1,000 tax haven subsidiaries of the top 20 companies

[Raphael Weber]

When Barclays boss Bob Diamond confirmed that the bank had about 300 subsidiaries in tax havens there were gasps of dismay at a Treasury Select Committee hearing earlier this month.
Few at the highly charged meeting would have believed such a vast network of offshore companies existed, potentially allowing the bank and its clients to avoid huge sums in tax. They would still be in the dark had MP Chuka Umunna not put the figure to Diamond in the first place.
But a Financial Mail investigation can reveal that Barclays' Byzantine structure is far from unusual. In fact it is more the tip of the iceberg as far as Britain's biggest companies are concerned. More than 1,000 subsidiaries in offshore tax havens are operated by Britain's 20 biggest companies alone.
Yet Britain's tax authorities are currently at war with secretive tax jurisdictions. Only last Friday Revenue & Customs held its first meeting with Swiss negotiators over a plan to retrieve tax from the more than £100 billion salted away by UK taxpayers in bank accounts in Switzerland, Financial Mail understands.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1349583/SPECIAL-INVESTIGATION-1-000-tax-haven-subsidiaries-20-companies.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[ThomCat]

2. How the hell could they be surprised? Don't any of them have

any experience with large corporate holding companies?

Any large corporation can easily have over 50 subsidiaries without breaking any figurative sweat. So OF COURSE the biggest corporations are going to have many, many more than that.

In any large corporation the tax department has become a profit center, gaming the accounting and tax laws so that they take in more money in tax rebates and subsidies than they have to pay, paying no taxes but always getting money from the government every year.

And shuffling income from their US parent and subsidiary companies where they don't want to account for profits to other foreign subsidiaries where they can hide that income is a serious part of that game.

Shuffling all of their tax-subsidizable activities and debts onto the books of US subsidiaries, regardless of where it actually came from, is another part.

Don't they really how well organized this game is?

[DCKit]

3. They're just pissed that they've been kept in the dark for so long.

Only "little people" pay taxes, remember?

I doubt they ever considered themselves "little people" but their bosses (the REAL money), apparently do.

[ThomCat]

4. If they have been kept in the dark it has been because they

never looked.

With every resource available to them, and every congressional inquiry that has been held, and all the work that a couple of crusading folks like Feingold and Waxman have done to shine light, being in the dark can only be deliberate.

[Raphael Weber]

5. True n/t

[Cerridwen]

6. Guardian link enclosed. Raphael, you're about to get blasted by

some on this board for your choice of cite source, i.e., the daily mail. Here's a link to the Guardian instead. It also appears to have "live" blogging going on.

A quick scan of the Guardian report brings me to:

10.57am: Chuka Umunna now. Labour MP for Streatham. He is asking about payment of tax. "Payment of tax is an important responsibility," Diamond said. Umunna is asking about subsidiaries outside the UK, listing 300 subsidiaries in tax havens. Diamond is being asked about whether the structured arm of Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays, helped clients avoid tax. Diamond is saying that is the bank's obligation to help customers keep their tax bills down, citing the example of the tax incentives put in place to set up Canary Wharf. Diamond is saying it is like Isas. The Guardian investigated this division and received an injunction from Barclays, which Umunna is asking about. Diamond is stressing Barclays pays tax, £2bn last year. Barclays has signed up to Labour's code on tax, now adopted by the coalition, and Diamond is stressing the bank is complying with the "spirit and letter of the law". "I can assure you Barclays is not evading taxes," Diamond said.

Here's the link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/blog/2011/jan/11/bob-diamond-bank-bonuses-mps

[Raphael Weber]

7. Thanks!

I appreciate that. Didn't realize Daily Mail was not suitable source. Thanks for the Guardian!

[Cerridwen]

8. It has questionable "journalistic" qualities. Some will focus on

that rather than address the topic. The reaction changes depending on the topic. Just thought I should let you know so you don't get "blind-sided."

You're welcome. Welcome to DU.

:hi:

:kick:

[Raphael Weber]

9. Great

and thanks for the warm welcome!
:hi: