Cempaka Belanda: The Netherlands: German companies' favorite tax haven

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.
They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The Netherlands: German companies' favorite tax haven

Deutsche Welle, 4 Sep 2013

Companies that want to save taxes can take advantage of lucrative investment options in offshore tax havens. Or… there's the Netherlands. Rock-bottom Dutch tax rates have been luring German firms across the border.

"Why roam so far abroad? Look: there are good things so close to home!"

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wasn't thinking of the Netherlands when he wrote those words, and he certainly wasn't thinking about how to reduce his tax bill. But as it turns out, tax havens aren't just islands in the Caribbean. Some EU countries are fulfilling the same function. German companies, for example, can save a lot of money by crossing the Dutch border for tax purposes, or hopping over to Ireland.

Thomas Eigenthaler, chairman of the German Tax Authorities Employees Union (DSTG), is familiar with this phenomenon. "The Netherlands and Ireland, both EU members, have national tax laws that damage their European neighbors," he said in an interview with DW. Worse still: "These states are often also gateway countries for genuine tax havens, like the Dutch Antilles."

Tax evasion made easy

German companies don't need to

go to the Caribbean to save taxes

Professor Christoph Spengel, an economist at the University of Mannheim, explains what makes the Netherlands so attractive to German companies. "License taxes are very low at five percent, compared to 25 percent for ordinary business profits."

The "Dutch haven" model allows German companies to save twice over. First, they pay considerably less on income earned from license fees and patents in the Netherlands than they do in Germany. The parts of the business that are resident in Germany pay their Dutch subsidiaries for the right to use these licenses, and are entitled to deduct these payments from taxes paid in Germany.

Spengel points out that the practice "reduces the amount of corporate tax owed in Germany and brings down local business taxes as well."

Christoph Eigenthaler says this is not, of course, a trick ordinary taxpayers can get away with. It's only useful for "companies that work on an international basis, that have international links, subsidiaries abroad. As soon as you're working across the border, anything is possible."

Legal, but disreputable

These kinds of models for optimizing tax liabilities - experts refer to it as "aggressive tax structuring" - are completely legal, says economist Christoph Spengel. Thomas Eigenthaler agrees that, legally, the companies are doing nothing wrong. It may be regarded as a disreputable practice, he says, but: "Of course, there's not such thing as morality when it comes to tax law."

Thomas Eigenthaler has called on
European countries to stop
competing on tax law

The conduct of international German companies is certainly not always above-board. Eigenthaler recognizes this by the fact that "often, all you find in the Netherlands and the overseas tax havens is a mailbox. It's often all just a sham." They're able to get away with it, he says, because "the German revenue office simply doesn't have the capacity or the personnel to verify everything."

The Netherlands is not the only country where it's possible to save money in this way. Switzerland is still a popular tax loophole for German businesses, says Spengel. He points out that other EU members are following the Netherlands' lead: "Luxembourg, in particular, which has a comparable model for patent income. And in spring 2013 the British introduced the so-called patent box, which effectively only taxes license income at 10 percent, whereas the normal tax rate there at the moment is 24 percent."

Losses in the tens of billions

Professor Spengel says it's impossible to give an accurate estimate of how much the German treasury is losing out through tax evasion along the Dutch model. But Christoph Eigenthaler knows from his work that the losses are on a massive scale: "If you look at them all together, not just Holland, not just Ireland, but all the countries right the way across into Asia - you only have to look at the big car manufacturers - this shunting results in tax losses in the tens of billions. Every year."

Eigenthaler believes that European politicians have a responsibility to do something about it. "Stop this competition in the field of tax law," he urges. The subject of tax evasion is on the agenda of the G20 summit in St Petersburg this week, but neither Thomas Eigenthaler nor Christoph Spengel believe that this will provide a solution. They're both convinced that there's not going to be a quick fix for this problem.

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