Glencore tax bill on $15b income: zip, zilch, zero Dated: June 27, 2014 Michael West theage.au/business/glencore-tax-bill-on-15b-income-zip-zilch-zero-20140626-3awg0.html EXCLUSIVE Aggressive tax avoidance tactics: Glencore Coal International Australia Pty Ltd. Photo: Bloomberg Australias largest coalminer, Glencore, paid almost zero tax over the past three years, despite income of $15 billion, as it radically reduced its tax exposure by taking large, unnecessarily expensive loans from its associates overseas. At up to 9 per cent, the interest rates on these $3.4 billion in loans were double what the company would have had to pay had it simply borrowed the money from the bank. As it was claiming tax breaks in Australia on these inflated interest payments, the secretive Swiss-based multinational actually increased its lending to other related parties interest free. This may include its executives. Nobody from Glencore, which used to be called Xstrata, was available for comment despite repeated requests. The aggressive tax avoidance tactics of Glencore Coal International Australia Pty Ltd have been identified in an independent analysis of the companys accounts for Fairfax Media by an expert in multinational financing.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 06:29:19 +0000