In-House Tax Blog

New Linked In Tax Network - Tax Technology People

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:19:00 +0000

By Simon Godley

This is a brief announcement that I have set up a new Group on Linked In, specifically for people who work in the area of tax technology. This is a rather experimental project at the moment, and it will be interesting to see if generates a critical mass of people in the sector. It is primarily for tax technology / tax software execs based in the UK, although it is open to non-UK members. I discovered that there were already a couple of tax technology Groups on Linked In generated in the US, but as with the broader tax market, the Atlantic does seem to split the tax technology world into two distinct people populations.

I have had my profile on Linked In for c.2 years now, but don't feel that I have really maximised its networking potential and functionality, hence this initiative.

The purpose of the 'Tax Technology People' Group, is mostly for networking in the sector. I guess it enables tax technology specialists to see who else is in their market (if they are interested), and possibly even to generate contact / debate between people with a common career interest. I am slightly sceptical about the latter purpose, but we will see.

Only people who have their profile on Linked In can join the group, otherwise Linked In as an enterprise wouldn't benefit. So if you are on Linked In, and you work in the field of tax technology / software, please join. If you are not on Linked In, have a look at setting up an account, I think it's a good business networking site with a good level of privacy options built in.

And of course, I would welcome any thoughts or feedback on the Tax Technology People group.

Tax Jobs - Weekly Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:53:00 +0000

If, in amongst this downturn that we are experiencing (which I think still has a few shock waves yet to hit us) we see tax jobs being cut, I think people in the very specialists roles will potentially be the safest. When I say specialist roles, I am thinking of areas such as transfer pricing, in-house tax compliance and tax technology.

Transfer Pricing as an area has just boomed over the last 5-6 years, and many more people globally have specialised in it, and have chosen it as a successful career path. There always seems to be a global transfer pricing conference being organised at an exclusive international location, attended by the best brains in the transfer pricing world. I think also because of the onus on compliance and documentation within transfer pricing, there will be a need for it irrespective of how well business is doing.

Which brings me on to my featured job of the week, which is a specialist transfer pricing role with an economics bias within a non-Big Four niche consultancy in London:

Transfer Pricing Consultant - Niche Consultancy
London £40,000 - £70,000, depending on experience
See More Details

MYOB software branding to disappear

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:14:00 +0000

Source: AccountancyAge.com

The publishing business that acquired accountancy software company MYOB earlier this year has announced that it is to phase out the brand.

Wolters Kluwer told Accountancy Age that by September almost all MYOB branding will be gone and by January 2009 it will be completely replaced by CCH, the company's software arm.

Cathy Wolfe, CEO of Wolters Kluwer, said: 'MYOB still exists in Australia and is best of breed there'.

WK confirmed that following the acquisition there were no redundancies in sales and that it is not planning any big cuts. 'We want to expand our strong position so there is plenty of work to go round' added Wolfe.

Wolters Kluwer's announced last week that it had launched CCH ProSystem, a hybrid of both CCH and MYOB technology.

Simon Crompton, head of CCH, said: 'The new software has opened up a complete and totally integrated suite, for strong, big, and entry level organisations'.

CCH ProSystem will be available on upgrade to all customers of both CCH and MYOB and fully implements both package models into its framework.

SG comment - I have featured this article as amongst the MYOB brands are well known tax software products PerTax (including new rewritten .NET version), SecTax (for share dealings) and TrusTax (for trusts and estates). I suspect they will keep these product names, and repackage them as CCH products.

Microsoft creeping into tax software market?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:20:00 +0000

By Simon Godley

I recently saw an article announcing that accounting firm Tenon has signed a deal with Microsoft to supply their accounting software, whereas previously they had favoured Sage. Tenon has said that they are continuing to use Sage, but the Microsoft offering is 'better'. Tenon will use the Microsoft product for outsourced finance function, presumably for their clients.

This prompted me to look at the Microsoft site for the product. There are actually two sites - one for financial management software and one for Microsoft Office Accounting, which seems to be for smaller businesses. Both sites are quite impressive, with video sales pitches which give a very convincing overview of the products. When you look at the add-ons available (for the Microsoft Office product), you can add a payroll service for an extra £9.95 per month. This does all the PAYE and NIC calculations, and can handle e-filing. The basic MS Office Accounting product is free to trial for 60 days, and then costs just under £150 to buy (for one user).

