U.S. Senate says Caterpillar dodged $2.4 billion in taxes via Switzerland

by Ben Reilly Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:45 am

One of the world's biggest manufacturing companies diverted more than $8bn in profits to Switzerland in order to avoid US taxes, according to investigators working for the Senate.

Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, allegedly avoided paying more than $2.4bn in US taxes over a decade by striking a deal with Swiss tax authorities to pay as little as 4% on the profits from its lucrative international spare parts business through a Geneva-based subsidiary.

Though the practice of basing such subsidiaries offshore is widespread among multinationals, and Senate investigators refused to say whether they believe the company broke US tax law, the elaborate accounting strategy appears to take so-called 'transfer pricing' practices to new extremes.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/31/caterpillar-avoid-4billion-us-taxes-senate-report

by Lone Wolf Tue Apr 01, 2014 3:31 am

:.3chuthluL/: MORE shonky "wheeling and dealing" from another multinational corporate giant, 'privatising the profits and socialising the costs'...

AND no doubt next week Caterpillar will have out yet another tweaked and polished press release describing just what a wonderful "corporate citiizen" they have always been, and how nobody has ever suffered at their hands..

THREE OR FOUR years ago, Caterpillar's Aussie-based "partner in crime" agents for the Australasian&South Pacific region (the W.A. based 'WestTrac' company..) built a big Caterpillar factory and a separate warehouse in this region, opened with much aplomb and promise maybe three years ago.

LATE last year, they wound back operations there, 'mothballed' some areas, and laid off 150 tradies and apprentices in one hit..

MAYBE they were already aware of a few leaner years ahead, as their parent repays their US tax bills ? :

:

by Ben Reilly Tue Apr 01, 2014 4:15 am

Lone Wolf wrote:
:.3chuthluL/: MORE shonky "wheeling and dealing" from another multinational corporate giant, 'privatising the profits and socialising the costs'...

AND no doubt next week Caterpillar will have out yet another tweaked and polished press release describing just what a wonderful "corporate citiizen" they have always been, and how nobody has ever suffered at their hands..

THREE OR FOUR years ago, Caterpillar's Aussie-based "partner in crime" agents for the Australasian&South Pacific region (the W.A. based 'WestTrac' company..) built a big Caterpillar factory and a separate warehouse in this region, opened with much aplomb and promise maybe three years ago.

LATE last year, they wound back operations there, 'mothballed' some areas, and laid off 150 tradies and apprentices in one hit..

MAYBE they were already aware of a few leaner years ahead, as their parent repays their US tax bills ? ::

Epic post, LW, couldn't agree more. Smile

by eddie Sat Jan 27, 2018 12:40 am

So, what actually happened to this really expensive and highly-taxed Swedish caterpillar?

by Ben Reilly Sat Jan 27, 2018 12:43 am

eddie wrote:So, what actually happened to this really expensive and highly-taxed Swedish caterpillar?

It wove a highly-taxed cocoon around itself somewhere near Orebro and emerged many weeks later as a glorious but extremely expensive butterfly. Kudos to you for sticking with this thread for so long! fiesta