5 ms·

Just searching "Double Irish" should explain it well enough. http://www.google.com/search?q=double+irish http://www.google.com/search?q=double+irish

camz 15y ago
I answered this question a while back for an HN member back on the day the article first hit the web. I have a bunch of questions from members that I've answered over the last year that I'm unloading onto my website. I figured its makes more sense economically if I shared my advice openly instead of giving it to individuals specifically. The problem with googling this is that it only tells you the basic premise and fails to tell you the problems and the reality of actually applying these tax models. As someone who's worked on these tax models in the past, I can tell you that its never as picture perfect as they make it sound. These companies are always getting audited even though these plans were drafted, approved and done by the "big 4 accounting firms." It was a running joke that the big 4 plans it and the law firms would defend it. It was like we were self-generating projects for us to work on by creating a new "plan" every other year. The IRS always comes back and audits these clients.
- shareme 15y ago
  its not like it was years ago when CitiCorp set up theri stock trading units in the Islands for a similar purpose..
  - btilly 15y ago
    Citi went farther. They did things like declare a particular desk in a skyscraper in NY to be legally in the Cayman Islands. The IRS was not amused.
    - ttdi 15y ago
      Do you have a source on this? I'd love to read more about this.
      - btilly 15y ago
        I wish I did. I heard about it because I used to work with someone who had worked there some years previous.
        camz 15y ago
        I'm vaguely aware of Citi's tax plan, but I'd have to look into it. If I can learn the details, I'll start a series of case studies that break down the tax strategies of different fortune 500 companies.
        btilly 15y ago
        The incident I was discussing was back in the 90s. It was resolved a long time ago.
gaius 15y ago
I thought you were referring to Bono then, who is also rather fond of tax avoidance http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/oct/22/comment.theobserver http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/oct/22/comment....

camz 15y ago

I answered this question a while back for an HN member back on the day the article first hit the web. I have a bunch of questions from members that I've answered over the last year that I'm unloading onto my website. I figured its makes more sense economically if I shared my advice openly instead of giving it to individuals specifically. The problem with googling this is that it only tells you the basic premise and fails to tell you the problems and the reality of actually applying these tax models. As someone who's worked on these tax models in the past, I can tell you that its never as picture perfect as they make it sound. These companies are always getting audited even though these plans were drafted, approved and done by the "big 4 accounting firms." It was a running joke that the big 4 plans it and the law firms would defend it. It was like we were self-generating projects for us to work on by creating a new "plan" every other year. The IRS always comes back and audits these clients.

shareme 15y ago
its not like it was years ago when CitiCorp set up theri stock trading units in the Islands for a similar purpose..
- btilly 15y ago
  Citi went farther. They did things like declare a particular desk in a skyscraper in NY to be legally in the Cayman Islands. The IRS was not amused.
  - ttdi 15y ago
    Do you have a source on this? I'd love to read more about this.
    - btilly 15y ago
      I wish I did. I heard about it because I used to work with someone who had worked there some years previous.
      - camz 15y ago
        I'm vaguely aware of Citi's tax plan, but I'd have to look into it. If I can learn the details, I'll start a series of case studies that break down the tax strategies of different fortune 500 companies.
        btilly 15y ago
        The incident I was discussing was back in the 90s. It was resolved a long time ago.

gaius 15y ago

I thought you were referring to Bono then, who is also rather fond of tax avoidance http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/oct/22/comment.theobserver http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/oct/22/comment....