Somehow you’d think a company with such a name would be well advised. I’m not sure why β it just has that sort of claim to it.
But how unwise they are. Informa plc is quitting the UK to incorporate in jersey an be tax resident in Switzerland. I didn’t get round to blogging it on Friday, but I did get round to talking to the Guardian:
"This is part of an ongoing battle between some companies and the Revenue," commented Richard Murphy, a tax expert. Companies like Informa are "very good at locating their intellectual property rights in low-tax countries," attracting HMRC's attention, he said.
He added: "Companies that have a lot of intellectual property in their subsidiaries or make a lot of income from intellectual property are being challenged by the Revenue under the new rules. The revenues are, in the Revenue's view, largely artificial."
And then there’s the comment the Guardian will include which others ignore:
But Murphy said the new tax rules were beneficial to most UK companies and would help stem the exodus.
"The vast majority of companies which undertake real trade with real people will benefit from the new rules," he said. "It will simplify their affairs with the Revenue. I do not expect there to be a significant exodus from the UK."
That seems to sum it up. This is a storm in a tea cup created by those who seem to have no concern for reputation, risk or reputational risk.
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Surely this one is easy to deal with? Knowledge is, rightly speaking, the property of the whole of humanity. Intellectual property rights are a monopoly granted by government and create a quasi-rent.
If the owner of the property rights does not pay tax in a particular jurisdiction, then their intellectual property right should be indefensible ie deemed to be in the public realm.
Most of the best intellectual property is in the public realm anyway eg computer software operating systems and applications issued under the GNU licence, the entire repertoire of Gregorian Chant music.
Using intellectual property rights to make loads of dosh is often the last recourse of a company with a poor product or obsolescent business model. If they move their operations offshore, their right to enforce IPR should be forfeit.