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Monday, December 31, 2012

Merkel - direct on direction


http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/31/eurozone-crisis-angela-merkel-2013-predictions

In her new year message, the German chancellor warned that 2013 will be challenging , saying:
I know that many are also heading into the new year with trepidation. And indeed, the economic environment next year will not be easier, but more difficult. That should not discourage us, but - on the contrary - serve as an incentive.
And on the eurozone crisis, she was adamant that more work must be done, despite the progress made this year:
The European sovereign debt crisis shows us how important this balance is. The reforms we have agreed to are beginning to take effect. But we still need a lot of patience. The crisis is far from over.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Starbucks- SSR, NOT CSR (Selective Social Responsibility)

Starbucks- selectively socially conscious

Starbucks works overtime to avoid paying the proper taxes in the countries it operates in, however, it wants the political parties to come together and lower taxes for everyone. If it cared so much about lower individual taxes, it should have paid its proper share so that the government can provide services without higher individual taxes.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/starbucks-cups-come-political-message-145033709.html

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

China and the Train forward


China Starts Longest Bullet-Train Line, Luring Air Travelers


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2012-12-26/china-starts-longest-bullet-train-line-luring-air-travelers.html



China started its 2,298-kilometer (1,428-mile) high-speed train line, the longest in the world, as the nation boosts investment in rail networks, intensifying competition for airlines.
The first train on the Beijing-Guangzhou line left Beijing West Station at 9 a.m. as scheduled, according to state broadcaster China Central Television. The trains will initially run at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour, reducing the travel time to as few as eight hours from the previous 21 hours, according to the rail ministry.
The new line, which will eventually connect to Hong Kong, is part of the nation’s plan to build a 16,000-kilometer high- speed rail network by 2015, undeterred by a deadly bullet-train accident last year. The new service may lure air travelers and prompt China Southern Airlines Co. (1055) and Air China Ltd. (601111) to cut fares, according to Barclays Plc.
“The continued development of the high-speed train network will marginalize short-haul domestic air routes,” Barclays analysts Patrick Xu and Jon Windham wrote in a note to clients last week. It will “exacerbate the competition on long-haul domestic routes and depress margins.”

Monday, December 24, 2012

InfoCision Management Corp - making profit from not-for-profits


Making Profits From Non-Profits


http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2012-12-18/web-editors-choice-2012.html#slide4

The telemarketer for the American Cancer Society didn't ask for money, just if the person on the other end of the line would stamp and send 15 form letters to neighbors. Seventy-eight cents of every dollar raised would go to the Society, she said. Instead, more than half the money went to telemarketer InfoCision Management Corp. And that was low. Turns out that most -- and sometimes all -- of the money InfoCision collects under the name of major charities never pays for medical research or even reaches the charity, an investigation by David Evans for Bloomberg Markets showed. The money goes to InfoCision. U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Herb Kohl called for an investigation and InfoCision's Chief Executive, Carl Albright, was replaced a month after Evan's story was published.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Antarctica- warming more than expected- sends chills down the spine


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/science/earth/west-antarctica-warming-faster-than-thought-study-finds.html?_r=0


A paper released Sunday by the journal Nature Geoscience reports that the temperature at a research station in the middle of West Antarctica has warmed by 4.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1958. That is roughly twice as much as scientists previously thought and three times the overall rate of global warming, making central West Antarctica one of the fastest-warming regions on earth.
“The surprises keep coming,” said Andrew J. Monaghan, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., who took part in the study. “When you see this type of warming, I think it’s alarming.”
Of course, warming in Antarctica is a relative concept. West Antarctica remains an exceedingly cold place, with average annual temperatures in the center of the ice sheet that are nearly 50 degrees Fahrenheit below freezing.

Facebook Friends Ireland, but defriends Irish Public - the art of Double Irish

Facebook- makes more than £800m through its Irish subsidiary, but pays less than .4% in taxes in Ireland. One more U.S. based global company exploiting the services provided by countries and avoiding contribution to the well-being of the country.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/dec/23/facebook-tax-profits-outside-us

Facebook paid £2.9m tax on £840m profits made outside US, figures show

Company channelled bulk of profits through Ireland and on to Cayman Islands, allowing to it pay just £238,000 to UK taxman



Facebook has become the latest multinational to come under the spotlight for its tax affairs after figures revealed it paid just £2.9m in tax on profits of more than more than £800m.
Filings for Facebook Ireland, through which all of the social network's profits outside the US are channelled, show it paid the Irish tax authority €3.2m (£2.9m) last year.
Facebook is structured so that companies buying advertisements on the website in the UK, or anywhere outside of the US, have to pay Facebook Ireland.
This allowed Facebook Ireland to make gross 2011 profits of £840m – or £3.1m per each of its 287 staff. Despite the high gross profit, Facebook Ireland was able to cut its tax bill to just €3.2m by using an accounting technique called the "Double Irish".
The manoeuvre allows multinationals to move large amounts of money to other subsidiaries in the form of royalty payments. Facebook moved nearly £750m to the Cayman Islands and its Californian parent in licensing and royalty payments.
After the transfers, Facebook Ireland reported a £15m annual loss, despite it accounting for 44% of the social network's $3.15bn (£1.95bn) revenues.
Like Apple and Google, Facebook uses its Irish subsidiary to reduce its liabilities to HM Revenue & Customs and other European tax regimes. Amazon and Starbucks also cut their British tax bills by using the same technique via other European countries. Last year Facebook paid just £238,000 in UK corporation tax – less than the average pay and bonus of its UK-based staff. Its estimated UK revenues amounted to £175m last year.
The revelations are likely to reignite anger at giant US companies paying very little tax in the UK despite making hundreds of millions of pounds in the country.
Starbucks had been facing calls for a mass boycott after it emerged it paid no corporation tax in Britain for the last three years, and just £8.6m since 1998. It has promised to pay about £10m to the exchequer a year for the next two years.
A Facebook spokeswoman said: "Facebook complies with all relevant corporate regulations including those related to filing company reports and taxation."
The company added that it chose to base its international headquarters in Ireland as it was the "best location to hire staff with the right skills to run a multilingual hi-tech operation serving the whole of Europe".
George Osborne, the chancellor, promised to tackle "unacceptable" tax avoidance in his autumn statement this month. He said more resources were being put into ensuring multinational companies "pay their proper share of taxes".
He also confirmed a £154m blitz on tax avoidance and evasion, with HMRC hiring an extra 2,500 tax inspectors to target high earners who aggressively exploit loopholes to avoid or evade tax.
Margaret Hodge, the chair of the public accounts committee, said multinationals had been allowed to get away with "ripping off" taxpayers because of a weak tax authority, poor legislation and a lack of international co-operation.
"Global corporations with huge operations in the UK generating significant amounts of income are getting away with paying little or no corporation tax here. This is an insult to British business and individuals who pay their fair share.
"Corporation tax revenues have fallen at a time when securing proper income from taxes is more vital than ever.
"The inescapable conclusion is that multinationals are using structures and exploiting current tax legislation to move offshore profits that are clearly generated from economic activity in the UK," she said.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Views from Ireland- right on target

Views from Ireland- right on target

...Continental divide still stands between Americans and us
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/1222/1224328119700.html


Colorado Republican congressman Doug Lamborn expressed this view eloquently last week. “With the investigation into the murders ongoing, it is too soon to be talking about new federal laws,” he said. “In fact, it disrespects those who are still mourning.”
Does it? How? If a bridge collapses does it disrespect those killed to begin immediate discussions on bridge safety? More bizarre still are the claims that, in such circumstances, liberals are guilty of “exploiting a tragedy for political gain” when they try to stop further disturbed teenagers from gaining access to assault rifles.
Second amendment 
Polls still show that a majority of Americans are wary of any significant changes to gun laws (the banning of handguns, for instance). The National Rifle Association will set its killer flying monkeys on any politician who dares to press for such assaults on the second amendment. In short, there is no “political gain” to be had from taking on the gun lobby. If there were then Barack Obama would have mentioned the issue during the presidential campaign. This is one rare instance where we can reasonably assume that any politician taking up the cause is doing so at the urging of his or her conscience.
...

Friday, December 21, 2012

Blaming everyone and everything, except guns and gun-owners

The NRA's message, after  a week of thought post Newton tragedy: "Blame everyone, except guns, gun sellers, and gun owners." So, how to be safe? "Put more guns on the job."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/us/nra-calls-for-armed-guards-at-schools.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=all&pagewanted=print

Guns Sold Out at Wal-Mart as Ammo Surge on E-Bay - Bloomberg

Guns Sold Out at Wal-Mart as Ammo Surge on E-Bay - Bloomberg: "Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said yesterday that it would continue to sell guns, including rifles like the one used at Newtown, where 26 people, most of them children, were killed on Dec. 14. By contrast, Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (DKS) suspended sales of similar guns at its more than 500 stores.
Searches of five kinds of semi-automatic rifles on Wal- Mart’s website showed them to be out of stock at stores in five states, including Pennsylvania, Kansas and Alabama. Wal-Mart doesn’t sell guns online, instead asking customers to input a zip code to see if their local store carries a specific weapon."

'via Blog this'

Schools, Guns, and CNBC

Right after the terrible tragedy in Newton, news events of interest:

Some Texas schools are supporting/encouraging teachers and administrators to carry concealed weapons to schools and classrooms.

