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29 Mar 2011
ONLY 22 companies left the UK because of tax reasons in the past four years, the government has said.
Responding to a question from Conservative MP Mark Reckless, Exchequer secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said that 22 companies moved their headquarters away from the UK for tax reasons since 2007/08. Research taken by HM Revenue & Customs showed that ten left the UK in 2008/09, and seven the following year.
Further reading
The most high profile of these were advertising company WPP, publishing firm UBM and pharmaceutical company Shire. WPP and UBM have said that measures in the Budget - including the cut in corporation tax and moves to reform the controlled foreign companies legislation - meant that it was likely they would move their tax base back to the UK from Dublin. Shire told Accountancy Age that it would "review these interesting proposals" before making a decision.
Bill Dodwell, head of tax at Deloitte, said that he would have guessed this number would be higher.
However, he added: "The problem is that several of those would be FTSE100 and others would be FTSE250. The key point is that if they didn't come back, they would move further [functions] overseas."
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Briefings
By looking at the reasons supplier statements became unfashionable, and the reasons why it is different today, this paper delves into the many benefits that can be obtained by automating the process.
Having a real and true view of your organisation’s current financial position, and having the right systems and processes in place, will ensure that you can make strong choices and are ready to capitalise on opportunities
AccountancyAgeInsight is a frequently updated resource centre for finance professionals, offering a free and easy-to-use digital library of briefings, white papers and other information resources. 
Visitor comments Add your comment
Nonsense
It just shows the naivety of HMRC. Any compaby setting up an offshore structure that will save them tax, would never admit they were doing it for tax planning reasons. HMRC do not seem to realise the difference between tax evasion and avoidance, and come down on such structures like a ton of bricks if they believe it is a tax planning vehicle.
Also, if you are leaving for tax reasons, why would you write a letter to HMRC to tell them, and do we really believe they would note the contents of such a letter centrally. We know they lose most correspondence!
Posted by: Andy Young, 29 Mar 2011 | 10:25
FDI
But do we know how many foreign firms that were considering setting up in the UK didn't?
Posted by: Jeremy Newman, 29 Mar 2011 | 17:22