Mar 2010:
The publisher of shipping bible Lloyd’s List is saving £12m a year after shifting its tax domicile to Switzerland.
Informa has relocated four key executives plus their wives to Zug. They include the chief executive, Peter Rigby. The company reports annual figures on Tuesday. They will show that its corporate tax rate has remained at 26%. It relocated to stop a rise to 31% after changes to the UK taxation of foreign profits were introduced last July.
The move mirrors the exile offshore of numerous other companies and highlights fears that talent is draining out of Britain. Top finance directors will this week warn that the tax burden on Britain’s biggest firms is unsustainable.
Research by The Hundred Group and Price Waterhouse Coopers will show that close to half the profit made by blue-chip companies is paid in tax, up from 45% last year. Their calculation includes direct payments — such as corporation tax and National Insurance — and indirect charges such as employees’ income tax.
Corporation tax fell last year in line with dwindling profits, but the Treasury’s income from companies’ fuel consumption is expected to have risen in line with the oil price.
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