Alfred Hitchcock and Tricky Tax

We have just been sent a most useful document: a really clear explanation of two highly important tax issues: transfer pricing and outward domestication. It's called Tricky Tax: Two Tax Avoidance Schemes Explained. The author has sent us these words to accompany it.

By Gideon Benari, guest blogger

Hitchcock said something to the effect that a confused audience was an unmoved one. I believe the same applies to the public. Without understanding how companies are exploiting the tax system, it is difficult to be motivated about it.

I am technical communicator, writer and researcher with a background in the broadcasting industry. Since the financial crisis began I have been particularly interested in understanding how specific aspects of the financial system work. So when I had to write a report for my Technical Communication Techniques qualification at the ISTC, tax avoidance schemes seemed an ideal subject.

The report sets out to bridge the gap between the relevance of tax avoidance to our every day life and the difficult subject matter. It describes, in plain language and with simple diagrams, the technical processes and structures of two commonly used tax avoidance schemes – transfer pricing and outward domestication. Both involve multinational corporations shifting profits across borders.

Tricky Tax is aimed at non-tax professionals. Those of us who want to understand how the tax system is manipulated. If you are concerned about the consequences of tax avoidance, but are instinctively repelled by numbers and balance sheets — this report is for you.