Yahoo to quit UK ‘for Swiss tax break’

Yahoo said Thursday it is moving its European headquarters to Switzerland from London.

The Internet pioneer from California said it will move to a site on the shores of Lake Geneva within 18 months.

The move is “part of our ongoing international business strategy to increase competitiveness, deliver financial results, performance and efficiencies,” the company said in a statement.

Yahoo said 5 percent of its European work force will be involved in the move. A spokeswoman declined to say how many staff Yahoo has in Europe and whether the move will result in job losses elsewhere.

Swiss media have reported that Yahoo will benefit from a special tax break in Switzerland. Yahoo declined to comment on the reports.

Car maker Nissan, confectionery and drinks group Cadbury Schweppes and network equipment manufacturer Cisco Systems all have their Europeans headquarters close by.

Yahoo competitor Google recently opened a new European research and development center in Zurich.

Yahoo is currently fending off a takeover attempt by Microsoft. Microsoft has offered to buy Yahoo for more than $40 billion, but the unsolicited bid has been at a standstill for the past month because the two sides can’t agree on a price

US Congressional Committee Asks Big Oil to Testify Over Tax Breaks

A US congressional committee has called upon the heads of the world’s five largest publicly traded oil and gas firms to testify at a hearing in April 2008, on why they still require federal tax breaks while they make windfall profits on the back of record oil prices, reports Reuters.

According to Reuters, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming has called upon Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips and the US units of BP and Royal Dutch Shell to testify at the hearing.

A House-passed bill in the US Senate seeks to revoke $18 billion in tax breaks for the oil majors for the development of renewable energy sources. It has to be voted in the Senate and is opposed by the White House and the American Petroleum Institute, reported Reuters.

Edward Markey, the Massachusetts Democratic representative who chairs the House committee, as quoted by Reuters, said: “The top five oil companies made record profits last year, and yet are continuing to hold on to tax breaks that could be used to advance the clean fuels of the future. Americans are not going to find the answers at the bottom of a gas tank, so we will seek to bring the CEOs of these companies to Congress and to the American people.”

Who gets rich off $3 gas – who doesn’t?

For all you worried about the terrorist, may I remind you that on 11 September 19 were Saudis and funded by Saudi Royal Family Members, a country that also funds 90% of the terror in Iraq.

This is old news, but worth repeating.
Saudis Buy GE plastics for $11.6B

the girl was to get you to read that. did it work?