STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 26 August 2014

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24. Twitter Spain shifts profits to Ireland

http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/08/26/inenglish/1409044152_369438.html

Twitter is the latest major internet multinational to have opened up a Spanish subsidiary. But the popular micro-blogging site has followed in the footsteps of Google, Apple, Facebook and Linkedin, all of whom keep their Spanish corporate taxes down to the bare minimum by shifting their income to Ireland.

Created on February 27, 2013, Twitter Spain ended its first fiscal year on December 31 with income of just under €1 million and net profits of €46,772.50 according to the accounts it recently filed with the Madrid Business Register. These accounts also reflect the money that companies provision in a given year for tax on profits, which in Twitter Spain’s case is €26,067.

Twitter Spain has been set up as a company that does not invoice clients directly. This means that its income of €983,331 came not from Spanish clients, but from payments made by other units within the Twitter group. Its activities are limited to marketing, business development, market reports, promotional work and sales support.