North Sea oil companies are accused of a significant tax fraud

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The International Workers Federation (IWF) has published the results of a new research claiming that big oil players in the North Sea are involved into a large tax avoiding scheme. The IWF’s experts have found out that there is a secretive corporate structure which includes hundreds of subsidiaries in tax havens. Companies like Chevron and China’s Nexen direct money to those same tax havens, substantially reducing their tax burdens.

The IWF’s general secretary Steven Cotton said that the scheme, which originated with Chevron, has a dramatic effect on the global economy.“This at a time when there has been a dramatic reduction in tax revenue from the North Sea. In the mid 1980’s, taxes on North Sea oil production accounted for nearly 9% of all tax receipts collected by the UK Government - today it is just 0.7%.”

Its Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty is sure that the officials need to take immediate measures. “The UK government needs to investigate and step up action to clamp down on any inappropriate tax loopholes being exploited by Chevron to make sure UK taxpayers aren’t taken for a ride and it pays its fair share.”