hunter Biden spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills." The indictment said that Hunter Biden "spent more than $1.8 million, including approximately $772,000 in cash withdrawals, approximately $383,000 in payments to women, approximately $151,000 in clothing and accessories" among other expenditures. "The Defendant did not use any of these funds to pay his taxes in 2018." In response to the new charges, defense attorney Abbe Lowell accused Weiss of "bowing to Republican pressure" in the case. "Based on the facts and the law, if Hunter's last name was anything other than Biden, the charges in Delaware, and now California, would not have been brought," Lowell said in a statement. Could this affect Joe Biden? With less than a year until the next US presidential election, the new indictment comes as Joe Biden continues to face a possible impeachment inquiry from congressional Republicans. It is claimed that the US president engaged in an influence-peddling scheme with his son. The House is expected to vote next week on formally authorizing the inquiry. No evidence has emerged so far to prove that Joe Biden, in his current or previous office, abused his role or accepted bribes.  What are the previous charges Hunter Biden is facing? The 53-year-old entered a not guilty plea in July to two charges of not paying tax on more than $1.35 million (€1.22 million) in income in 2018 and 2018, with prosecutors saying that he owed more than $100,000. This is in addition to the charge of unlawfully owning a firearm while addicted to and using a controlled substance. This is classified as a felony under US law, which Biden pled not guilty to in October. Those charges came after a pretrial diversion agreement for just the tax evasion charges with federal prosecutors in Delaware fell apart. It was an alternative to prosecution that allows defendants to avoid conviction and prison time and prosecutors had planned to recommend two years of probation. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. However, US District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika said she was concerned about the language in the plea deal and recommended lawyers discuss it. 

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has extended the deadline for filing individual income tax to 31 January, 2024, instead of the previously set deadline of 30 November. The National Board of Revenue officially announced the extension on Wednesday (29 November). According to an order which was signed by Md Mohidul Islam Chowdhury, second secretary tax law at the NBR - the tax day would be observed on 31 January, 2024, for individual taxpayers instead of November 30, 2023. As many of taxpayers was unable to take preparations to file tax returns in line with the Income Tax Act-2023, for this reason the tax administration considered the extension after trade bodies demanded more time including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).  It is told by the FBCCI that it might not be possible for many taxpayers to submit returns by November 30 deadline because of the on going political situation and upcoming elections. A senior official of the NBR said the tax authority considered an extension so taxpayers could file returns in compliance with the new law. This year no tax fair was held, rather the NBR organised a nationwide special support service to help taxpayers submit their income tax returns. at the tax zone office premises  Bangladesh has nearly 94 lakh registered taxpayers. However, NBR data showed that almost 36 lakh taxpayers filed their income and expenditure statement in the year 2022-23.

The World Bank has called for an increase in tax collection from the major and vital sectors in Pakistan claiming that the tax collection is insufficient to meet its financial necessities, ARY News reported on Wednesday. ARY news reported citing the report, that the tax-to-GDP ratio of progressive countries should be at least 15 percent but Pakistan has only 11.6 percent. The World Bank has termed the tax collection in Pakistan, the lowest in the region and suggested that the tax collection is not improving in Pakistan. It also suggested that the country should increase tax collection from major sectors and eliminate income tax, sale tax, and customs duties exemptions. The World Bank has also proposed linking property tax rates to market values by connecting the land ownership record with national identity cards and national tax numbers.  Along with the recommendation to eliminate exemptions on income tax, sales tax, and customs duties, the World Bank has suggested a standard GST (General Sales Tax) rate of 18% on various goods. The report has proposed bringing individuals earning less than 600,000 rupees annually into the tax net. It also recommends imposing additional taxes on agriculture, property, real estate, retail, and the cigarette sector while reducing taxes on luxury items. According to the World Bank, Pakistan is incurring significant losses in revenue due to tax concessions. As Pakistan grapples with a severe economic crisis and soaring inflation, this financial safety net of the people of Pakistan appears eroding, Dawn reported. These savings, whether in cash or assets like gold, were traditionally reserved for significant expenses such as weddings, unexpected illnesses, or business losses but families are finding themselves compelled to dip into their savings to cover daily necessities, including electricity bills, school fees, rent, and other essential expenses, Dawn reported. Although the IMF approved a USD 3 billion bailout to support Pakistan in avoiding a default on its debt repayments, Islamabad is finding it difficult to implement all the conditions imposed by the lender.