Unions accuse Chevron of Dutch tax avoidance

Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page A12

October 10, 2018

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Unions accuse Chevron of Dutch tax avoidance

Source: Agencies | 00:01 UTC+8 October 10, 2018 |

Print Edition

International and Dutch unions filed a complaint with a global trade body yesterday accusing Chevron Corp of funneling billions of euros through letter box companies in the Netherlands to avoid taxation.

In a rare step, the federation of Dutch trade unions, the International Transport Workers’ Federation and Public Services International lodged the complaint with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in The Hague.

“Chevron fully complies with all tax laws in the jurisdictions in which the company operates,” Chevron spokeswoman Sally Jones said.

The trade unions said tax avoidance deprived workers they represented of basic government services and pressured their wages.

“The workers and communities we represent suffer when government-provided services such as health care, education, infrastructure, water, energy, and public safety decline,” the complaint said.

“Unfortunately, multinationals’ practice of avoiding paying taxes in the countries in which their wealth is earned deepens global wealth inequality and empowers multinationals against workers and governments.”

Scores of multinationals use the Netherlands, which has a network of tax treaties with roughly 100 countries, to shift dividends, interest and royalties untaxed through Dutch shell companies to tax havens overseas.

In their 35-page complaint the unions alleged Chevron had used its Dutch subsidiaries to breach OECD disclosure guidelines in respect of their operations with Chevron’s Nigerian, Argentinian, and Venezuelan businesses. In those examples, the complaint states that Chevron specifically failed to meet requirements to pay tax in the country of extraction and to adhere to Dutch financial disclosure requirements.

The unions said Chevron’s Dutch subsidiaries, through intra-group operations whose main purpose was the avoidance of taxes in multiple jurisdictions, breached the spirit of Dutch corporation tax law.

“The American company is carrying out tax avoidance on a massive scale,” the groups said in a statement. “The Netherlands is already a tax haven which encourages companies to pay less.”

The Dutch government, which says it wants to help stop tax avoidance, has come under pressure from the OECD and the European Commission to take more measures.

Business

About Us
|
Terms of Use
|
RSS
|
Privacy Policy
|
Contact Us
|
Shanghai Call Center: 962288
|
Tip-off hotline: 52920043

沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
|
互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
|
网络视听许可证：0909346
|
广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
|
增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012

Unions accuse Chevron of Dutch tax avoidance

Email this to your friend