By Bart H. Meijer
AMSTERDAM, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister MarkRutte will push ahead with plans to scrap the country's dividendtax, he said on Friday, warning that failure to do so couldprompt Unilever and Shell to movetheir headquarters elsewhere.
Rutte has come under enormous pressure to keep the 15percent withholding tax. Opponents argue that scrapping itamounts to a 2 billion euro tax break for foreign investors,mainly designed to please Shell and Unilever.
A recent poll showed that only 11 percent of voters supportplans to axe the tax.
"We stand to lose some of the biggest European companies ifwe do not proceed with this plan," Rutte said in a heatedparliamentary debate on the matter. "That is an unacceptablerisk."
The prime minister also repeated his core arguments thatgetting rid of the tax will make the Netherlands a moreattractive place to do business, attract foreign investment andcreate jobs.
"One of the largest companies in the Netherlands willdecide, at the end of October, to move its headquarters here,"he said, referring to Unilever.
Shareholders of both the British and Dutch arms of Unileverwill vote in October whether to approve the plan to create asingle headquarters in Rotterdam.
"Another very large company is already here, but is facedwith the question whether to remain or even strengthen itsposition in the Netherlands," Rutte said, referring to oil majorShell, which is headquartered in The Hague.
"They have told us this tax is a major factor in theirdecisions. You could still opt to hold on to the tax, butthere's a large risk that these companies would then decide toleave."
Shell, which uses a dual share structure to exempt Britishshareholders from Dutch tax, has lobbied against the levy foryears. Unilever has been less vocal, but CEO Paul Polman cameout in support of Rutte last month, saying scrapping the taxwould be good for the Dutch economy.
Several prominent British investors have been critical ofUnilever's plan to base its headquarters in the Netherlands,with some citing the increasing uncertainty over the Dutch taxas a new risk.
Rutte's political support appears solid enough for now tosee the plan through final approval in December. His coalitionholds a one-vote majority in both parliament and the senate.
(Reporting by Bart MeijerAdditional reporting by Toby SterlingEditing by David Goodman)
