EU Member States have formally adopted the revised Savings Tax Directive. Tax Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta described this major breakthrough as a major step forward in the fight against tax evasion.

The agreement came after Austria and Luxembourg dropped their opposition to the reforms; a sign they believe that countries like Switzerland will also extend their tax transparency under the Directive.

Multiple pensions - Where are they now? It is very common during our work life to have 5 or 7 employers each with their own pension schemes and trying to keep track of them can often be quite difficult. Pension providers over the years have often been taken over or merged with other companies, which only heightens this problem.

What is investment risk? Before you start any financial plan you need to understand the risk, many of us aim in life to avoid risk, but there is no such thing in today’s world. Whether you’re simply walking down the street to buy a pint of milk or investing your savings in the stock market there’s a risk!

Over the last 15 years we have reported on a number of new initiatives to clamp down on offshore tax evasion, each one whittling away at financial privacy as we knew it. The Savings Tax Directive in 2005, with its automatic exchange of information on savings income, was revolutionary at the time, but not the end of the story. Far from it, in fact. Next year will see the introduction of a global automatic exchange of financial information, covering a wide range of income.

Last week I looked at the reforms to personal tax, savings and pensions announced in the UK Budget.
Although the pension news was the biggest element, there are other aspects that may affect expatriates.

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne delivered his Budget to Parliament on 19th March. By far the biggest surprise was the announcement of a complete overhaul to the pension regime.

Growth, the deficit and borrowing were at the heart of Mr Osborne’s speech, with the Chancellor making it clear this was a budget to support a resilient economy with savers at the centre.

2013 saw the biggest tax hikes in modern history come into effect on Portugal, considerably increasing the tax burden for Portuguese residents. The 2014 Budget did not include similar tax rises or any radical tax reforms, but taxes remain high.

Seventy wise men in Portugal have published a manifesto for changes in this country. They suggest prolonging the interest repayment installments and dropping the interest rates payable on Portugal’s loans, as in Greece.

The Dutch-Swedish Professor Stefan de Vylder and Jack Soifer propose the same approach, changing part of the country’s debt into credits to be used by the creditors’ clients, e.g, German, British and Dutch corporations would be issued vouchers to exchange for imports from Portuguese companies. This would raise the competitiveness of Portuguese companies and bring jobs.