Rupert's $50m Bermudan tax lurk ( Rupert Murdoch)

[WearyOne]

"Crikey can today reveal that Rupert Murdoch has taken the extraordinary step of listing his family's $8.8 billion News Corp shareholding on the Bermuda Stock Exchange with the sole motivation of avoiding paying $50 million in stamp duty to the NSW Government.

It's all laid out in this prospectus lodged with the Bermuda Stock Exchange on 22 October, 2004. Go to page 11 and you'll read the following under the title "Purpose of Listing:"

The listing of Karlholt (formally Cruden, Kayarem and other Murdoch family trusts and structures) may have favourable consequences for the Company's shareholders under Australian stamp duty legislation. This is because the BSX is a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and transfers of securities that are quoted on a stock exchange that is a member of that Federation are not subject to stamp duty under that legislation. Ordinarily, transfers of shares which are not quoted on a stock exchange attract duty under Australian stamp duty legislation at a rate of 0.6% of the transfer consideration."

http://www.crikey.com.au/articles/2005/03/24-1647-1377.html

[acmavm]

1. How nice, the Austrailian government supports rich tax cheats just like

ours does.

We have so much in common.