There is no evidence of specific corporate or personal tax products as yet, but I guess that could be another add-on from Microsoft in the future. Their current offerings seem to be pitched to the SME market, hence the competition with Sage, so no direct product competition with the suppliers of larger group CT software.

It is a brave move by Microsoft, and a move into mature markets (ie US and UK accounting software), but that seems to the their strategy on products - see what the competition has produced, and then design something better.

Ex-Andersen Tax man appointed Director in oil group

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:29:00 +0000

Source: OilVoice.com

Kam Fard, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Groundstar Resources Limited announces the appointment of John van der Welle to the Board of Directors of the Company.

Mr. van der Welle has been actively involved in the oil industry for twenty-five years. He began his career in auditing and oil tax consultancy with Arthur Andersen LLP. In 1984 he joined Enterprise Oil plc, the largest independent exploration and development company in the U.K., where he rose to the position of Group Treasurer. Mr. van der Welle later served as Finance Director of Hardy Oil and Gas plc and Premier Oil plc. In addition, he has served as Chief Financial Officer and Director of First Calgary Petroleums Limited and as Head of Oil and Gas in the Sector Corporate Finance Group for the Royal Bank of Scotland. Most recently, he has joined Stratic Energy Corporation as Chief Financial Officer and Director.

Throughout his career Mr. van der Welle has had extensive experience in many corporate areas of business including business development and planning, investor relations, corporate governance, rebuilding management teams, and banking and finance. He has been involved in major business transactions including mergers, acquisitions, and major financings and restructurings of large public companies.

Mr. van der Welle graduated in Engineering from Southampton University and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and the Association of Corporate Treasurers.

Upon announcing his appointment Mr. Fard said, "We at Groundstar are extremely pleased that a person of Mr. van der Welle's stature and experience has joined our Board. Not only has he proved that he is a dynamic and successful leader in the oil industry, he brings to the table a wealth of knowledge in respect of the corporate finance and the international aspects of the business. He will undoubtedly prove to be a great asset in the growth and success of Groundstar in the years ahead."

Insurance Tax man appointed by Marsh

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:38:00 +0000

Source: Tax Careers Magazine

Praveen Sharma is to head up the newly-created insurance regulatory and tax consulting practice of Marsh, the leading insurance broker and risk adviser.

The practice will provide multinational clients with support and information to help them evaluate regulatory and premium tax risks arising from their insurance and alternative risk-financing programmes in all parts of the world.

Sharma joins from Aon, where he was head of Regulatory & Compliance for the EMEA region, a post held since 2001. He also advised multinational companies on insurable risk optimisation strategies , including accounting, regulatory and taxation issues.

A qualified chartered accountant, Sharma was a tax adviser for both KPMG and Ernst & Young for 14 years in total, where he was involved with the management of UK corporate tax issues for some of the world's largest insurance companies.

Timothy J Mahoney, president of global risk management for Marsh, said: 'As multinational businesses continue to look for better ways to manage risk and achieve efficiencies, they have sharpened their focus on understanding the array of country-specific insurance and related tax regulations that affect their programmes.'

Tax Jobs - Weekly Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:32:00 +0000

This week I refer to the interim tax market, which I feel will most likely remain strong during a downturn, that's if there becomes pressure on in-house tax departments not to recruit permanent members. Things would have to get very tough for this to follow. The job below is very suitable for an ex-Head of Tax, who may have moved onto the contracting market after a number of years in a senior permanent capacity in-house.

Senior Tax Adviser - Interim
Surrey £600 - £800 per day
See More Details

Accountancy firms put recruitment on hold.....but tax is safe??

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:55:00 +0000

Source: AccountancyAge.com

Research reveals about 57% of UK’s top accountancy firms are putting recruitment on hold.

About 57% of UK’s top accountancy firms are going to reduce staff numbers or keep them the same next year, according to the latest research by online recruitment group cvmail, part of media giant Thomson Reuters.

Although only 5% of firms said they actually planned to cut staff, the survey signalled the first significant pause in the dramatic growth of accountancy firms since the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

‘The effect of the credit crunch on top accountancy firms has been felt in a slowdown in corporate finance work and may feed through into consultancy work,’ Andy Eddleston, cvmail commercial manager, said.

‘However, their core audit and assurance and tax work should be largely unaffected. It is hoped that the vacuum created by the slowdown in areas like IPOs will be filled with rescue and recovery work.’

SG comment: Reading the results of this article are no surprise, but I don't agree that tax departments will be largely unaffected. Some of the biggest fees that are made by top accounting firms are from lucrative tax consultancy projects on M&A deals or tax structuring advice. In a downturn economy, this fee income will drop dramatically, and the result will be to cut staff in these departments. Tax compliance departments may be less affected.

For more analysis on this, read my article on Recession, Redundancy and Re-hiring

Tax Jobs - Weekly Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:05:00 +0000

This week I am revisiting and featuring the area of tax automation and/or tax compliance technology. Clearly a specialist area within tax, but one that seems to have filtered into multinationals that take tax reporting seriously. Consulting firms have developed teams within their tax offering that will purely advise multinational groups on how to improve and streamline their tax reporting and compliance processes, but are not looking to sell a specific tax software product.

Below is an example of this, being an excellent and forward thinking opportunity for someone with either a detailed tax compliance/reporting background from industry, or someone who knows their way around SAP/Oracle financial reporting systems:

Tax Manager - Tax Compliance Systems
London £55,000 - £90,000, depending on experience
See More Details

Recession, Redundancy and Re-hiring.......and tax recruitment

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:31:00 +0000

By Simon Godley

I read an interesting article on a recruiter newsletter this week, which gave some analysis as to how the stock market, the broader economy and the employment market interact, and the time lags between events in these markets. Basically, it suggested that if the stock market crashed, then quite often (not always) this would lead to an economic downturn 6-8 months later. Redundancies may quickly follow this, then as the recession (if it is a recession) runs it course, then it could take a further 2 years before businesses are confidently re-hiring again. This is on the basis that a recession has historically lasted, on average, about a year.

So, this means that from stock market crash to businesses re-hiring would be a minimum time frame of 2.5 to 3 years. The last stock market crash started in March 2000 when the dot com bubble burst - I remember this because I sold some highly inflated priced biotech shares to pay for my now wife's engagement ring in March 2000, which is the only time that I really profited from the stock market. Then there was the downturn (which wasn't called a recession) and then finally re-hiring started to take place at the end of 2003, so almost 4 years. So the last downturn and then recovery took longer than expected.

So what should we expect this time. No-one can really predict with much accuracy. My feeling is that this time we haven't seen a stock market crash, but a burst in the credit bubble. Let's say this started in September 2007. So according to the above theory, the broader economic downturn should be felt May 2008 onwards. This seems to be the case - property prices are falling quickly, inflation is rapidly increasing, and some businesses have stopped hiring. There have been some redundancies in pockets of the labour market, but not (yet) in the tax market. This will undoubtedly happen, and let's see what the Big Four do over the next 6 months. Thus the prediction from now (June 2008), following the above theory, is that a recession will run its course over the next c.1 year, but the re-hiring won't start until March 2010, and this is being optimistic. It could be into 2011 when firms feel they are understaffed again.

2009 could be an interesting year for recruiters! Watch this space.

ACCA calls for the term 'Accountant' to be protected

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:38:00 +0000

The ACCA are calling for the term ‘accountant’ to be legally defined and protected.

There is an increasing number of cases where people have been given poor advice by individuals claiming to be qualified accountants, when they have little or no professional training or qualifications. ACCA believe that introducing protection for the term ‘accountant’ is in the best interests of all, as it is both unfair and contrary to public interest to have unregulated, possibly untrained and uninsured individuals presenting themselves as accountants.

This will also presumably include the title Tax Accountant, and the expression 'qualified by experience' will hold very little value if all this goes through.

There’s a Downing Street online petition, started by ACCA member Alan Shooter FCCA, that people can sign.

