Financial Times: Shell to answer Venezuela tax charges
“Royal Dutch Shell must on Friday answer allegations by Venezuela that it has failed to pay $130m in back taxes…”
Posted Friday 5 August 2005
By Andy Webb-Vidal in Caracas
Royal Dutch Shell must on Friday answer allegations by Venezuela that it has failed to pay $130m in back taxes, a response that could have critical implications for several oil companies operating in the country.
The tax claim on Shell forms part of a campaign led by President Hugo Chávez to tighten control over private oil companies, which pump about 40 per cent of the output from the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter.
Mr Chávez and other officials have publicly claimed that multinationals owe as much as $3bn (€2.4bn, £1.7bn) in unpaid taxes, and in recent months Venezuela has increased tax and royalty rates on various types of oil ventures.