EU considers new rules to limit banking secrecy

Banking secrecy should not stop European governments from swapping information on possible tax evaders, the EU executive said Monday, backing French and German efforts to clamp down on tax fraud.


The new measures, if approved by all 27 EU nations, would affect EU residents trying to avoid taxes at home by opening accounts in Luxembourg, Belgium and Austria, which have laws allowing for a high level of banking confidentiality. Low taxes in tiny Luxembourg also attract many investors from neighboring Belgium, France and Germany......that would be me.
READ MORE

Outlet Shopping in Belgium

Belgium has two outlet centers with another on the way. The discounts aren't huge, but it's a nice little daytrip through some great countryside.

All the participating brands offer their previous collections (often from last season) at prices around 30% less than normal retail price. Anne Fontaine, Barbour, Essentiel, Bellerose, Petit Bateau, Levis, Chine, Donaldson and many others can be found here.

As well as fashion stores you can shop at lingerie, accessories and interior decoration stores. For the end of year festivities, Maasmechelen Village Outlet Shopping will host several events such as a Christmas market given visitors an opportunity to taste Christmas specialties. Prices are even more insane during the sales (70-80% reductions) ?

The first in Flanders is known as Maasmechelen Village, and is the largest outlet shopping attraction in Belgium. Located at the crossroads of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is twenty minutes from Maastricht and just one hour from Antwerp, Brussels, Düsseldorf and Cologne.

For the French speaking part of the country, Factory Shopping at Messancy has recently increased in size and doubled the number of stores (Pepe Jeans, Kipling, Le phare de la Baleine, etc). The village of Messancy is situated in the heart of southern Luxembourg province, close to the town of Arlon, in the borer region between Belgium, France and Luxembourg

They will find a way to get your money

The European Union agreed Tuesday to sweeping changes to the way electronic services are taxed after Luxembourg finally agreed to a deal to end the perks enjoyed by its e-commerce industry - but not until 2015.
Plans to apply sales tax in the country in which services are consumed, rather than the location of the company that sells them, are the latest assault on Luxembourg's ability to act as a tax haven.

But the dispute also raised issues about how the EU should adapt its tax regime to a world in which more services are bought and sold in cyberspace.
With its low rates of sales tax, or value added tax, Luxembourg has attracted many of the biggest names in online sales, including companies like Amazon.com, Skype and PayPal.

READ HERALD TRIBUNE

Alcohol Consumption Per Capita

Thanks to the magic of the internet and the vision of obviously bored people at Unusual Maps, we can now see the average number of litres of alcohol consumed per capita based on data from 2003.

Interesting to note that they drink the most booze in Luxembourg. This is most likely a cry for help by the Luxembourgers, as no one likes to be the country referred to in terms of, "What the hell is a Luxembourg?" We should remember the Luxumbourgians and the next time you see some passed out drunk in a ditch, look to your friend and say, "Check that guy out, he must have been Luxembourged last night".

Berlin to lift blockade on VAT reform

Germany will next week lift its blockade on sweeping reforms to Europe's sales tax regime in a move that threatens the e-commerce boom in Luxembourg, its tiny low-tax neighbour.
Companies such as Amazon, AOL and Skype have descended on Luxembourg in recent years to take advantage of the grand duchy's low VAT rate to sell services across Europe. READ ON