Fair Tax Mark Ltd. is a UK non-profit tax transparency organization. The group offers accreditation through the Fair Tax Mark, an insignia awarded to companies that “pay the right amount of corporate tax at the right time in the right place.”
As a voice for tax transparency, Fair Tax Mark recently released a study that calls out the tax behavior of six large tech companies over the span of 2010 to 2019. By ranking the six, Amazon, Netflix, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Apple, the analysis compares outcomes of the tax avoidance strategies of each company. In order from worst to less bad:
The study notes the prevalence of foreign bank accounts and use of offshore havens to shelter monies in jurisdictions with preferable regulatory environments. Notes Fair Tax Mark, “profits continue to be shifted to tax havens, especially Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.”
The stunning tax gap offers a clear view of the success of tax avoidance strategies employed by enterprise. Less clear is how successful these strategies will be in the future as these tech giants become the subject of tax scrutiny at home and abroad.
From offices in Chicago and Cleveland, the law firm of Robert J. Fedor, Esq., LLC provides local, and international legal services to high asset individuals and companies to respond to civil tax audits, criminal tax investigations, and tax controversy. Contact us or call 800.579.0997 today.