Gun shops are reporting unprecedented sales. More than 60 million background checks conducted in 2012 alone as part of gun purchases. Many internet and gun show sales are not reporting on background checks.

CNBC anchors were whining and crying that gun manufacturers' stock prices were down despite the fact that gun sales were blasting through the roof, post Newton killings. Leave it to CNBC to push buy signals, irrespective of the underlying tragedies.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Fruits in a jungle

The Hindu : Cities / Bangalore : Tropical fruits in a concrete jungle: "Constantly rising prices make buying fruit in Bangalore a luxury rather than a staple, but vendors in the vicinity of Avenue Road provide sweet refreshments to people who frequent the area at affordable prices every day.

These vendors vie for the freshest fruit at K.R. Market and sell assorted cut fruits on carts and bicycles positioned all around the area. Offering a minimum of three fruits, one of which is most often the refreshing watermelon, each plate is priced at Rs. 20 and contains a good 250 gm of fruit.

Some may stay away from cut fruit on the grounds that it is unhygienic, but Prakash, one of the vendors, says: “I cut only limited batches of fruit according to how many plates I sell, and a plate doesn’t remain unsold for more that 15 minutes. I’ve been in this business for about 10 years now. If my fruits were not healthy, I would have been put out of business long ago.”"

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Ireland: making tough choices

Ireland to legalise abortions where woman's life is at risk | World news | guardian.co.uk: "In a move unthinkable even a few years ago, the Irish governmentis to introduce legislation permitting abortions in limited circumstances.

The decision follows pressure from the European court of human rights, which ruled that abortions should be allowed in the republic in cases where a woman's life was at risk.

The taoiseach, Enda Kenny, who represents one of the most traditional rural Catholic constituencies in Ireland, said the Fine Gael-Labour coalition would proceed with a mixture of "legislation with regulation"."

'via Blog this'

Monday, December 17, 2012

Asia: women in power and gender discrimination

Sexism’s $89 Billion Price Is Past Sell-By Date for Asia - Bloomberg: "
Asia leads the globe in the number of years women have ruled. For all the excitement about Hillary Clinton perhaps running for U.S. president in 2016, female leaders are old hat in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Soong Ching Ling led China briefly on more than one occasion and, while she never took office, Aung San Suu Kyi was elected leader of Myanmar in 1990.

It is puzzling, then, that Asia also is up there among the world leaders in gender discrimination all at the price of growth. The United Nations estimates that limiting female employment costs Asia $89 billion a year in lost output. A region struggling to raise many of its 3 billion people out of poverty squanders roughly the annual gross domestic product of Slovakia because it favors men. How dumb is that?"

'via Blog this'

Sunday, December 16, 2012

H&M - No TLC until no CLC (Child Labour Cotton)

H&M comes under pressure to act on child-labour cotton | Business | The Observer: "One of Britain's most popular fashion chains is under pressure to sever its links with clothing suppliers that buy cotton from Uzbekistan, where large quantities are harvested using child labour.

H&M, the giant fashion chain which uses football star David Beckham and singer Lana Del Rey in its advertising campaigns, has signed a pledge to "not knowingly" source cotton from the central Asian country in response to concern from human rights groups."

'via Blog this'

Mississippi river faces shipping freeze as water levels drop | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Mississippi river faces shipping freeze as water levels drop | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "The Mississippi as seen from Ed Drager's tug boat is a river in retreat: a giant beached barge is stranded where the water dropped, with sand bars springing into view. The floating barge office where the tugboat captain reports for duty is tilted like a funhouse. One side now rests on the exposed shore. "I've never seen the river this low," Drager said. "It's weird."

The worst drought in half a century has brought water levels in the Mississippi close to historic lows and could shut down all shipping in a matter of weeks – unless Barack Obama takes extraordinary measures.

It's the second extreme event on the river in 18 months, after flooding in the spring of 2011 forced thousands to flee their homes. Without rain, water levels on the Mississippi are projected to reach historic lows this month, the national weather service said in its latest four-week forecast."

'via Blog this'

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Hard to get around the huge gulf between Tokyo and Mumbai...

Tokyo Receives High Marks From Travelers According To TripAdvisor World City Survey: "NEWTON, Mass., Dec. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor®, the world's largest travel site, today announced the results of its Cities Survey, a look into how travelers and locals view 40 key tourist cities around the world. The results were compiled based on more than 75,000 responses to a survey sent to those who have recently written TripAdvisor reviews on the featured cities.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/57943-tripadvisor-world-city-survey-tokyo-rated-highly-among-global-travelers

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121213/MM27419)

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080902/TRIPADVISORLOGO)"


Tokyo was the most highly decorated world city ranked number one for best taxi services, friendliest taxi drivers, best public transportation, cleanest streets, and safety.
While New York City was ranked top for shopping, travelers felt the city streets could use a sweep as the city ranked 28 out of 40 for cleanliness. Global respondents also believed visiting the Big Apple may break the bank as it is ranked 32 out of 40 for value.
Here are some of the top cities per category:
Overall Top Performers:
Category
First place
Second place
Third place
Friendliest locals
Tokyo
Friendliest taxi drivers
Tokyo
Cancun
Singapore
Best taxi services
Tokyo
Dubai
Cleanest streets
Tokyo
Singapore
Ease of getting around
Zurich
Singapore
Best public transport
Tokyo
Zurich
Best value for money
Lisbon
Bangkok
Best for shopping
New York City
Bangkok
Dubai
Safest city
Tokyo
Singapore

Overall Low Rankers:
Category
Last place
Second last
Third last
Friendliest locals
London
Friendliest taxi drivers
Moscow
Best taxi services
Moscow
Beijing
Cleanest streets
Mumbai
Ease of getting around
Punta Cana
Moscow
Best public transport
Marrakech
Best value for money
Moscow
Zurich
Best for shopping
Moscow
Oslo
Punta Cana


'via Blog this'

Friday, December 14, 2012

Politicians get drug overdose, public pays the bills, pharma takes money to the bank in Bermuda

Bitter pill that comes with having large drugs sector - The Irish Times - Sat, Dec 15, 2012: "White’s company, Abbott, is in the process of creating a sister group, Abbvie, which will focus on research-based pharmaceuticals. This year two Irish Abbvie subsidiaries were established, with registered addresses at the offices of Matheson solicitors in Dublin. Also established was Abbvie Ireland NL BV, a Dutch company with an address in Sligo.

The structure looks like one designed to reduce Abbvie’s future tax bills in much the same way that Google, Microsoft, and other multinationals have used Ireland to save themselves fortunes in global corporation tax. A request for a comment from Abbvie on this point yesterday met with no response.


Just this week Bloomberg reported that Google avoided $2 billion in corporation tax in 2011 by way of its international tax structure. That tax structure is centred in Dublin, where two of Google’s key companies are based at the Matheson offices, and use a Dutch company as part of their tax avoidance policies (the so-called Dutch sandwich scheme).
Earlier this year a report for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in Washington disclosed that Microsoft reduced its US corporation tax bill by €1.87 billion in 2011. The saving was achieved mostly through the avoidance of tax on royalty payments between three companies with their registered addresses at the Matheson offices. One of them, Round Island One, is a Bermuda company, despite having its registered office here.
The structure channels non-US profits from around the globe (including Africa) to Bermuda, which does not charge corporation tax.
Revenues lost 
About 60 per cent of world trade occurs within multinational companies. An enormous amount of the profit from that trade is ending up in low-tax and offshore jurisdictions. The revenues lost to governments as a result has to be replaced by targeting other sources, including individuals and businesses that do not trade internationally.
In an environment where so many western countries are raising extra taxes and cutting services in an effort to narrow government deficits, the aggressive avoidance measures operated by multinationals are becoming a political issue.
This month the head of the UK’s public accounts committee, Margaret Hodge, described the tax policies of Google, Amazon and Starbucks as “outrageous and an insult to British businesses and individuals who pay their fair share”. Starbucks, stung by reputational damage, offered to voluntarily pay £20 million to the British exchequer.
On the other hand, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt responded by saying he was “proud” of his company’s tax structures.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Ohio- Health Care

Ohio health ranks poor - Welcome to the W.C.H. Record-Herald - Washington Court House, OH: "Ohio maintained a poor ranking in the most recent state-by-state health evaluation released last week.

The state came in at 35th place, increasing its standing by one position since 2011, but showed other negative health trends, including increased smoking and more binge drinking and obesity relative to other states, according to the report from the United Health Foundation.

Ohio's health ranking has slowly declined relative to other states since the state ranked in the mid-20s in the 1990s. The report cited high smoking rates, high air pollution and a high rate of preventable hospitalizations as major health challenges for the state this year. Ohio also ranks among the worst states in infant mortality, cardiovascular deaths and cancer deaths.

Many of the health problems that have been reported at the state level can also be found in Fayette County, said Deputy Health Commissioner Leigh Cannon, including smoking, drinking and high cancer mortality."

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Big Mac-sized pay gap

McDonald’s $8.25 Man and $8.75 Million CEO Shows Pay Gap - Bloomberg: "Million Hours

Johnson would need about a million hours of work -- or more than a century on the clock -- to earn the $8.75 million that McDonald’s, based in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, paid then- CEO Jim Skinner last year. Johnson’s work flipping burgers and hoisting boxes of french fries, like millions of other jobs in low-wage industries, helps explain why income inequality grew after the 2007-2009 recession ended.

The recovery from the last downturn has been the most uneven in recent history. The 1.2 million households whose incomes put them in the top 1 percent of the U.S. saw their earnings increase 5.5 percent last year, according to census estimates. Earnings fell 1.7 percent for the 97 million households in the bottom 80 percent -- those who made less than $101,583.

The widening chasm is most pronounced in the restaurant and retail businesses. The total number of people employed in the U.S. at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and McDonald’s and Yum Brands restaurants exceeds the entire 2.7 million population of Chicago. Net income at those three companies has jumped by at least 22 percent from four years ago."

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

TIMS data

U.S. Schoolchildren Lag Asian Peers on Academic Tests - Bloomberg: "U.S. schoolchildren trailed Asian peers on one of the largest international tests of math, science and reading, highlighting a challenge to American competiveness.
Eight countries or regions including South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong outscored the U.S. in eighth-grade math, while nine did in science, according to the 2011 test, called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. On a reading exam, the U.S. lagged behind five. Some U.S. states such as Florida and Massachusetts bucked the trend, shining in some subjects."

'via Blog this'

Monday, December 10, 2012

Guardian's investigative report on tax avoidance: the gold standard for journalism

Britain could end these tax scams by hitting the big four | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian: "In 2009 the Guardian's tax gap series kicked off this debate, exposing devious but legal devices such the "double Luxembourg", the "Dutch sandwich" and Roger the Dodger of Barclays. This is the most dangerous kind of investigation, where any mis-step risks lethal lawsuits from those with deep enough pockets to kill: it cost us £100,000 in lawyers' fees alone, plus months of journalists' time digging into opaque company accounts. We told how Boots, bought by private equity firm KKR, abandoned its Nottingham home to put its HQ in Zug, the Swiss tax haven. By loading the company with debt, its tax bill dropped from £606m to £74m – and Barclays lent them billions to do it. GlaxoSmithKline and Astra Zeneca moved to Puerto Rico and Shell took its trademark to Switzerland. Diageo transferred brand names to a Dutch subsidiary, so Johnnie Walker whisky paid just 2% tax.


How did they put the profits from a whisky blended in Kilmarnock into low-tax Amsterdam? Deloitte did it, reportedly so proud they broke open champagne when it went through. And that is the crux of the matter. At the heart of almost every tax-avoiding scheme is one of the big four accountancy firms – Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG and Ernst & Young.
Tax campaigner Richard Murphy, whose razor-sharp work with the Tax Justice Network fuels so much of this campaign, says these four are at the heart of the worldwide web of avoidance, with offices in all the main tax havens. PwC explained on the radio last week that the reason it had large offices in Bermuda was to audit the local hospital. Few clients could use these havens without one of the big four as auditor: virtually no business happens in havens, but bankers, lawyers and accountants need to be located there..."

Starbycks and Star-ducks the Taxes

Britain could end these tax scams by hitting the big four | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian: "At Saturday's Starbucks occupation of 40 coffee shops, the point was easy to explain to passers-by: companies massively avoiding tax help to cause the cuts that shut libraries, Sure Starts and women's refuges. This short occupation with an orderly exit and loud chants causes Starbucks deep reputational damage. Costa, nearby, does pay its taxes, while Starbucks avoids its duty to the civilised society it depends on.

Take note, all other corporate avoiders: Manchester Business School estimates that Starbucks will see a 24% drop in sales over the next year, from the experience of reputational crises in 50 other companies. The eye-popping stupidity of choosing this same week to cut its staff's paid lunch breaks and sickness and maternity pay suggests a company whose only efficiency is in tax-avoiding. The £20m it offers as a "donation" to HMRC may even be tax deductible: it can offset this "overpayment" against future tax, once public attention has drifted elsewhere, adding to the phenomenal recent drop in corporation tax receipts, as companies copy one another's avoidance schemes."

'via Blog this'

New definition of :Do No Evil, the Google Way

Google Revenues Sheltered in No-Tax Bermuda Soar to $10 Billion - Bloomberg: "Google Inc. (GOOG) avoided about $2 billion in worldwide income taxes in 2011 by shifting $9.8 billion in revenues into a Bermuda shell company, almost double the total from three years before, filings show.

By legally funneling profits from overseas subsidiaries into Bermuda, which doesn’t have a corporate income tax, Google cut its overall tax rate almost in half. The amount moved to Bermuda is equivalent to about 80 percent of Google’s total pretax profit in 2011.

The increase in Google’s revenues routed to Bermuda, disclosed in a Nov. 21 filing by a subsidiary in the Netherlands, could fuel the outrage spreading across Europe and in the U.S. over corporate tax dodging. Governments in France, the U.K., Italy and Australia are probing Google’s tax avoidance as they seek to boost revenue during economic doldrums."