Tax Jobs - Weekly Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:47:00 +0000

Despite the reported troubles that the banking sector is experiencing at the moment, it certainly hasn't stopped them looking for tax executives for in-house roles when the need arises. This week I have heard of a couple of senior level EMEA type tax roles being recruited for, which backs up my view that in-house tax roles are generally safe during a down market, unless they are supporting a business or sector which is very exposed to the specific credit crises.

Here is a role which I am currently working on with a major UK bank:

Tax Projects Manager - London
£75,000 - £80,000 + Bonus + Bens
Click here for more details

IRIS acquires tax software company

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:48:00 +0000

Source: AccountancyAge.com

Product and software developer IRIS has acquired Drummohr Technology, the makers of 'Tax Assistant', for an undisclosed sum.

So far, IRIS has announced that there are no plans to merge the two companies' range of products, but will include a strategy of sustained investment and introduction of new products where appropriate.

Martin Leuw, CEO of IRIS, said: 'By adding the Tax Assistant software to the IRIS range, we are able to offer an unparalleled wealth of knowledge and experience of this specialist sector.’

In a statement Drummohr Technology said: 'IRIS' goal (is) to revolutionise the accountancy profession with a range of quality solutions to suit every size and type of practice'.

SG comment: This year so far has seen a good level of consolidation in the tax software market. The above seems a relatively small acquisition, but earlier in the year we have seen Thomson Corporation acquire CrossBorder solution, for their transfer pricing and tax accounting software products. We have also seen the accounting & tax software arm of MYOB in the UK/Ireland be acquired by Wolters Kluwer, which is the home of CCH Software.

Tesco faces new tax questions - but why?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:49:00 +0000

Source: AccountancyAge.com

Tesco is facing new allegations that it set up complex structures to avoid corporation tax.

The magazine Private Eye last week published claims that Tesco had set up a financing arm in the Swiss canton of Zug.

The arm helps finance the supermarket's international business. Tax is paid on the interest on the loans it provides at a lower rate in Zug than it would be in the UK, saving Tesco £16m, the magazine said.

Tesco was quoted saying: 'This partnership is used to fund our overseas business. It is common practice for global businesses operating in other markets to fund development in similar ways. We have an open relationship with HMRC and discuss our tax arrangements and planning with them on an ongoing basis. We believe this structure is compliant with the government's controlled foreign companies legislation.'

Tesco is suing The Guardian over reports in that paper that it had avoided up to £1bn in corporation tax through a Cayman Islands structure.

SG comment: I think it very unwise for high profile publications to make allegations about Tesco's tax position. Let's look at the facts - Tesco is a multi-billion and now very international business - because of this, it employs some very bright in-house tax professionals to devise overseas structures that will mitigate the group's tax liability, all of which has to be agreed with UK HMRC. Everyone's a winner - the UK is a winner for having a fantastic and entrepreneurial employer. At the end of the day, Tesco is a commercial enterprise that will look to increase shareholder value, it is not set up to donate corporate tax to the UK treasury. The UK treasury should be thinking of ways to simplify the UK tax rules for companies, thereby stopping them from considering relocating their tax residency elsewhere. I think the Guardian are now paying the price for trying (and failing) to understand Tesco's tax position.

Tax Jobs - Weekly Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:58:00 +0000

This week's job highlight is a senior end tax planning role that I am working on for a large US multinational, based in London. This type of role is fairly uncommon, given that it is working almost exclusively on tax planning across the EMEA & Asia region and tax-led corporate transactions work. The role is part of a flat structure tax team, that basically deals with all tax planning for the group outside the US. The group tax function has a separate team dedicated to the tax compliance and reporting. This role also carries a very competitive salary package, including a final salary pension scheme, which is now very rare to see for new appointments.

Senior Tax Planning Manager, London
c.£85,000 + Car + Bonus + Final Salary Pension
Click here for more details

In-house Transfer Pricing leader moves back to consulting

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:15:00 +0000

Source: International Tax Review

NERA Economic Consulting, an independent international firm of economists, has appointed a veteran of Deloitte and Andersen as head of its UK transfer pricing group. Graham Poole, a specialist in advanced pricing agreements and transfer pricing for intangibles, joins the firm as an associate director. He has been active in transfer pricing for 14 years in the consumer goods, professional services, automotives, oil and gas, shipping, high-tech manufacturing, software and financial services sectors.

