UK launches ‘Tax Transparency Partnership’ with Ghana

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DR TRUTH 10 years ago

WHY NOT BRITISH PEOPLE & COMPANIES IN GHANA. MAHAMA & NDC JUST CANT REASON. FOREIGN REMITTANCE IS A MAJOR SOURCE OF REVENUE & FOREIGN EX BOOST FOR GHANA ECONOMY WHERAS IT IMPACTS ON UK NEGATIVELY. NEO COLONIALISM.. USELESS PR ...
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WHY NOT BRITISH PEOPLE & COMPANIES IN GHANA. MAHAMA & NDC JUST CANT REASON. FOREIGN REMITTANCE IS A MAJOR SOURCE OF REVENUE & FOREIGN EX BOOST FOR GHANA ECONOMY WHERAS IT IMPACTS ON UK NEGATIVELY. NEO COLONIALISM.. USELESS PRES & GOVT
Ghanavi 10 years ago

When would my people wake up to the fact that the West only gets involve in things that are more beneficial to them?
A lot of Ghanaians living in the UK have investments in Ghana that are not declared to the UK government b ...
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When would my people wake up to the fact that the West only gets involve in things that are more beneficial to them?
A lot of Ghanaians living in the UK have investments in Ghana that are not declared to the UK government because the UK govt would tax them. Agreeing to this deal would put an end to that.
Ghana can hire a private company to help set up a better tax system. Ghana is mentality and financially not free from colonial rule. This deal proves it.
GGG 10 years ago

WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT ALL IN GHANA IF BY THERE IS NO ANY SYSTEM TO BOOST OUR ECONOMY?

WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT ALL IN GHANA IF BY THERE IS NO ANY SYSTEM TO BOOST OUR ECONOMY?
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

About time!

If Mr. Mahama is actually behind this, then kudos to him!

Let it be retrospective!

Check the bank accounts, titles to companies, and real properties!

Further, we will warn that it should not be about ...
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About time!

If Mr. Mahama is actually behind this, then kudos to him!

Let it be retrospective!

Check the bank accounts, titles to companies, and real properties!

Further, we will warn that it should not be about the poor struggling to make a living.

It should be about the "big guys" whose activities are actually crippling Ghana's revenue flow.

Get a bang for the effort!

But as they say, talk is cheap!

Let's see what gawn!
John Nkrumah 10 years ago

This is a ploy for UK to tax the assets of Ghanaians who have naturalized in their countries but have assets in Ghana.

This is a ploy for UK to tax the assets of Ghanaians who have naturalized in their countries but have assets in Ghana.
Read 10 years ago

The UK govt can"t get the big guys to pay tax at its doorstep.

Amazon has stepped into another tax row, as it was revealed that the group's UK business paid £11.9million in tax on £5.3billion worth of sales to British ...
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The UK govt can"t get the big guys to pay tax at its doorstep.

Amazon has stepped into another tax row, as it was revealed that the group's UK business paid £11.9million in tax on £5.3billion worth of sales to British shoppers.
The online retailing giant recorded sales up 14 per cent last year, according to Companies House filings.
But the group's Amazon.co.uk subsidiary reported a profit of just £34.4million and thus incurred a tax bill of £11.9million.
The news will fan the flames of the argument over internet giants' tax bills, with firms such as Amazon and Google attacked for booking profits in lower tax countries.
Amazon employs more than 7,700 people in the UK and its sales in the country account for 9.4 per cent of its global turnover.
But sales in Britain are taken through the group's Luxembourg arm, called Amazon EU Sarl.
The Luxembourg business is where sales from many countries in Europe are booked and are not taxed in the country where the shopper carried out the transaction.
Amazon has come under increasing pressure for the practice and said last month it had begun booking UK sales in this country, which may see it pay more tax.
Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'You can understand people's anger at organisations like Amazon perceived not to be paying their fair share, but our frustration should be focused at the politicians and bureaucrats who have created our ludicrously complicated tax code.
'It is so riddled with loopholes and exemptions that those who can afford to find them will be able to. It's time for a radical simplification of the tax code to make it easier to administer, to make the line between 'avoidance' and 'evasion' more obvious, and with fairer and lower taxes across the board'