'via Blog this'

Sunday, December 09, 2012

Google: leading in obfuscation

Google defends low tax payment - The Irish Times - Mon, Dec 10, 2012: "Google Ireland has defended reports it paid just 0.14 per cent tax on revenues over €47 billion, saying it has made a significant contribution to the Irish economy through investments in the country and the employment of 2,500 people at its European headquarters in Dublin.

The company said it had invested €75 million in its recently opened data centre and another €226.9 million in the acquisition of three office buildings in Dublin in 2011.

Google Ireland had a turnover of €47.44 billion between 2005 and 2011. However, the internet giant paid a total tax bill of just €69.91 million, according to the Sunday Independent."

'via Blog this'

Starbucks attracts traffic

BBC News - UK Uncut protests over Starbucks 'tax avoidance': "UK Uncut says the government should be clamping down on tax avoidance by Starbucks and other companies rather than making cuts to the welfare state.
Organisers said they wanted to show the impact of government cuts on women, and to highlight this set out to transform Starbucks stores into "refuges, creches and homeless shelters".
Rosie Rogers from UK Uncut told BBC News "We're absolutely delighted with the events... Hundreds of people turned out on a cold Saturday morning to exercise their right to protest."
Ms Rogers said there were no immediate plans to hold any similar demonstrations but they would continue to boycott Starbucks.
UK Uncut said it had heard from protesters gathering at 10 outlets in London, Birmingham, Oxford and Nottingham.
'via Blog this'

Friday, December 07, 2012

IBM: Setting ever-lower standards

IBM Draws Flak for Change to 401(k) Plan - Bloomberg: "International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), the largest computer-services provider, drew fire from a worker organization for a change to its 401(k) retirement plan that cuts the frequency of company contributions to once a year.
The company will switch from matching employee contributions to their 401(k) plans twice a month to every Dec. 15, a move that “shortchanges IBM employees,” Alliance@IBM said on its website. While the amount that employees receive isn’t changing, workers who leave or are fired before Dec. 15 won’t get their payment for the year."

'via Blog this'

B2B shrinkage (Booze to Brain)

You may be boozing your brain cells away - TODAY Health: "A throbbing headache isn't the only side effect of overloading on alcohol. Chug too many cocktails and you may be putting your actual gray matter at risk. According to a new study from Rutgers University, consumption of alcohol, from moderate-level drinking to binge drinking (drinking less during the week and more on the weekends), can decrease the creation of adult brain cells by as much as 40 percent"

'via Blog this'

Thursday, December 06, 2012

STarbucks- not having a Tea party

BBC News - Starbucks agrees to pay more corporation tax: "Coffee chain Starbucks has agreed to pay more UK corporation tax, after a public outcry over how little it pays.

Kris Engskov, managing director of Starbucks UK, announced that the company would pay "a significant amount of tax during 2013 and 2014, regardless of whether the company is profitable".

One tax expert described the move as "unprecedented".

HM Revenue and Customs reacted by saying that corporation tax "is not a voluntary tax".

"The public expects businesses to pay their fair share," the tax authorites added, "and HMRC will challenge, through the courts if necessary, any structures or tax payments that do not comply with the UK tax law.""

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

EU - a display of good governance

Europe Fines Electronics Makers $1.92 Billion - NYTimes.com: " For a decade, senior managers at some of the world’s largest electronics companies met at golf courses, mostly in Asia, for what they called “greens meetings.”

Besides golf, the business at hand was a price-fixing scheme that affected millions of consumers, the top European antitrust regulator said on Wednesday.

Joaquín Almunia, the European competition commissioner, imposed fines totaling almost 1.5 billion euros, or $1.96 billion, on seven companies involved in two cartels that fixed the price of picture and display tubes for televisions and computer screens.

Combined, the fines amount to the largest single penalty for price fixing ever imposed by the commission, which said the cartels had engaged in the most organized market manipulation it had ever investigated. In addition to price fixing, the cartels’ conspiracies included market sharing, customer allocation and exchanges of important commercial information."

'via Blog this'

$450 Gift Card from Starbucks- no longer "luxury you can afford" but "luxury you want to avoid"

Starbucks To Offer $450 Gift Card Made Of Stainless Steel: "First there was the $7 cup of coffee. Now Starbucks is offering a $450 gift card made of stainless steel.

The coffee company says the limited-edition card, which is good for $400 in store credit, will be available through the website Gilt.com and include gold level membership for the Starbucks rewards program. The cards will go on sale at noon ET on Friday and will be available until the supply of 5,000 cards is sold out.

Gold membership to the rewards program includes perks such a free birthday drink and a free drink or food item after the purchase of 12 drinks. Customers normally need to make 30 transactions a month to get gold membership.

The rollout of the new card, which can be reloaded with money, comes after Starbucks earlier this month introduced a line of rare coffee at select stores in the Seattle and Portland, Ore., areas. A large cup of the Costa Rica Finca Palmilera costs $7, compared with $2.20 for a large cup of regular brewed coffee."

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Cigarettes- bug even the bugs

Nesting city birds show it's not ifs but butts - The Irish Times - Wed, Dec 05, 2012: "Common wild birds such as urban house sparrows and finches have found a new use for an annoying source of litter. Some have started shredding cigarette butts into their nests as a way to repel biting insects.

Researchers from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México studied birds nesting on the university campus.

Almost 90 per cent of the 60 nests checked had cellulose cigarette butt material spread through them, and the team led by Dr Constantino Macías García believes the birds did this intentionally.

Volatile compounds

Biting bugs hiding in birds’ nests can play havoc, weakening the parents and reducing chick survival. For this reason many bird species living away from cities have an evolved behaviour to protect themselves."

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Elizabeth Price on her Turner prize 2012 win | Art and design | The Guardian

Elizabeth Price on her Turner prize 2012 win | Art and design | The Guardian: "There have been 28 winners of the Turner prize, but Price is only the fifth woman. Why? "Because it's difficult to have a career as an artist, and in every situation where it's difficult to have a career, it's even harder for women, for all the other reasons that it's harder in other fiercely contested fields. For women who have children, the economic difficulty of sustaining a life as an artist maybe makes it impossible. There's no maternity leave, there's no pension." Price has no children, but she does have a big family of proud siblings who gathered at Monday's prize ceremony. The award has, she says, involved her not-especially-arty parents in "this slightly cranky thing that I did" – an experience that has been "completely unexpected and very pleasurable"."

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Monday, December 03, 2012

Facebook- going to the toilet

Study finds social networking taking up toilet time - Indian Express: "Blame social media the next time it feels like forever for your turn to use the toilet.

According to a study released yesterday, 32 percent of people in the United States aged 18 to 24 say they use social networking in the bathroom.

The same report from marketing research firms Nielsen and NM Incite also found that 51 percent of US adults between 25 and 34 use social networking in the office -- more than any other age group.

While personal computers remain the primary tools for logging onto sites like Facebook and Twitter, reportedly noted a significant increase in the use of cellphones and tablets as well."

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Starbucks and the art of tax-dodging

Vince Cable criticises Starbucks over 'tax dodging' | Politics | The Guardian: "ince Cable described Starbucks as "tax dodgers" on Monday and said he could understand why people are boycotting their 700 British outlets, in the latest ministerial intervention in the row over multinational avoidance schemes.

The business secretary, when asked by the Guardian if he would consider boycotting their products, said: "I don't shop at Starbucks so this doesn't apply to me, but I can fully understand why people would vote with their feet as a result of their tax dodging."

Cable's strongly worded intervention came after parliament's spending watchdog, the public accounts committee, said HMRC was "way too lenient" on companies that use clever accounting tricks to pay very little or no tax. It condemned tax avoidance techniques used by the coffee company, as well as Amazon and Google."

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Amazon, Google and Starbucks - finally facing questions

Amazon, Google and Starbucks attacked by MPs over tax avoidance | Business | The Guardian: "Amazon, Google and Starbucks have been accused of an "immoral" use of secretive jurisdictions, royalties and complex company structures to avoid paying tax on British profits by a committee of MPs.

A hard-hitting report released on Monday by the Commons public accounts committee, the parliamentary spending watchdog, also criticises HM Revenue & Customs for being "way too lenient" in negotiations with corporations which pay little or no corporation tax. It calls on the government to draw up laws to close loopholes and name and shame companies that fail to pay their fair share.

The report's scheduled release, following a humiliating parliamentary session for the three multinationals' executives, prompted a flurry of media activity over the weekend. On Saturday night, Starbucks announced that it is reviewing its tax approach to Britain with a view to paying more following widespread criticism of the coffee chain's tax regime."

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Sunday, December 02, 2012

Corporate Incentives, Texas Style, to Exxon Mobil, one of the largest profit machines in the world.

Texas Business Incentives Highest in Nation - NYTimes.com: "The guest of honor was Gov. Rick Perry, but the man behind the event was not one of the enclave’s boldface names. He was a tax consultant named G. Brint Ryan.

Mr. Ryan’s specialty is helping clients like ExxonMobil and Neiman Marcus secure state and local tax breaks and other business incentives. It is a good line of work in Texas.


Under Mr. Perry, Texas gives out more of the incentives than any other state, around $19 billion a year, an examination by The New York Times has found. Texas justifies its largess by pointing out that it is home to half of all the private sector jobs created over the last decade nationwide. As the invitation to the fund-raiser boasted: “Texas leads the nation in job creation.”

