Links Sep 1

Foreign IT firms use transfer-pricing provisions, double taxation treaties to minimise taxes in India The Economic Times
Sep 1 - "Although 30% of the workforce of IT multinationals is in India, they book barely 5% of revenue here."

France avoids Swiss tax deal – for now swissinfo
Aug 30 - On France resisting "Rubik" - the Swiss-German deal and the Swiss-UK deal deals. "Bern tried to convince the European Union that Rubik was similar to the automatic exchange of tax information, but in vain".

UK: Panama and BVI next targets for taxman Accountancy Age
Aug 30 - On targeting tax havens that offer company formation services without collecting information on beneficial ownership: "A senior source at HM Revenue & Customs said the UK is looking closely at jurisdictions that allow businesses to register without operating an adequate level of scrutiny of where the companies are effectively active."

UK: Private Finance Initiative shareholders are using tax havens, MPs find Accountancy Age
Sep 1 - Private Finance Initiative schemes (PFI's) are public projects that are part-funded by the private sector. A report by the Government's Public Accounts Committee found that "many shareholders of PFI investment funds are registered offshore."

See also:
Private finance deals allow investors to rip off taxpayers twice say MPs Daily Mail
Sep 1 - "Under the private finance initiative, firms agree to build, run and maintain a project or service – such as a school or hospital – in exchange for payment over the life of the contract, which lasts for years. But investors in these private firms are using offshore arrangements to dodge tax."

And consider:
Private finance costs taxpayer £20bn Financial Times
Aug 7 - The taxpayer is paying well over £20bn in “extra” borrowing costs – the equivalent of more than 40 sizeable new hospitals – for the 700 projects that successive governments have acquired under the private finance initiative, according to calculations by the Financial Times.

Crackdown on tax evasion leads to rise in criminal convictions Guardian
Aug 27 - "The low number of convictions in the past probably acted as a green light to hardcore tax evaders who felt that the chances of actually ending up behind bars were pretty negligible ...These convictions, along with the new power to name and shame tax evaders, will go some way towards changing that perception."

Corporate Social Responsibility and Tax Aggressiveness TaxProf
Sep 1 - See the two studies highlighted here. Results of both studies indicate that social investment commitment, and corporate and CSR strategy ... are important elements of CSR activities that have a negative impact on tax aggressiveness. See also TJN on Corporate responsibility and Accountability.

Plutocrats, taxes & moral decay The Hindu
Aug 31 - "The “feral rich” — bankers, business tycoons who exploit lax regulation and offshore tax havens, and expense-fiddling politicians — are all part of a wider problem, which the commentator Peter Oborne calls moral decay."

Unequal Protection: Unequal Taxes truth-out
Aug 30 - On corporate influence and tax. "The final irony is that while all of this fiscal benefit has accrued to companies through their personhood privileges and while they shift the tax burden to humans, they continue to claim exemptions from liability."