Yahoo, Dell Swell Netherlands’ $13 Trillion Tax Haven [Bloomberg]
Inside Reindert Dooves’ home, a 17th century, three-story converted warehouse along the Zaan canal in suburban Amsterdam, a 21st-century Internet giant is avoiding taxes. The bookkeeper’s home office doubles as the headquarters for a Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) offshore unit. Through this sun-filled, white walled room, Yahoo has taken advantage of the law to quietly funnel hundreds of millions of dollars in global profits to island subsidiaries, cutting its worldwide tax bill. The Yahoo arrangement illustrates that the Netherlands, in the heart of a continent better known for social welfare than corporate welfare, has emerged as one of the most important tax havens for multinational companies. Now, as a deficit-strapped Europe raises retirement ages and taxes on the working class, the Netherlands’ role as a $13 trillion relay station on the global tax-avoiding network is prompting a backlash.
Companies overpay to acquire other companies all the time; but Hewlett Packard Co. just might be the new record holder for getting fleeced. I don't have the exact amount, but let's say that the goodwill HP initially recorded from the E.D.S. and the Autonomy acquisitions combined was on the order of $20 billion. Given the subsequent goodwill impairment charges for most of it, and the revelations that surrounded those charges, it should come as no surprise that investors have expressed dissatisfaction with everyone – management and the board, their outside financial advisors and auditors – associated with the decision making and the accounting for these ill-fated investments.
KPMG asks staff to warn them of ‘inappropriate coverage’ of firm on net [The Journal]
Accountancy Firm KPMG has sent an email to staff warning them to be “vigilant around the pervasiveness of social media” and the risk that inappropriate use of it can have on an “individual’s personal and professional reputation”. The email also asks staff to notify management of any “inappropriate coverage of KPMG” on the internet or other social networks. The email, seen by the TheJournal.ie, was sent to staff in the company’s Irish office this week. It comes just a few weeks after there was controversy surrounding the posting of a video on YouTube of a young girl who repeatedly referred to her father being a partner in KPMG.
CEO Hires With Finance Chops Become Rare: Study [CFOJ]
Tiger Woods admits he left California because of high tax rates after rival Phil Mickelson apologizes for saying he may quit West Coast [DM]
Tiger Woods said today that the reason he left California in the mid-Nineties was because the state's taxes were too high. The golfer spoke at a press conference on Tuesday about his decision to move to Florida in 1996. Speaking at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California, Woods said: 'I moved out of here back in ’96 for that reason.' Woods, who is worth an estimated $600million, was referring to comments made by fellow golfer Phil Mickelson on Sunday that he will make 'drastic changes' because of federal and California state tax increases. Referring to his rival, 37-year-old Woods added: 'I enjoy Florida, but also I understand what he was, I think, trying to say.'
