Whistleblower large rewards: stashing profits off shore getting tougher for multinationals

A new plan released by financial chiefs from the United states, Canada and other leading world economies will make it a lot tougher for multinational companies to stash their profits offshore to evade taxes. There will be two beneficiaries to this. First, the countries will benefit because the companies will pay more in taxes. In addition, there will be new programs for whistleblowers to reveal tax evasion, allowing them to collect rewards for revealing the location of the moneys, similar to the whistleblower programs in the Securities and Exchange Commission and the False Claims Act. ΠMajor global companies have been paying low taxes, including Google, Apple, Facebook and Starbucks by setting up offshore operations where they keep the moneys protected from tax authorities. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) based in Paris, has created a 15-point plan to close loopholes and allow countries to tax profits held in offshore subsidiaries. The plan also includes rules preventing companies from escaping taxes by putting patent rights into shell companies, taking interest deductions in one country without reporting taxable profits in another and also by forcing them to disclose to regulators where they put their income around the world. A whistleblower, even if living outside the United States can report tax evaders and receive a reward of up to 30% of the moneys recovered. Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers.