-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Washington State to Microsoft: why aren't you paying your taxes?
,----[ Quote ]
| Last week, Microsoft told Seattle's KUOW: 'We
| pay all our tax obligations everywhere we are,
| properly.' Today, Microsoft Tax Dodge, a new
| website focused on the company's royalty tax
| dodge, challenged CEO Steve Ballmer today to
| live up to his spoken commitment to transparent
| business practices: 'At this point, I think it's
| reasonable to ask Microsoft to back up that
| claim with a public explanation of the company's
| licensing operations. In that spirit, will you
| tell the public how it is that Microsoft has
| avoided paying Washington State's B&O Royalty
| Tax for the past 12 years?' Washington State
| currently faces a projected $2.6 billion
| deficit. In addition to the ethical and public
| relations issues that crumbling bridges and
| overcrowded schools (Seattle recently
| considered making D a passing grade) present
| to the state's most profitable company, the
| compa ny also faces deeper scrutiny of the
| legality of its tax practice.
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/30/washington-state-to.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29
Related:
Microfraud?
,----[ Quote ]
| THE ALLEGATIONS WERE shocking: For years, Microsoft has systematically
| distorted its profit figures in an effort to consistently beat Wall Street
| expectations and keep its stock price steadily rising. The false reports
| would violate SEC regulations, and amount to outright fraud.
|
| More shocking was the source of the allegations: Microsoft's chief of
| internal audits, Charlie Pancerzewski, who reported directly to the company's
| chief financial officer.
|
| Most shocking of all was what happened to Pancerzewski when he reported the
| suspicious bookkeeping to his supervisors, Microsoft CFO Mike Brown and chief
| operating officer Bob Herbold, in the spring of 1995. Soon afterward,
| Pancerzewskiâwho for nearly five years had received stellar performance
| evaluationsâreceived his first-ever unsatisfactory one, and was eventually
| forced to resign.
|
| Two months ago, Microsoft quietly settled a lawsuit containing these
| allegations, filed in 1997 by Pancerzewski under the Whistleblowers
| Protection Act. The auditor claimed he was wrongfully terminated after
| telling his supervisors that Microsoft might be breaking securities and tax
| laws. The lawsuit made its tortuous way through several rounds of pretrial
| motions until last fall, when US District Judge Carolyn Dimmick denied
| Microsoft's final plea for summary judgment, finding credible evidence that
| Microsoft may have violated SEC rules, as Pancerzewski alleged. Shortly
| thereafter, Microsoft and Pancerzewski settled out of court. Terms of the
| agreement were sealed, but one source who claims familiarity with the case
| says that Microsoft paid Pancerzewski $4 million.
`----
http://web.archive.org/web/20070308032343rn_2/www.seattleweekly.com/1999-01-06/news/microfraud.php
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)
iEYEARECAAYFAksVre8ACgkQU4xAY3RXLo4FpQCfX83hTdIPP1o2/xHPR/+PgjEh
GHcAn1vH+AJsbHnIjBoYgsDziR33Zj9F
=JvLA
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
|
|
