Apple, Bono and Queen Elizabeth II are just a few of the big names and companies revealed in the Paradise Papers leak to have shifted money across the globe to cut tax.
The spotlight on the tax affairs of the rich and powerful comes after a trove of documents was released by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), detailing secretive offshore deals that, while not illegal, are embarrassing for those concerned.
Here are some of the most well-known names caught up in the controversy:
- Politics -
- Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has, through the Duchy of Lancaster which provides her income and handles her investments, placed around £10 million ($13 million, €11.3 million) of her private money in funds held in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.
The funds were reinvested in an array of businesses, including controversial rent-to-own retailer BrightHouse which has been accused of exploiting the poor.
- US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross holds a 31 percent stake in maritime transport company Navigator Holdings through a complex web of offshore investments.
Navigator Holdings runs a lucrative partnership with Russian energy giant Sibur, linked to President Vladimir Putin's inner circle. Russia is subject to US sanctions.
- In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's top fundraiser and senior advisor Stephen Bronfman, heir to the Seagram fortune, moved some $60 million to an offshore haven in the Cayman Islands.
- Brazil's economy and agriculture ministers, Henrique Meirelles and Blairo Maggi, are also cited in offshore companies in tax havens.
- Celebrities -
- U2 frontman Bono is shown in the leak to own a stake in a Maltese company that bought in 2007 a Lithuanian shopping mall via a Lithuanian holding company, which may have broken tax rules by using an unlawful accounting technique.
- Britain's four-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton avoided paying taxes on a private jet, receiving a £3.3 million VAT refund in 2013 after it was imported into the Isle of Man, a low-tax British Crown Dependency.
- Multinationals -
- Technology giant Apple shifted much of its offshore wealth from Ireland to the Jersey tax haven in the British Isles to adapt to the tightening of Irish tax laws in 2015.
- US sportswear giant Nike used a loophole in Dutch fiscal law to reduce, via two companies based in the Netherlands, its tax rate in Europe to just two percent compared to the 25 percent average for European companies.
- The taxi-hailing ap Uber and the manufacturer of Botox, the Allergan pharmaceutical laboratory, allegedly used similar methods to Nike.
- The Paradise Papers also reveal that Russian companies with links to the Kremlin invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Twitter and Facebook.
The Internet giants are under fire, notably in the US Congress, for the use of their platforms to spread Russian rumours during the 2016 US presidential election.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Apple shifted much of its offshore wealth in the face of a tax crackdown on a haven it had in Ireland, according to reporting Monday on the Paradise Papers on the iPhone maker's tax strategy.
After the US technology colossus stated publicly in 2013 that it was paying its proper share of taxes, it moved the bulk of its untaxed overseas cash to the Channel Islands jurisdiction Jersey, the New York Times and BBC reported based on a once-secret cache of documents referred to as the Paradise Papers.
The documents shared with some media outlets by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has exposed tactics the wealthy and powerful have used to avoid taxes.
Prior to 2014, California-based Apple had taken advantage of tax rules to route overseas revenue through Irish subsidiaries to minimize taxes.
As Apple came under pressure in the US and Europe about what was called the "double Irish" scheme it enlisted offshore finance law firm Appleby to find a new place to stash cash out of reach of tax collectors, according to reporting.
Apple settled on Jersey, a dependency of the United Kingdom, which had a tax rate of zero for foreign companies, reports indicated.
Emails cited in coverage indicated Apple wanted the arrangement kept secret.
Apple is now facing an EU demand for some $14.5 billion in taxes based on a ruling that its tax structure in Ireland amounted to illegal state aid.
Appleby was cited as the source of much of the leaked financial data that has resulted in searing revelations in recent days.
Apple did not reply to an AFP request for comment, but has previously gone on record saying it pays all taxes required by law and that the amount it substantial.
The documents show details of offshore deals involving a US cabinet member, a fundraiser for Canada's prime minister, Queen Elizabeth II and others.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - Millions of pounds from the private estate of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II have been invested in offshore tax haven funds, a huge new leak of financial documents revealed on Sunday.
Around £10 million ($13 million, P670.7 million) of the Queen's private money was placed in funds held in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, according to the leaked papers, which were first reported in Britain by the BBC and the Guardian newspaper.
They said the funds reinvested the money in an array of businesses, including controversial rent-to-own retailer, BrightHouse, which has been accused of exploiting the poor, and a chain of alcohol stores which later went bankrupt.
The investments, which were entirely legal, were made through the Duchy of Lancaster, which provides the monarch with an income and handles investments of her vast estate and remain current, the media outlets said.
There is no suggestion that the Queen's private estate acted illegally or failed to pay any taxes due.
But the leaks may raise questions over whether it is appropriate for the British head of state to invest in offshore tax havens.
ONE RULE FOR THE SUPER RICH
A spokeswoman for the Duchy of Lancaster said: "All of our investments are fully audited and legitimate."
"We operate a number of investments and a few of these are with overseas funds."
She added: "the Queen voluntarily pays tax on any income she receives from the Duchy."
The spokeswoman noted that one of the fund investments represents only 0.3 percent of the total value of the Duchy.
Meanwhile the money put into BrightHouse "is through a third party", and equates to just 0.0006 percent of the Duchy's value, she added.
The investments emerged as part of a new mass leak -- dubbed the Paradise Papers -- by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which was behind the 2016 Panama Papers release.
The latest haul contains 13.4 million documents mainly from Appleby, an offshore law firm with offices in Bermuda and beyond, which were first obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, and shared with the ICIJ and partner media outlets.
A spokesman for the British government's taxation department on Sunday defended its efforts to tackle avoidance, noting it had secured an additional £160 billion ($209 billion, P10.7 trillion) in taxes since 2010.
"This includes more than £2.8 billion from those trying to hide money abroad to avoid paying what they owe," he said in a statement.
The spokesman added the department has 26,000 staff working on tax avoidance and evasion, while the government has provided an extra £800 million ($1 billion, P53.6 billion) to fund their efforts.
Jeremy Corbyn, the left-leaning leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, reacted to the leaks on Twitter, linking to a video in which he had challenged the government on the issue in Parliament.
"There's one rule for the super-rich and another for the rest when it comes to paying tax," he wrote.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
