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The Almighty Buck Businesses Government United States

Walmart Dodged US Tax on $2 Billion by Routing Cash Through Multiple Countries, Whistleblower Says (qz.com) 226

Walmart, the world's biggest retail company, underpaid US taxes on nearly $2 billion worth of offshore cash, according to whistleblower documents filed by a former Walmart executive to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 2011, and recently obtained by Quartz. From the report: The firm avoided nearly $200 million in taxes on that money and "dramatically" overstated its foreign tax credits in 2009 and 2010 by routing payments from Luxembourg to the United States via the United Kingdom and not declaring they came from a tax haven, the whistleblower wrote. If Walmart claimed all the tax credits, it could have improperly avoided paying close to $600 million in total via the maneuvers, according to the files. The whistleblower argued in the documents that the company should owe all that money to the IRS. A second former executive, who shared the files with Quartz, confirmed the whistleblower's allegations. Walmart denied any wrongdoing. "The transactions brought to our attention were appropriately reported to and audited by the IRS," a spokesman said in an emailed statement. "The tax years covering this matter were closed by the IRS more than seven years ago." The spokesman declined to say whether the company explicitly told the IRS that the money originated in Luxembourg, rather than the United Kingdom.
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Walmart Dodged US Tax on $2 Billion by Routing Cash Through Multiple Countries, Whistleblower Says

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  • that he got a job outside of the federal Govt

  • by Canberra1 ( 3475749 ) on Friday November 29, 2019 @06:58PM (#59469852)
    See Panama Papesr and Pacific Papers. This is insignificant to what is really going on - thinking of far larger companies.. The IRS does not have enough well paid international tax investigators to chase things like this down. When they do, the other side puts up a jolly good fight, mainly at the inadmissability of 'illegally' obtained evidence or legally privileged. The seven year rule does NOT apply to audits if FRAUD has taken place, Fraud can include omissions and misrepresentations. Many global tax offices do not employ lawyers, or allow their staff to launch fraud prosecutions because they are both costly and can go on for years and years. Usually the multinational offers the lead trouble maker a better paid job, so causing active cases to crumble through broken continuity. This tactic works well.
    • The international IRS investigators are too well paid by private entities to chase things like this down.

      FIFY.
    • by cusco ( 717999 ) <`moc.liamg' `ta' `ybxib.nairb'> on Friday November 29, 2019 @08:13PM (#59470008)

      The IRS does not have enough well paid international tax investigators to chase things like this down.

      That's deliberate. Newt Gingrich's moment of brilliance was when he realized that he didn't have to eliminate organizations like the FDA, EPA and IRS, all he had to do is to make their enforcement divisions a budget line item that could be squeezed to nothing. The IRS enforcement division used to be able to the fines levied on further investigations, now it goes into the General Fund and they're limited to an ever-shrinking budget and management by hostile political appointees (another Gingrich change IIRC) that has demoralized those employees that haven't been laid off.

      • by mtmra70 ( 964928 )

        It's interesting. A single fine in excess of $100M could fund a few people for an entire tenure, which would then result in more fines.

      • Thank you for that information.
      • The problem is not who, where, or how fines are levied or used.

        The problem is that fines are involved. Any time money is in the picture a perverse incentive is created for government to abuse their power and for wealthy people to buy privilege.

        Criminal Prosecution, and a point system where businesses get some leeway for minor infraction. To many minor infractions or a single major one gets the owner or board put on trial where a guilty verdict renders only 1 penalty. 100% of the current remaining assets

      • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday November 30, 2019 @09:21AM (#59470538)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Don't they fly the American flag outside all of their stores? Maybe they consider that's enough patriotism. I've never shopped at a Wallmart, and don't ever expect to.
  • by CyclistOne ( 896544 ) on Friday November 29, 2019 @07:35PM (#59469928)
    Why should they pay taxes when

    - their vehicles never drive on any public highway

    - they never call on public fire, police, or rescue departments

    - they don't use the internet in any way

    - they take no water from public water systems or use commercial services that do

    - they never take a case to a public court
  • by brickhouse98 ( 4677765 ) on Friday November 29, 2019 @09:41PM (#59470120)
    Can't wait for all the idiots to say "that makes them smart!" They excuse rich fucks they like, why not Walmart?
  • And yet... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Hans Lehmann ( 571625 ) on Friday November 29, 2019 @09:45PM (#59470122)
    And yet the Walton clan is somehow allowed to avoid the guillotine.
  • They should tax only a company's in-country sales revenue instead of profits because profit is too easy to manipulate and shuffle around the world and time.

    It's much harder to hide in-country sales revenue than profits.

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday November 30, 2019 @08:18AM (#59470468)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

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