Tax Avoidance

New scientific research shows the oil company understood the science before it became a public issue and spent millions to promote misinformation

Zimbabwe’s tax authority said ABB, one of Switzerland’s most profitable companies, avoided paying millions of dollars to the economically crippled country

Global food companies avoid paying taxes by shifting profits around the world. Finance Uncovered reports on the case of Icelandic fishing giant Samherji’s operations in Namibia

The tax authorities in many countries in Africa, including South Africa, have capacity problems

But Ngoepe wants even more independence for his office

Companies such as Naspers scrupulously follow the laws of different countries in order to exploit profitable differences between tax laws.

Naspers is raking in profits globally, but its BEE shareholders aren’t happy. And it’s been trying to pay less tax in Europe via its Netherlands HQ.

The revenue service is outsourcing part of its debt book, and there are serious concerns that confidential taxpayer information could be compromised.

The ethics of the Panamanian law firm are certainly questionable, but legally it only had to report any activity that raised obvious red flags.

The battle to get oil business Heritage Oil and Gas to pay capital gains, which took Uganda four years to win, is a lesson to developing countries.

Auditors say the new tax regulations are too much to comply with and could be counterproductive to reining in tax-avoidance by multinational firms.

Developing nations left behind as OECD countries continue to dominate the global tax agenda called for a UN body on intergovernmental tax to no avail.

MPs say transfer pricing, though legal, presents challenges when determining if firms have evaded taxation and they want the practice criminalised.

Focusing solely on tax avoidance ignores the contributions made by global enterprises.

If the Davis tax committee’s recommendations are followed, tax avoidance could be effectively reined in.