Holding the UK’s major corporations to account
July 28th, 2009
Our innovative online database helped shed light on the murky world of corporate tax avoidance
The Guardian
Corporate taxation is one of the fundamental issues in British society that rarely gets discussed in mainstream media. A large but twilight industry has grown up in recent years of offshore tax havens and arcane avoidance schemes. They benefit large corporations and rich individuals, but cost governments billions in lost taxes.
The facts about corporate tax avoidance rarely emerge in the British media for a number of reasons. The details of so-called “tax-planning” are often fiendishly complicated, and are deliberately obscured by highly paid lawyers and accountants who cook up the schemes. Government departments allow corporations complete secrecy over their tax affairs. And the only experts who can advise, often have vested interests and are expensive to consult.
Continue reading at Guardian.co.uk…