'Times are changing, pay your taxes', euro zone chief tells corporations
"New Panama Papers series exposes secret deals in Africa"
VIDEO: Reuters "Times are changing, pay your taxes," eurozone chief tells corporations (00:48)
By Francesco Guarascio and Jason Hovet | BRATISLAVA Sat Sep 10, 2016 11:08pm IST
Multinational companies should refrain from tax-avoidance practices and pay their fair share, the head of euro zone finance ministers said on Saturday in a new endorsement of the European Union's fight against tax-dodging.
In the wake of the 'Panama Papers' revelations of widespread tax-avoidance practices, Brussels has toughened up its drive for fairness by tightening controls and adopting stricter rules.
The recent shock multi-billion euro tax demand on Apple was part of that trend as the EU also drafts plans for a common corporate tax base and a single European blacklist for tax havens.
"My message to those companies is you are fighting the wrong battle. You have to move on. Times are changing," the head of the eurogroup and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem told reporters on arriving at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Bratislava.
Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem gestures during a European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, July 12, 2016. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
"You need to pay your taxes in a fair way. Part of that would be in the U.S., part of that would be in Europe. So get ready to do that," Dijsselbloem added.
The Commission, which is in charge of protecting market competition in Europe, is investigating multinationals' tax arrangements in several EU countries to assess whether, by lowering corporations' tax bills, illegal state aid may have been given.
Online retailer Amazon.com Inc and hamburger group McDonald's Corp face European Commission probes over taxes in Luxembourg, while coffee chain StarbucksCorp has been ordered to pay up to 30 million euros ($33 million) in back-taxes to the Dutch state.
The Netherlands has appealed against the Commission's decision, and Ireland did the same in the Apple case, fearing it could undermine the country's long-established policy of attracting multinationals with low taxes.
European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici plans to unveil proposals in the coming weeks on a common tax base for multinationals operating in the EU, telling reporters the initiative was about the tax base rather than rates, which will remain in the hands of member states.
He also said the Commission will move forward with plans to align taxes on ebooks and online press with paper publications, in line with earlier announcements.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble welcomed the efforts while EU Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen said new rules were needed to eliminate mismatches and loopholes between member states' tax systems that companies exploit.
"What is clear is that with every new case of unfair tax practise or abuse, public frustration grows," he told a news conference at the conclusion of the summit.
Ministers at the meeting also discussed a paper presented by the Slovak presidency of the EU calling for more tax certainty for multinationals. It aims to step up cooperation among EU states and also make companies' tax bills more predictable.
(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla in Bratislava; Editing by Helen Popper)
Meet the Woman Leading Europe’s War Against Google, Gazprom, and Apple
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust czar, is going after some of the world’s biggest companies — and trying to redefine the 21st-century economy.
By Suzy Hansen March 18, 2016
On a soggy, gusty morning in Brussels this January, Margrethe Vestager appeared at work in a perfectly pressed green silk blouse and well-fitted black leather skirt, not a spike of her short gray hair out of place. Vestager is known for being late — she likes to cram her schedule to the point of overflowing — but on this particular day, the European Union’s commissioner for competition was punctual, ready at noon for her seventh press conference in less than a year. Roughly 100 journalists were gathered in an auditorium at the Berlaymont, the massive, X-shaped building that houses the European Commission, anticipating a blockbuster statement from Vestager: She was ruling illegal a corporate tax-break system that Belgium had designed more than a decade prior.
This state aid, known by its slogan “Only in Belgium,” offered to slash taxes on multinational corporations’ profits by up to 90 percent. After its enactment in the pre-financial-crisis, go-go era of privatization and market liberalization in Europe, Belgium welcomed the headquarters or subsidiaries of some 35 multinational corporations, including Anheuser-Busch InBev, BP, and the telecommunications firm Proximus. These businesses pumped jobs and an avalanche of money into the national economy: AB InBev, for instance, became Belgium’s largest company by market value. It reported nearly $28 billion in global profits in 2014.
Vestager, however, told the reporters that corporations had dodged about 700 million euros in taxes, an “unfair competitive advantage” that is “bad for small companies who pay normal tax laws.” So she stood behind the Berlaymont podium, cameras flashing before her, and insisted the companies pay what they owe.