Before joining NERA, Poole was responsible for group-wide transfer pricing at Cadbury Schweppes, where his responsibilities included the design, implementation, documentation, and defence of transfer pricing policies in all areas of the business. He previously helped establish new practices and practice areas in transfer pricing while working for Arthur Andersen and Deloitte in the UK.

In-House Tax People Moves - 2nd Quarter 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:58:00 +0000

Asset management group Threadneedle has recruited Holly Page as a Senior Tax Manager into their London in-house tax function. Holly has a banking tax background, joining from Gulf International Bank, where she was stand-alone Tax Manager in London. Holly initially trained as an ACA in tax with RSM Robson Rhodes.

Retail shopping centres group Westfield has hired Amanda Clarke as a new Tax Manager into the UK tax team, reporting to the Head of Tax. Amanda has relocated to London from Manchester, where she was the stand-alone Group Tax Manager for Tote, the betting group. Amanda is ACA and CTA qualified.

SHL Group, the leading authority on psychometric testing and people performance, has recently brought in David Jackson as their Head of Group Tax & Compliance. David is a highly experienced commercial Head of Tax, having led tax functions for international groups such as Foster Wheeler, London International Group and Ocean Group Plc.

Tax Lawyer McKenna returns to practice from in-house

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:45:00 +0000

Source: Taxation 2 magazine

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has recruited leading tax lawyer Michael McKenna as a Partner in its strategic drive to enhance its tax capabilities.

Michael was a tax counsel at Goldman Sachs International, where he advised its divisions on the tax implications of all aspects of their businesses and transactions outside the US. Before that he spent seven years within the tax team at Clifford Chance, where he advised on a broad range of corporate tax issues with a particular focus on real estate clients as well as finance and securitisation transactions.

SG comment: I do not know Michael McKenna, but from this news flow, this seems a good example of a highly astute tax lawyer who is managing his tax career extremely well - 7 years with Clifford Chance (incredibly good name), at which point he is perfectly well placed to move in-house as a tax counsel. Following a period of time with Goldman Sachs (incredibly good name), not sure how long, he makes a return to practice as a Tax Partner. I am guessing (and I have no evidence to show this) that he has made it to Partner level with a leading law firm quicker that if he had stayed with Clifford Chance, because of the very valuable and CV enhancing role with Goldmans. As with a lot of things, timing (and high quality experience) could be everything for a great tax career.

Vodafone Head of Tax views on tax avoidance

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:21:00 +0000

Source: AccountancyAge.com

Following my profile of Joel Walters, Group Head of Tax of Vodafone, on this blog back in December 2007, he has recently made some interesting comments regarding tax avoidance. He feels that tax agencies can become too obsessed with the issue.

In an interview with the Chartered Institute of Taxation and The Association of Taxation Technician's journal Tax Adviser, Joel Walters said: 'There is a danger, I think, that multi-national corporations in particular are perceived as avoiding tax in respect of how they structure their operations, and the first thing I'd say is that tax avoidance, defined as not paying the amount of tax the law requires, is actually very rare.'

He added that it was also 'very rare' for tax to drive the business decisions of multi-nationals.

The big numbers involved in tax mean a perception is created that there are big problems. 'That creates an illusion that there are significant numbers of issues. Then I'm concerned to some extent that once this perception begins to permeate the taxing agency, what tends to happen is that the focus comes on enforcing the tax loss in response to what, I think, is largely overestimated tax avoidance, and all the effort goes on enforcement in those areas.'

Vodafone has been at the centre of some of the biggest tax issues in terms of value in recent years. It is involved in a £2bn dispute with HM Revenue & Customs over a Luxembourg subsidiary created to facilitate the Mannesman merger in 2000, and faces a separate action in India too.

Tax issues are about integrity, Walters said: 'A corporation, and individual tax people, must feel that they are comfortable with the actions they have taken and the way they have gone about doing their business.'

WPP take view on UK tax system issue

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:50:00 +0000

Source: www.tax-news.com

As if Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling didn't have enough on his plate with the ongoing credit crunch, it has emerged that yet another FTSE100 firm is considering switching its corporate HQ abroad in protest at the UK's increasingly burdensome corporate tax regime.

