India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday named his trusted aide Amit Shah to the key home affairs ministry as part of a major cabinet shake-up for his second term in office.Nirmala Sitharaman moved from defence to become finance minister in a second shock, while career diplomat S. Jaishankar became foreign minister.Hardline Hindu nationalist Shah was the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who masterminded Modi’s second straight landslide victory in the country’s national…
Islamic State-linked militants kill Dutch wildlife photographer in Philippines
A Dutch wildlife photographer taken hostage by militants linked to Islamic State has been killed in the southern Philippines.Elwold Horn, 59, from Holland, was shot by his captors after a firefight broke out on Friday between government security forces and militants belonging to the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group on the island of Sulu.Six militants were killed, twelve wounded in the fighting when troops from the 32nd Infantry Battalion raided the militants’ hideout in the village of Pansul, Patikul…
HMRC wins ‘unallowable purpose’ case
A UK company had an ‘unallowable purpose’ in issuing a promissory note and therefore could not deduct the interest payable to a US group company, the First-tier Tribunal in the UK has decided in a case concerning a company in the Oxford Instruments group.
Off payroll working tax changes ‘should be delayed’
Changes due to apply in the UK from April 2020 which will make businesses liable for determining the tax status of contractors who work through personal service companies (PSCs) should be delayed, according to a tax expert.
Malaysia arrests three Islamic State terror suspects
Malaysia’s counterterrorism officers this month arrested three Islamic State terror suspects, including a Malaysian national who rejects the country’s government and believes Muslims who take part in democratic elections are infidels, police said on Thursday.The suspects – from Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh – were detained in a swoop operation conducted between May 17 and 30, said Police Inspector-General Abdul Hamid Bador.The Malaysian suspect, a 42-year-old contractor, was arrested at…
Malaysia’s Mahathir backs Huawei, snubbing US blacklist of Chinese telecoms giant
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday offered a forceful defence of embattled Chinese tech giant Huawei, suggesting Western nations bent on shutting it down were being hypocritical in their concerns over the company’s ties to Chinese cyber espionage.In back-to-back public appearances in Tokyo, the 93-year-old premier dismissed the prospect of his country joining the likes of the United States and its allies – including Japan – in banning government purchases of the Shenzhen…
Tribunal confirms surcharge on pension liberation scheme user
An unauthorised payment surcharge imposed on an individual who participated in a pension liberation scheme was confirmed by the tax tribunal as it said the individual had not acted reasonably in entering into the scheme.
US addition of Malaysia, Singapore to ‘monitoring list’ over currency practices met with ridicule
The United States’ move on Wednesday to include Southeast Asian economic powerhouses Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam on a list of countries it is scrutinising for unfair currency practices has been met with strong official pushback – as well as a healthy amount of ridicule from analysts.While nine countries – including China, and US treaty allies Japan, Germany and South Korea – were named on the latest list of countries requiring extra attention, none were identified as currency manipulators…
Renewable energy: risk of VAT fraud relating to Guarantees of Origin
UK tax authority HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is warning energy businesses of the risks of being caught up in VAT fraud relating to Guarantees of Origin (GOs).
Malaysia’s Mahathir faces backlash over race quota for contractors on China-backed East Coast Rail Link
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s assurance of preferential treatment for Malay and other indigenous businesspeople when awarding contracts for the multibillion-dollar China-backed East Coast Rail Link has been sharply criticised by political analysts and the opposition for deviating from his administration’s pledge to enhance multiracialism.His government said it would continue affirmative action for Bumiputra companies – a term referring to the Southeast Asian nation’s Malay and other…