More Luxembourg Luxleaks reactions: accusations of hypocrisy, finger-pointing at the Netherlands

The headline of the Luxembourg Tageblatt over the weekend was “The Hypocrisy Behind Luxleaks”.

Luxembourg media report on “Broadside against the financial centre”

This morning both the Luxembourg Wort and the Tageblatt feature the “Luxembourg Leaks” story prominently on their homepages.

Italian police break up 1.7 billion euro tax fraud ring; proceeds laundered in Luxembourg

Via wort.lu

“(AFP) Italy’s financial police on Tuesday said they had broken up a ring of companies they believe used false accounting to defraud the state out of 1.7 billion euros of tax with cash deposited in Luxembourg.

Luxembourg Freeport opens; officials deny it is “no-man’s land”

Wort.lu reports on the opening of the Luxembourg Freeport on September 19th:

“Around 500 people including Grand Duke Henri gathered on Wednesday afternoon for the official opening of Luxembourg’s Freeport next to the Cargo Center at Findel airport.

Tax haven economic diversification watch: Luxembourg edition

Welcome to the first edition of tax haven economic diversification watch. This occasional series is based on the assumption that the less a tax haven depends on its financial sector economically, the greater the political chances are of transparency reforms succeeding.

Cayman registers almost 20% of FATCA Foreign Financial Institutions globally; more than the UK, Switzerland and Luxembourg combined

Guernsey – population 65 thousand – was recently reported to be eighth worldwide in number of Foreign Financial Institutions registered under the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). FATCA, which became law in March of 2010, requires foreign financial institutions (FFIs) with US clients to register with the IRS.

Which countries have registered the most Foreign Financial Institutions under FATCA so far?

Luxembourg news: Financial Transaction Tax bad, tax avoidance good

An article on Luxembourg’s wort.lu says that Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna has confirmed that the governing coalition “remains opposed to a Financial Transaction Tax in Europe, as long as such a tax does not become a global standard.”

Austerity is a political decision: Netherlands edition

Following reports in February that a crackdown on mansion tax avoidance in the UK had raised five times more than expected, comes this:

“The large number of Dutch “zwartspaarders” (people using foreign bank accounts to avoid taxes – literally “black savers”)  who have come forward to the authorities has meant an unexpected windfall of almost half a billion euros. Six thousand tax avoiders have reported three billion in illicit wealth since September, according to new numbers from the secretary of finance. The tax authorities expect revenues of a cool 450 million euros.”

Dolce and Gabbana sentenced for tax evasion: no media mention of support with Luxembourg shell company

Last week fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were sentenced to 18 months in jail in Italy for evading up to 200 million euros in tax, by using a holding company in Luxembourg called Gado.

The headline in Luxembourg’s wort.lu is “Dolce and Gabbana get 18 months in jail over Luxembourg shell company”.

Luxembourg news: “welcoming tax regime” and “lack of political baggage” promoted internationally

Two articles on wort.lu show Luxembourg looking for ways to market its financial services internationally.

The first refers to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP):