Luxembourg





Amazon’s Luxembourg Tax Deal is scrutinised by the EU - the Guardian: LINK ¤ the GUARDIAN

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  • "Amazon’s Luxembourg tax deal - is scrutinised by the European Union !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

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  • "the EU is to give its first detailed criticisms - of Amazon’s tax arrangements in Luxembourg !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "the European Commission is now investigating - sweetheart tax arrangements !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

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  • "between Amazon - and the Luxembourg authorities !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "Amazon Europe Holding Technologies, AEHT - had received royalties each year - under a licensing agreement !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "and the online retailer’s main European trading business, Amazon EU Sàrl - had been also registered in Luxembourg !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "Amazon EU Sàrl was the company with which shoppers were transacting - when they bought goods online !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "but had posted pre-tax profits - of just € 23.3m !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "after revenues were offset by large expenses - which included € 637m loosely described in the accounts !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "as primarily charged related to licence agreements and royalties - with third parties and affiliated undertakings !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "AEHT had paid no tax in on resulting profits - for the period from 2007 to 2013 !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "the European Parliament leaders now decide - on whether to establish a full parliamentary inquiry - into the tax affairs ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 


 

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  • "the Greens in the Parliament succeed in mustering 194 signatures in favour - more than the quarter of MEPs needed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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the Luxembourg Tax Scandal - the Guardian: LINK ¤ the GUARDIAN

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  • "dozens more corporations are dragged - into the Luxembourg tax scandal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

 

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  • "following a new leak of confidential documents - with secret tax documents !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "among the new companies were - Disney - Reckitt Benckiser - Skype - and Koch Industries !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "the Koch siblings, Charles and David - had funded the very controversial, and politically one-sided thinktank Cato Institute !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "Skype, the voice-over-Internet business - had used two Luxembourg companies - and an Irish subsidiary !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "circulated royalties and profits in a pattern - that had helped its Skype Technologies unit in Luxembourg !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "reported no corporation tax - over a five-year period !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "the latest batch of documents showed that the creation of tax structures - was not limited to PwC !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "but also included deals by the accounting firms - Ernst & Young, EY - Deloitte - and KPMG !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "Skype and Koch Industries had been advised by EY - the documents detailed confidential tax deals !"

 



 

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  • "thrashed out with Luxembourg tax officials - they were known as "advance tax agreements" - or "comfort letters"  !"

 


 

 

 

 

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  • "the main company of Skype, Skype Technologies SA - had had its headquarters in Luxembourg !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "Skype Technologies had arranged for certain intellectual property rights - which included IP connected to SkypeOut !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "to be transferred to a new subsidiary - it had created in Ireland - called Skype Limited !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "in a 2005 tax agreement, Skype’s advisers from Ernst & Young - had justified the valuation by explaining that !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "although some paid-for Skype services - had been launched !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "it was too early to gauge - whether they would be successful - and profitable ?!"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "leaked records showed this explanation was accepted - by the tax authorities - stamped "read and approved"  !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "by the accommodating Marius Kohl - one of Luxembourg’s tax officials !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "and that was not all Kohl rubber stamped for Skype - the group’s tax advisers also wanted assurances !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "that they could expect to enjoy yearly tax breaks - on royalties !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "royalties of € 32.6m for 2006 - had doubled a year later !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "by 2009, they were close to € 170m - and two years on they had exceeded € 260m !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "for each of these years, however - Skype Technologies had recorded no tax in its accounts !"

 

 

 


 

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  • "a mystifying footnote had simply read - "in view of the company’s tax structuring !""

 

 

 

 

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  • "no provisions - were made for corporate tax !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "Luxembourg-based Arteva Europe Sarl was a company - that was easily overlooked !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "it had no paid employees - and its registered office in Luxembourg was shared by about 670 other companies !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "despite modest outward appearances, accounts showed Arteva Europe - functioned as an internal bank !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "buried within the financial plumbing - of Koch Industries !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "leaked tax rulings from the Grand Duchy tax office - rulings secured for Koch Industries’ - by advisers at Ernst & Young !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "showed the group had tried - Luxembourg did not have taxing rights !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "over profits Arteva Europe could demonstrate - had been generated from its Swiss branch !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "the Swiss authorities had taxed these lending units - as if they were required to pay tax-deductible interest bills !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "even if they have - no such cost !"

