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The KPMG scheme involved setting up shell companies for Canadian multimillionaires and billionaires in the Isle of Man, a British crown dependency in the Irish Sea. A client would purport to give away their wealth to one of the shell companies and then get back regular tax-free "gifts" from income earned when the money was invested abroad.
In 2015, Marshall Cooper said KPMG approached his family to sign up for the tax dodge, and that questions should be directed towards the accounting firm.
The scheme involved at least 25 well-heeled Canadians.
The Coopers are "just the tip of the iceberg," said Dennis Howlett, the former head of Canadians for Tax Fairness, a group that advocates against offshore tax secrecy.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/kpmg-isle-of-man-taxes-house-commons-finance-committee-1.6047111
In an emailed response to CBC, the accounting firm said their tax plan "fully complied with all applicable tax laws" and was reviewed by a law firm in Canada and another one in the Isle of Man before being implemented.
in other words KPMG said 'we don't understand why you'd think this is a problem'
Invariably truth is stranger than fiction ;-)
Hi Cowichan,
Interesting, especially as this family made their fortune from scrap metal!
You may wish to drop BBC Business Matters a line on this, they may be interested in covering this, especially as you are a Canadian.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5nCxH0NlsPtyW8WvJ0rwDJP/about-world-service-radio
In the UK scrap metal has been a dirty business in more ways than one, although there are many bona-fide scrap metals dealers, the industry has also as provided a means for dirty money money, stolen goods and even bodies from all sorts criminal activities all sorts of rackets to be laundered and even worse.
In fact this families brothers started out in the scrap metal business. Their induction into crime proper came when they started running “long firms” on the side – a type of fraud that involves setting up a business, giving it a good name, paying for goods up front to earn the trust of suppliers and banks so that credit is easily available, and then stinging the bank and suppliers at the same time.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2214577/Five-hearses-lavish-floral-tributes-notorious-London-crime-lord-Charlie-Richardson.html
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmpublic/scrapmetal/120911/pm/120911s01.htm
Obviously the Jersey tax haven is just one of many Off Shore Tax Havens used by some pretty up market businesses for tax efficiency purposes, but it's time that the whole worldwide industry of Off Shore Tax havens facilitating these big accountancy firms was looked into properly and if need be closed down!?
The interesting angle is that KPMG and the big accounting firms are paid for advice (by our governments) on formulating the laws in the first place, so they are experts at "finding" the holes in the legislation, oddly enough? Is it legal, well yes, ethical, No.
its been known about for decades, ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aJzzeRcoVo
best
the gnome
Relax. All these little fiddles will be abolished when we end the use of physical money and have an official cryptocurrency. No tax dodging then; every single transaction can be recorded - wink, nudge, wink.
It will be interesting to see how those who are reluctant to pay taxes innovate around a cryptocurrency.
We'll never have a perfect system, or world for that matter. At least a low direct tax economy would ensure those of us who do pay all our taxes would not get so wound up when we hear stories of the better off avoiding them.
VAT, inflation and surcharges are another matter, of course.
Hi Mr Gnome,
Amazing isn't it here in the UK those that wanted Brexit because of foreign scroungers and those that were pinching all their jobs,(even though our many of our own people are too bone idle and didn't want them anyway )whilst according to Farage the EU was costing them £325 million a day!
Even if the Farage and the Brexiteers rhetoric were tr, the amounts of money involved pale into insignificance when compared to the £Trillions of tax of the offshore scams that the City of London is part of!
The damaging implications of Brexit to the UK and the negative impact on the lives and futures of the ordinary people are becoming more apparent the day, whilst those that cultivated the leave vote (Boris & Farage) continue to do very nicely!
We haven't seen any savings in the UK on,on the contrary, travel is more difficult and expensive and Brexit is causing increased prices and supply chain difficulties, not to mention extra costs and inconvenience to our small UK businesses.
The Brexiteers have been used and manipulated into shooting themselves and the innocent in the foot by the real the real crooks who must now be feeling very pleased with themselves!
Yes, indeed, if only they were little fiddles.
There is little fiddles and fuddles everywhere...from the NATION magazine...
"Part of our ad sale income includes what is called the display advertising marketplace. Independent companies match advertisers with unused ad space on our website through an auction-like process. When an advertiser wins the auction, their ad shows up on our site.
Google has intervened in this process, however. For some time, Google’s Ad Server has been excluding bids submitted through rival networks in order to prioritize business from its own Ad Network. Their size makes this possible and it erodes a precious source of revenue for us. So we’re suing."
https://www.thenation.com/
best
the gnome ...
Hi Mr Tibbles
Try to have a look at the link Goldgnome has provided today - The Nation magazine.
From there, the following article is an example of what I think you are saying about Johnson's 'chums' doing nicely out of the pandemic and Brexit. I'm not saying that only this government has been acting in a corrupt way, but it is certainly just as susceptible.
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/covid-boris-johnson-corruption/
MIght be line ball between Boris and Dan Andrews in Victoria! A swap maybe considered/negotiated?!
Please spare some sympathy for the poor Victorians, who have a Premier who does not know who in his government and/or adminstration made the most fateful decision, that has caused bankruptcy to visit the state and over 900 people die. Accountability=0. But then again they were probably following the script
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX45hc0aZt0
Perhaps oddly it does not seem the ultimate authoritarian premier was not in control at the time the decision was made? Not ending there, the State Govt now thinks it is the moral obligation of Australian tax payers to bail out what many think is most incompetent state government in the history of Australia (there is a lot of competition to be fair)...one has to make ends meet I guess...
https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6213235856001
The govt has finally moved to a single QR contact tracing system! some 17 months after the virus started in ernest?
"
But Victorian businesses have been allowed to use their own electronic record-keeping systems and these were not required to link to the government’s system until the end of April 2021. (??!!)
Health experts say this has created a frustrating situation in which Victorians check into venues using different systems.
The government survey showed just 41 per cent of visitors to hospitality venues reported always checking in during April, down from 54 per cent in February..." and on the circus goes...
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/single-qr-system-to-be-rolled-out-as-check-in-compliance-plummets-20210507-p57pt5.html
election coming up for the state, and the news on the street is ...Dan Andrews will get in again, which says a lot about the democratic process in Victoria, and probably more about the state of the opposition.
They follow a different script in the southern state about government
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIYfiRyPi3o
must keep laughing, the alternative is not good!
best
the gnome
Another prized member of my DVD collection - not a single dud episode. I love Humphrey's smug arrogance.
The sad thing is, Jim Hacker and Humphrey Appleby would be less of a danger to us all than are real politicians.
Maybe that was the actual point of the programme?
I see Tony Blair wants to separate the 'jabbed' from the 'unjabbed'. I suspect I'll end up in an internment camp on the Isle of Man someday, and no one will even know or care. I hope I can take Sir Humphrey with me.
Adieu.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/time-distinguish-between-vaccinated-unvaccinated-230100887.html
TALK ABOUT CENTAMIN - or go and get a room in a hotel FFS
Very well.
What can you tell us all about Centamin?
Talk about Centamin. FFS !
A very nice company, run by very nice people, ha ha.
Will that do ?
It is weekend,.
Hi Dan in vestmemts,
Cat been on the key board using all upper case ?
Never mind
Dan Dan was a very nice man!
Combed his hair with the leg of a chair!
Washed his face in a frying pan!
Invests in Centamin while he can!
Dan Dan was a very nice man !
Good luck finding a nice hotel room, or hopefully another forum, tee hee!
Hi Mr Gnome, Red Sparrow & Mr Bond!
Quality posts as always!