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URL:http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/National/article1261720.ece
Google insider exposes ‘immoral’ tax scam
Former Google executive Barney Jones has a cache of 100,000 emails and documents (Paul Vicente)
A FORMER Google executive has blown the whistle on a massive and “immoral” tax avoidance scheme that has “cheated” British taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of pounds over the past decade.
Barney Jones, 34, who worked for the internet search giant between 2002 and 2006, has lifted the lid on an elaborate structure which diverts British profits through Ireland to the Bermuda tax haven.
Although Google’s London sales staff would negotiate and sign contracts with British customers, and cash was paid into a UK bank account, deals were technically booked through its Dublin office to minimise its liabilities here. Jones, a devout Christian and father of four, is ready to hand over a cache of more than 100,000 emails and documents to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), detailing the “concocted scheme”.
He has already provided testimony to the Commons public accounts committee (PAC) which led to the combative questioning