 

 


 

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  • "dozens of companies had set up intra-group lending operations - through the Swiss branch - of a Luxembourg subsidiary !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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the Tax Officials of Luxembourg rubber-stamped Tax Agreements - the Guardian: LINK ¤ the GUARDIAN

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  • "thousands of leaked documents showed how companies had cooperated - with the Luxembourg tax authorities !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "340 companies had arranged specially-designed corporate structures - with the Luxembourg authorities !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "Pepsi - Ikea - Accenture - Burberry - Procter & Gamble - Heinz - JP Morgan - and FedEx !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "Amazon - Deutsche Bank - financial company Macquarie - and drug company Abbott Laboratories !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "more than 80 journalists in 26 countries - working in collaboration through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists !"

 


 

 

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  • "have spent six months scrutinising - the leaked papers !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "the papers often related to clients of the advisory company PricewaterhouseCoopers - PwC !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "the documents were mainly advance tax agreements - known as comfort letters !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "these ATAs were typically schemes - put to the Luxembourg tax authorities !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "these included - paper investment losses !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "and complex "hybrid" financial instruments - and corporate structures !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "some private equity investments - were also the subject of Luxembourg ATAs !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "buyout firms such as Blackstone and Carlyle - appeared in the leaked documents !"

 




 

 

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  • "the documents revealed a number of financial structures - which were approved by the Luxembourg tax authorities !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "one was based on cross-border lending - within a company !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "one of Shire’s, a drug firm, Luxembourg units - had made US$ 1.87bn in profits in five years !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "largely from making loans to sister companies - as it had charged interest rates of up to 9% - on those loans !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "the profits generated by this unit - were taxed at a fraction of 1% !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "Shire’s tax advisers had told the Luxembourg tax authorities - that this unusual lending - within the same legal entity !"

 

 

 


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  • "had transformed the drug group’s wider activities in the Grand Duchy - into a lending conduit !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "such a chain of back-to-back lending, advisers from PwC had argued - effectively meant Shire’s intra-group loans !"

 

 

 

 

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  • "were only passing - through Luxembourg !"

 

 

 

 

 

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  • "in Shire’s case, PwC suggested - the Grand Duchy should be satisfied taxing just - 1/64% !"

 



 

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  • "that was 0.0156% - of the loans and interest !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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der Amazon-Steuerdeal ist offenbar illegal - der Standard: LINK ¤ der STANDARD

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  • "Luxemburg hatte der Firma Amazon - laut Prüfern der EU-Kommission !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

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  • "durch Steuervorteile - unerlaubte Staatsbeihilfe gewährt !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

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  • "die Luxemburger Steuerbehörden hatten im Jahr 2003 nur elf Arbeitstage - für Steuervereinbarungen benötigt !"

 

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  • "die Vereinbarung galt auch später - und damit viel länger als Übereinkommen in anderen Staaten !"

 

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  • "und obwohl der Umsatz von Amazon - seither gestiegen war !"

 

 

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  • "in Luxemburg hatte ein Ableger namens LuxOpCo - als Zentrale der Amazon-Aktivitäten in Europa fungiert !"

 

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  • "LuxOpCo wiederum hatte Geld an die Firma Lux SCS übertragen - die keine Steuern in Luxemburg abgeführt hatte !"

 

 

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  • "Almunias EU-Ermittler bezeichneten die Abgaben an Luxemburg - als "kosmetische Vereinbarung"  !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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der Steuer-Skandal von Luxemburg - der Standard: LINK ¤ der STANDARD

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  • "der Steuer-Skandal von Luxemburg - weitet sich noch weiter aus !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

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  • "in den neuen Dokumenten wurden - 35 Firmen belastet !"

 

 

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  • "Disney hatte in Luxemburg - eine interne Bank gegründet !"

 

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  • "der Internettelefondienst Skype hatte im Jahr 2005 einen Steuerrabatt - von bis zu 95 Prozent bekommen gehabt !"

 

 

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  • "betroffen waren auch der Hygieneartikelhersteller Reckitt Benckiser - RB ! - ( Reimann )"

 

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  • "und die Firmen Bombardier - Telecom Italia - und Koch Industries !"