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today dismissed a leave to appeal petition by Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus against a High Court (HC) order eventually obligating him to pay Taka 12 crore tax. A four-member bench of the apex court chaired by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique rejected Yunus’s petition after hearing, upholding the HC order. (BSS Reported) “The latest Appellate Division verdict has upheld the High Court order that legitimatized the NBR (National Board of Revenue) tax imposed on the money donated by Dr Yunus to his three charitable trusts”, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin told journalists. Three other members of the bench are - Justice M Enayetur Rahim, Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim. Earlier, the HC in a verdict asked Yunus to pay around Tk 12 crore as tax on the money he donated to his trusts namely Dr Yunus Trust, Yunus Family Trust and Yunus Center Trust. The attorney general said NBR imposed around Tk 15 crore tax on the donated money in different years and Prof Yunus has already deposited over Tk 3 crore to the office concerned before challenging the decisions. On May 31, the HC delivered the verdict saying that the decision of imposing tax on the money gifted by Yunus to his three charitable trusts is "legal". On June 20, a leave-to-appeal was filed against the HC order. On July 9, the chamber court set July 17 for hearing in the Appellate Division. On July 17, the Appellate Division adjourned till July 23 the hearing on the appeal against the High Court verdict.

In February this year Income Tax authorites had conducted searches at the offices of the British broadcaster in New Delhi and Mumbai British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Wednesday said that the issue of searches on BBC offices in India was raised with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during a bilateral meeting today. Cleverly is currently in India to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting brought up the issue of the BBC tax searches during his meeting with Jaishankar, sources told ANI. “He was firmly told that all entities operating in India must comply fully with relevant laws and regulations,” according to sources. In February this year Income Tax authorites had conducted searches at the offices of the British broadcaster in New Delhi and Mumbai. Speaking to ANI in an exclusive interview, Cleverly said that BBC is an independent organisation and is separate from the UK Government. “I didn’t see the documentary but I’ve seen reactions in UK and India. BBC is an independent organisation and separate from government. I enjoy a strong personal relationship with Dr Jaishankar…relationship between UK-India growing stronger by the day,” said Cleverly when asked about the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BBC had in January this year released the documentary film titled ‘India: The Modi Question,” which features the Gujarat riots of 2002. The film caused controversy for alluding to the leadership of Modi as chief minister during the riots while disregarding the clean chit given by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile speaking on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the UK, Cleverly said, “We do a lot of business with India and are working extensively. I’ll be meeting India’s trade secretary. We want to make sure this trade agreement really benefits both the countries and unlocks billions of pounds of bilateral trade.” Cleverly added that the UK looks forward to bringing the trade agreement to conclusion in due course of time. Commending India’s G20 presidency Cleverly said it is quite exciting and the event holds has fantastic opportunities. “This is a great opportunity to talk about sustainable economic agenda and green agenda,” he said. The G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM) is scheduled to take place in physical format from March 1-2, 2023 in New Delhi under India’s presidency. Representatives of 40 countries, including non-G20 members have invited by India, and multilateral organisations will attend. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the foreign ministers of the member countries of G20 and he will talk about India’s growing influence globally. The foreign ministers are also likely to discuss ways to deal with falling economic growth, increasing inflation, lower demands for goods and services as well as increasing prices of food, fuel and fertilisers.

“Current Tobacco Tax — who benefits, loses or suffers” was the subject of an Exclusive Live program on the world’s largest Online Tobacco Control Platform “Stop Tobacco Bangladesh” on the evening of the 6th of April, 2022. The panelists for this program included Dr. Habibe Millat, MP, Sirajganj 2; Barrister Shameem Haider Patwary, MP, Gaibandha 1; Farida Akhtar, Managing Director, UBINIG and Sushanta K. Sinha, Special Correspondent, Ekattor TV. The Live program was moderated by Mr. Nasir Uddin Sheikh, Spokesperson, Stop Tobacco Bangladesh. Through the discussion, different facets of Tobacco Control, including how tobacco companies are reaping the benefits of the current tax structure, how the government is losing valuable national revenue, and how the general people are suffering due to the widespread tobacco-led diseases. The discussion also shed light on the shortcomings of the current tax structure as well as what should be the revamped structure, what reforms are necessary for the tobacco control law, the status of Tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040 as promised by the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the future plans towards reaching that goal — these were also discussed during the session. Answering a question by the Moderator, Dr. Habibe Millat said, “Increasing Tobacco Tax would lead tobacco users towards other addictions— this notion is completely baseless. This is biased publicity to keep tax and prices of tobacco within reach.” He added, “Tobacco is difficult to quit and that is why it is crucial to help tobacco users out of this horrible addiction. To achieve this, the world-renowned method is to impose a high specific tax, which will eventually help us achieve a tobacco-free Bangladesh.”Mr. Millat also mentioned taking several additional initiatives to unite his fellow MPs to ensure that the customary, yearly low tax increase is not the case during this budget. Barrister Shameem Haider Patwary, when asked about the Tobacco control Law amendment, said, “We have proposed several amendments to the government including 90% Graphic Health Warning on tobacco packs, banning e-cigarettes, stopping single stick selling of cigarettes, stop tobacco advertisements in point-of-sales, eradicating smoking in public places including removing of “Designated Smoking Areas”, etc. Provided these reforms are made and strict implementation of law is ensured, tobacco control will be very much possible. ”Prominent female leader Farida Akhtar mentioned “One in four women in the country consumes Tobacco— this is mainly due to smokeless tobacco. This often overlooked, yet deadly, smokeless tobacco needs to be strictly monitored, bring under the tax regime, and taxed heavily by imposing a high specific tax. Sushanta K. Sinha said, “Tobacco companies pay a measly 800 crore taka in tax, but falsely publicize it as 23000 crore. This extra amount comes through consumers. On the other hand, government monitoring of tobacco production by the companies could not yet be digitized, which leaves ample room for fraud. Just like the 4-tier price level of cigarettes, there are many gaps in the current tax system which the tobacco companies are exploiting, leading to a loss of revenue for the government. The live program was in view of the upcoming budget session. This anti-tobacco movement is being spearheaded by Vital Strategies, a not-for-profit developmental organization. Since 2017, Stop Tobacco Bangladesh has been creating awareness of the dangers of tobacco as well as working towards forming public opinion on the implementation of the tobacco control policy of the government, and in the process have become the largest online anti-tobacco platform in the world. More than 7 lakh people currently follow the page, with more than 40 thousand people attributing their quitting motive to the page and its informative contents. The people have become more resilient against tobacco and stated their strong demands to implement strict tobacco control policies. The platform is currently working towards achieving high specific tax on tobacco during this budget and working towards amendment and strict implementation of tobacco control law to achieve a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040 as promised by the Honorable Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. Source: Press release.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may propose a capital gains tax waiver in the Union Budget for overseas debt investors, a move that will set the stage for India's inclusion in the keenly tracked global bond indices of Bloomberg-Barclays and JP Morgan, three people familiar with the matter told ET. The waiver-and resultant inclusion of Indian debt instruments in global bond indices-should spawn significant capital flows into local debt securities, potentially driving down yields in Asia's third-biggest economy. Offshore investors are expected to start trading in select sovereign securities following their inclusion in global bond indices. That should draw as much as $250 billion of inflows over the next decade and reduce India's cost of borrowing by up to 50 basis points, a Morgan Stanley estimate showed. 