Fears of US backlash to govt tax changes

A leading partner in a major tax firm warned US companies seeking to set up European headquarters were increasingly uncomfortable with Britain’s tax regime and were considering other bases such as Ireland and the Netherlands,

He told The Daily Telegraph that, while UK companies such as Shire Pharmaceuticals were in the spotlight for announcing its move to Ireland, a number of US companies were ‘diverting already’.

Other leading tax experts said UK companies were increasingly expressing fears about the proposed legislative changes. Bill Dodwell, Deloitte head of tax policy, said: ‘It has moved rapidly up the boardroom agenda.’

John Whiting, a PricewaterhouseCoopers partner, said the potential losses to the government from firms relocating their tax domiciles were substantial –corporation tax alone contributed about £50bn or 9% of total government revenues.

Further reading:

GlaxoSmithKline turnaround on quitting UK

Read The Daily Telegraph story