Sir Martin Sorrel, head of WPP - the world's second largest advertising firm - told the BBC on Monday that if the Treasury introduced proposed rules to tax dividends earned by companies overseas in the UK, it could tip the balance in favour of relocating the firm's tax residence to a jurisdiction which does not tax such income, with Ireland likely to be top of the list.

"If the measures as is are introduced, ratified, confirmed and implemented, we will be taking a very serious look at the advantages and disadvantages [of moving its tax domicile and headquarters]," Sorrel was quoted as saying.

Sorrel's comments come hot on the heels of decisions by Shire Pharmaceuticals and United Business Media to set up holding companies in Jersey and relocate their corporate HQs to Ireland to cut their UK tax bills.

He went on to point out that WPP already pays a significant sum in tax to the Treasury each year - about GBP200mn (USD394mn) - and the proposed new rules could add tens of millions of pounds to the company's annual tax bill in the UK.

"We are talking about very very significant sums of money," he noted.

UBM follows Shire's tax move to Ireland

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:48:00 +0000

Various tax news websites are reporting today that United Business Media (UBM) is doing the same as Shire Pharmaceuticals, incorporating in Jersey and being tax resident in Ireland, with a FTSE listing. Although some camps are calling this blatant tax avoidance, I don't blame them if it is not clear how foreign profits are taxed in the UK, particularly if 85% of your profits are outside the UK. I don't think UBM will be the last FTSE group to announce this type of restructure.

Click here for the full announcement.

Tax Jobs - Weekly Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:03:00 +0000

The theme for this week is very much in-house indirect tax roles. I am currently working on 3 VAT/Indirect Tax Manager positions with large group companies. These roles will be mostly focused on VAT, but some roles can include other taxes e.g. PAYE/employment taxes or very specialist areas such as stamp duty or landfill tax. Because of the specialist knowledge and experience involved, there is usually a scarcity of candidates with the right skills.

A couple of examples are:

Indirect Tax Manager - Thames Valley
Click here for more info

VAT / Indirect Tax Manager - Surrey
Click here for more info

Shire Holding relocation - more tax insight

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:05:00 +0000

Further to my article last week about Shire changing its residency to Ireland from the UK, an article from www.tax-news.com sheds a little more light on the tax background to the decision. The article also mentions that c.200 companies have relocated their HQ in the last 10 years, which seems a lot more than I thought. I suspect that this number includes US parent groups that have moved their European HQ from the UK to somewhere in Europe, and not purely UK listed groups.

To read the full article, click here

FTSE 100 Shire relocates to Ireland for tax purposes

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:08:00 +0000

Source: AccountancyAge.com

The Confederation of British Industry has raised concerns about the UK's anti-competitive tax regime after Shire announced it would relocate to Ireland where tax rules are more favourable for business.

Richard Lambert, CBI Director-General, said: 'We are particularly worried that an uncompetitive corporate tax system is spoiling the UK's attractiveness as a place to do business, and that other internationally-mobile firms will follow Shire's path.'

FTSE 100-listed Shire, the third-largest pharmaceutical firm in the UK, is set to pay significantly less tax by becoming a tax resident in Ireland.

The company re-assured market concerns over the change of residency, saying the change would not affect Shire's UK operations or workforce. But this will mean a loss of income for the Treasury, the Telegraph reported.

A company statement said: 'Shire has concluded that its business and its shareholders would be better served by having an international holding company with a group structure that is designed to help protect the group's taxation position, and better facilitate the group's financial management.'

SG comment: I can't think of any other FTSE listed group to announce this sort of change of residency for tax purposes, it will be interesting to see if any other UK groups follow suit.

Are there any tax runners out there?

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Godley) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:55:00 +0000

Further to my posting in February about running the London Marathon this year, just thought I would update on that. I did complete it in 5 hours 10 mins. Being my first Marathon, I found it very hard, particularly the 16-24 mile stretch, which is both physically and mentally tough.

It was an excellent experience, and I hope I get chance to do it again.

Would love to hear from any tax professionals who were running on Sunday.