Of the top 100 British multinationals all but two companies have their setup in jurisdictions classed as tax havens, according to new data provided by members of the FTSE 100 group declaring the locations of their subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates.
The financial sector has the greatest presence with the 'big four' banks – HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Group, and RBS – accounting for 1,649 companies located in jurisdictions classed as tax havens. Beyond banks, the data shows that nearly all of the top UK multinationals have subsidiaries in such jurisdictions. Overall, a quarter (8,492) of the 34,216 subsidiary companies, joint ventures, and associates of the FTSE 100 are located in dozens of jurisdictions classed as tax havens worldwide.
Fresnillo, a Mexican-based mining company incorporated in the UK, and Hargreaves Landsdown, a financial services company based in Bristol, are the only two in the FTSE 100 group that did not report companies located in tax haven jurisdictions.
Chris Jordan, tax justice expert at ActionAid, said: ‘‘Tax havens have a damaging impact on the UK exchequer, the stability of the international financial system, and vitally on the ability of developing countries to raise tax revenues which would lift them out of poverty and make them less dependent on aid’’.
A 2009 report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that 83 of the 100 largest US publicly traded corporations were maintaining subsidiaries in tax havens. A similar study, focusing on the tax haven presence of French companies in the CAC-40 index, was published in 2009 by Alternatives Economiques.
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Addicted to tax havens: The secret life of the FTSE 100 report by Action Aid
ReplyDeleteInternational development charity Action Aid have said the use of offshore companies has reached ‘‘epidemic levels’’ and demanded that politicians close tax loopholes and that tax dodging by multinational companies in the world's poorest countries kept them dependent on aid from countries such as Britain.
Action Aid criticised the Government for considering reforms to controlled foreign companies which it says would give a £840m tax break to firms using tax havens, and make it easier for them to dodge taxes in developing countries.
The banks are by far the biggest users of the Cayman Islands, where Barclays alone has 174 companies. Oil giants BP and Shell have almost 1,000 tax haven companies between them, while British American Tobacco has 200 and UK-only retailers such as Morrisons and Sainsbury's also feature on the list.
10 Richest people in Britain
ReplyDelete1 Lakshmi Mittal and family
£17,5billion Steel
2 Alisher Usmanov £12,4 billion Steel
3 Roman Abramovich £10,3 billion Oil, Industry
4 Duke of Westminster £7, billion Property
5 Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli £6,8 billion Pharmaceuticals
6 Leonard Blavatnik £6,2 billion Industry
7 John Fredriksen and family £6,2 billion Shipping
8 David and Simon Reuben £6,1 billion Property, Internet
9 Gopi and Sri Hinduja £6 billion Industry, Finance
9 Galen, George Weston & family £6 billion retailing
and how much tax do they avoid paying I wonder
If all these companies and billionaires paid their taxes in full rather than using fancy accounting to avoid paying their dues wouldn’t there be enough to finance the NHS and support the sick, disabled, elderly and unemployed. One day these people may regret being so greedy if the poor rise up and say enough is enough we want a fairer share of Britain’s wealth and decide to take it. The old witch Maggie and her followers Blair and Cameron may just be the recruiting sergeants for a new generation of socialist activists.
ReplyDeleteViva la Revolución!
ReplyDelete