Technology giant Apple avoided paying corporation tax in the UK last year by handing out staff bonuses of more than £40million in shares, according to reports.
The company reported UK profits of £68million in the year to the end of September.
During that period it gave shares worth £43mllion to employees, which were booked as a taxable expense.
The move wiped out its corporation tax liability and enabled it to claim a tax credit of £3.8million to carry forward to future years. The company has declined to comment.

Starbucks uses a host of measures to whittle down the profitability of its UK division.
The practices, which have been branded ‘immoral’ by MPs, mean that it has not reported a profit in the UK since landing here in 1998.
The most controversial measure involves registering the rights to its brand and logo to a holding company based in the Netherlands.
For every cup of coffee sold on the UK high street, the company pays a 6 per cent royalty fee to its Dutch counterpart.
A second way of pushing money away from Britain relates to how the firm buys its coffee. The beans are purchased by an outfit based in low-tax Switzerland.
Despite never actually landing on Swiss soil, they are sold on at a mark-up to the Netherlands, which until recently was Starbucks’ European HQ.
In the Netherlands the beans are roasted in its giant plant in Amsterdam before being sold on – again at a mark-up – to all of its other European operations.
This means that the roasted beans are bought by Starbucks in the UK at a significant premium to the price initially paid by Starbucks in Switzerland
News Business News Tax
Six firms including Google and Facebook made £14BILLION last year but paid just 0.3% UK tax
23:09, 31 JANUARY 2015
BY NICK SOMMERLAD
A Sunday Mirror investigation has found Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Ebay and Starbucks has paid less than one per cent tax

Six of the world’s biggest companies paid just 0.3 per cent of their UK earnings in corporation tax last year, a Sunday Mirror probe has found.

We have examined the UK accounts of Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Ebay and Starbucks and found the six firms have reported a total of £2.6billion of revenue in the last year.

But many more billions of pounds of sales from the UK are recorded every year by sister companies – often located in tax havens like Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Industry analysts estimate true UK sales of the six at £14.2billion. Yet they paid £41.3million in UK corporation tax – just 0.3 per cent.

We have also uncovered a £9billion black hole in UK corporation tax, helped by new rules brought in by George Osborne.

The amount of corporation tax collected by the Treasury from the UK economy is expected to reach £38.9billion – £9.4billion below the £48.3 billion figure predicted at the time of the 2010 budget.

The shorfall is caused by a combination of cuts to the corporation tax rate – expected to cost £2.7billion – slow growth in the economy and changes to tax rules brought in by the Tory Chancellor.

These changes include a scheme “so blatantly a tax avoidance arrangement for big business” it is now being reformed after protests from Germany and the EU, said Richard Murphy of campaign group Tax Research.

Meanwhile, ordinary people were clobbered with a 2.5 per cent VAT hike within weeks of the Tory-led Government taking office in 2010.

A group of 17 leading charities, including ActionAid, Oxfam and the Equality Trust, are urgently calling on all political parties to support a Tax Dodging Bill.

Barry Johnston of ActionAid said: “We want tougher laws and proper transparency so we can see if and where companies pay their taxes.”

Here are the firms
Apple

PAAppleApple
Estimated UK sales - £6.7billion
Disclosed UK sales - £1billion
Profit - £59.5million
Tax- £12.9million
Apple's two UK firms saw £1billion turnover in 2013 and paid £12.9million in corporation tax on £59.5million profit.

But total UK sales were estimated at £6.7billion, with the bulk of earnings sent to Ireland, where it has three subsidiary firms.

One of these, Apple Operations Ireland, enjoyed an income reported at £19.6billion between 2009 and 2012.

Apple is also accused of holding almost £85billion in offshore bank accounts.