 

 

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  • "die Absprachen, und Abmachungen - waren zwischen 2003 und 2011 getroffen worden !"

 

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  • "die Beraterfirmen waren Pricewaterhouse-Coopers - Deloitte - Ernst & Young - sowie KPMG !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ärger im Großherzogtum - Süddeutsche Zeitung: LINK ¤ SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG

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  • "die Luxemburger Behörden waren wohlwollend - und findige Berater hatten umstrittene Steuermodelle versucht !"

 

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  • "der Mann mit dem Spitznamen "Mr. Ruling" war jemand - den man kannte im Großherzogtum !"

 

 

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  • "unter seinem echten Namen war Marius Kohl bis zu seiner Pensionierung - Leiter der Steuerabteilung "Sociétés 6"  !"

 

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  • "Firmen erbaten um geheime Abmachungen mit Luxemburg - sogenannte "tax rulings" - daher der Spitzname !"

 

 

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  • "mit diesen individuellen "rulings" hatte Luxemburg - zum Teil absurde Steuerkonstruktionen genehmigt !"

 

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  • "hier stellten die Berater von PwC die Pläne vor - Firmen wie Ikea, Pepsi, Eon, oder Deutsche Bank !"

 

 

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  • "kaum einer wurde enttäuscht - nach spätestens ein bis zwei persönlichen Treffen !"

 

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  • "wurde ein schriftlicher Antrag eingereicht - den Marius Kohl oft noch am selben Tag beschied !"

 

 

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  • "und an manchen Tagen genehmigte Kohl die Anträge fast seriell - bis zu 54 an einem Tag !"

 

 

 

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  • "Firmen gründeten Niederlassungen im Großherzogtum - obwohl diese eigentlich Geschäfte in anderen Ländern machten !"

 

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  • "und hatten dann Gewinne - zum Beispiel getarnt als Zinsen - nach Luxemburg verschoben !"

 

 

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  • "die Ketchup-Firma Heinz - der Apple-Ableger iTunes - Procter & Gamble - und British American Tobacco !"

 

 

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  • "die Dokumente bestanden aus sogenannten "Advance Tax Agreements" - von fast 350 Unternehmen !"

 

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  • "so fand man Luxemburger Firmen - die mit der Deutschen Bank verbunden waren !"

 

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  • "die Unterlagen zeigen - dass diese komplizierte Konstruktionen aufgesetzt hatte !"

 

 

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  • "das Energieunternehmen Eon leitete Beträge von Luxemburg aus - an andere Tochterunternehmen !"

 

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  • "meist als - interne Darlehen !"

 

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  • "im Gegenzug waren Profite aus diesen Ländern - als Zinsen abgeschöpft worden !"

 

 

 

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  • "die Berater von PwC legten der Luxemburger Steuerbehörde detailliert dar - was die jeweilige Firma plante !"

 

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  • "mit Einkommen aus Lizenzgebühren - Dividenden - Zinsen - oder Kapitalerträge !"

 

 

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  • "die Kurier-Firma FedEx etwa hatte - nach Luxemburg verbrachte Gewinne !"

 

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  • "mit nicht einmal 0,1 Prozent - versteuert gehabt !"

 

 

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  • "in einer internen Kunden-Präsentation beschrieben die PwC-Berater - Luxemburg !"

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  • "als Ort - mit flexiblen Behörden !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Luxemburg will Steuer-Trickserei ade sagen - der Standard: LINK ¤ der STANDARD

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  • "die Luxemburger Regierung will nach Worten - von Außenminister Jean Asselborn !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

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  • "nicht mehr mit Unternehmen zusammenarbeiten - die Steuern vermeiden wollen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

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  • "für solche Tricksereien steht das Land - in Zukunft nicht zur Verfügung !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

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  • "die jüngsten Enthüllungen über Modelle für Firmen - nennt der Minister !"

 

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  • "einen Schlag der den Ruf Luxemburgs - hart trifft !"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LUXEMBOURG - Wikipedia EN: LINK ¤ LUXEMBOURG

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  • "officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg - Luxembourg is a landlocked country in Western Europe - and a representative democracy !"

 


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LETZEBUERG - Wikipedia LB: LINK ¤ LETZEBUERG
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Luxembourg - Map: LINK ¤ WIKIMEDIA
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luxembourg - 14049LB
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