Wolseley tax shift will cost £6m

Building giant Wolseley has said it will cost £6m to shift its tax base to
Switzerland.

The FTSE100 company brought in PwC, which also audits the firm, to advise on
the move but has not disclosed how much the firm was paid for its services.

For the year ending 31 July 2009, Wolseley’s annual report showed PwC was
paid a total of £13.4m in fees, of which £5.4m was related to “taxation
services.”

The restructuring proposals create a new group holding company which will be
UK listed, incorporated in Jersey and will have tax residence in Switzerland.

“The implementation costs of the proposals are expected to be approximately
£6m,” the company said on its website.

Wolseley, which employs approximately 47,000 employees in 25 countries, does
more than 80% of its business outside the UK.

The company blamed the continuing uncertainty around the controlled foreign
companies regime for its move to Switzerland.

“The board has concluded that the interests of its business and its
shareholders are best served by establishing an international holding company
corporate structure that will help provide more certainty in its taxation
position,” the company said today.

The proposals will not change the tax position of the UK business, Wolseley
added.

PwC said it could not comment for reasons of client confidentiality.

Further reading:

Wolseley
to move tax base from UK to Switzerland