Links Dec 27

Facebook paid £2.9m tax on £840m profits made outside US, figures show Guardian
Dec 23 - Facebook channelled the bulk of its profits through Ireland and on to the Cayman Islands. Facebook Ireland made "gross 2011 profits of £840m – or £3.1m per each of its 287 staff. Despite the high gross profit, Facebook Ireland was able to cut its tax bill to just €3.2m by using an accounting technique called the "Double Irish"."

Ireland, US Reach FATCA Deal Tax-News
Dec 27 - "The agreement provides that Irish financial institutions will report to the Irish Revenue Commissioners in respect of US account-holders. In exchange, US financial institutions will be required to report to the IRS in respect of any Irish-resident account-holders. This information will then be automatically exchanged by the two tax authorities on an annual basis."

Swiss Bankers Welcome Enhanced Due Diligence Measures Tax-News
Dec 27 - The Federal Department of Finance commented: “With the planned implementation of the revised recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), serious tax offences will be qualified as predicate offences for money laundering in future. In the event that they suspect money laundering, financial intermediaries should also report these cases to the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland.”

Greece: Tax evasion scrutinized Kathimerini
Dec 26 - "Greece’s two financial prosecutors are expected to confirm by the end of the week whether the latest version of the so-called Lagarde list of Greeks who had deposits at the Geneva branch of HSBC is the same as the one they had been investigating over the last few weeks."

See also:
Greece not doing enough to fight tax dodgers, say EU and IMF The Telegraph
Dec 24 - "Greece's drive to crack down on tax evasion risks "falling idle" and must be reinvigorated, a report by the European Union and International Monetary Fund said on Monday."

Kabul blames tax evasion on "foreign" firms Deutsche Welle
Dec 24 - "The Afghan finance ministry has accused some NATO-linked foreign companies of "running away" from paying taxes. This follows a claim by President Hamid Karzai that corruption is his country is "imposed" from outside."

How to derail the corporate tax evasion gravy train Digital Journal
Dec 25 - " The legislators have apparently taken the “Wild West/no laws” myth of online transactions much too literally and put tax evasion in the too hard basket."

Young Swiss market liberals hail Depardieu's tax move France 24
Dec 23 - "Members of the youth section of the Swiss Liberal Party (PLR) have written to French actor Gerard Depardieu inviting him to Switzerland if things don't work out in Belgium. Their letter, published in the Internet edition of the daily paper Le Matin, congratulated him for having fled increased taxes in France."

Ukraine reminds Santas about tax Reuters
Dec 26 - "Cash-strapped Ukraine on Wednesday reminded entertainers making money by posing as Did Moroz - the local version of Santa Claus - and his helpers to pay income tax."Any source