スペインのGoogle, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Samsong, Microsoft 等は、税金の安いアイルランド、オランダ、ルクセンブルグ、スイスなどに利益移転して、合法的脱税(節税?)、脱税天国のベルムーダ島(Islas Bermudas)に利益移転。スペインの法人税は35%だが、アイルランドの法人税は12'5%。2011年にはGoogleは、76億0000'0000ユーロの利益を、脱税天国のIslas Bermudasに移転して15億0000'0000ユーロの脱税(節税?).Google Spainは2011年に3830万0000ユーロの売上をあげたが、アイルランドで3690万0000に利益移転し、さらに脱税天国のベルムーダ島に利益移転.Apple電脳器、携帯電話もアイルランドに価格移転して、利益はアイルランドに留まる。
Aunque seas ‘cool’ debes pagar impuestos
La competencia fiscal entre países abre oportunidades para que las empresas eludan impuestos. Reino Unido, Francia e Italia investigan a las sociedades globales por sus prácticas tributarias
Jesús Sérvulo González 23 DIC 2012 - 00:00 CET
Even if you are 'cool' you must pay taxes
Tax competition between countries creates opportunities for companies to evade taxes. UK, France and Italy are investigating global corporations for their tax practices
Jesus Gonzalez Sérvulo 23 DIC 2012 - 00:00 CET
"We're not accusing him of acting illegally, but to be immoral." So sharp was of Margaret Hodge, chairwoman of the commission investigating the controversial British Parliament tax practices of multinationals, to the manager of Google tax defending proceedings, Matt Brittin. Appeared before the House of Commons to explain why the Internet search engine transfers its profits to Ireland and operates some of its business from Bermuda. Brittin argued that all these operations are in accordance with the law.
This strategy allowed Google save tax last year more than 1,500 million euros in taxes by shifting profits around 7,600 million to tax haven Bermuda, as Bloomberg published a few days ago.
Google was saved last year 1,500 million euros in taxes
The U.S. giant's practices are imitated by other major multinationals like Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft and Starbucks. UK, France and Germany are investigating the tax tricks of these multinationals that shift profits to subsidiaries in European countries with lower taxes, such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland. These practices "aggressive tax planning", the name is known to the accounting techniques to reduce the bill with the IRS.
The effects of globalization, it makes these the most admired companies in the world, the coolest, allow these multinationals comb the country legislation and seek legal loopholes to reduce their tax bill. "There is something hazy with these traditional concepts of tax residence or residence of balance of payments in the context of an economy in which multinationals are everywhere, taxpayers everywhere and that makes a lot of accounting," says Augusto Lopez Claros, director of financial analysis and private sector of the World Bank (WB). This expert linked the phenomenon to globalization: "Traditional mechanisms we use to assess and measure [tax evasion] have been affected greatly by changes in the global economy."
Starbucks has rethought its strategy by citizen pressure
These companies turned into global icons begin to suffer the disgrace of their customers. In UK has created a citizens' movement against cuts Uk Uncut (www.ukuncut.org.uk) is holding protests against tax avoidance Starbucks, Amazon and Google. This organization held protests in fifty local coffee company to become social centers and nurseries. Social pressure has led Starbucks to reconsider its tax strategy and announce that you will pay more taxes in London.
Pressure from consumers and public institutions is changing tax policy of multinationals. "These practices affect the reputation of the business," explains Francisco Isidro, professor of ESIC. "It has an effect on the consumer. The intrinsic value of a brand is what is passed on to consumers, is what makes them fall in love with her. And these fiscal actions have an immediate negative effect. All manufacturers have to take care of these issues for your image. There is also an impact on the professional aspect of the companies with the damage to their CSR activities, "says Isidro, who admits that" it is true that begin to change when they have negative experiences. " For example, Inditex, Zara's parent company, changed its billing policy of the online store, which was based in Ireland to pay less tax as a result of the information in the press about these practices.
"The change in attitude of these companies will not come for a change of philosophy but by consumer pressure and the siege of the authorities," ditch.
Brussels examines the rates paid for where the activity occurs
The tech giants are in the eye of the storm: UK has been paraded those responsible for Amazon, Google and Starbucks coffee chain by an investigative commission in parliament. In recent weeks, the Italian financial police entered the Google and Facebook headquarters in Milan in search of accounting records and tax documents to verify where they get the benefits. France also monitors these companies. Last summer the rate Google created a tribute by the French Executive intends that multinationals pay local taxes for any transactions conducted on French soil. Paris seeks to move the debate to the European Commission proposed to extend this solution to other partners.
Brussels recently took up the gauntlet and proposed the creation of an "anti-abuse clause" in national tax systems to prevent large companies reduce their tax costs by shifting profits to other states. "The idea," says the fiscal affairs commissioner, Algirdas Semeta, "is that taxes be paid in the country where there is real economic activity."
But multinationals create a corporate structure and use their subsidiaries to transfer the benefits to countries with lower taxation. For example, Google Spain, which does business with hundreds of thousands of euros in Spain, bills the Irish subsidiary of Internet giant. In Dublin pay a corporate tax of 12.5% instead of 35% which is taxed in Spain. The U.S. company has posted losses in Spain during the last two years despite her juicy digital business: 38,300,000 Google Spain joined in 2011, but Google Ireland billed 36.9 million for the provision of services. Shifts and benefits to Dublin where businesses turn translates to Bermuda.
Tax abuses
The transfer prices. Large multinationals with subsidiaries operating in each country. The local company buys another group company located in a country with a lower tax as Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. It does so with a narrow profit margin because this way the bulk of the revenue remains in the Irish subsidiary.
The brokers. At other times the subsidiaries of multinationals operating as mere intermediaries. No bill for the products sold but trading activity with another group company in a low-tax country. That is, the income from the sale of products is going to Ireland, while the Spanish subsidiary royaltie only charge for the brokerage.
Apple's businesses in Spain are also paradigmatic practices of multinationals. The apple company operates through two subsidiaries: one that controls the business of the 10 stores it has in Spain and another to sell products directly to third Cupertino, usually malls and superstores. The first company, Apple Retail UK, acquired the products it sells to the Irish subsidiary with a narrow margin. Thus, the benefit is in Spain is reduced because the bulk of the revenue remains in Dublin. This practice is known as "transfer pricing".
The second company Apple Marketing Iberia bills the Irish subsidiary commissions for each sale made. Thus, the benefits from the sale of the products will also Dublin.
The tax experts applaud these efforts to limit tax engineering practices but wary of its success because ultimately they are instruments of competition between countries. Justify that the law allows these practices and argue that if you want to change this behavior should be changed tax law. "While taxation is an element of competition between states will be difficult to implement a solution," he reasons Javier Fernández Cuenca, a partner in the law firm Pérez-Llorca and taxation professor at IE Business School. "Spain is a player of this game. In the last two decades has approved tax solutions attractive to attract investment, "he says and gives the example the tax canary. "It's almost as beneficial as the Irish," he adds.
Fernández Cuenca justifies tax engineering practices of multinationals. "Companies can not be criminalized by law enforcement. Another issue is whether to change the law, "said the release from Pérez-Llorca, which makes clear that it can not do is disappoint. "You can play with transfer pricing. That would take the money and go jogging. But we must take advantage of loopholes. "
European governments have strengthened the fight against multinationals who avoid paying taxes. The crisis and decline public funds seek income sectors a few years ago went unnoticed for tax purposes.
"You can not criminalize firms to implement the law," says an expert
This situation worries the major international institutions. The G-20 has launched an offensive to limit misuse of transfer pricing and relocation benefits. At the last meeting of the conclave, held in Mexico last November, they discussed the matter and instructed the OECD, the club composed of the most developed economies in the world, to prepare a report on tax abuses by multinationals for next meeting of the G-20 to be held in February 2013 in Russia. The OECD has repeatedly warned about this risk. It has created a working group to reduce these practices that make taxes disappear. He proposes that countries improve their tax treaties and information exchange for a crackdown on these practices.
In early November, held a conference on these practices that participated in the Secretary of State for Finance of Spain, Miguel Ferre. Following that meeting, the Government has established an office to monitor international tax tax practices of these companies and monitor "the erosion of the tax base in the corporate tax and the transfer of benefits from developed countries for planning strategy prosecutor. " Socialist MP proposes Pedro Saura: "Finance should calculate the tax gap measures the difference between what you actually pay and what taxpayers should pay under the law, and how much of this gap is due to the aggressive practices multinationals ". Saura has submitted a non-legislative proposal in Congress to create "an action plan to ensure compliance with tax obligations of multinationals". His idea is that executives of multinationals parade by Congress to explain their tax practices.
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