US banking giant Merrill Lynch might not pay any corporation tax in the UK for several decades after channelling $29bn (£15.7bn) of losses through its London operation, a report said yesterday.
Matt Dickinson
US banking giant Merrill Lynch might not pay any corporation tax in the UK for several decades after channelling $29bn (£15.7bn) of losses through its London operation, a report said yesterday.
The group, which employs 8000 staff in London, posted the losses from the cut-price sale of billions of dollars-worth of risky mortgage-backed US assets to its London-based arm Merrill Lynch International, the Financial Times said.
Under tax rules these losses can be carried forward against any future profits indefinitely. According to the FT, if Merrill's UK subsidiary were to continue to generate profits at 2006's record levels - when it paid $130m in corporation tax - it would pay no tax for 60 years.
A spokesman for Merrill Lynch declined to comment.
