FOG BLOG NEW BRUNSWICK NEWS LOG: IRVING TAX HAVENS IN BERMUDA, HIGGS SAYS THEY'RE LEGAL!
Higgs sees no policy change over Irving offshore revelations Premier says company’s tax strategy is legal, so he won’t ban subsidies Premier Blaine Higgs says he won't be making any policy changes after new details emerged about the Irving companies' use of offshore tax havens.
Higgs told reporters at the legislature that because the tax strategies used by the companies were legal, there are no grounds for banning them from receiving government grants, loans or other subsidies.
The premier said he'd cut off assistance for companies breaking the rules, "but I don't have any indication of that."
"I don't think we can criticize someone for following the rules."
Higgs was reacting to a year-long investigation by CBC News and Radio-Canada looking at the Irving presence in the offshore tax haven of Bermuda.
How Irving's Bermuda insurance company piled up millions in offshore tax-free profits
It revealed that J.D. Irving Ltd. used an insurance company on the island, F.M.A. Limited., to insure its marine vessels, paying premiums to the Bermuda entity, which then reinsured the vessels at a lower cost, allowing it to collect millions of dollars in profits tax-free.
University of Victoria tax law professor Geoffrey Loomer told CBC and Radio-Canada that the tax strategies were legal.
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