New Corporate Tax Havens

Level: Intermediate +

Age: Adult Learners


link to online video (60 minutes)  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7360932n
link to online script http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/25/60minutes/main20046867.shtml

 

Before you watch

1. Look at the mindmap. What do you expect the video to be about?

After you watch

PART 1 (Introduction) (00:00- 01:05’’)

Say if the following statements are True or False.    (Account for your answer as far as possible)

1.      The American government is looking for ways to lower the federal budget deficit.

2.      The tax rate in the US is as high as in other countries.

3.      Many companies have moved to the Caribbean in order to dodge taxes more safely.

PART 2 (01:05’-06:35’’)

Answer the following questions.

1. Where is Zug? What is it like?
2. What’s Zug’s most special appeal?
3. How high is the number of companies in Zug in relation to its population?
4. How fast is the number of companies in the area growing?
5. Who is Lloyd Doggett? What’s he concerned about?
6. What example does he give to illustrate his point?
7. What legislation has he proposed in order to clamp down on tax-dodging?
8. What have Transocean and Weatherford done at the threat of Doggett’s legislation?
9. What steps did the American government take back in 2004 to prevent companies moving offshore?
10. Has it worked? Why (not)?

PART 3 (06:35’- end)

Complete the following ideas:

1. Thierry Boitelle is…………………………………………………………………………...

2. He wonders whether ……………………………………….……………………………

3. He thinks that many US companies would stay in the US if ………………

4. Lesley Stahl states that the US’s tax rate is by far ………………..…world.

5. According to Cisco CEO John Chambers the tax system …………………..

6. Economist Martin Sullivan says …………………………………………………….

7. John Chambers says that if their company doesn’t change .....................

 

Collocations: Join with arrows.

NOUN + NOUN

1. Tax                             twisting
2. Budget                        point
3. Arm                            makers
4. Selling                        haven/ code/ rate
5. Decision                     deficit

VERB + NOUNS

1. Clamp down on         your citizenship
2. Park                            money
3. Renounce                   a fast one
4. Game                          tax dodging
5. Subsidize                   the system
6. Pull                             investment 
7. Rake in                       your profits overseas

 

Fill in the blanks with the collocations above in a suitable tense and form.

1. The American government is in knots over ways to lower the federal ______________________.

2. The U.S. Treasury  is ______________________ in Ireland

3. Zug's main ______________________ isn't a view of the Alps but the fact that the taxes are somewhere between 15 and 16 percent.

4. Thierry Boitelle thinks the companies should be taxed based on where their ____________________ and management actually reside.

5. President Obama threatened to ______________________ tax dodging.

6. One major way companies avoid paying the tax man is by ______________________ overseas.

7. Some companies ______________________ their American _________________ and move offshore.

8. There's been a lot of ______________________, a lot of effective lobbying here, and some really smart tax lawyers figuring out how to ______________________ with one shenanigan after the other.

9. The corporate 35 percent ____________________ in the US is high in relation to other countries.

10. Weatherford rents conference rooms for board meetings, but Weatherford's Houston office told us they never go there. So are these big companies_________________________? Apparently not: under both Zug and U.S. tax laws, it's perfectly legal to get the low tax rate even without a real presence in Zug.

11. In 2005, a one-time tax break was tried and the Treasury _________________billions of dollars. However, very few jobs were created.

Verb patterns

1. Companies avoid _____________________(pay) the tax man by parking their profits overseas.
2. They'll tell you they're forced _______________(do) that because the corporate tax rate is too high.
3. It seems the tax code actually encourages companies ________________(move) their businesses out of the country.
4. President Obama threatened ____________________(clamp down on) tax dodging.
5. Many companies decided________________________(leave) the Caribbean.
6. Lloyd Doggett suggested______________________(tax) companies based on where the management resides.
7. In a way Congress writes laws that allowed this _____________________(happen).
8. Congress tried _________________(put) a stop to that with a law passed in 2004.
9. Many companies in the U.S. would like____________________(keep) the jobs in the U.S. if they could, but they also need_________________(keep) their shareholders happy.

Conditional sentences

 Make sentences using:        

AS LONG AS                                PROVIDED

EVEN IF                     SUPPOSING                          IF                       OTHERWISE

1. Corporate taxes in the US / lower/ tax havens/ not so popular

2. The companies’ headquarters/ real presence in Zug /   most of their employees/ there as well.

3. Tax rate in Zug/ keep on being so low/ companies/ stay there for long.

4.  Under the new proposed legislation/ corporate decisions /in the US/ taxes/ in the US as well.

5. The government/  stricter laws/ smart lawyers/ still find ways to game the system.

6. Many American companies / like to keep the jobs in the U.S/ be possible.

7. Growing demand/ such high taxes/ Cisco/ not expanding overseas.

8. Tax rate in Ireland/ higher/  pharmaceutical and high tech co./ not there now.

9. Ireland and Switzerland/ keep on giving tax advantages/ not keep on adding  so many jobs there.                   

10. According to John Chambers/ companies leave the US/ /be left behind.

Speaking:

• Present the news report using the mindmap above. Try to include as much new vocabulary as possible!