"

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Starbucks- high on caffeine, near zero on taxes

Starbucks vows action on UK tax - The Irish Times - Sun, Dec 02, 2012: "The US coffee firm — valued at €30 billion — has generated more than £3 billion (€3.7bn) of sales in the UK since 1998 but it emerged in October it has paid less than 1 per cent in corporation tax.

Starbucks, which has more than 700 outlets in the UK, said it was “committed to the UK for the long term” and added: “We are looking at our tax approach in the UK. The company has been in discussions with HMRC for some time and is also in talks with the treasury.”

The company said it would release further details of its UK tax plans this week.

The group reportedly paid just £8.6 million (€10.6m) in corporation tax in the UK in the last 14 years."

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Saturday, December 01, 2012

IIT placements- rich story

Salaries up 10% for this year's IIT placements - The Times of India: "MUMBAI: Placements at the Indian Institutes of Technology seem to have been insulated from the global economic slowdown. Companies like Facebook, Samsung and Google and other foreign majors began Day One of recruitments across IIT campuses, offering about 5-10% higher salaries than last year.

It is projected that by the end of slot zero, 150 students on each campus will be hired. Average domestic salaries were in the mid-Rs 20 lakh range on the first day. But Facebook continued as most aggressive suitor this year too, making its presence felt at IIT campuses from Bombay to Guwahati to Madras. It has offered $136,000 (Rs 75 lakh) per annum to a student from IIT Guwahati —besides a plum relocation bonus and one-time signing amount. Twitter is not far behind with a gross salary offered of $110,000, artificial advertising solutions provider Rocketfuel is also close. Algorithmic trading firm Jump Trading is keen to hire staff for its UK office and offered £70,000 as gross salary. "

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Corporations: want to cut benefits for needy, but take all they can get from the government

As Companies Seek Tax Deals, Governments Pay High Price - NYTimes.com: "A Times investigation has examined and tallied thousands of local incentives granted nationwide and has found that states, counties and cities are giving up more than $80 billion each year to companies. The beneficiaries come from virtually every corner of the corporate world, encompassing oil and coal conglomerates, technology and entertainment companies, banks and big-box retail chains.


The cost of the awards is certainly far higher. A full accounting, The Times discovered, is not possible because the incentives are granted by thousands of government agencies and officials, and many do not know the value of all their awards. Nor do they know if the money was worth it because they rarely track how many jobs are created. Even where officials do track incentives, they acknowledge that it is impossible to know whether the jobs would have been created without the aid.

“How can you even talk about rationalizing what you’re doing when you don’t even know what you’re doing?” said Timothy J. Bartik, a senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Mich."

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IITs: in a Samsung Galaxy

IIT Placements: Samsung, Google offer top salaries - The Economic Times: "BANGALORE | MUMBAI: In what looks like the start of a bumper placement season, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have recorded a 5-10% jump in salaries at the final placement offers for students at Madras, Roorkee, Kharagpur, Bombay, Delhi, and Guwahati.

The top offer thus far is an annual package of $150,000 (Rs 81.6 lakh) from South Korean multinational conglomerate Samsung at IIT Madras for students in computer science stream and the posting could be in US or S Korea Google follows closely with a $135,000 (Rs 73 lakh) PPO (pre-placement) offer at IIT Kharagpur.

Big recruiters on the first day include Boston Consulting Group; Deutsche Bank Group; Goldman Sachs; ITCBSE 0.12 %, Google, Sony (Japan), Facebook, Morgan Stanley, Microsoft amongst others. Average domestic salaries are in the mid-Rs 20 lakh range on the first day."

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Friday, November 30, 2012

Modi'st salary

Narendra Modi's salary less than govt peon's! - The Times of India: "In his affidavit, Modi has stated that in 2011-2012 he earned an annual income of Rs 1,50,630 with Rs 12,553 as his monthly salary.

This is just a fifth part of the monthly salary of ministers, which is around Rs 66,000. An MLA receives around Rs 56,000 per month plus housing and other facilities. Ministers get additional travel and dearness allowance along with facilities like a bungalow, servants etc."

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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Flying high- KFC style

Japan Airlines to serve KFC on select flights - Travel on NBCNews.com: "NEW YORK -- They're calling the flights "Air Kentucky Fried Chicken."

Japan Airlines says it's serving food from the fast-food chicken chain on international flights from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28. The meals will be served to fliers in premium economy and economy from Narita Airport near Tokyo to Boston, Chicago, Frankfurt, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and San Diego."

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Continuous pain Continues

The Hindu : Home Page News Features: "Tank bund continuous to be unsafe for pedestrians

Tank Bund remains one of the most dangerous spots for the pedestrians in the city. Without facilities like Foot-over-Bridges (FoB) or dedicated pedestrian crossing points, Tank Bund is turning into a virtual death trap for "

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