'Tax to Hamper Liquidity' "If capital gains tax is applied on each bond transaction, it will hamper liquidity significantly, which goes against the global indices," said Sudip Chatterjee, head of global capital markets at international securities settlement platform Euroclear. "This means that we have to change our basic model and split the omnibus model into a segregated mode." An overseas investor is supposed to pay a short-term capital gains tax if a listed bond is sold within 12 months. The tax incidence is in the range of 30-40% depending on the nature of investor. Abolition of capital gain liabilities is perhaps the easiest path toward having Indian debt listed on Euroclear, Krishnamurthy Subramanian, former chief economic advisor to the finance ministry, had said last year in July. "If you want to be listed on Euroclear, then there is a decision that has to be made on the capital gains part," he had then said in an interaction with Bloomberg. "The cleanest solution is to remove capital gains tax." The finance ministry did not immediately respond to ET's query. Waiver on short-term capital gain liabilities will help remove the final hurdle for India's inclusion in the indices that global financial hubs track for parking surplus cash. Platforms such as Euroclear cannot calculate such a tax levy, which was billed as an impediment toward drawing overseas fund flows. Sovereign entities list their securities on global indices to help enhance liquidity - and hold down the cost of borrowing. "It is not feasible and defeats the key purpose (liquidity) on why countries include sovereign papers in global indices," Euroclear's Chatterjee said. Euroclear operates in 49 different countries. None of them have capital gains tax on bond transactions. Bonds foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) could purchase under the Fully Accessible Route (FAR) are now at about '16.98 lakh crore spread across 17 different tenors, show data from the Clearing Corporation of India. Maturities of those securities range from 2024 to 2051. "The government may consider a beneficial capital gain tax regime for secondary market sales to sweeten the deal for offshore investors," said Vishal Shah, partner - PWC India. "Equities are not comparable with debt as they have multiple investment options." Source: The Economics Times

The Taliban's capture of a key Afghan-Pakistan border post has sent trucking costs soaring, with insurgents and government officials separately taxing traders, and bandits demanding bribes to allow safe passage of goods. Thousands of vehicles cross daily from Chaman in southwestern Pakistan to Spin Boldak on the other side, carrying goods destined for Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-biggest city. On the way back they usually ferry agricultural produce bound for Pakistan's markets or ports. The bilateral trade worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year if not more ground to a halt earlier this month after the Taliban seized the dusty border town, but resumed this week with the insurgents seemingly firmly in charge. They have captured a vast swath of the country since early May after launching a series of offensives to capitalize on the final stages of the withdrawal of foreign troops. While they have not yet taken any provincial capitals, they have captured a string of key border posts -- with Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan -- which provide vital revenue from customs duties on goods arriving in the landlocked country. "We loaded grapes in Kandahar and on the way we have been extorted at least three times," trucker Hidayatullah Khan told AFP at Chaman. "Sometimes they charge 3,000 rupees ($20), somewhere else 2,000 rupees, and in some other place 1,000 rupees," he said. That was on top of the taxes he had to pay Taliban officials in Spin Boldak and Afghan government customs officials who have opened shop in Kandahar. Imran Kakar, vice president of the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce, gave one example of a truck carrying fabric from Karachi destined for Kandahar. The Taliban charged the driver 150,000 rupees (about $1,000) as duty in Spin Boldak, but when the vehicle reached Kandahar government officials were also waiting. "We had to pay even higher customs duties as they don't acknowledge the payments made to Taliban," said Kakar. The scenes were reminiscent of Afghanistan during its brutal civil war in the 1990s, when a patchwork of militias held stretches of key trade routes and extorted truckers and residents using the roads at will. Source: France24 BM

The timeframe for income tax return submission has been extended for one more month. The decision was taken in the board meeting of National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Monday.NBR Chairman Abu Hena Mohammad Rahmatul Munim confirmed the information on Monday afternoon. The NBR Chairman said, the timeframe for income tax return submission has been extended up to December 31 due to request from all including personal taxpayers, businessmen, income tax lawyers and public representatives following the Covid situation. Although yesterday the NBR Chairman announced at a press conference on the occasion of national income tax day-2020 that timeframe would not be extended. He noted that 13 lakh 20 thousand returns were submitted till November 26 and the amount of paid tax is 2 thousand 387 crore taka. He said, though our ability has increased but the segment of income tax has not increased at the expected level. At that time he said, there is no scope to extend the timeframe for submitting the income tax return. Those who did not submit have to submit it within Monday. Otherwise they have to pay the fines. The NBR Chairman said, those who would fail to submit income tax return in the stipulated time they can apply to the concerned tax office. In that case fine will be waived if they can show logical reason. If the commissioner observes that the reason is not logical then he has to pay the fine. Mentionable, at present 46 lakh citizens have the Tax Identification Number (TIN). But nearly half of them do not submit return regularly. AH