The Netherlands: Dutch companies implicated in Panama Papers tax evasion scandal - by Janene Pieters

The Netherlands: home of the so-called shell companies

Two Dutch postbox firms are implicated in the so-called “Panama Papers” – the name given to a large-scale international investigation into documents leaked from a Panama based legal consultancy. The documents revealed letterbox companies used by politicians, businessmen and sports personalities worldwide to evade taxes.

The leaked documents revealed that Panamanian legal consultancy Mossack Fonseca helped a large number of billionaires from around the world channel their money into tax havens, which means that they hardly paid any taxes. At this stage it is unclear how many people are involved.

It now seems that at least two Dutch letterbox companies – companies that establish themselves in tax friendly countries with only a postal address, while conducting business in other countries – are mentioned in the Panama Papers, according to the Financieele Dagblad. The FD and Dutch newspaper Trouw are involved in investigating the Papers.

According to FD, the two Dutch letterbox companies are “sports marketing companies named in an indictment of the American judiciary against the high bosses of FIFA”. It is believed that they played a major role in payments to sports marketing companies in Latin America. “So it is suspected that the Netherlands was the linchpin in illegal payments, bribes, to senior FIFA people.”

The Netherlands is also mentioned in the Panama Papers in other ways. Rich Dutch also make use of the structures mentioned to evade taxes. And Dutch notaries, banks and trust companies are willing to set up such structures.

More information on exactly who is involved is expected later this week.

Note Almere-Digest:  The leak of millions of documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca has again focused attention on the Netherlands as a tax haven, Dutch media say on Monday. 

According to the Volkskrant, the papers, which reveal the tax evasion strategies used by politicians, sports stars and businessmen, show that Dutch shell companies are being used to make payments on the basis of fake contracts. 

Oxfam Novib tax expert Francis Weyzig told the paper the Netherlands has played a ‘questionable role in shifting money’. 

GroenLinks MP Rik Grashoff has called for a parliamentary debate on the revelations. ‘These show how important it is that the ownership of shell companies is public and that we should eventually start tackling the perverse practice of tax evasion,’ he said. 

The secret documents were obtained by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)

he leak of millions of documents from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca has again focused attention on the Netherlands as a tax haven, Dutch media say on Monday. According to the Volkskrant, the papers, which reveal the tax evasion strategies used by politicians, sports stars and businessmen, show that Dutch shell companies are being used to make payments on the basis of fake contracts. Oxfam Novib tax expert Francis Weyzig told the paper the Netherlands has played a ‘questionable role in shifting money’. GroenLinks MP Rik Grashoff has called for a parliamentary debate on the revelations. ‘These show how important it is that the ownership of shell companies is public and that we should eventually start tackling the perverse practice of tax evasion,’ he said. The documents were obtained by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)

Read more at DutchNews.nl: Panama Papers leak focuses attention on Dutch shell firms http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/04/88080-2/

Read more: Dutch companies implicated in Panama Papers tax evasion scandal - NL Times