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[Article]State-owned railway group NS uses Ireland to dodge Dutch taxes

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  • 04-09-2012 4:46pm
    #1
    munchkin_utd
    Registered Users Posts: 7,847 ✭✭✭


    it seems that irish rail isnt the only rail company "in" Ireland!!
    The state-owned Dutch railway company NS has managed to cut its Dutch tax bill by at least €250m since 1999 by routing the cost of new trains through Ireland, the Volkskrant reported at the weekend.

    The tax dodge means the treasury has lost out on income generated by a company it owns, the paper points out. The finance ministry, meanwhile, is said to be ‘unhappy’ about the arrangement, which it has been aware of from the beginning.

    In effect, NS’s Irish subsidiary, NS Financial Services, has spent €1.7bn on new trains which it then rents to the NS in the Netherlands. None of the trains has ever been used on the Irish railways, the paper said.

    This allows the Dutch operation to avoid tax. In Ireland, railway companies have paid an average 9% tax on their profits in recent years. In the Netherlands, NS would have to pay 25% profit tax on the train rental. Some of the ‘missing’ cash does end up with the treasury in the form of dividends.<snip>
    full article : http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/09/stateowned_railway_group_ns_us.php

    edit, it was also reported by the Irish Times yesterday
    http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0903/1224323531879.html


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    #2
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,845 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    I'd love to see NS try fit a VIRM on an Irish railway (hence the papers comment about them not being used here just being a tad redundant!)


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    #3
    flyingsnail
    Registered Users Posts: 2,752 ✭✭✭flyingsnail


    already a thread on it here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056695721


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    #4
    Aard
    Registered Users Posts: 4,905 ✭✭✭Aard


    This happens a lot with airlines too right? Planes registered in Ireland, then leased to companies in other countries. The Italian airline that went bust recently did just that iirc.


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