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Isle of Man tax scheme
Something Is Rotten In Canada: Chinese Real-Estate Fraud On A Global Scale
In the last three days, both The Globe & Mail and CBC News have published disturbing stories about the scale of the Chinese infiltration of the Vancouver housing market that go well beyond anything understood or encompassed by BC government or federal government action on the problem. The CBC reported that at least $13.5 Million in cash has been confiscated from Chinese recently entering Canada at Vancouver International Airport. The following story, reblogged from The Globe & Mail, tells a tale of fraud, manipulation, and tax evasion on a massive scale. It also tells an embarrassing tale of gross incompetence by Canadian authorities. All of this is consistent with other investigative journalists reports from the United States on other similar fraudulent Chinese real-estate activities. Some of these reports go back years. The original Mossack Fonseca "Panama Papers" revelations that indicated that many of the Chinese elite with family links to Li Xinping, and The People's Liberation Army had Mossack Fonseca accounts should have been a red flag for Canada, but was not. We are living in an entirely new global economy manipulated by dark forces. What will we do now that Vancouver has been ruined for decades to come?
September 11, 2016 British Columbia, Business Ethics, Canada, China, China, Economy, Global, International Business, Investment, Tax havens
Apple €13 Billion Tax Bill Really A Fight Over Who Gets the Money: EU or US?
Today's long-expected announcement that the European Union has assessed that Apple owes €13 Billion ($14.5 Billion) in back taxes to Ireland and the EU, is only one part of a much larger story of multinational corporations global tax jurisdiction and tax avoidance, and a looming fight between the EU and US over which one gets the €13 Billion. There is not much disagreement whether Apple actually owes the money. It also reopens the as yet unresolved matter of multinational corporate taxation, most recently exposed by Pfizer's announcement that it would move its HQ to Ireland to avoid U.S. taxation, which was later blocked by the U.S. government.
August 30, 2016 Banking and Investment, Big Ideas, Business Ethics, Canada, China, Corporate Fraud, Corporate governance, Economy, Ethics, Europe, Global politics, Globalization, International Business, International Relations, Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley Culture, Tax havens, United States
Panama Papers Canadian Connection
The release of the Panama Papers is of such potential significance and magnitude that it is difficult to know where to begin. I have decided that I will begin with the most interesting and relevant topic for me, the Canadian angle: possible links from Mossack Fonseca's tax haven shell companies to the Vancouver BC real estate market, the current Canada Revenue Agency investigation of KPMG's Canadian offshore tax haven scheme, and potential conflicts of interest within CRA. The KPMG and CRA issues have been extensively investigated and reported by CBC News, and also discussed on this site.
April 13, 2016 Banking and Investment, Big Ideas, Business Ethics, Canada, Canadian venture capital, Corporate Fraud, Corporate governance, Economy, Ethics, Global, Globalization, International Business, Tax havens
Wealthy KPMG Clients Offered Amnesty in "Offshore Tax Sham" – CBC
In a continuation of the story first reported by the CBC some months ago, and also reported here, the CBC has discovered a secret CRA amnesty offer to fifteen wealthy KPMG Canadian clients. There is no "quid pro quo" included in the amnesty offer, requiring that the individuals provide evidence or testimony in the current CRA case against KPMG in the Courts. It should be noted that the UK government is also pursuing prosecutions of at least four KPMG partners in the United Kingdom. KPMG settled out of court in a similar case in the United States. The Swiss government has also successfully prosecuted UBS for a similar tax haven scheme.
March 8, 2016 Banking and Investment, British Columbia, Business Ethics, Canada, Corporate Culture, Corporate Fraud, Corporate governance, Economy, Ethics, International Business, Tax havens
Pfizer's Corporate Tax "Inversion" To Ireland: Masqueraded Tax Evasion
Pfizer's announcement this week of its intricate $160 Billion merger/acquisition with Irish pharmaceutical company Allergan, revealed that Pfizer will be moving the new corporate headquarters to Dublin. Essentially, Pfizer, the much larger company, is providing a bridging loan to Allergan to purchase Pfizer so that it may move to Ireland. This enables Pfizer to avoid paying U.S. taxes, even after receiving massive support for R&D from U.S. government programs.
November 24, 2015 Banking and Investment, Business Ethics, Corporate Culture, Corporate Fraud, Corporate governance, Economy, Global, Globalization, Industry Analysis, International Business, Mergers & Acquisitions, Monopoly, Strategy, Tax havens, United States
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