Tax

Microsoft becomes unwitting fiscal honeypot

12 Oct 2023

A $29 bln back-tax bill amounts to 40% of the tech firm’s yearly earnings. It’s also enough to fund a new round of Ukraine aid, two years of tax collection or a decade of substance abuse treatment. Uncle Sam may lose the fight, but when budgets are tight there’s more to play for.

Big Four scandals will derail breakup plans

5 Oct 2023

EY and PwC are dealing with issues in their tax and consulting units. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists explain how falling valuations of rivals like Accenture as well as questions about the stability of consulting fees will mean these firms may stick together.

PwC Aussie mess is classic do as I say not as I do

29 Sep 2023

An independent review sparked by a tax-leak scandal lays bare governance failures at the advisory firm including an overly powerful CEO, a supine board, poor risk processes and, ironically, an aversion to external help. Fixing those is just the start of the company's turnaround.

Republican hopefuls’ deficit goals are all talk

24 Aug 2023

Conservatives vying for the Republican nomination vowed to slash the deficit in a debate. After years of spending under conservative leadership, it’s a throwback. Yet tax cuts and other costly projects are still key talking points. Worsened US finances make the agenda impossible.

DeSantis chose wrong Disney battle, right war

22 Aug 2023

Homing in on the $157 billion entertainment company was politically foolish. But the Florida governor is right that Disney's sweetheart deal doesn't make sense. Other similar arrangements are finite and fairer, and still end up bad for states' finances.

Capital Calls: Italian bank levy flip-flop

9 Aug 2023

Concise views on global finance: Rome has only partially soothed investors panicking over its windfall tax on lenders.

Capital Calls: Dish and EchoStar

8 Aug 2023

Concise views on global finance: Billionaire Charlie Ergen is reuniting the two satellite businesses he controls, beefing up the $4.5 billion Dish Network’s strained balance sheet as it tries to expand its wireless strategy.

Robin Hood tariff could curb airline emissions

24 Jul 2023

The aviation industry doesn’t pay duty on fuel despite causing 4% of global warming. A tax would promote cleaner energy and raise billions of dollars, but poor countries oppose it. Rich nations could break the logjam by giving some proceeds to the less well-off, says Hugo Dixon.

Windfall taxes get a breezy airing Down Under

14 Jun 2023

New levies on high coal prices accounted for a third of the $10 bln in resources royalties Queensland raked in over the past year. It helps the state invest in renewables, hospitals and childcare without trashing fossil-fuel firms’ margins. It’s how such tariffs should work.

Economic policies sacrifice poor Americans

2 Jun 2023

Smaller tax refunds, higher prices, and changes to food stamps hurt customers that shop at low-cost retailer Dollar General. Student loan relief is under threat, and other entitlements may be rolled back. Cash is being sucked from the system – directly from the poor’s pockets.

Global tax would spoil investors’ plastic party

1 Jun 2023

The world is drowning in waste, but demand for durable polymers is soaring. This may change if UN talks to end plastic pollution by 2040 succeed in introducing a levy. That will shrink a bonus market for Big Oil and cut packaging firms’ margins.

Intuit investors bet on Uncle Sam’s inept tech

24 May 2023

The US may allow consumers to file taxes online, bypassing private software. Surveys suggest a free option could threaten up to $2.9 bln in revenue from Intuit’s TurboTax arm. The $120 bln company and its shareholders are relying on the state failing to get its act together.

Transatlantic tech-tax truce is on a knife edge

23 May 2023

EU-US spats over levies on the likes of Amazon have taken a breather while a global pact advances. But sabres are rattling, led by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. Washington may well be patient with the pace of promised rollbacks, but any new levies would break the truce.

How do you solve a problem like AI? Tax it

18 May 2023

Generative artificial intelligence could put a rocket up company profits, and potentially leave millions jobless. The economic and social disruptions could be profound. But fiscal distortions make it hard to tide over the losers. Closing obvious loopholes is growing more urgent.

Canberra lets energy windfall slip through fingers

10 May 2023

Tweaking an arcane resources tax will bag Australia’s Treasury just $400 mln extra a year. It’s barely a drop of the bumper earnings oil and gas companies drilled from war-stoked commodity prices. A direct levy on outsized profits can better channel cash to the energy transition.

Credit Suisse mess leaves scattered Swiss debris

24 Apr 2023

A $3 bln state-sponsored UBS takeover prevented the failure of Bern’s other big bank. Yet small, export-oriented Swiss firms now only have one large lender for their needs, and additional bank regulation is likely. Meanwhile, historic US tax issues may come home to roost.

EY’s faltering breakup plan tightens Gordian knot

30 Mar 2023

A plot to hive off the consulting unit from the audit practice has stalled. EY has two realistic alternatives: sell a slice of its advisory business, or stay intact and focus more on lucrative consulting work. The catch is that a failed breakup could still leave lasting damage.

Capital Calls: Bank of England, Wonder drugs

23 Mar 2023

Concise views on global finance: The UK central bank has joined peers in raising rates, but there’s not much room to keep hiking. Meanwhile, a drug that might help smokers’ lung is could be good for makers Regeneron and Sanofi, but even better for society.

UK fiscal austerity may not survive next election

15 Mar 2023

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt used 24 bln pounds of budget headroom to boost investment and incentives to work. He also set a trap for the opposition: accept spending cuts after 2024 or be tagged as a high-tax party. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer doesn’t have to take the bait.

UK growth demands better-directed fiscal fireworks

13 Mar 2023

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt’s March 15 budget may feature 30 bln pounds of headroom to ease headaches like workers’ pay. But Britain’s real malaise is a lack of long-term business investment. To keep pace with foreign largesse, Hunt needs to deploy significant tax breaks.