Category: Tax Planning

Commissioner Šemeta welcomes Council agreement on measures to fight tax avoidance

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Our campaign against corporate tax avoidance marches on, with further important advances today. I am delighted that Finance Ministers have agreed on a crucial revision to the Parent-Subsidiary Directive, which will block a prevalent form of aggressive tax planning, known as hybrid loan arrangements. No longer will… – Continue reading

Your Taxes: Going International

Going offshore means registering any intellectual property (IP) in an offshore company and delegating R&D and marketing to onshore companies. Money doesn’t grow on trees, and taking your business international is no picnic. On June 12, the International Business Structuring Association (IBSA) held a seminar to discuss ways of growing… – Continue reading

Corporate Tax Dodging Another Capitalist Innovation

Competition takes many forms in capitalism. Financial engineering by corporations to avoid paying taxes is one aspect of this competition — under the rigors of market competition, evading responsibility is an innovation to be emulated. The magnitude of tax evasion on the part of multi-national corporations through one channel —… – Continue reading

Half trillion dollars cash offshore as 14 US tech & pharma groups cut foreign tax rate to 10%

The Financial Times says today that 14 US tech & pharma groups, including  Microsoft, Google and Johnson & Johnson, have cut their average tax rate by a quarter over the past eight years as they parked more cash offshore than all other US companies combined. Almost a half trillion dollars… – Continue reading

The Top 5 Texas Companies Using Offshore Tax Havens–And Where They’re Hiding Their Money

Last week, the TexPIRG Education Fund and the watchdog group Citizens for Tax Justice released a new report examining in detail how Fortune 500 companies in the United States are using offshore havens to avoid paying the taxes they owe the federal government. According to the report, an astounding 72% of American Fortune… – Continue reading

Apple’s principal Irish company became stateless for tax purposes from 2006

Apple Operations International, the principal Irish holding company for foreign subsidiaries, was not always stateless for tax purposes based on the last filed accounts in Ireland. It stopped paying tax in Ireland from 2006, based on US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations evidence. The most explosive revelation in the May… – Continue reading

Apple, Starbucks Tax Deals With Irish, Dutch Probed by EU

Tax breaks for Apple Inc. (AAPL:US), Starbucks Corp. (SBUX:US) and Fiat Finance & Trade SA in three European Union countries are under investigation by EU competition regulators in a clampdown on special treatment for companies. The EU is checking whether the tax deals in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are illegal state aid, according to… – Continue reading

More big businesses set up firms in offshore tax havens

More South Korean conglomerates have been registering subsidiaries in offshore tax havens, according to corporate researcher Chaebul.com. The number of South Korean companies established in the top 10 offshore tax havens last year jumped nearly 60 percent on-year from 54 to 86, indicating more conglomerates taking advantage of lower tax… – Continue reading

Illinois parts-maker fights U.S. IRS over cross-border tax deal

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service and manufacturer Illinois Tool Works Inc. are battling in U.S. Tax Court over a $356.8 million dispute that highlights a type of cross-border tax avoidance strategy facing increased scrutiny worldwide. As governments crack down on tax-driven profit-shifting, the IRS is asserting that a loan used… – Continue reading

Levin-backed legislation aims to curb pace of companies moving offshore for lower taxes

While Perrigo Co. plc has already cut its tax burden by moving offshore in the $8.6 billion blockbuster deal with Irish pharmaceutical maker Elan Corp. that it says will allow it to expand globally, other U.S. corporations could have a hard time pulling off similar deals. New federal legislation aims to change… – Continue reading

Report: CT Loses $600M In Tax Revenue When Corporations Shift Profits

Seventy two percent of Fortune 500 companies avoid approximately $90 billion in taxes by booking profits to subsidiaries registered in offshore tax havens, according to a report from the ConnPIRG Education Fund and Citizens for Tax Justice. Each year, offshore tax loopholes used by U.S. multinational corporations cost Connecticut $600 million in… – Continue reading

Majority of U.S. Offshore Profits Claimed in 12 Tax Havens

U.S. corporations have reported to the Internal Revenue Service that 54 percent of their offshore profits are earned in 12 tax haven countries that, combined, only account for 4 percent of economic output among all countries where U.S. corporations do business. A new report by the advocacy group, Citizens for… – Continue reading

Wealth inequality skeptics are forgetting the rich keep giant piles of money offshore

How come different attempts to measure wealth inequality come up with different answers? + That’s a question raised by the Financial Times’ analysis of Thomas Piketty’s work on inequality, which compared his data set to others and identified discrepancies, particularly when using one experimental survey in the United Kingdom. +… – Continue reading

US Tax Cheats in Ireland Pocket Profits Worth Almost Half of GDP

It is a figure which Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), the US group which authored the report, says highlights Ireland’s popular use as a tax haven among US companies. Matt Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Policy in Washington DC, tells IBTimes UK: “It’s a clear indicator… – Continue reading

Amazon Facing Fresh UK Tax Avoidance Row

The internet retail giant Amazon is facing fresh claims of tax avoidance after its latest accounts showed it routed more than £11 billion through its Luxembourg-based subsidiary in 2013 – yet paid only £4 million in UK corporation tax last year. Amazon trades through the Luxembourg subsidiary, Amazon EU SARL,… – Continue reading

Top 12 tax havens for US companies

US corporations are making record profits in tax havens like Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Some of the profits exceed the GDP of the host country, with Bermuda’s offshore profits 1643% of total economic output. As a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), profits from… – Continue reading