Category: Bermuda

Apple to IBM hoard $206b abroad to avoid US tax

The largest US-based companies added $206 billion to their stockpiles of offshore profits last year, parking earnings in low-tax countries until Congress gives them a reason not to. The multinational companies have accumulated $1.95 trillion outside the US, up 11.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to securities filings… – Continue reading

Hunting Lost Revenue in Offshore Tax Havens

Some states are going after multinational corporations which avoid state taxes by stashing some of their earnings in offshore tax havens, an effort aimed at recouping some of the more than $20 billion states lose to such gimmicks each year. Shifting income to subsidiaries in places like the Cayman Islands… – Continue reading

Bermuda: International Tax Information Exchange In Bermuda Clarified

The Bermuda Court of Appeal has ruled that the target of an intergovernmental request for information under a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) may require the Attorney General to produce the terms of the request in order to confirm that the request meets the statutory requirements under the International Co-operation… – Continue reading

Forcing corporations to pay tax on Maine profits stashed offshore is simple way to enforce tax law

Small business owners can feel a little bit like ping-pong balls when elected officials start talking about taxes. I’m a board member of the Maine Small Business Coalition, to which 3,600 Maine small business owners belong. I’m also a registered nurse and owner of a home child care center where… – Continue reading

Several offshore zones suggest exchanging tax information with Russia

Russia’s Finance Ministry has received suggestions from several offshore zones on organization of negotiations on exchange of tax information, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov told a Week of Russian Business on Monday. “Lately, the finance ministry has received suggestions from the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda Islands, the Isle of… – Continue reading

Will Offshore Tax Havens Face More Scrutiny in 2014?

The Isle of Man is kind of like the United Kingdom’s version of the Caymen Islands. Technically it’s a crown dependency, and the British government is responsible for its defense and foreign relations. But it’s also completely self-governing with one of the oldest Parliaments in the world. The “island administration,” which… – Continue reading

Global tax avoidance – a trillion dollar evil

In a world of widening inequality, it is perhaps the most pernicious injustice of them all. Multinational corporations and wealthy individuals avoiding tax on an unprecedented scale, shuffling assets, income and debt to the most favourable tax jurisdictions and confounding hapless authorities. It is impossible to identify exactly how much… – Continue reading

Irish Corporate Tax 2014: How official spin and distortion works – in short-term

Irish Corporate Tax 2014: The current Irish governance system has remained unchanged through boom and bust and the addiction to political spin, distortion and sometimes lies, works at least in the short term while in some cases it has an enduring impact. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, it’s possible “to… – Continue reading

Murdoch’s $880m tax win raises issues of global corporations’ tax liability

An $880 million payout to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has reignited the debate over whether global companies pay their fair share of tax in Australia. News was paid the money after winning a long-running legal battle with the Tax Office relating to a 1989 restructure of the media empire involving… – Continue reading

New research makes it plain that Ireland is a tax haven

Is Ireland a tax haven? The Irish government bristles at the question, given rising interest in cracking down on offshore financial centers, but research from a Trinity College professor is pretty definitive: Yes, it is. When Ireland’s leaders defend their country from accusations that global companies like Apple use Irish… – Continue reading

Ireland in spotlight over multinationals

When Taoiseach Enda Kenny was grilled over Ireland’s low tax regime for multinationals on a visit to Paris last week, he fell back on a familiar defence. By now it’s a regular refrain – Ireland’s corporate taxes are crystal clear and transparent. Ours, he added, is a statute-based system which… – Continue reading

Yahoo’s Irish move may be start of Swiss corporate exodus

Yahoo! Inc is shifting its main European tax base to Ireland from Switzerland, a Reuters examination of company statements and accounts shows, as pressure mounts on the Alpine nation to abolish some corporate tax incentives. The internet search group said the shift reflected a streamlining of its European operations and… – Continue reading

France will not tolerate tax avoidance, says Francois Hollande

France will not tolerate tax avoidance, says Francois Hollande French president Francois Hollande says that “everyone must be in the same competitive situation” French president Francois Hollande speaks during a press conference to present his 2014 policy plans at the Elysee presidential palace. Francois Hollande is making a state visit… – Continue reading