#VAT Services Malta

[emdadvocates]

Understand the solution of Commercial Law and Tax Refund related issues

Malta is ranked well for the amount of taxes and social contributions paid by enterprises in comparison to other European nations. Multinational corporations are increasingly drawn to Malta as an investment destination because of its enhanced tax framework, particularly with regard to dealing with companies. The accession of the nation to the European Union was the catalyst for this evolution. Malta has also engaged in around 70 double tax agreements with other nations in an effort to further reduce taxation. Furthermore, there is some flexibility in the company tax code as well as in Commercial Law Malta, which in its final version is set at 5%.

The business tax rates in Malta are as follows:

In Malta, corporations pay 35 percent of their chargeable income in taxes. However, a tiny fraction of businesses fit into particular categories that have lower tax rates. International trading enterprises and multinational holding companies are examples of these kinds of businesses. International branches and subsidiaries of domestic enterprises do not pay taxes on income repatriated to their parent companies, even though domestic companies pay 35% in corporate taxes.

Who is eligible for the 5% discount?

Malta's 5% corporate tax rate is an alluring option for businesses trying to maximize their present tax liabilities. However, it is a fact that not every business is eligible for this rate right away. There are a few requirements you must fulfill in order to qualify for the 5% rate.

First and foremost, you need to ensure that your company is properly organized. You can ask for help from EMD Advocates for the very same. The formation of a holding company and a trading company is the following stage as a result. You may get payments from your customers and manage their funds if you adhere to these guidelines.

Malta offers company tax incentives

Companies headquartered in Malta may be eligible for a refund of six to seven percent of the corporate tax. If the corporation has a 35% tax rate, the shareholders may be able to claim 6/7 of the taxes. This would suggest that there is a 5% effective tax rate. There are some exceptions to this rule, thus it's not unbreakable.

If Maltese holding corporations make money by owning a business that is formed outside of Malta, they are eligible to receive their entire corporate tax paid returned under the participation exemption. Nonetheless, Maltese holding companies may choose to pay corporate tax on certain sources of revenue. After dividends are distributed, shareholders are entitled to Malta Company Tax Refund they paid.

Speak with an authority

Without a doubt, companies looking to lower their tax obligations will find Malta's 5% corporation tax rate to be an alluring alternative. Malta's government has established a favorable tax environment, making the nation a top option for businesses wishing to locate in Europe.

The EMD Advocates offer its Malta-based customers a comprehensive range of company tax services. These services include planning for interim and final dividends, assisting with the preparation of dividend warrants for tax refund purposes, advising on corporate tax planning and structuring prior to incorporation, assisting with actual refund applications under Malta's advantageous corporate tax system, and advising on cash flow planning within the context of corporate tax compliance. These services are provided to Maltese citizens. Give a Tax Malta Company sound advice on how to comply with its VAT requirements; this will assist guarantee that the company continues to pay its Maltese and foreign VAT obligations in full.

[tomorrowedblog]

Friday Releases for April 5

Friday is the busiest day of the week for new releases, so we've decided to collect them all in one place. Friday Releases for April 5 include The People’s Joker, Monkey Man, Sugar, and more.

The People’s Joker

The People’s Joker, the new movie from Vera Drew, is out today.

This revolutionary DIY parody film and hilarious reimagining of the classic autobiographical coming-of-age story follows an unconfident, closeted trans girl as she moves to Gotham City to make it big as a comedian by joining the cast of UCB Live - a government-sanctioned late night sketch show in a world where comedy has been outlawed. As mainstream success eludes our heroine, leading her to unite with a ragtag team of rejects, misfits, and a certain love interest named Mister J, “Joker the Harlequin” is born again as a confident (and psychotic) joker on a collision course with the city’s fascist caped crusader. Vats of feminizing chemicals, sexy cartoon interludes, scarecrow psychiatrists, CGI Lorne Michaels, and psychedelic gender dysphoria all play supporting roles.

Monkey Man

Monkey Man, the new movie from Dev Patel, is out today.

Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage, Monkey Man stars Dev Patel as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash. After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.

Chicken For Linda!

Chicken For Linda!, the new movie from Sébastien Laudenbach and Chiara Malta, is out today.

Paulette feels guilty after unjustly punishing her daughter Linda and would do anything to make it up to her. Linda immediately asks for a meal of chicken with peppers, which reminds her of the dish her father used to make. But with a general strike closing stores all across town and pushing people into the streets, this innocent request quickly leads to an outrageous series of events that spirals out of control, as Paulette does everything she can to keep her promise and find a chicken for Linda.

Parachute

Parachute, the new movie from Brittany Snow, is out today.

From Director Brittany Snow, Parachute tells the story of Riley (Courtney Eaton) and Ethan (Thomas Mann), who must navigate blossoming love and friendship while trying to overcome combustible personal struggles.

Scoop

Scoop, the new movie from Philip Martin, is out today.

Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatization gives an insider account of how the women of Newsnight secured Prince Andrew’s infamous interview.

The Beast

The Beast, the new movie from Bertrand Bonello, is out today.

The year is 2044: artificial intelligence controls all facets of a stoic society as humans routinely “erase” their feelings. Hoping to eliminate pain caused by their past-life romances, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay). Set first in Belle Époque-era Paris Louis is a British man who woos her away from a cold husband, then in early 21st Century Los Angeles, he is a disturbed American bent on delivering violent “retribution.” Will the process allow Gabrielle to fully connect with Louis in the present, or are the two doomed to repeat their previous fates?

The First Omen

The First Omen, the new movie from Arkasha Stevenson, is out today.

When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her own faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.

The Greatest Hits

The Greatest Hits, the new movie from Ned Benson, is out today.

Harriet (Lucy Boynton) experiences a unique connection between art and reality. She discovers that specific songs have the power to transport her back in time, driving her to relive various special moments with her ex-boyfriend (David Corenswet). Her time-traveling experiences begin to bleed into present day when meeting someone new (Justin H. Min). Throughout her journey, Harriet explores the mesmerizing link between music and memory, facing her with difficult decisions of whether altering the past is a choice worth making.

Baghead

Baghead, the new movie from Alberto Corredor, is out today.

Following the death of her estranged father (Peter Mullan), Iris (Freya Allan) learns she has inherited a run-down, centuries-old pub. She travels to Berlin to identify her father’s body and meet with The Solicitor (Ned Dennehy) to discuss the estate. Little does she know, when the deed is signed she will become inextricably tied to an unspeakable entity that resides in the pub’s basement – Baghead – a shape-shifting creature that can transform into the dead. Two thousand in cash for two minutes with the creature is all it takes for desperate loved ones to ease their grief. Neil (Jeremy Irvine), who has lost his wife, is Iris’ first customer. Like her father, Iris is tempted to exploit the creature’s powers and help desperate people for a price. But she soon discovers breaking the two-minute rule can have terrifying consequences. Together with her best friend Katie (Ruby Barker), Iris must battle to keep control of Baghead and figure out how to destroy her, before she destroys them.

The Old Oak

The Old Oak, the new movie from Ken Loach, is out today.

THE OLD OAK is a special place. Not only is it the last pub standing, but it’s also the only remaining public space where people can meet in a once thriving mining community that has now fallen on hard times after 30 years of decline. TJ Ballantyne (Dave Turner) the landlord hangs on to The Old Oak by his fingertips, and his predicament is endangered even more when the pub becomes contested territory after the arrival of Syrian refugees who are placed in the village without any notice. In an unlikely friendship TJ meets a curious young Syrian Yara (Ebla Mari) with her camera. Can they find a way for the two communities to understand each other? So unfolds a deeply moving drama about their fragilities and hopes.

Sugar

Sugar, the new TV series from Mark Protosevich, is out today.

“Sugar” is a contemporary, unique take on one of the most popular and significant genres in literary, motion picture and television history: the private detective story. Academy Award nominee Colin Farrell stars as John Sugar, an American private investigator on the heels of the mysterious disappearance of Olivia Siegel, the beloved granddaughter of legendary Hollywood producer Jonathan Siegel. As Sugar tries to determine what happened to Olivia, he will also unearth Siegel family secrets; some very recent, others long-buried.

Mary & George

Mary & George, the new TV series from D. C. Moore, is out today.

Mary & George is an audacious historical psychodrama starring Academy Award-winner Julianne Moore (Still Alice) and Nicholas Galitzine (Red, White & Royal Blue), about a treacherous mother and son who schemed, seduced and killed to conquer the Court of England and the bed of King James I.

Dinosaur

Dinosaur, the new TV series from Matilda Curtis and Ashley Storrie, is out today.

Created by Matilda Curtis and Ashley Storrie, Dinosaur follows Nina (Ashley Storrie), an autistic woman in her 30s, who adores living with her sister and best friend, Evie. They have a routine, and they understand each other like no one else could until Evie rushes into an engagement after only six weeks. Nina is forced to grapple with her sister’s impulsive decision whilst navigating love, sisterhood and her life as it’s turned upside down.

Parasyte: The Grey

Parasyte: The Grey, the new TV series from Yeon Sang-ho and Ryu Yong-jae, is out today.

When unidentified parasites violently take over human hosts and gain power, humanity must rise to combat the growing threat.

Virginia

Virginia, the new album from Pharrell Williams, is out today.

[outbooks-malta]

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[ltwilliammowett]

The Victualling Board

The supply of food and beverages to the Navy was the responsibility of the Victualling Board, which had originally been established in 1550. The Board consisted of seven members, who had their office in the Tower and who each oversaw a specific area. The chairman oversaw the chash books whilst the others controlled the Brewhouse Department, the Cutting House Department, the Cooperage Department, the Hoytaking (shipping) Department and the Stores Department.

The Royal William Victualling Yard, Plymouth, by William Williams (1808–1895)

As the Navy grew in size and demand for supplies increased exponentially, the Board began to set up dedicated victualling yards with own offices at the main Royal Dockyards and also at Dover. Smaller yards were established later at Chatham, Sheerness, Deal, Hull, Newcastle, Leith, Whitehaven, Falmouth and Cobh near Cork in Ireland. A major base was set up at Gibraltar and other facilities at Halifax, Bermuda, Malta, the Cape of Good Hope, Jamaica and Antigua. The yards had their own dedicated deepwater wharves where ships could come alongside to be completely victualled for sea from the warehouses and slaughterhouses on site. The goods loaded would be mainly the preserved foodstuffs, including ship’s biscuits, salt beef and pork, pease, oatmeal, butter, cheese and small beer which were largely supplied in wooden casks which were themselves manufactured by the Board, which was by far the largest purchaser of foodstuffs and beverages in Britain.

The Victualling Office, Plymouth c. 1835, by  Nicholas Condy (1793 - 1857) (x) 

In 1793 Deptford Wharf could accommodate four ships alongside its wharf at one time and could deal with 260 oxen per day in the slaugtherhouse and 650 pigs in the hog-hanging house. It had 12 ovens to bake the biscuits and spirit vats holding 254,581 litres. By 1810 the one victualling yard alone covered 20 acres. The slaugtherhouses only operated in the cooler months of the year (October- April). In an effort to ensure the quality of food supplied, the Victualling Board set up manufacturing processes at each yard and they became major food manufacturers as well.

Victualling Yard gates at Deptford, 1841 (x)

The quality of the food produced might be indicated by the fact that less than 1% of the food supplied was condemned for going off, despite long term stowage. Use was made of all by products possible, using hides to make leather, tallow to make soap and candles and the shins and bones to make portable soup. Deptford specialised in the production of other foodstuffs on a smaller scale , such as mustard, pepper, oatmeal and chocolate. There were also sperate storehouses for rum, coffee, sugar, tea, rice, raisins, wine and tobacco, all of which were purchased in London and stored in Deptford prior to being distributed for use in the other depots as required. Fresh water supplies had also to be secured to fill the ships barrels.

With the huge quantities of food required to be prepared, seasonal restrictions and the difficulties of getting it to numerous far- flung destinations despite the vagaries of wind power, it is not merely the sheer scale of the operation that astounds, but the fact that it actually worked pretty efficently throughout the period. In 1817 the Victualling Board took over responsibilty for medical services when the Transport Board was abolished, but was itself abolished in 1832, its duties transferring to the Admiralty.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

[A long but very thorough read on Fortress Europe’s use of drones and automated data gathering, large scale research projects, the military industrial complex of Europe and Israel in the Meditterean, European interventionism in Libya, and the militarized surveillance of Europe. The image is a tethered aerostat being launched. Image: Thomas Hawk, CC BY-NC 2.0 ]

The growing use of drones and other long-range, increasingly-automated forms of surveillance and data collection are part of the militarisation of Europe’s borders in the Mediterranean, which have led to thousands of unnecessary deaths and push- and pull-backs to Libya, where migrants and refugees face arbitrary detention, violence, mistreatment and torture. This article, by the journalist Antonio Mazzeo, chronicles investments into and tests and deployments of drone technology by EU and national agencies in the Mediterranean.

War against migrants with Israeli drones On 20 October 2020, The Guardian gave the news that Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, had entrusted aerospace giant Airbus and two Israeli companies with an “aerial maritime surveillance” service using drones to intercept migrant vessels crossing the Mediterranean. Operations should commence in the first months of 2021, following test trials that the contractors will undertake in the Greek island of Crete. Two contracts were signed, both of them for a value of 50 million Euros: the first one with the consortium Airbus – Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and the second one with Elbit Systems Ltd., based in Haifa.[1]

This news was confirmed by the authoritative Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, which also provided unpublished details of the agreement. In particular, it was revealed that Israel Aerospace Industries, the main holding company of the Israeli military-industrial complex, will lease a remote-piloted aircraft for mid-altitude and long-range operations, MALE RPAS (Medium Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Piloted Aerial System), “Heron” class. “The agreement with the Frontex agency of the European Union has the goal of ensuring a maritime patrol and coastal protection service”, The Jerusalem Post reported. “This confirms the trust in the performance of the Heron naval drone that was already tested in Crete in 2018 and in many other operations by the Israeli armed forces”.

The flight routes to be used for flight activities of the pilotless aircraft will be identified within European air space in agreement with the agencies responsible for regulating civilian air traffic. “Being able to fly in European civilian air space is an important step for our industrial group and concrete evidence of the ability of our remote piloting system to move within civilian routes”, declared Moshe Levy, general manager of the aerospace sector of Israel Aerospace Industries. “I am sure,” Levy added, “that this contract will open the gates for other markets in the civilian commercial field for us”.[2]

The terms of reference and the goals of the two contracts signed on 1 October can be viewed online. The first has as its first contractor Airbus DS Airborne Solutions GmbH of Bremen (Germany), a company controlled by Airbus Defence and Space, the military aerospace division of the Airbus group.[3] The contractor will have to provide a Remotely Piloted Aerial System (RPAS) platform with the connected equipment for communications, the collection and transfer of data to a remote portal, mission memorisation, control and assistance by drone operators via radio and satellite connections.

“The service will be provided in Greece, and/or in Italy and/or Malta with the modalities that will be provided in the agreement that will be detailed between Frontex and the contractor”, Frontex explained. “The contract worth €50 million excluding VAT may be entrusted to a subcontractor for up to a quota of 60%, with the provision of an aerial remote-controlled system, satellite telecommunications services and spare equipment for replacements, aircraft maintenance and the formation and training of Airbus DS personnel”.

The European aerospace giant’s choice of the Heron maritime surveillance drone was determined by the aircraft’s technical specifications and by its performance attained during deployment in war theatres and in the maintenance of public order by the Israeli Defence Forces and police forces. Drones from the Heron series have mainly been used against the Palestinian population. In a June 2009 report, the US NGO Human Rights Watch documented the use of Heron aircraft during the Israeli attack on Gaza at the end of 2008 and the start of 2009 (Operation Molten Lead), in which dozens of civilians were killed.[4]

Heron aircraft are also used by the German army in Afghanistan through a leasing contract with Airbus that, as we have seen, is the “European partner” of IAI. However, the drone’s performance on the Afghan chessboard has raised more than a few eyebrows among the military and political forces because, to date, four aircraft have already “gone missing” in missions due to various types of technical incidents. The last of these was in mid-November 2020: a Heron of the Bundeswehr (German Army) crashed in an uninhabited area to the east of Mazar-i-Sharif during an attempted emergency landing.[5]

The pilotless aircraft produced by Israel Aerospace Industries can fly without interruption for 24 hours at an altitude of 35,000 feet, in any atmospheric conditions. It has an operative range of 1,000 miles and, apart from undertaking intelligence and surveillance missions, it can be used for missile strikes against targets on land and at sea. Airbus has assured that the leased aircraft will not be able to carry weapons and that it will be entirely painted white, bearing the symbols of the Frontex agency. The RPAS will be equipped with electro-optical systems for daytime missions and infra-red systems for night missions; a radar for maritime patrolling provided, again, by IAI; and real-time communication and information transfer equipment. This platform will use a direct connection for flights within the Line of Sight (LOS) and a satellite connection for flights Beyond [the] Line of Sight (BLOS), while the information collected will be transferred to the Frontex command and control centre and to the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centres of EU countries’ coast guard authorities.

The cost, conditions and operative goals in the second contract for “maritime aerial surveillance” are identical.[6] It was signed by Frontex with Elbit Systems Ltd, a leading company in the production of military drones, IT systems, telecommunications, command, control and intelligence, and for cyber wars.[7] The deployed pilotless aircraft will be the Hermes,  capable of flying for 36 hours at an altitude of 30,000 feet. This Israeli drone was tested in in late September 2020 by the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency, undertaking control and search-and-rescue operations in Welsh waters.

The Hermes is another attack drone that was used for the first time in conflict by the Israeli armed forces during Operative Protective Margin against Gaza (2014). The 900 version is larger and more advanced than the Hermes 450 used during the Israeli onslaught in 2008-09, once more, against inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. Elbit Systems’ pilotless aircraft were also used in Lebanon in 2006, causing the death of several civilians, including Red Cross staff. A Hermes was involved in the killing of four youngsters who were playing on a beach in Gaza on 16 August 2014.[8]

Leonardo-Finmeccanica is also involved in the EU’s drone affair In order to test the operative capabilities of drones for the surveillance of sea borders against migrant vessels coming from the African continent, in late 2017 Frontex signed another contract worth millions with IAI. Specifically, IAI provided a remotely piloted MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) aircraft to undertake flight operations lasting 600 hours during a six-month period in 2018. “The flight tests will take place in areas of the Mediterranean designated by Frontex in cooperation with one or more member states,” the call for tenders stated. The value of the contract was €6.45 million, excluding VAT. Frontex envisaged a contract with the Italian group Leonardo (formerly Finmeccanica) to provide a Falco EVO drone for maritime surveillance for 300 hours (again, for 180 days in 2018), at a cost of €2.25 million.[9]

In a statement on 27 September 2018, the Frontex press office explained that the use of remote-piloted aircraft to monitor the EU’s external borders had started around a week earlier. “Frontex is exploring the surveillance capabilities of medium-altitude and long endurance RPAS drones and evaluating its cost and efficiency”, the press release said, “the activities include maritime patrols, support for search-and-rescue operations, identifying vessels suspected of undertaking criminal activities like drugs and arms trafficking and exchanging information with multiple users in real time.”

The agency also added that drone tests were underway in Greece in coordination with the Greek Coast Guard and Air Force, and that they were about to comme nce in Italy, supported by the State Police and the Guardia di Finanza (customs and excise police). “The RPAS tested by Frontex can carry equipment like thermal cameras and radars”, the agency noted. “Tests in Greece and Italy will be completed this year. In Portugal, Frontex is using a smaller pilotless aircraft to monitor the North Atlantic Ocean alongside the European Maritime Safety Authority (EMSA), the National Republican Guard and the Portuguese Air Force and Navy.”[10]

The flight campaign involving the Falco EVO drones produced by Leonardo-Finmeccanica commenced on 6 December 2018 from the airport on the island of Lampedusa. “Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance – ISR – missions are planned by the Guardia di Finanza with the Interior Ministry’s coordination,” the managers of the military-industrial holding company noted. “In this context, the support provided by ENAC, the national civil aviation authority, and ENAV, the company responsible for civilian air traffic in Italy, was decisive, as was that of AST Aeroservizi, the company that manages the airport in Lampedusa. The Falco EVO, equipped with an infra-red high-definition optical system, a satellite data connection Beyond the Line of Sight and an advanced suite of on-board sensors that includes the Gabbiano TS Ultra Light radar for long-range day and night time missions, operates with Leonardo’s flight personnel and maintenance teams.”[11]

The drone, authorised to fly over Italian and Maltese civilian airspace, has been used in two military operations in the Sicilian Channel to intercept vessels carrying migrants. The first mission was undertaken on 20 June 2019 against a fishing boat from which 75 migrants, including three women and three minors, were transferred onto smaller vessels that then disembarked in Lampedusa. The second mission, on the following 26 June, saw the Falco Evo operate for 17 hours, 21 minutes consecutively, supporting an intervention by the Italian armed forces against two vessels that were navigating in the waters near the Pelagic Islands.[12]

The EU miracle of the multiplication of drones Thanks to the precious documentation work on relations between the EU and the Israeli military-industrial complex by the Coordination of pro-Palestinian Associations in Brussels, it has been possible to ascertain that the use of drones in the war against migrants and migrations at the EU’s external borders is far wider and more structured than it appears.

On 30 June 2020, in response to a parliamentary question by Miguel Urbàn Crespo MEP on drones leased from Elbit Systems (“a company accused of war crimes and human rights violations”[13]), the European Commission admitted that Lisbon-based company CeiiA had used Hermes 900 aircraft following the signature of a €59 million biannual contract with the EMSA.[14] The Hermes 900 started operating in June 2019 from the airport of Egilsstaðir in Iceland to monitor more than half of the Icelandic Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).[15] The managers of Elbit Systems explain that the drone for maritime patrolling and the related control land station had been purposely configured “to enable a constant monitoring of a vast maritime and coastal area and an effective identification of suspect activities and potential risks”.[16] Israeli aircraft were subsequently deployed in the Mediterranean.

“Two operations were operated by CeiiA: For the Icelandic Coast Guard during 119 days, from 24 April until 20 August 2019, when 62 flights performed over the sea at the Eastern part of Iceland, and [for] Frontex supporting the Hellenic Coast Guard with 34 operational days, from 2 December 2019 until 4 Jan 2020, performing 18 flights from Crete over the Ionian Sea”, the EU Commissioner for Industry and Research, Adina Ioana Valean, replied to a question by the MEP Miguel Urban Crespo of The Left group (formerly known as GUE/NGL) on 25 June 2020.

One of the Hermes 900 used by CeiiA crashed due to a technical fault on 8 January 2020 as it took off from the airstrip in Tympaki on Crete. Following this accident, surveillance and intelligence operations in Greek waters were reportedly suspended.[17] “The operation with CeiiA in Greece has been stopped,” Valean also stated. “Currently, the European Maritime Safety Agency is not carrying out any other maritime surveillance operations with this system, and nor are any other operations being prepared in this phase. The aircraft is undergoing tests after having been repaired and the investigation into the causes of the accident have not been completed yet”.[18] However, this did not prevent Elbit Systems and the Hermes 900 being chosen last October by Frontex to patrol the Mediterranean in the next two years.

The multi-purpose role of drones for control operations in the European context was confirmed on 19 September 2019 in a draft paper by the then Transport Commissioner, Violeta Bulc. “As part of European cooperation for the Coast Guard function, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (EBCG) have established joint information and maritime surveillance services, that include the use of remotely piloted aircraft”, Violeta Bulc wrote.

She continued:

“This has allowed to ensure an additional maritime surveillance capacity to national authorities to monitor sea pollution and the safety of navigation, identify vessels in distress, measure naval emissions, identify and track naval units involved in illegal activities, etc… EMSA, in agreement with EFCA and EBCG, has assumed a steering role for RPAS services, and it currently has eight contracts for the use of different remote piloted systems for different purposes. EMSA does not acquire the RPASs, but it underwrites contracts with the companies that operate in this sector.”

According to the former EU Commissioner, in 2018-19, EMSA coordinated drone operations in Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Greece, Croatia, Italy and Iceland.[19]

By 10 October 2019, 10 contracts had been signed by EMSA to carry out RPAS operations, three of which are still ongoing and are for “general maritime surveillance”. The contracts are with the Portuguese company CeiiA (Elbit Systems Hermes 900 drones); the ‘React’ consortium, comprising Portuguese aerospace company Tekever and CLS, a company controlled by the French Space Agency (Tekever AR5 Evolution drone); and with the Austrian military electronics company Schiebel (UAV Campcopter S100). EMSA also already received eight formal requests to operate remotely piloted systems in 2020 from eight member states: Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.[20] Estonia, Finland and Romania have also recently joined the club, according to EMSA press releases.

The Falcon starts flying from Sicily again In order to “extend” external maritime border surveillance 560 kilometres from the Sicilian coast and “prevent, counter and analyse the phenomenon of clandestine migration” in the central Mediterranean, the Italian Interior Ministry’s Central Directorate for Immigration and Border Police also decided to resort to unmanned aircraft. On 22 October 2020, the magazine Altraeconomia revealed that Italian public security authorities had hired a MALE drone produced by Leonardo at a cost of €8.8 million. The aircraft – which, once again, appears to be the Falco Evo tested with Frontex in Lampedusa in recent years – will be employed for a 12-month period that may be extended to 18 months, to undertake between 1,200 and 1,800 hours of flight.

“The Viminale [seat of the Interior Ministry] has acted for the purpose of increasing the capital of know-how within the National Coordination Centre of the European Border Surveillance System (NCC/EUROSUR) under the aegis of the Frontex agency,” Altreconomia reported. “As the ministry acknowledges, hiring a remotely piloted drone for a sum of €5,000 for an hour of flight is a noteworthy innovation. The tender, financed until June 2022 with resources from the 2014-2020 Internal Security Fund (ISF), reflects an obsession for control and surveillance following the substantive elimination of an institutional system for search and rescue at sea.”[21]

According to the tender’s technical specifications, the services provided by Leonardo will consist of undertaking airborne maritime surveillance missions, transmitting the information and data acquired to the National Coordination Centre “for its subsequent use and possible distribution to predetermined institutional referents,” and offering training courses to four pilots, two from the Polizia di Stato and two from the Guardia di Finanza, to control the drone from the land.

The package provided by Leonardo includes technical equipment (RPAS of a Medium Altitude Long Endurance type, land control station, sensors, etc.) and the necessary technical-logistical support. Daytime and night-time aero-maritime surveillance will take place “with at least 12 hours’ autonomy, without being visible or audible below 6,000 feet of altitude and capable of identifying objects measuring two metres at a distance of four kilometres.” The drone will operate from an airport that will be decided over the next few weeks by the Ministry, from those of Trapani-Birgi, Lampedusa or Ragusa-Comiso.

Specifically, the “surveillance of predefined areas in search for specific points” will be conducted, as will the “spotting, identification, tracking and monitoring of objects of interest”, “correlations between tracks”, “immediate provision to the tactical operator of the analysis content” and of the images and video collected by on-board sensors to the National Coordination Centre of the European Border Surveillance System. “The NCC/EUROSUR represents, in accordance with EU Regulation 1052/2013, the natural information exchange hub, also at an EU Restricted level [of security classification], between Member States and the Frontex Agency”, the Interior Ministry’s Public Security Department reports. “It is the designated place to receive all information relevant to the migration phenomenon, including those concerning search and rescue at sea operations that also have their source in trafficking and dealing in humans, for the purpose of coordinating the national border surveillance system”.[22]

...

The time of anti-immigrant balloons comes To strengthen the automation and dehumanisation that are features of the current war against migrants and migration, Frontex also aims to use airships. After a series of tests undertaken from Samos island in the eastern Aegean in collaboration with the Greek Coast Guard, Frontex decided to launch a pilot project by the end of 2021 to evaluate the efficiency and costs of aerostat platforms for border controls and to “modify and optimise the equipment that has already been tested.”[28] Thus, a call for tenders was issued to “hire two aerostats for maritime and environmental surveillance, with a view to a second pilot project supported by the host country, Greece”. The contract is worth just over ��3 million for a duration of twelve months, including the technical personnel required to execute tests.[29]

During the trials undertaken in Samos, the aerostat used by Frontex and the Greek Coast Guard was the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) produced in the US by the Lockheed Martin group and the advanced engineering company ILC Dover, which is already used by the US Customs Service against illegal drug trafficking.[30] Equipped with a radar whose reach covers 200 nautical miles, a thermal camera and an Automatic Identification System, the TARS is 35 metres long, can fly to heights of up to 4,600 altitude and can carry a load of 1,200 kilograms. The remote identification systems that are customarily installed on board are the EL/M-2083 of the Israeli Elta Systems and the JLENS of the US company Raytheon. The first one is based on the radar used by the Israeli armed forces for its anti-ballistic missile system with an Arrow land base, capable of “a swift deployment for active electronic control and the long-distance identification of enemy aircraft, especially when they operate at low altitude”, as its manufacturing company Israel Aerospace Industries explains. The JLENS (Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System), AKA the “spy balloon”, was designed to intercept and track vessels, land vehicles, cruise missiles, aircraft with and without pilots, etc. Hence, it is unequivocable that also the aerostats are veritable death systems which, after having been deployed in war theatres, are now ‘converted’ into key instruments for the control of borders against “incursions” by migrants and asylum seekers.

Seeking researchers to hypermilitarise borders In the meantime, the Frontex agency has decided to make its own “experts” available to the European Commission’s General Directorate for Migrations and Internal Affairs in support of its research, testing, and development of innovative technologies for the control of land and sea borders. In particular, Frontex is contributing to implementation of relevant parts of the multi-annual EU investment programmes into research, Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) and Horizon Europe (2021-2027).

The final three-year tranche of Horizon for the so-called plan for societal security devoted €118 million to finance research into “Border and External Security”. In this field, Frontex “will identify research activities aimed at reducing gaps and vulnerabilities in the surveillance and situational awareness sectors; of biometrics, cybersecurity and the availability and exchange of information; to contribute to developing solutions that may facilitate its operative tests within Frontex Joint Operations [JOs] and in close cooperation with national authorities; to monitor the results of the searches to support their operative relevance and facilitate their absorption into the market.”[31]

A wide spectrum of technological instruments feature in the Horizon programmes sponsored by Frontex for the purpose of border security: firstly, remotely piloted platforms, whether they are airborne, land-based or naval; equipment to gather biometric data and those for three-dimensional face and iris scanning; command, control and intelligence systems; artificial intelligence (AI); robotics; integrated systems to identify trafficking in drugs etc..[32] In a press statement on 11 August 2020, Frontex also publicised the “projects of interest” financed using Horison 2020 research and development funds. These programmes are called ANDROMEDA, ARESIBO, BorderSens, COMPASS2020, D4Fly, MIRROR and PERCEPTIONS.[33]

The ANDROMEDA project (acronym of An EnhaNceD Common InfoRmatiOn Sharing EnvironMent for BordEr CommanD, Control and CoordinAtion Systems) seeks to establish a command system to oversee the EU’s maritime border control activities and to promote information exchange between naval forces, coast guard authorities and the police forces of member states and third countries. Financed with €5 million, ANDROMEDA is undertaken by the Israeli Public Security Ministry; the ministries of defence of Italy, Greece and Portugal; several universities; important research centres in the cybersecurity sector; and some of the leading European military aerospace industries (Leonardo-Finmeccanica, Thales Alenia Space Italia, Avio S.p.A., Piaggio Aereo Industries, GMV Aerospace and Defence SA), with the collaboration of the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE), the EU agencies and institutions  EMSA, Frontex, EEAS (European External Action Service), EDA (European Defence Agency) and the European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC). ANDROMED commenced on 1 September 2019 and was due to end on 28 February 2021.[34]

Financed by the European Union with €7 million ARESIBO (Augmented Reality Enriched Situation awareness for Border security) commenced on 1 May 2019 and should end on 30 April 2022. The project is coordinated by the French aerospace giant Airbus Defence and Space SAS, and  features the involvement of 19 partners, including IES Solutions – Intelligence for Environment and Security S.r.l. (an advanced technological research company based in Rome and Catania); the German IT group Ubimax GMBH; the Greek and Portuguese Defence Ministries; the NATO Science and Technology Organization (the NATO body for scientific-technological research in the military field); ISIG – Istituto di Sociologia Internazionale di Gorizia (Gorizia International Sociological Institute); and the Protection and Guard Service of the Romanian Ministry of Defence.[35]

The purpose of ARESIBO is to create an “innovative” analysis system on “potential threats” and for patrolling and surveillance to respond to “emergencies” and partake in “search and rescue” activities and other operations planned at the European level. “This system will make it possible to acquire a more accurate picture of the situation, filtering an enormous amount of information collected from multiple sources”, the project’s proponents write. “Aresibo takes into consideration the use of all the types of remotely piloted systems that are able to respond to the operative requests of the land and sea border security missions. It also optimises the functions of platforms dedicated to surveillance with a view to their integration into existing processing systems to interpret, merge and correlate a great quantity of data”.

BorderSens, meanwhile, will create a European system to locate illegal drugs (with EU funding worth just over €5.5 million, lasting from 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2023). The COMPASS2020 (Coordination Of Maritime assets for Persistent And Systematic Surveillance) project aims to tackle “the challenges represented by irregular immigration and drug trafficking” with the goal of experimenting “the combined use and perfect coordination between piloted assets and those without pilots to achieve a greater coverage, an improved quality of information and shorter response times during maritime surveillance activities”.

The solution proposed by COMPASS2020 is the contextual use of drone aircraft and automated sub-water units (UxVs) to be deployed on board of naval units and/or in land bases. The platforms will be supported by a central control and command system and they will carry out “persistent and long-range” surveillance operations, strengthening the functions of the coast guard authorities and national maritime authorities. The project also envisages the development of new software to heighten the analysis capabilities concerning data collected by remotely controlled aircraft. COMPASS2020 began on 1 May 2019 and will end on 30 April 2021. Financed by “Horizon” to the tune of €6 million, it is being implemented by 14 partners, including the Portuguese General Maritime Directorate (coordinating body); the French shipbuilding company Naval Group; the German aerospace group Airbus Defence and Space GMBH; Eca Robotics (French robotics engineering company); the UK Home Office and, once again, the NATO Science and Technology Organization.[36]

The fifth research project at the EU level supported by Frontex is D4Fly (Detecting Document frauD and iDentity on the fly) which aims to improve the quality and effectiveness of identification processes at all land, air and sea border posts by providing more secure control instruments. Among the latter, the proponents of D4Fly list biometric technologies for three-dimensional face, iris and somatic feature checks; Apps for smartphones to check travellers’ thermal and multi-spectral images “to counter manipulations and detect the morphed facial images of impostors”; and new IT programmes to verify possible falsification of identity documents and passports.

D4Fly commenced on 1 September 2019 and will end on 31 August 2022. The project is coordinated by Veridos GMBH, a leading worldwide company for the organisation of security controls whose headquarters are in Berlin and which has subsidiaries in the US, Canada, Mexico, Greece, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Its eighteen partners include the Dutch Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice; the Piraeus Port Authority (Greece); and the Lithuanian National Border Protection Service. The EU has financed the project with €7 million .[37]

The strategic objective of MIRROR (Migration-Related Risks caused by misconceptions of Opportunities and Requirement) is to develop an integrated platform, a series of instruments and a “systematic methodology” to enable “a comprehensive analysis on the perception of Europe and to identify discrepancies between what is perceived in Europe itself and what is real, including creation of an awareness of the impact deriving from it and of threats that are generated, including hybrid threats”. For this purpose, the project will analyse written texts and messages transmitted by multi-media networks, social networks and other communication channels, using new technological instruments and artificial intelligence.

The research project’s leading proponent is the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University in Hannover (Germany): among the thirteen partners, there are the German Defence Ministry; the Maltese and Swedish police forces; the state universities of Vienna and Malta; the Italian Eurix (IT consultancy company based in Turin), Conoscenza e Innovazione (a sociological and interdisciplinary research centre based in Rome) and the Fondazione Agenfor International, a “non-profit network” on security based in Milan with subsidiaries in Padua, Lugano (Switzerland), Tripoli (Libya) and al-Qamashly (Syria).[38] €5.18 million has been provided by the European Commission.

A similar sociological-security study programme is called PERCEPTIONS (Understand the Impact of Novel Technologies, Social Media, and Perceptions in Countries Abroad on Migration Flows and the Security of the EU & Provide Validated Counter Approaches, Tools and Practices), provided with almost €5 million.

This programme seeks to identify the narratives, images and perceptions about Europe that people have abroad, and to investigate how these may lead to “problems” like false expectations, threats for security or even radicalisation. “But most of all, the aim is to design toolkits of creative and innovative measures to react to and counter this type of problems by taking social and structural aspects into account”, the research’s proponents explain. “Current theories on migrations focus on push and pull factors. Economic, social and political factors are certainly central elements that push people to migrate. It is just as important to consider how the places of arrival are imagined in a desirable and attractive way, especially is there are false narratives that may influence decisions about migration. This project will help to identify the wrong ideas about the European Union that people have abroad and how much they are contributed to by myths circulated in social media and by new communication networks, in order to develop policy recommendations and plans of action at the EU level”. PERCEPTION envisages creating a Web platform aimed at groups and individuals that are “sensitive” to migration processes, in order to provide “relevant and easily accessible information” to “deconstruct false narratives and enhance the dissemination of real news”, thus reducing their possible impacts on EU border controls.

This project, which started on 1 September 2019 and will end on 31 August 2022, features the participation of the Israeli, Greek and Bulgarian police forces; several universities (including the Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna and La Sapienza in Roma); research centres on migration and security policies; non-governmental organisations like, for example, Caritas in Nicosia (Cyprus) and France’s Association des Agences de la Democratie Locale, an international association “dedicated to the promotion of human rights, good government and citizens’ participation at the local level.” The long list of proponents of this controversial programme on the “perceptions of migrants” also includes the Fondazione Bruno Kessler of Trento, a research body of the autonomous province that works in the scientific-technological field and that of human sciences, paying special attention to artificial intelligence, IT and nuclear physics.[39]

The long Libyan hand of Fortress Europe The most troubling aspect of this relentless process of information gathering on migration flows thanks to new automated technologies, however, is the offer and transfer of intelligence by Frontex and other EU and national agencies to the military and police forces of third countries, mainly on the southern Mediterranean shore. These are conducts that have undergone a swift acceleration in the last three/four years and which largely correspond to the strategy of Brussels and Warsaw to “share” their policies for the military containment of migrations and to externalise actions and interventions that flagrantly violate international law, fundamental freedoms and the human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers outside of the EU.

The modalities and consequences of the unlawful “transfer” of intelligence to non-EU countries were analysed in a previous analysis published by Statewatch. Images collected by EMSA drones are immediately evaluated by the coast guard authorities of the territorially competent nations, and they are contextually sent to the Frontex headquarters and integrated into the Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) to be analysed by the European agency and by the control network of all the EU member states with external borders.

“Surveillance data is used to detect and prevent migration movements at an early stage”, the article noted. “Once the providing company has been selected, the new Frontex drones are also to fly for EUROSUR”, within whose framework “Frontex shares the recorded data with other European users via a ‘Remote Information Portal’.” Furthermore: “The data from EUROSUR and the national border control centres form the ‘Common Pre-frontier Intelligence Picture’,” thus extending “the area of interest of Frontex… far into the African continent”. The contracts underwritten with companies that provide remotely piloted aircraft foresee operations in the waters of the central and eastern Mediterranean within a radius of around 463 kilometres (250 nautical miles) from their departure bases.

“This would enable them to carry out reconnaissance in the ‘pre-frontier’ area off Tunisia, Libya and Egypt,” the analysis notes. The new Frontex Regulation provides that, “in order to share general information on surveillance of the Mediterranean Sea with a non-EU state, Frontex must first conclude a working agreement with the corresponding government”. However, there is evidence that the “EU military mission ‘EUNAVFOR MED’ was cooperating more extensively with the Libyan coast guard (…) Libya is the first third country to be connected to European surveillance systems via the ‘Seahorse Mediterranean’ network. Information handed over to the Libyan authorities might also include information that was collected with the Italian military ‘Predator’ drones.”[40]

The Seahorse Mediterranean Network is a cooperation programme to “improve information exchange in the Mediterranean area” signed by seven Member States (Spain, Italy, France, Malta, Cyprus and Portugal) and by north African countries, within the EUROSUR framework. It also envisages a series of training and formation initiatives aimed at African operators in the field of maritime surveillance. In partnership with the Spanish Guardia Civil, the Italian Guardia di Finanza (GdF) organised and provided a training course in Gaeta (Latina) on “driving naval units” for the personnel of the Libyan Coast Guard and Ministries of Defence and for Interior Affairs (the EU’s contribution to the GdF was €475,000).[41]

Libya’s direct involvement in EU operations to stop and return migrant vessels to their place of departure was “legitimated” in June 2018 by Italy’s reckless and irresponsible decision to entrust to it the undertaking of interventions to search, rescue and save shipwreck victims in the Libyan SAR (Search and Rescue) Maritime Region. The identification and establishment of this SAR zone were assigned in 2016 by the European Commission to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome (IMRCC).

The exchange of competences between Rome and Tripoli turned this SAR region into an immense Libyan hunting ground to target vessels heading for southern Italy or Malta, with people on board seeking humanitarian protection and asylum in an EU that is always less welcoming.[42] The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides that any information about a real or suspected emergency involving a naval vessel must be sent to the nearest Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC). Thus, despite a chronic lack of means and personnel and the questionable will of the Libyans to provide maritime assistance and rescue services, it happens that when remotely piloted Frontex aircraft identify vessels in distress, this information is relayed to Tripoli, as the party “responsible” for search activities in its own SAR zone, through its own MRCC. This allows Frontex not to intervene to rescue migrants in distress identified by its own drones and to cynically leave the (possible) responsibility for intervening to Libya.[43]

“The legal obligation to aid a vessel in distress does not apply to an unmanned aerial vehicle”, Phil McDuff explains in The Guardian. 

“You can avoid the politically fraught argument about who should take care of rescued migrants if you never rescue them in the first place (…) If we are obliged to rescue those who ask us for help, the solution seems to be to ensure we cannot hear their request”.[44]

Obviously, the European Commission rejected any allegations on this point. On 8 January 2020, Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, answered a parliamentary question by denying that Frontex has ever provided information to the Libyan Coast Guard within the framework of surveillance operations undertaken by Member States at their external borders in cooperation with the agency.[45] “However, this has occurred within the framework of the Eurosur Fusion Service — Multipurpose Aerial Surveillance (MAS)”, Commissioner Borrell admitted. “During MAS aerial surveillance in the pre-frontier area – from 2017 to 20 November 2019 – when Frontex identified distress situations in the Libyan SAR zone, on 42 occasions the agency informed the MRCC of the nearest member state and EUNavFOR MED, as well as the Libyan Coast Guard.”[46]

Brussels has also had to admit that it is aware of Tripoli’s considerable organisational limits for maritime search and rescue and regarding the technical-organisational effectiveness of the centre that is meant to oversee SAR operations by the Libyan Coast Guard. On this point, it is worth reporting what was stated on 20 May 2019 by the EU Finance Commissioner, Johannes Hahn. After noting that in June 2017 the Italian Coast Guard received European funding worth €1.8 million to prepare a feasibility study to advise its Libyan counterpart in the legal and technical field for SAR activities (Operation Aurora), Commissioner Hahn clarified that the study was presented in Brussels in January 2019 with a request to provide Libya with systems of control, command, telecommunications and maritime traffic monitoring, satellite radio equipment, as well as the training required. The Commission subsequently authorised the purchase of what Italy asked through a programme called  ‘Support to Integrated Border and Migration Management in Libya, first phase’ (worth €46 million), adopted within the framework of the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.[47]

“Establishing the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC) is part of the second phase of the programme (€45 million disbursed in December 2018),” Hahn specified. “Negotiations between the Commission and the Italian interior ministry to create this MRCC are underway. Procedures leading to a call for tenders to purchase the MRCC’s main equipment and systems will be issued during 2019 and 2020.”[48] Hence, this will be around one-and-a-half or two years after the Italian/Libyan transfer of “control” over an extensive and very heavily navigated SAR region in the central Mediterranean.

A dark epilogue In the meantime, there have been a proliferation of allegations concerning unlawful “pushbacks” to North Africa of migrant vessels that seek to cross the Sicilian Channel, thanks to a tight partnership between Frontex and Tripoli’s Navy. On 17 June 2020, four non-governmental organisations (Alarm Phone, Borderline-Europe, Mediterranea Saving Humans and Sea-Watch) presented their report Remote control: the EU-Libya collaboration in mass interceptions of migrants in the Central Mediterranean, which highlights how the actions undertaken by the EU in collaboration with the Libyan authorities are facilitating mass migrant interceptions and returns. In particular, the report reconstructs some search and rescue events that ended up with interceptions and returns to Libya.[49]

“EU aerial assets are deployed to detect migrant boats from the air and guide the so-called Libyan Coast Guard. Aerial surveillance has led to the capture of tens of thousands of people and their return to the Libyan war zone” in operations that are straightforward violations of fundamental rights. “EU actors have delegated responsibility to the Libyan authorities and become complicit in the systematic interception and return of people seeking to escape from Libya.” The cases documented in the report show “the crucial role played by EU aerial surveillance in mass interceptions off the coast of Libya, which have been expanded over recent months”.[50]

The report’s authors conclude that 

“EU aircraft identify migrant vessels and only contact Libyan authorities, de facto preventing other ships from intervening and disembarking rescued people in a safe port...EU authorities have further instrumentalized the COVID-19 crisis to normalise already existing practices of non-assistance at sea and continue to violate the non-refoulement principle at sea. Under no circumstances can the COVID-19 pandemic justify the push- and pull-back of fleeing migrants to Libya.”[51]

- Antonio Mazzeo, “Border surveillance, drones and militarisation of the Mediterranean.” Statewatch. May 6, 2021.

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Cryptozoic-Friendly Countries

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Cryptocurrency is a booming industry in many parts of the globe today. It is one of the most convenient forms of making transactions and provides utmost flexibility too. Even better is that it offers a new type of individual empowerment that is both exciting and dynamic. The digital asset is also flourishing for many other reasons. It protects against inflation, is cost-effective, and is also a secure way to make payments. What is even more interesting about this is that it is a private method that is self-governed and managed.

In this article, we’ll look at some top crypto friendly countries where cryptocurrency can be used without any objections.

A note before you begin: As tax regulations regarding crypto are subject to change rapidly, we recommend that you speak to a tax lawyer or financial advisor from the related country before you make a commitment.

Crypto Friendly Countries Listed in This Article Malta Canada Slovenia The Netherlands Portugal Germany Luxembourg Estonia Singapore Switzerland

Crypto Friendly Countries

Malta

Malta has been using cryptocurrencies for the longest time now. For example, Binance returned from Japan to Malta because they thought Malta was more favorable. Malta is claimed as one of the most crypto friendly countries. Now, cryptocurrencies are also being used for trading purposes.

Authorities have passed the below bills to make the island a global leader in cryptocurrency regulations:

The Innovative Technology Arrangements and Services Act

Malta Digital Innovation Authority Act

Virtual Financial Asset Act

Agribank, Paytah, Founders Bank are the crypto friendly banks in Malta.

Canada

In Canada, no laws have been enacted that officially call cryptocurrencies illegal. That is why many cryptocurrency businesses can function in the country without any objections. Such an open-minded attitude helps people try out something new and make the most of new technology for future opportunities and advancement. However, we think that this type of attitude might not be present for too long here. Even so, Canada is considered a crypto friendly country.

In Canada, there are 1,464 bitcoin-friendly ATMs. It can be said that Canada is one of the cryptocurrency legal countries.

Slovenia

Amidst all other Bitcoin-friendly countries in Europe, Slovenia ranks at number one. The government authorities have officially declared their encouragement towards Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies of other kinds. Individuals who benefit from trading Bitcoin (due to fluctuations in the cryptocurrency market) are not liable to income taxation in Slovenia. Cryptocurrency mining is not considered a VAT transaction in Slovenia, either.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands also exhibits an open attitude towards cryptocurrencies. The authorities believe that it could potentially help improve the economy of the country. Since the Netherlands does not hold any strict regulations against the same, people use cryptocurrencies without hesitation. They follow the standards demanded by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF.) That makes the Netherlands one of the cryptocurrency friendly countries.

Cryptocurrency is regulated by The Dutch National Bank (DNB) in the Netherlands.

Portugal

Today, if you are looking for some of the most crypto friendly countries in the world, Portugal is bound to reach the top. Cryptocurrency is tax-free in the country and many crypto traders have already made Portugal their second home. The enthusiasm related to crypto in Portugal is very high. Portugal established a “Digital Transitional Action Plan” in April 2020 to promote digitization. The government declared that this plan would create the appropriate climate for business innovation and digital transformation. The action plan also includes “Technological Free Zones” to enable blockchain and other field experiments. Therefore, Portugal is the leader of countries supporting cryptocurrency.

Germany

Germany has a unique approach when it comes to cryptocurrency taxes. The country favors individual investment and it regards bitcoin as private money rather than a currency, commodity, or stock in the country. According to German laws, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are exempt from capital gains tax if held for more than a year. On sale and purchase, they are not subject to VAT.

If you exchange the funds for cash or other cryptos within a year, your profit will be tax-free if it is less than €600. Thus, Germany can be considered as one of the cryptocurrency friendly countries.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg is one of the cryptocurrency legal countries. So, it regards cryptocurrency as a legitimate currency. There are no restrictions against trading with cryptocurrencies or using them within the country. Although Luxembourg has no explicit cryptocurrency rules, the government’s legislative approach to them is typically progressive.

The CSSF regulates cryptocurrency exchanges in Luxembourg, and they must adhere to the same regulations as other financial organizations.

Today, the country is set to keep up with the crypto trends and develop the best strategies to deal with them. It’s a good quality of crypto countries.

Estonia

Estonia is quite sure about creating a magnificent space in the world of cryptocurrency. It’s one of the cryptocurrency legal countries. It’s also one of Europe’s hotspots for crypto firms, and cryptocurrency’s popularity fits Estonia’s image as a digital success story. This industry is booming, and investors are eager to invest in any blockchain-related solutions. In Estonia, transactions with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are taxed in the same manner as any other corporate activity is – there is no corporate income tax if the profit is not dispersed.

Estonia’s financial business is also more crypto-friendly. LHV Bank in Estonia, for example, was one of the first financial organizations to embrace blockchain. The institution even launched a Cyber Wallet app, a blockchain-based wallet that allowed users to send digital representations of actual euros.

Singapore

Within Southeast Asia, Singapore is renowned as a fintech hotspot. The central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, believes that the cryptocurrency ecosystem should be closely supervised to avoid money laundering and other criminal activities, but that innovation should not be impeded. Thus, it makes Singapore a crypto friendly country.

There is no capital gains tax in Singapore. Individual and corporate cryptocurrency funds are not subject to taxation. However, if a corporation is based in Singapore and operates as a crypto trading company or accepts crypto payments, it is subject to income tax.

Switzerland

Swiss banks were the first in the world to offer crypto companies business accounts in 2018, recognizing that banking channels would help to eliminate fraudsters and encourage legitimate businesses. In Switzerland, cryptocurrencies are classified as assets, and Bitcoins are recognized as legal tender in some locations. If you trade or hold cryptocurrency as an investment in your own account and qualify as an individual trader, you will not be liable to capital gains tax. Buying and selling through authorized professional traders, on the other hand, is considered business income and is taxed accordingly.

Zug, a city in Switzerland is known as the “Crypto Valley”. The city is a crypto hub with blockchain startups, enterprises, shops, and entrepreneurs. Crypto investors benefit from a tax-free environment in this crypto valley. Zug was the first place in the world to accept Bitcoin payments in 2016. We may say that Zug makes Switzerland the best country for crypto.

[adalidda]

Illustration Photo: Dutch agriculture Kom in de kas (credits: Frans de Wit / Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))

Test Farms: Get matched with a farmer and test your agritech innovation in the field!

Test Farms is a programme of EIT Food that links agricultural startups with farmers and testing-land. Through enabling these links EIT Food wants to help innovative agritech ideas to validate and test their products and services, showcase their business to customers and investors and finally support the technological transformation in European agriculture.  

For whom? For startups with innovative prototype for agricultural challenges.

Why join the programme? Validation - test the functionality and need for your solution by cooperating with professional farmers Visibility - showcase your refined product to potential clients on Demo Day, organised at the site of the farmer Network - get access to the EIT Food network: agricultural companies, research institutes and startups Funding - receive a 3000€ budget to support the travel and testing phase

Eligibility criteria for RIS participants. Startups are eligible to participate in the programme as RIS startups and receive a subgrant if they:

Are a company registered in one of the following countries: Albania*, Armenia*, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Faroe Islands*, Georgia*, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova*, Montenegro*, North Macedonia*, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia*, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey*, Ukraine*.   Have received no more than 60,000 euros in funding from EIT Food in 2021.   Have developed an innovative solution in agriculture/animal husbandry. Work towards furthering one of EIT Food’s six overarching strategic themes to transform our food system. The themes are: Alternative proteins, Sustainable agriculture, Sustainable aquaculture, Targeted nutrition, Digital traceability, Circular food systems Have submitted a complete application in English, i.e. answered all the questions included in the form available on the website: https://www.f6s.com/test-farms-2021, and completed and attached all the required documentation. Have not participated in the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Test Farms programme. EIT Food’s RisingFoodStars who are linked third parties are ineligible for the program (involved in KAVA activities).

*Applicants from these countries will be considered eligible as RIS applicants only if the country of origin of the applicant signs the Association Agreement for Horizon Europe before the end of the application deadline on 30th of April.

Eligibility criteria for non-RIS participants (not registered in RIS country). Startups are eligible to participate in the programme if they: Have developed an innovative solution in agriculture/animal husbandry. Work towards furthering one of EIT Food’s six overarching strategic themes to transform our food system. The themes are: Alternative proteins, Sustainable agriculture, Sustainable aquaculture, Targeted nutrition, Digital traceability, Circular food systems Have submitted a complete application in English, i.e. answered all the questions included in the form available on the website: https://www.f6s.com/test-farms-2021, and completed and attached all the required documentation. Commit to pay the 1500 EUR + VAT participation fee (advance payment of 350 EUR before match-making and final payment of 1150 EUR when EIT Food finds a suitable farmer).  

Application Deadline: April 30, 2021

Please click here to submit your application

Check more https://adalidda.com/posts/bnrv2EWsPmDoHFrde/test-farms-get-matched-with-a-farmer-and-test-your-agritech

[bowsetter]

More Nations Join the Club of Crypto-Friendly Jurisdictions

Regulatory barriers are a major concern for businesses working with decentralized assets. Not all governments, however, are putting obstacles in front of crypto companies. In fact the number taking a crypto-friendly stance is in fact increasing.

Also read: Ukraine in a Rush to Legalize Cryptocurrencies Under Zelensky

Executives View Regulations as the Biggest Threat

Government regulations are a determining factor for the business climate crypto companies operate in. A recently published survey conducted among executives from the industry shows that the slow advance in that respect is a major concern. Over half of the respondents, 53% of CEOs polled by venture capital firm Digital Currency Group, singled out the regulatory environment as the main “enemy.” Other threats include a possible economic downturn and cybersecurity risks.

A quarter of the questioned managers admitted that compliance was the greatest challenge they faced last year, while a third stated that the lack of regulatory progress this year surprised them the most. Rules constricting the growth of cryptocurrencies are a much bigger concern to the industry than hacking attacks, for example. The situation can deteriorate even further with policymakers calling for increased oversight in the sector.

Existing regulations in many countries are quite inadequate as they don’t reflect the specifics of crypto-related economic activities, and where new ones are introduced they are often rather hostile. But there are a few notable exceptions, mostly in Europe, like Switzerland, Estonia, Belarus, Malta, and Gibraltar. Authorities in these jurisdictions have taken the lead to establish favorable regulatory frameworks that attract more crypto companies.

Three Countries Make Positive Steps

The number of governments with positive attitudes towards cryptocurrencies and entities working with digital assets is growing, and the crypto community has seen some promising developments over the last few months. These include the adoption of new legislation creating more business-friendly conditions for crypto companies as well presenting a favorable interpretation of tax rules that can save investors money.

Liechtenstein, which is considered by many to be an integral part of the expanding Swiss Crypto Valley, recently adopted a law that aims to clarify the regulatory environment for crypto businesses and attract more of them to the German-speaking principality. The “Token Act,” approved unanimously by its parliament, turns Liechtenstein into a secure location for service providers operating with digital coins and tokenized securities. The tiny Alpine nation hopes to become a major European fintech hub. Several dozen companies from the industry, including entities dealing with cryptocurrencies, are already based or represented in the country.

Regulatory uncertainty can put off businesses and individual investors. But two clarifications issued by Portugal’s tax authority position the country as a crypto tax haven in Europe. In its latest statement on the matter, the regulator said that transactions related to mining, the miner’s reward and its exchange to fiat, should be exempted from VAT. The agency has previously announced that although cryptocurrencies can generate taxable income, gains on their sale or appreciation received by private individuals are not subject to taxation.

Ukraine, which recently elected a younger and more tech-savvy generation of politicians to power, is also embracing cryptocurrencies. There is now a general consensus between government institutions, business circles, and civil society on the need to legalize decentralized digital assets and regulate related economic activities. Several new bills designed to accomplish that goal have been proposed or are currently being finalized. They should provide answers to questions concerning the legal status of cryptocurrencies and taxation in the industry.

If you need a really good example of a crypto-friendly nation, look to Slovenia. Authorities there have a very relaxed policy towards digital currencies. It’s legal in Slovenia to own and trade coins, and capital gains of individual crypto investors are not taxed. Government support has allowed for a thriving crypto industry to develop. One of its members, Eligma, is the startup behind the crypto payment processing platform Elipay which allows in-shop purchases with bitcoin cash (BCH) and other major cryptocurrencies. Mainly thanks to its services, the country now has the most BCH-accepting physical locations in the world, as news.Bitcoin.com reported, numbering over 400.

Do you think more governments will soon follow in the footsteps of these crypto-friendly nations? Share your expectations in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The Local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here.

The post More Nations Join the Club of Crypto-Friendly Jurisdictions appeared first on Bitcoin News.

READ MORE http://bit.ly/33r2fS6

[emdadvocates]

Aircraft Registration Malta

The Malta Aircraft Registration Act 2010

The Malta Air Operators Certificate (Malta AOC) and Aircraft Registration Malta Act 2010 consolidates the previously existing laws on aircraft registration. Through the establishment of an ambitious aircraft register and the setting up of the Malta Transportation (Regulatory) Authority, Malta is now also well positioned into one of the EU’s most topical business opportunities.

The Malta Aircraft Registration Act provides for the innovative concept of the registration of aircraft under construction. Such can be registered so long as such aircraft is uniquely identifiable. The Malta Aircraft Registration Act endeavors to limit nationality and form requirements in order to make the register accessible to as many owners and operators as possible, while ensuring that the register is not open to anyone and everyone.

To this effect the Malta Aircraft Registration Act prescribes those persons who are qualified to register an Aircraft whether used for the provision of air services or otherwise. These include:

• Citizens of Malta who have approved residence in Malta and citizens of Member States of the European Union, EEA State or Switzerland. Such individuals must have a place of residence or business in Malta, the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland;

• An undertaking formed and existing in accordance with the laws in Malta, a Member State of the European Union, the EEA or Switzerland. In terms of the Malta Aircraft Registration Act, the undertaking must have its registered office, central administration and principal place of business within Malta, the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, whereof not less than 50% of the undertaking is owned and effectively controlled by the Government of Malta or by the Government of any other State of the EU, or by the persons abovementioned in paragraph (a), this requirement ought to be present indirectly or directly through one or more intermediate undertakings.

In accordance with the Malta Aircraft Registration Act, a natural person who does not qualify under paragraphs (a) and (b) above, but is a citizen of or an undertaking established in an approved jurisdiction shall be qualified to register aircraft in construction or one which is not used to provide an air service. This delineates the legislator’s intent to widen the scope of the Malta Aircraft Registration Act and consequently expand the range of those who could register under this law. This extends the possibilities for those owners of aircraft who will be using their aircraft for private use and not for hire or reward as prescribed by the pertinent legislation.

Malta VAT Treatment on Aircraft Leasing

The Maltese VAT Department has also recently launched a new aircraft leasing procedure, making Malta an attractive jurisdiction for aircraft registration for both private and commercial aircraft while ensuring full adherence to EU laws and regulations. The net result from this VAT simplification procedure is that the Malta VAT rate of 18% is only payable on that portion of the lease payment which is deemed to be for the use of the aircraft within EU airspace. The minimum percentage of time that an aircraft could be deemed to be in EU airspace, depending on maximum take off mass, maximum fuel capacity, fuel burn, optimum altitude and cruising speed) is of 30%, thereby resulting in a minimum effective VAT rate of 5.4%. For further information please click here.

The Use of Trusts and Fractional Ownership

The Malta Aircraft Registration Act ensures that when there is a trust relation and the Director General is to “look through” to the identity of the underlying beneficiaries, procedures will be implemented to safeguard the confidentiality of the trust arrangement in line with the principles governing trust law. In this manner, an obligation is imposed on the Director General to ensure that the disclosure for the purpose of Malta aircraft registration does not negatively affect the operation of the trust and its inherent confidential nature.

The new Malta Aircraft Registration Act acknowledges the benefits that will result from the employment of trusts in this field, and specific mention is made of fractional ownership and trusts which could be employed when the ownership/use interests of a plurality of persons (legal or natural) is to be regulated in relation to an asset, the aircraft, by interposing a trust relation. Thus, provision for regulation and co-ordination of the beneficiaries’ rights and interests will be made in the trust deed, which can provide for innumerable arrangements, in line with the contingencies of the case at hand.

The Maltese Aircraft Registration Act ensures that the existence of the trustee, being the registered owner of the aircraft, in favour of the determined beneficiaries (in a fixed trust scenario) or for the benefit of determinable beneficiaries (in a discretionary trust scenario) allows the arrangement to operate in a more streamlined manner whilst permitting the rights of the beneficiaries to be enforced against the trustee in case of default, thus protecting the beneficiaries who would be the stakeholders in this arrangement.

[jacobhinkley]

Huobi’s first step in European Union begins with London

Huobi, one of the prominent cryptocurrency exchange platform in Asia announced that the company is branching out to Europe. Huobi was established in the year 2013 in China which is one of the top exchange platforms in the market with over 200 trading pairs available for the investors. It has originated from Beijing and now expanding its presence in Europe, beginning with London.

Peng Hu, the Vice President of Huobi group says:

“Not Malta, not Switzerland. Absolutely London, more precisely Britain, is the entry point for the European market for us. Soon we will have an office here.”

The firm is planning to develop a relationship with various banks across London and further release services for the European customer base. It is being noticed that the UK Government is investing a lot in research which is related to blockchain technology. They believe that these technologies would help in the advancement of the economy and it would benefit UK citizens in various ways. Currently, cryptocurrency is VAT Exempt in the UK.

Senior Business Development Manager for Europe at Huobi, Chern Chung says:

“our statistics show that London is the most active trading scene across all of Europe”,

Huobi has recently launched its trading platform in South Korea which is currently trading around 207 cryptocurrencies. According to various sources, the firm will soon have a subdivision in San Francisco as well. The firm has registered with one of the U.S regulators databases.

Earlier this month, Leon Li, the founder, and CEO of Huobi said that the company has not completely explored the U.S regulations for their exchanges.

He added:

“Currently there is no clear regulatory requirement for crypto-to-crypto trading platforms from the U.S. at the federal level. Other platforms like Poloniex also work similarly with registration as a money service business.”

Huobi stands at 4th position among all the exchanges with an overall volume of $1.48 billion in the past 24 hours according to coinmarketcap. The top 4 currencies available on the platform are Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], EOS [EOS] and Bitcoin Cash [BCH].

Gracia Miller, a Bitcoin enthusiast says:

“Great move. EU should be the target of all exchange platforms.”

The post Huobi’s first step in European Union begins with London appeared first on AMBCrypto.

Huobi’s first step in European Union begins with London published first on https://medium.com/@smartoptions

[asocio-blog2]

Optimize Taxes In The European Union – Where to live as a digital nomad in the European Union

The advantages and disadvantages of the European Union

As much as the lack of democracy and overregulation in the European Union may pester us, we should remember the favourable circumstances it has.  These emerge particularly concerning its fundamental opportunities, similar to the opportunity of trade, development and establishment.  These opportunities structure the establishments of how individuals can maintain a strategic distance from the chains that these countries endeavour to put on them.

This is an immense distinction between what occurs in most different States, including creating countries everywhere throughout the world, where long haul residence is increasingly hard to acquire. Because of the opportunity of freedom of establishment, any European citizen can travel every which way from the country they are in, at whatever place they choose. Inside the Schengen Zone, there are no requirements to turning into a resident inside another EU State other than having substantial medical coverage or insurance, a residence and a base salary of about €80 per week.

It’s moderately simple to get temporary residence permits, although they do require a period in which you remain in that country.  Yet this is unequivocally what digital nomads would prefer not to consent to, they need to stay flexible. As a digital nomad, your work gives you a chance to move around without being secured. What you will search for is a residence permit in a nation that does not expect you to remain there for a half year of the year.

Albeit numerous countries like this exist outside the EU, getting these permits is significantly more muddled and costly for EU natives. On the chance that the expense of a permanent residence limits you in countries like Paraguay ($6,000) or Panama ($10,000), numerous other appealing countries would cost around six figures. Such sums of cash can be difficult to get together for individuals who are simply beginning. Be that as it may, the most well off entrepreneurs, the individuals who can bear the cost of permanent residence outside the EU, will be liable to the tax on changing domiciles and different laws intended to maintain a strategic distance from vast scale capital flight.

For this kind of entrepreneur, it’s not worth the exertion of moving to a foreign nation outside the EU, regardless of whether it is a lot less expensive from a financial perspective. There is another way, however, much appreciated to EU protection of rights, with regard to the tax on changing your domicile, changing your home inside the EU turns out to be a lot simpler and more advantageous.  The tax assessment contrasts inside the EU itself are as yet colossal.

What Are the Advantages of the EU?

The European Union has improved neighbourhood environments.

Since the formation of the EU, the nature of the oceans and shorelines that are found all through the continent have improved significantly. This is a direct result of guidelines that were executed at a Union flat. Over 90% of European travellers location fulfil a minimum water quality guidelines today, which is a tremendous increment from the 1950s.

It makes a progressively compelling monetary block.

Individual countries inside Europe battle to hold the effect on the worldwide stage on account of their size. By having a few little countries join for one economic reason, more impact can be applied to local and worldwide financial aspects and economics. Bigger monetary blocks make better import and export opportunities, better valuing on necessities merchandise and unhindered commerce free trade opportunities to profit more prominent’s for Europe.

It has modernised the countries.

Members of the EU like Turkey have turned out to be an EU country because of the advantages of being a part of the EU. Explicit criteria for membership incorporate influencing commitments to human rights, to have a particular specific rule of law, and following a market economy. This anticipates segregation and gives fair treatment over the continent while empowering financial development in the meantime.

Travel becomes simpler.

With the countries of Europe cooperating, it has made a general public that is borderless for travel purposes. There are fewer checkpoints, traditions or customs entry points and another distinguishing verification prevents when making a trip from country to country. This takes into account free travel inside the landmass for the individuals who have connected for the suitable recognisable identification.

Employment occurs on account of the presence of the European Union.

In the United Kingdom, up to 10% of all work openings are legitimately connected to the EU. The United States has business binds to the European Union also. Without that structure, those occupations and the financial matters they give would vanish. A large number of individuals would be dislodged and billions would vanish from the worldwide economy.

On the opposite side, plainly there are two Europes, one Western and one Eastern with various tax systems. The Eastern piece of Europe is attempting to pull in investors so they fundamentally diminish the corporate tax assessments and apply flat tax rates to residents willing to migrate.

Sadly, countries with non-dom tax programs like Malta, Ireland and Cyprus have least stay necessities. While it’s difficult to control this as it’s smarter to be erring on the side of caution.

There are numerous countries inside the EU where tax residence doesn’t rely upon the length of your stay. Under a Taxation perspective, there are numerous burdens of living in Europe. There is no real way to avoid tax like in the tax heaven anyway the tax rate can be actually low in certain countries like Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland.

VAT (Value Added Tax): There is no real way to avoid to pay the VAT. The Value Added Tax, or VAT, in the European Union, is a general, extensively put together consumption tax evaluated with respect to the esteem added to products and services. It applies pretty much to all products and services that are purchased and sold for utilisation in the European Union. Hence, products which are sold for export or administrative services which are sold to clients abroad are regularly not subject to VAT. On the other hand, imports are taxed to keep the framework reasonable for EU manufacturers so they can contend on equivalent terms on the European market with providers arranged outside the Union.

You need to keep records and submit to inspections: You should keep accounts and send them to the experts for assessment and observing, which costs you time and money. The severity of the prerequisites and controls shifts between the diverse EU countries.

The individuals who would prefer not to make good on regulatory tax or keep accounts need to live outside the European Union. Together with the advantages including, for example, your proximity to your clients and add your country origin (in case you’re from Europe), the likelihood of changing your tax residence, comfort, great notoriety and so forth, remaining in the EU could be a decent alternative for you.

Obviously, inside the EU there are numerous choices that enable you to utilise diverse kinds of a tax assessment to support you and re-appropriate bookkeeping requiring little effort. Picking up a European country as a country of residence outside of your country of the source can give you a chance to advance your tax assessments lawfully and considerably more effectively than if you remain in your country’s origin.

Where Digital Nomad will pay taxes?

For some digital nomads, a significant number of these business visionaries aren’t prepared to secure themselves to some place for tax advantages.

Residency VS Citizenship

Your citizenship is generally settled when you are born in that country, or you become a grown-up individual. It once in a while changes, except if you are under extraordinary conditions – like if your folks are from various countries or you intentionally change it. As it were, it characterises your nation’s origin. Going or moving to an alternate country, even on a permanent basis, won’t have any impact on it, you will at present be a native of your home country.

There are methods for obtaining another citizenship or changing your present one. In any case, it’s not something that happens just by voyaging or visiting different countries.

On the other hand, your residency characterises where you are living or investing the vast majority of your precious time. In specific situations, you can turn into a resident of another nation. For instance, on the chance that you are a European, and move to another EU country, possibly to work, for a year, you can absolutely turn into a resident there. As we will see later, this has suggestions where you should settle your tax payments.

With everything taken into account, changing your residency is route simpler than changing your citizenship.

Citizenship and residency give you distinctive rights and obligations. How about we perceive how this influences how you should make good on tax payment, contingent upon the tax assessment guideline you are under.

Sorts of Tax Regulations

Diverse countries apply distinctive guidelines to how their citizen settle the paid tax. Many countries apply a Residence-based Tax Regulation which implies you, as an individual, pay tax in your nation of residence, not importantly your home country. Every European country holds fast to this guideline system.

Different countries, similar to the US and Eritrea, apply a Citizenship-based Tax Regulation.  This suggests in the event that you are a US resident, regardless of whether you go to France to live and work there for a French organisation for a long time, you will, in any case, need to settle your taxes in America. The US tax system framework is extremely complex and there are bunches of patches and exemptions to this standard rule, citizenship-based tax countries will impose a tax to their non-resident natives on overall income.

Obviously, there are heaps of exceptions and unique cases on each solid legislation. For instance, on the chance that you are a British student owing to student loans, the UK will impose a worldwide income tax on them, regardless of where you live. To all the more likely comprehend your specific case, you ought to ask an expert.

There are other all the more fascinating tax guidelines. Territorial tax duty guideline framework system – like Panama-tax their individual natives just on their local income. This implies that on the chance that you procure money abroad, that is not taxed. At long last, there are a couple of countries that force no tax system on people, like Qatar or the Cayman Islands. These countries are generally viewed as tax heaven and the ramifications of being a resident or citizen of those countries are too intricate to even consider exploring in this article.

Double Taxation Treaties

There are no universal guidelines that state how the individuals who work or invest time outside their countries of origin are to be taxed on their pay.

Now and again, two countries could think of you as a tax-resident in the same time and both could expect you to pay tax on your complete overall income worldwide. Fortunately, most countries have double tax agreement, that generally provides the principles that figure out which country should regard you as a resident and, thus, the tax you as a person. In the European Union, for example, there’s a rundown of double tax assessment treaties with different countries. A standout amongst the most confounding parts of running an organisation is the qualification among you and your organisation with respect to taxes. There’s one thing that should be clear in your brain.

The world isn’t prepared yet for digital nomads.

Be that as it may, at the present time, the idea of “not belonging” to a place or not having a relentless residence totally conflicts with most tax assessment guidelines. To exacerbate the situation, there’s no worldwide law with respect to taxes for digital nomads. Current laws were written in the occasions when individuals, for the most part, remained in their countries of origin. Travelling to the far corners of the planet all the time shows numerous difficulties that have no answer starting today.

Furthermore, there are numerous things that are as yet attached to either your citizenship or your permanent residency. A portion of these things incorporates medical insurance, contracts, work guidelines, marriage rights and so on.

Best Location for Digital Nomads

Before you sign a lease contract or register with the enumeration, you should consider how this will shape your future business. Contingent upon your home country, there are different conditions that offer a need for foreign or domestic business structures. In these countries (for instance, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Slovakia), you can deal with your outside organisations without any inconveniences, regardless of whether these work tax-free. This implies by that on the chance that you have an organisation in a non-EU nation without corporate tax, and you dwell in one of the countries above, you won’t need to pay tax obligation as an organisation,

CYPRUS

Tax collection is one of the most favourable circumstances of living in Cyprus. There is a high-income tax threshold, special rates for foreign annuities and interest can be tax-free for a long 17 years. There is no capital gains tax on shares.

It is safe to say that you are living in Cyprus or considering moving there? We think you have settled on an incredible decision as there are such a significant number of advantages to be living on the island. We could wax melodious about the climate, lifestyle, amicable individuals, shorelines.

Income Tax

As a resident of Cyprus, you are taxable on your overall global income.  Rental income is liable to both income tax and defence contributions.

Your first €19,500 of pay is tax-free. After that rates begin at 20% and rise continuously to 35% for money over €60,000.

Corporate Taxes

Presently at 12.5% corporate tax assessment, Cyprus has the most minimal rates in the EU, together with Ireland (12.5%) and excluding the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, which in spite of the fact have a nil rate for non-financial services firms (and 10% for financial services firms) are not in the EU. Cyprus emerges as a premium corporate tax arranging jurisdiction because of the following accompanying key perspectives: Presently with a 12.5% top cap, Cyprus has the least corporate tax assessment in the European Union – applies to both onshore and offshore organisations.

Corporate tax assessment can be decreased to 0% since gains from trading in securities are totally exempt.

No retention or withholding tax on dividends profits, interest and royalties paid from Cyprus. Dividends to shareholders are tax exempt.

Benefits from the sale of shares, bonds, debentures and different titles of organisations set up anyplace on the planet are tax exempt.

Half of the income from interest inferred by a Cypriot registered organisation is exempt from corporate tax.

A 30% cap on personal income tax, together with high tax-exempt threshold of just under €20,000

CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech Republic taxes individual personal income at a flat tax assessment rate of 15%, which is not so bad. In case you’re independently or self-employed (as an EU native, you can become self-employed very easily and effectively in the Czech Republic), you’re permitted to apply a wonderful lump-sum deduction amount reasoning so as to bring down your taxable income.

For the most part, the lump sum deduction of 40% applies, when you have a taxable income base of 100, you can deduct 40 from it. You will at that point pay 15% personal income tax on the rest of the 60. The main concern is that your personal income tax rate is diminished to just 9%. Truly, we could live with that! Superior is the point at which you’re taking part in cultivating and farming activities. Regardless of whether you breed chickens, kangaroos, ostriches or Bugs Bunnies, whether you develop and cultivate wonderful blooms, high – fibre vegetables good for the digestion and intestines.

As a self-employed person in the Czech Republic, your personal tax rate approaches just 3% (because of the liberal lump sum deduction of 80%)!

The Czech Republic offers openings, that at the very least is plainly evident. As an independently employed individual, you can basically invoice a Czech organisation and you can settle or pay personal income taxes in the Czech Republic at a most maximum flat rate of 9% (considering the lump sum deduction).

BULGARIA

In the event that you decide to likewise live in Bulgaria and not simply incorporate your business in the country, you should pay social security contributors. These additionally cover medical insurance and amount of ~27% of the individual income. There is a threshold of the greatest income on which security contributions are expected. For 2018 it is ~€1350. This implies on the chance that you make more than that on a month to month basis you will even now pay social security contributions on the measure of €1350.

Bulgaria shares the most minimal income tax rate of 10% in the entire EU with Cyprus. Be that as it may, as clarified prior, the flat duty for consultants is diminished by at any rate 25% and up to 60% successfully making it as high as 7.5%.

The Bulgarian corporate tax of 10% is likewise among the least in the EU where just Hungary applies a lower tax rate of 9%. Other mainstream goals for advanced migrants like Estonia apply a 20% tax assessment rate.  Generally, Bulgaria can be viewed as tax heaven along with Cyprus and Luxembourg. This preferred standpoint of the nation has likewise been expressed by the administration as a steady arrangement having at the top of the priority list precisely the objective to bring foreign investors and small businesses.

HUNGARY

Hungary’s tax assessment of a person’s income is flat. In 2018 the tax rate in Hungary for an individual was 15%. There are diminished rates of tax for certain income earning people. Corporate tax in Hungary in 2018 was fixed at 9%. Business is committed to deduct, quickly on a month to month premise, the tax payable on an employee’s salary. A self-employed individual must prepay income tax that will be counterbalanced on documenting a yearly return.

An individual pays tax on his income as a worker or as a self-employed individual. Tax for a person who meets the criteria of a “permanent resident” in Hungary will be determined on his income in Hungary and abroad. A foreign resident who is employed in Hungary pays tax just on his income earned in Hungary. To be viewed as a Hungarian resident, there are various criteria to be met.

SLOVAKIA

Setting up an organisation in Slovakia or Estonia, for instance, includes paying 19% or 20% corporate tax separately. However, the dispersion of profits is tax-free for local organisations. Slovakia tax system framework is the rate of 19% of significant value added including income tax (the standard VAT rate is immediately raised to 20% since January 1, 2010, because of reasons identified with the financial economic crisis). . They can without much of a stretch become sole proprietors in their new countries of origin and as take advantage of setting up small businesses. The tax on sales volume just applies from a significantly high threshold, and typical income tax is supplanted by exceptional taxes on sales volume. This flat segment is pertinent for foreigners too. After January 1, 2005, there is never any tax on the transfer of proprietorship title and the inheritance tax is never applicable also. Additionally, there is no purchase tax in Slovakia. Capital gains from sales of the assets are fused into taxable income, however, there is no separate capital gains tax. All things considered, a commitment to pay tax on profits by the government, obligation on the benefits of a real estate sale exists and any income from the clearance of real estate is taxed at a flat rate of 19%.  Much of the time, digital nomads have no motivation to set up an organisation.

For more information contact www.sociodigi.com

[coin-news-blog]

More Nations Join the Club of Crypto-Friendly Jurisdictions

New Post has been published on https://coinmakers.tech/news/more-nations-join-the-club-of-crypto-friendly-jurisdictions

More Nations Join the Club of Crypto-Friendly Jurisdictions

More Nations Join the Club of Crypto-Friendly Jurisdictions

Regulatory barriers are a major concern for businesses working with decentralized assets. Not all governments, however, are putting obstacles in front of crypto companies. In fact the number taking a crypto-friendly stance is in fact increasing.

Executives View Regulations as the Biggest Threat

Government regulations are a determining factor for the business climate crypto companies operate in. A recently published survey conducted among executives from the industry shows that the slow advance in that respect is a major concern. Over half of the respondents, 53% of CEOs polled by venture capital firm Digital Currency Group, singled out the regulatory environment as the main “enemy.” Other threats include a possible economic downturn and cybersecurity risks.

A quarter of the questioned managers admitted that compliance was the greatest challenge they faced last year, while a third stated that the lack of regulatory progress this year surprised them the most. Rules constricting the growth of cryptocurrencies are a much bigger concern to the industry than hacking attacks, for example. The situation can deteriorate even further with policymakers calling for increased oversight in the sector.

Existing regulations in many countries are quite inadequate as they don’t reflect the specifics of crypto-related economic activities, and where new ones are introduced they are often rather hostile. But there are a few notable exceptions, mostly in Europe, like Switzerland, Estonia, Belarus, Malta, and Gibraltar. Authorities in these jurisdictions have taken the lead to establish favorable regulatory frameworks that attract more crypto companies.

Three Countries Make Positive Steps

The number of governments with positive attitudes towards cryptocurrencies and entities working with digital assets is growing, and the crypto community has seen some promising developments over the last few months. These include the adoption of new legislation creating more business-friendly conditions for crypto companies as well presenting a favorable interpretation of tax rules that can save investors money.

Liechtenstein, which is considered by many to be an integral part of the expanding Swiss Crypto Valley, recently adopted a law that aims to clarify the regulatory environment for crypto businesses and attract more of them to the German-speaking principality. The “Token Act,” approved unanimously by its parliament, turns Liechtenstein into a secure location for service providers operating with digital coins and tokenized securities. The tiny Alpine nation hopes to become a major European fintech hub. Several dozen companies from the industry, including entities dealing with cryptocurrencies, are already based or represented in the country.

Regulatory uncertainty can put off businesses and individual investors. But two clarifications issued by Portugal’s tax authority position the country as a crypto tax haven in Europe. In its latest statement on the matter, the regulator said that transactions related to mining, the miner’s reward and its exchange to fiat, should be exempted from VAT. The agency has previously announced that although cryptocurrencies can generate taxable income, gains on their sale or appreciation received by private individuals are not subject to taxation.

Ukraine, which recently elected a younger and more tech-savvy generation of politicians to power, is also embracing cryptocurrencies. There is now a general consensus between government institutions, business circles, and civil society on the need to legalize decentralized digital assets and regulate related economic activities. Several new bills designed to accomplish that goal have been proposed or are currently being finalized. They should provide answers to questions concerning the legal status of cryptocurrencies and taxation in the industry.

If you need a really good example of a crypto-friendly nation, look to Slovenia. Authorities there have a very relaxed policy towards digital currencies. It’s legal in Slovenia to own and trade coins, and capital gains of individual crypto investors are not taxed. Government support has allowed for a thriving crypto industry to develop. One of its members, Eligma, is the startup behind the crypto payment processing platform Elipay which allows in-shop purchases with bitcoin cash (BCH) and other major cryptocurrencies. Mainly thanks to its services, the country now has the most BCH-accepting physical locations in the world, as news.Bitcoin.com reported, numbering over 400.

Source: news.bitcoin

[fee-calculator]

vat calculator malta

If we calculate value added tax of malta we need vat calculator malta.A best calculate tax malta.

Value added tax (VAT) in Malta was first introduced in 1995, and has undergone various changes since then. When Malta became an EU member in 2004, VAT in Malta was harmonized with the EU’s Council Directive regarding VAT.

A vat calculator malta

VAT in Malta is applied to all goods and services…