Best of the Web: IRS disputes US' $100bn 'tax-haven' loss estimate

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman said projections that the US loses $US100 billion annually to offshore tax havens are "wild estimates" that "don't have much basis".

According to The Age, the tax commissioner said today, the problem is serious enough that the agency needs hundreds of new employees and new law-enforcement tools recommended by President Barack Obama. Full story...

Proposals for a radical overhaul of financial supervision in Europe, due to be published next week, are likely to put Brussels on a collision course with the UK, The FT reports.

A draft of the European Commission's working document on financial supervision, obtained by the Financial Times, suggests that EU officials are determined to push ahead with the two-tiered approach suggested this year by Jacques de Larosiere, the former French central banker, as they try to safeguard against future financial crises. Full story...

Ireland's ambassador in Washington has written to the US treasury department expressing concern about the State's "unjustified" inclusion in a document about low tax jurisdictions with the Netherlands, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, the Dáil has heard.

The Irish Times says Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said the Ambassador had written on the Government's behalf about "our inclusion in this report", prepared by the General Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of the US Congress. Full story...

The business empire of Robert Tchenguiz has been hit with a £180m lawsuit after preventing Kaupthing, the failed Icelandic bank, from seizing control of its proceeds from the sale of Somerfield, The Guardian reports.

The claim highlights the bitter falling-out between the bank and its largest customer. At one point last year, Kaupthing's loans to Tchenguiz companies were equivalent to 46% of deposits held by the bank. Full story...

Bermuda has been working diligently to remove itself from a list of tax havens released last month by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Bermuda's deputy premier said Monday.

"We resist and resent the appellation of tax haven," Paula A. Cox told The Washington Times. Full story...

The Philippines has been stricken off the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) gray list of countries that committed to but have not yet fully complied with international tax standards, the Department of Finance said over the weekend, according to The Manilla Times. Full story...

Are Bermuda national employees who travel to the United States on business subject to US Federal and State individual income tax? It is very likely that they are, Bermuda's The Royal Gazette reports.

Is a Bermuda employer who sends a Bermuda national to work in the United States responsible for withholding and paying US Federal and State income tax, Social Security and Medicare tax and Federal Unemployment tax? Definitely. Full story...

Mauritius says it is not a tax haven and is willing to address India's concerns on the tax treaty between the two countries, according to India's UTVI.

The India-Mauritius tax treaty has been a subject of debate for many years, with the Indian government pushing for a renegotiation of the treaty.

But Mauritius has consistently refused to do so. The treaty provides capital gains exemption to all Mauritius- based investors investing in India, and that has billions of dollars of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) being invested into India through Mauritius. Full story...