“I hope that the decision we have taken today,” she said to the room, “will help us to keep up the momentum to tackle tax avoidance not only in Europe, but also globally.” (The Belgian government claims it placed the tax-break program on hold in early 2015, when the commissioner first began investigating it.)
Vestager then took questions from the press. “Do you think we still have tax havens in the eurozone?” asked a reporter from El País, Spain’s largest daily.
“Well,” Vestager started, then paused for effect, “I don’t really know what a tax heaven is,” emphasizing the man’s accent. “To me, a tax heaven is where everyone pays their fair share. In that respect, I am not quite sure we are in tax heaven yet.”
"2016 - New Panama Papers series exposes secret deals in Africa"
By Seye Olumide and Tobi Awodipe 15 February 2019 | 2:43 am
Former National Women Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has called on Nigerians to eschew violence and vote according to their conscience, in the presidential and National Assembly elections to hold tomorrow.
Aliyu specifically said tomorrow’s presidential election has a lot to do with the future of the country and it is therefore important for every Nigerian not only to participate but also ensure that the process is violence free.
Speaking during a Road Show organized in Abuja recently, Aliyu said voting right tomorrow would consolidate the future of the country and also push Nigeria to the greater height.
Meanwhile, some socio-cultural organisations comprising Afenifere, Ohanaeze, Middle Belt Coalition of Progressives (MCOP), Niger Delta Alliance for Justice (NDAJ) and Oodua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC) have urged the electorate to be vigilant as they go to the poll tomorrow.
While addressing the media in Lagos on Wednesday, the group said Nigerians should bear in mind as they cast their votes that the country is bigger than individuals and parochial ambition.
Speaking on behalf of the group, General Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Uche Okechukwu, said Nigeria stands a better chance of progressing and developing if Nigerians get it right in tomorrow’s presidential poll.Prominent among members of the coalition was Prince Tajudeen Olusi, a member of Lagos APC Governors Advisory Council (GAC) who represented Afenifere, Yoweris Briggs for NDAJ and Chief Babafemi Ajayi for ONAC.
In another development, WOMEN Radio 91.7, with support on UN Women Nigeria, has engaged key stakeholders in Oyo State to ensure women exercise their civic rights in a peaceful and non-violent atmosphere tomorrow.Making the call in Ibadan recently, MD, Women Radio 91.7, Toun Okerewale Sonaiya, advocated t for a non-violent election that will be detrimental against the interest of women.
She appealed to Oba Saliu Akanmu Olasupo Adetunji to admonish women to come out and vote and for men to create an enabling, peaceful and non-violent environment to allow their wives, daughters, mothers and sisters to go out enmasse to vote.
However, the monarch expressed optimism that tomorrow’s election and March 2 gubernatorial poll would be peaceful.In his remarks, Chief Imam of Ibadanland, Sheikh Alhaji AbdulGaniyy Abubakri Agbotomokekere, said women should not shy away from voting but must avoid election violence. He assured that messages of peace be preached across all mosques in the state.
Leader of the delegation Electoral Institute of South Africa (EISA) former President of Zambia, Rupia Banda; Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu and National Commissioner Mustapha Lekki, during EISA 2019 general election observer’s visit to INEC in Abuja. PHOTO LUCY LADIDI ELUKPO.
Months and weeks to the presidential election, the polity has been bombarded with news of political endorsements from political parties, civic groups, socio-cultural groups, and even individuals who believe they have a modicum of influence in the country.
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Apart from the fact that these endorsers represent the same unhealthy sectional interests, thereby inadvertently deepening the level of divisiveness in the country, their intervention now only goes on to show their individual and pecuniary motivations.“By the very virtue of the attainment of most of them, they should stand in no other position but as the conscience of the nation, not found in partisanship but working with all sections of leadership to build a formidable country.”
Adedokun described the endorsement as a continuation of the pretentious leadership that Nigeria has suffered in past years. “It is a lie that takes no candidate anywhere, does not factor in the sentiments, biases and idiosyncrasies of the nation’s young population but continues to entrench the same sectional emotions that hold the country down.”
Also, presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Mr. Omoyele Sowore said he does not believe in the politics of endorsement, saying that the only endorsement that matters is of the people.“We are the voice of the Nigerian people, and the only organic platform that will represent the interest of the Nigerian masses,” he had said.
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