But boss Tim Cook said: “We pay all the taxes we owe, every single dollar. We not only comply with the laws, but we comply with the spirit of the laws.

Google
UK sales - £3.3billion
Dislosed UK sales- £642million
Profit - £70million
Tax- £20.4million
Google's US parent company revealed it earned £3.3billion in the UK last year.

But Google UK Limited paid just £20.4million in UK corporation tax on its enormous £642million turnover.

Google reportedly used subsidiaries in Ireland and Bermuda to legally avoid £1.2billion in taxes in 2012.

UK boss Matt Brittan told the MPs in 2012: “Google plays by the rules set by politicians.”

But MP Margaret Hodge told him in the Commons: “We are not accusing you of being illegal. We're accusing you of being immoral.
Bright 10 years ago

That is tax planning to the best. The Companies do not evade tax, they only avoid tax. Tax avoidance is legal and evasion is illegal. They have employed so many millions of people who they paid their tax tax under PAYE which ...
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That is tax planning to the best. The Companies do not evade tax, they only avoid tax. Tax avoidance is legal and evasion is illegal. They have employed so many millions of people who they paid their tax tax under PAYE which runs into millions of pounds as compared to the Corporation Tax.
Read 10 years ago

The operative "word" is immoral.

The operative "word" is immoral.
Earl Jones 10 years ago

I hope the Ghanaian can read into the con.
This is not about helping Ghana. it us about making sure money earned in Britain by Ghanauan stays in Britain.
I hope the minister can see the trick for what it is. Britain will ne ...
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I hope the Ghanaian can read into the con.
This is not about helping Ghana. it us about making sure money earned in Britain by Ghanauan stays in Britain.
I hope the minister can see the trick for what it is. Britain will never take part in any joint venture if they do nit stand to benefit from it. It is state in plain English as part of its foreign policy.
This fraud can only result in one thing, less in flows of pounds from Britain to Ghana.
Bright 10 years ago

If the source is already taxed you have nothing to worry about.

If the source is already taxed you have nothing to worry about.

JB Mann 10 years ago

The fact is that, within the EU, it is illegal to send more than 10000 Euros abroad, without declaring - whether you have paid taxes on he amount or not.

Again, if you use the money on which you have already paid taxes a ...
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The fact is that, within the EU, it is illegal to send more than 10000 Euros abroad, without declaring - whether you have paid taxes on he amount or not.

Again, if you use the money on which you have already paid taxes and invest the amount in another business, you still HAVE to pay tax on the profits you made. It does not matter if the business in in the UK or elsewhere.
As long as you live in UK, the profits that you made elsehwere is still taxable in the UK, otherwise it amounts to mone laudering.

In some EU countries, the interest on your savings account is taxable - and the banks send this information to the finance authorities.

If we remember that hundreds of Ghanaians in the UK have businesses in Ghana ...
RT 10 years ago

Bright your investment is subject to tax. The invested capital may not be taxable, but the interest accrued on your investment is taxable. So it is not only the source that we should be worried about.

Bright your investment is subject to tax. The invested capital may not be taxable, but the interest accrued on your investment is taxable. So it is not only the source that we should be worried about.
KANAWURADIO 10 years ago

WHAT DID I SAY ON ABROKYIRE NKOMO SOME MONTHS AGO WHEN THE DUTCH GOOVT. TOOK THIS DECISION? OYIWA HERE IT COMES MY FELLOW COUNTRY MEN IN ENGLAND

WHAT DID I SAY ON ABROKYIRE NKOMO SOME MONTHS AGO WHEN THE DUTCH GOOVT. TOOK THIS DECISION? OYIWA HERE IT COMES MY FELLOW COUNTRY MEN IN ENGLAND
Farmer George 10 years ago

If only The president And his Crooked ministers and justices would be made to pay their fair share. I believe in the U.K., the PM pays taxes. So does the president of the United States.

What makes the president any differe ...
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If only The president And his Crooked ministers and justices would be made to pay their fair share. I believe in the U.K., the PM pays taxes. So does the president of the United States.

What makes the president any different?
Bright 10 years ago

George, you are correct, if only the Ghanaian Taxman is efficient as the UK counterpart the agreement would be beneficial to both Ghana and the UK.

George, you are correct, if only the Ghanaian Taxman is efficient as the UK counterpart the agreement would be beneficial to both Ghana and the UK.
ed 10 years ago

YOU BE BETTER OFF IN CANADA ,USA AND OTHER PLACES WHERE THE LOCAL GOVT NOT ACTING AS RUTS

YOU BE BETTER OFF IN CANADA ,USA AND OTHER PLACES WHERE THE LOCAL GOVT NOT ACTING AS RUTS
sam 10 years ago

THE U.K ARE A COUNTRY OF DRUNK AND LOSERS IT IS A ONE BIG VILLEGE THAT NOTHING TO OFFER TO US GHANA FALKS.
WE BETTER OF IN AMERICA AND CANADA
WHERE THEY ARE MORE WAYS OF MAKING MONEY WITHOUT IGNORATE U.K GOVT

THE U.K ARE A COUNTRY OF DRUNK AND LOSERS IT IS A ONE BIG VILLEGE THAT NOTHING TO OFFER TO US GHANA FALKS.
WE BETTER OF IN AMERICA AND CANADA
WHERE THEY ARE MORE WAYS OF MAKING MONEY WITHOUT IGNORATE U.K GOVT
SIMON 10 years ago

UK OWNED GHANA AND AFRICA ALL THE SLAVE MONEY THEY MADE AT THE BACK OF ALVERY THROUGH THEIR BARCLAYS, STANDARD BANKS TO BUILD EMPIRE. INCLUDING ALL THE STOLN GOLD SHAME GHANA LEADERS WHO DON'T SEEM TO KNOW BETTER

UK OWNED GHANA AND AFRICA ALL THE SLAVE MONEY THEY MADE AT THE BACK OF ALVERY THROUGH THEIR BARCLAYS, STANDARD BANKS TO BUILD EMPIRE. INCLUDING ALL THE STOLN GOLD SHAME GHANA LEADERS WHO DON'T SEEM TO KNOW BETTER
SIMON 10 years ago

CHECK UK ISLANDS WHERE THESE UK WHITES FOLKS HIDE THEIR MONEY GO AX THEM

CHECK UK ISLANDS WHERE THESE UK WHITES FOLKS HIDE THEIR MONEY GO AX THEM
robert mugabi 10 years ago

WE HAVE NOT FORGOT WHEN THE ENGLISH MAN SOLD US TO SLAVERY AND RAPE AFRICAN WOMEN AND STOLE GOLD AND SILVER AND ALL THE BEST RESOUCE AFRICA HAVE TO OFFER. NOW THE U.K COMING HERE TALKING TRASH LIKE PRETENDING LIKE THEY WA ...
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WE HAVE NOT FORGOT WHEN THE ENGLISH MAN SOLD US TO SLAVERY AND RAPE AFRICAN WOMEN AND STOLE GOLD AND SILVER AND ALL THE BEST RESOUCE AFRICA HAVE TO OFFER. NOW THE U.K COMING HERE TALKING TRASH LIKE PRETENDING LIKE THEY WANT TO HELP OUR GOVT TO COLLECT TAX MONEY? WHY DONT THEY GO AFTER THEIR OWN PEOPLE THAT HIDE MONEY AROUND THE WORLD HA?
WHY ARE THEY CONCERN A BOUT AFRICANS?
PEOPLE OF AFRICA WISE UO BOYCUT ALL THE U.K BANKS IN GHANA THE ALL NO GOOD REPORTING EVERY TRANSACTION YOU DO TO THE GHANA GOVT AND TAX DEPT

naf 10 years ago

oh! my country ,Gh for u.

oh! my country ,Gh for u.

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UK launches ‘Tax Transparency Partnership’ with Ghana

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