07-10-2009, 08:21 PM
Private Eye 1242, (7 August 2009), p7
Street of Shame: Grauning Wallets
Guardian Media Group continues to tie itself in knots over tax.
Street of Shame: Grauning Wallets
Guardian Media Group continues to tie itself in knots over tax.
Quote:“The board believes it is the group’s corporate and social responsibility to pay the appropriate amount of taxes in accordance with UK and overseas tax legislation,” says the annual report. “The board also believes that it has a commercial responsibility to manage the group’s affairs in a tax-efficient manner within those rules as well as to manage the group’s exposure to tax. The group adopts a conservative tax strategy and is transparent in its dealings with tax.”
Despite all this earnest wittering, transparency is in short supply. Buried on page 86 is the admission that two of GMG’s holding companies in magazine publisher Emap (which it jointly owns with a private equity firm Apax), Eden Acquisition 2 Ltd and Eden Acquisition 4 Ltd, are registered in the Cayman Islands.
There is also mention of a third company, called Eden 2 & Cie SCA. Where is this registered? The report doesn’t say. But a trawl of international company records gives an address on 41 Boulevard Prince Henri in that well-known haven of tax transparency and non-avoidance, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg!