Facebook to shut down Irish holding companies amid disputes over tax payments in Europe

© Provided by Business Insider Facebook logo is seen displayed on a phone screen in photo taken in Poland on November 29, 2020. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Facebook is shutting down its Irish subsidiary following mounting pressure from regulators over the way it pays taxes in the EU. 

The firm's Irish holding company brought in around $30 billion of revenue in 2018 – more than half of the firm's total annual turnover of $56 billion. 

A Facebook spokesperson said the move was 'consistent with recent and upcoming tax law changes' advocated by policymakers around the world. 

Facebook is winding down its Irish holding company in light of wider disputes over the way it pays taxes in the the European Union.

In 2018, the social networking giant's Irish subsidiary paid just $101 million in tax, while recording profits of more than $15 billion.



The subsidiary, Facebook International Holdings I Unlimited Company, also brought in around $30 billion of revenue, accounting for more than half of the firm's total annual turnover of $56 billion.

In a statement to The Times in London, a Facebook spokesperson said the Irish entity "was wound up as part of a change that best aligns with our operating structure." They added: "We believe it is consistent with recent and upcoming tax law changes that policymakers are advocating for around the world."

Big Tech companies face mounting pressure on the continent, where regulators are reevaluating the responsibilities large platforms should have on everything from data-sharing to misinformation.

At the end of last year, Google moved its own intellectual property holdings from Ireland back to the US, after regulators moved to phase out a loophole allowing US companies to delay paying taxes.

The tax strategy was legal and allowed Google to avoid triggering US income taxes, or European withholding taxes on the funds, which represent the bulk of its overseas profits.

Facebook's decision comes just months after the firm launched legal action against Ireland's data regulator, which is also trying to prevent EU user data being sent across to the US.

The firm's lawyer Paul Sreenan told Ireland's High Court the decision could have "devastating consequences" and mean Facebook's core app and Instagram being kicked out of the EU all together.

Business Insider approached Facebook for further comment.

Republican tax cuts are a lie. And our research proves it — just in time for Covid.

Few economic ideas have been as contentious as trickle-down economics. The belief that cutting taxes on the richest members of society boosts the economy became particularly prominent in the 1980s and motivated a series of tax reforms by President Ronald Reagan. The U.S. debate is typically divided along partisan lines, with Republicans claiming that cutting taxes on the rich is the key to wider economic prosperity and Democrats arguing that higher taxes on the affluent could raise revenue and reduce inequality.

This disagreement is not trivial. Over the last 50 years, it has led to substantial differences across administrations in tax policymaking. For instance, the Republicans’ Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 totaled around $1.5 trillion and disproportionally benefited the richest 20 percent of households, according to analysis from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. It was sold as “rocket fuel” for the U.S. economy by President Donald Trump, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confidently stated that “the tax plan will pay for itself with economic growth.”

On the other side of the debate, President-elect Joe Biden has promised sweeping tax reform upon coming into office. He has pledged to raise corporation and capital gains taxes, increase taxes on household incomes above $400,000, and lower thresholds for inheritance and gift taxes. Whether these tax rises on the wealthy are implemented will likely depend on the results of the open Senate races in Georgia, but it’s clear Biden’s approach to taxing the rich will be diametrically opposed to Trump’s.



The academic literature has debated the effectiveness of trickle-down economics for some time. Recently, a growing body of evidence has shown that tax cuts for the rich do little to boost the economy. Reforms such as the Reagan tax cuts in the 1980s did not live up to their economic promises. Instead, decreasing taxes on the rich have gone hand in hand with soaring inequality.

Most of our knowledge on the economic consequences of tax cuts is based on specific countries and reforms. The academic debate has therefore been missing a more comprehensive study that looks at the effects across a broader range of countries and time periods. To address this gap, we constructed a new measure that combines important taxes on the rich including taxes on top incomes, capital and inheritances. We then looked at the economic effects of major tax cuts for the rich in the U.S. and 17 other advanced economies over a 50-year period, from 1965 to 2015.

The results show little evidence of trickle-down effects. We found that major tax cuts for the rich increase income inequality, with all the problems that brings, but do not provide offsetting gains in economic performance. More specifically, the income share of the richest 1 percent of individuals rises by 0.8 percentage points after a major tax cut for the rich. As a comparison, in the U.S. in 2016, the poorest 10 percent of income earners have a total income share of 1.8 percent. In contrast, we find no substantial, statistically significant effects on economic growth or unemployment in the short or medium term.

What do our results mean for tax policymaking in the United States in the post-coronavirus era? They strongly suggest that policymakers at all levels of the U.S. government should not cut taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations as a way to aid the economic recovery from the pandemic. Our research suggests this would deliver few benefits. It might also further damage the public finances.

The surge in government spending to combat the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has sharply deteriorated the government’s balance sheet. The federal deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 was a record $3.1 trillion and federal debt grew to greater than the size of the U.S. economy. And as Biden has proposed $5.4 trillion in new spending in the next decade across areas such as health care, education and housing, substantial tax rises might be needed to bring the federal government deficit and debt down to more sustainable levels.

Our analysis does not directly look at tax increases, because the past 50 years has overwhelmingly been a period of major reductions in taxes on the rich in the U.S. and the other advanced economies. There have simply been few instances of major tax hikes on the rich since 1965. When looking at those small number of cases, however, we do not find a negative effect on economic performance.

Coupled with our central finding that the economic rationale for keeping taxes on the rich low is weak, this suggests that once we are more firmly into the recovery phase from the pandemic, Biden and other governments across the advanced economies should not let worry about harming the economy stop them from raising taxes on the rich. Such reforms could help to ensure the sustainability of the public finances following the Covid-19 crisis

Drainage works unearth Roman baths in heart of Jordan's capital

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Muath Freij

© Reuters/MUHAMMAD HAMED Roman ruins are discovered in downtown Amman

AMMAN (Reuters) - The discovery of the ruins of old Roman baths during the construction of a major drainage system in the heart of Jordan's capital has posed a dilemma: how to preserve the country's ancient past while providing for its modern future?

© Reuters/MUHAMMAD HAMED Roman ruins are discovered in downtown Amman

A government committee set up two weeks ago is expected to decide soon on whether to expand excavations at the site or go ahead with an underground canal that would divert flood water that descends on Amman from the surrounding hills.

Remnants of furnaces are a sign of an elaborate heating system which archaeologists believe is the first such discovery among the remains of the ancient city of Philadelphia on which Amman was built.

© Reuters/MUHAMMAD HAMED Roman ruins are discovered in downtown Amman

"We will balance the needs of the city - to protect it from flooding - to preserving antiquities under the streets," said Yazid Elayan, head of Jordan's Department of Antiquities.

"Amman was one of the biggest Roman cities and it has one of the largest baths ... Wherever one excavates in Amman, antiquities can be found," he told Reuters.

The work on the drainage system has been suspended while the decision is made.

Amman is an old city where many symbols of Roman civilisation are still visible, from the Amphitheatre that seated 6,000 spectators to the Nymphaeum fountains and the Hercules temple on one of Amman's highest hills.

Worsening infrastructure and haphazard urban planning have plagued the sprawling city of four million people built on layers of ancient civilisations spanning the Ammonites, Moabites, Romans, Greeks and the Islamic period.

Municipality officials have already expressed concern that delaying the drainage project could raise water levels in central Amman and again flood it during the winter.

© Reuters/MUHAMMAD HAMED Roman ruins are discovered in downtown Amman

Amman has seen rapid growth in the last few decades as a result of waves of refugees from the Arab-Israel conflicts and regional turmoil that transformed it from a sleepy city to one of the Middle East's largest urban centres.

© Reuters/MUHAMMAD HAMED Roman ruins are discovered in downtown Amman

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

Scuba divers find sleeping sharks and sea turtles in mysterious cave

 VIDEO 

The Galapagos Islands are home to incredible animals and diverse life, both above and below the surface of the ocean. Scuba divers come from all over the world to explore the depths and observe animals like whale sharks and other shark species up close. These divers have entered a cave that is 20m (60 feet) below the surface. They turn on their lights and enter, unsure of what to expect. The scuba diver discovers sleeping white tipped reef sharks, a gigantic moray eel, and a large Pacific green turtle, also taking a nap. This seems unusual for sharks to gather and sleep because we were once under the mistaken impression that sharks would not be able to breath unless they are in constant motion to keep water moving over their gills. Most fish possess the ability to pump water through their gills but many sharks are unable to do this. Hammerheads are a good example and it was once believed that they did not sleep since they swam constantly. Sharks that constantly move are able to rest half of their brain at a time, entering a state of reduced consciousness. They are still able to avoid predators or objects as they swim, because half of their brain is awake. These white tipped reef sharks do not need to keep moving and they are able to sleep fully while sheltering on the sandy bottom of caves like this one. The turtle will also sleep for a brief period but it will need to go to the surface for a few breaths of air. As we discover more about this exciting and mysterious realm, we also learn that there is much more that we do not understand. New species and new behaviours are being discovered constantly. As demonstrated by these sharks in this cave, most of the animals in the underwater world will do us no harm if we maintain the appropriate level of caution and respect. It is wise to remember that we are the guests in this beautiful domain.
More from Rumble

December Full Moon 2020: A 'Cold Moon,' the last full moon of the year, rises tonight!

The Full Cold Moon arriving Dec. 29 will be the last full moon of the year, ushering in the winter constellations and notably, three naked-eye planets in the evening sky.

© Provided by Space "Full Cold Moon"

The moon becomes officially full at 10:28 p.m. EST (0328 Dec. 30 GMT), according to NASA's SkyCal site. For New York City observers, the moon will rise Dec. 29 at about 4:12 p.m. and set at 7:52 a.m. local time on the morning of Dec. 30.

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the full moon in December is called the Full Cold Moon, and it's pretty clear why, at least if you live in the Northern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes. This particular Cold Moon will rise accompanied by Mars, which will be high in the southern skies just after sunset, as well as Jupiter and Saturn, which will be low in the west coming out of the "great conjunction," which occurred Dec. 21.

Related: Best night sky events of December 2020 (stargazing maps)
Planets to see

The great conjunction was when Jupiter and Saturn approached within one-tenth of a degree of each other on Dec. 21, appearing as a "double star" in the evening sky. The two planets move against the background stars slowly, with Jupiter completing a circuit every 12 years while Saturn takes 29 years to do so. During a conjunction they pass each other in the sky and share the same celestial longitude, but Jupiter takes long enough that this only happens approximately every 20 years in any case. This particular conjunction will be the closest since Galileo's time, the 16th century.

By Dec. 29 the two planets will still be close — about a degree apart, appearing to trail the sun in the southwest. Jupiter will set over New York City at 6:24 p.m. local time, about four minutes after Saturn.

Mars, meanwhile, will be in the constellation Pisces and making its way in to Aries. Mars takes only 687 days to circuit the sun, so it spends approximately two months in each of the constellations of the zodiac — though this can vary a lot because the borders of said constellations do not divide the zodiac into 12 perfectly even pieces. Mars is easily spotted because of its reddish color, apparent even when it has to compete with bright city lights.

Venus, meanwhile, will still be a "morning star" in the constellation Ophiuchus, rising at 5:50 a.m. local time in New York on Dec. 30. Sunrise is not until 7:19 a.m. local time, and the planet will be at 13 degrees altitude by then. Venus is bright enough that it remains visible even as the sky becomes lighter, and a fun challenge is to see how long you can still spot it as sunrise approaches. Mercury, meanwhile, is simply too close to the sun to see — at sunset on Dec. 30 it is only 2 degrees above the horizon and won't be a visible evening star for a few days.
Full moon names

Full moon names are a product of where the people that name them live and the lives they lead. This lunation will be the thirteenth of the year, and one of the names given by the Ojibwe people is Mnidoons Giizis, or "Big Spirit Moon," associated with rites of purification.

In China, the winter lunation that corresponds with the solstice is called Dōngyuè, "Winter Month", while in the Southern Hemisphere the Maori called the December-January lunation Kohi-tātea, " Fruits are now ripe, and man eats of the new food of the season," according to the Encyclopedia of New Zealand — because in the Southern Hemisphere, December is in midsummer.
Amazing Moon Photos from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Earth's Moon Phases, Monthly Lunar Cycles (Infographic)
Moon Phase Mysteries: Some Common Questions Answered

Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Scientists discover a new genus and species of snake hiding in plain sight
By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman, CNN 

ANOTHER AMAZING FIND IN THE MUSEUM STORAGE ROOM

© Courtesy Jeff Weinell/The University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum The newly identified Levitonius mirus, also known as Waray dwarf burrowing snake, is native to the islands of Samar and Leyte in the Philippines, an exceptionally biodiverse archipelago that includes at least 112 land snake species.

Sometimes, looking at things we thought we knew with fresh eyes (and new tools) can lead to incredible discoveries.

That's what happened when Jeff Weinell, a graduate research assistant at the University of Kansas' Biodiversity Institute, found out that three specimens of snakes preserved in the institute's biodiversity collection, found in field missions between 2006 and 2012 and overlooked up to this point, belonged in a category of their own.

The three snake specimens are the only known members of a new snake genus, called Levitonius, and a new snake species, called Levitonius mirus.

The findings by Weinell and colleagues, based on methods including DNA analysis and CT scans looking at the snakes' bone structure, were published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Copeia.

The newly identified Levitonius mirus, also known as Waray dwarf burrowing snake, is native to the islands of Samar and Leyte in the Philippines, an exceptionally biodiverse archipelago that includes at least 112 land snake species, according to the study.

The snake has among the fewest number of vertebrae of any snake species in the world, according to the study, and has a long and narrow skull relative to its size, Weinell explained in a conversation with CNN. Its scales are highly iridescent, and it is likely that its diet is based on earthworms.

Weinell emphasized the importance of collaboration between US-based scientists and scientists in the Philippines, furthering the understanding of biodiversity in the region.

A serendipitous discovery

Originally, Weinell was interested in learning more about a group of snakes called Pseudorabdion.

"I sequenced DNA from a bunch of specimens of that group, and this one was actually misidentified as belonging to (Pseudorabdion)," Weinell told CNN.

"When I got the DNA results back, at first I thought it was just an error on my part, or contamination from the samples," Weinell said.

Further analysis of the snakes' scales and CT scans illuminating their bone structure revealed that Weinell had stumbled onto something new.

A 'miniaturized' snake

The snake is described as a "miniaturized" genus and species, much smaller than its closest relatives, Weinell said. While Levitonius mirus reaches at most 6.7 inches in length, "the size of a pencil," he said, "the closest relatives could be three to four times larger."

"That has a lot of consequences, like reduction of the number of bones, a sort of simplification of the body," Weinell said.

"Miniaturization hasn't been observed that often, at least in snakes," the KU graduate research assistant said, and this snake represents one of the most extreme cases within the larger clade it belongs in, called Elapoidea. That clade also includes larger and venomous snakes such as cobras and mambas. Weinell said Levitonius mirus is unlikely to be venomous.

An elusive burrower

The three specimens that were examined in the study are the only known ones ever found, and the snake has never been photographed alive, Weinell told CNN.

He tried to accomplish that in 2017, by traveling to the Philippines, but his expedition was unsuccessful.

"There's still good habitat there for them to be there, but they live underground, so it's hard to find them unless you have the perfect conditions that might make them come out above the ground," Weinell explained.


A new genus, too

The findings extend beyond a species, to a whole genus of snakes.

"We described the snake as not only a new species but as a new genus because it is very different morphologically from its closest relative, Oxyrhabdium, and because the amount of genetic divergence between Levitonius and Oxyrhabdium is as high as what is usually observed between different genera," Weinell explained.

Weinell anticipates that more species in the genus will eventually be found in the Philippines, although the fact that these snakes adapted to life underground might complicate the scientists' task.


Naming new things

An especially exciting aspect of this study for Weinell was the ability to name a new genus and a new species.

The snake's common name honors the Waray-waray people who inhabit the area where the specimens were found. The scientific name, Levitonius mirus, honors Alan Leviton, a researcher at the California Academy of Sciences who spent decades studying snakes in the Philippines, and continues to do so to this day.

"He doesn't know, so this will be a surprise," Weinell said, speaking ahead of the findings' publication.

The word mirus, Latin for "extraordinary," speaks to the nature of Weinell's discovery.

"I was looking for something else and we got this, which is even cooler than what I was looking for," he said.


The importance of biodiversity collections

The fact that scientists could identify a new genus and species of snake based on specimens in a collection speaks to the importance of maintaining biodiversity repositories in research institutions and universities, according to study co-author Rafe Brown, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and curator-in-charge of the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum.

"In this case, the trained 'expert field biologists' misidentified specimens -- and we did so repeatedly, over years -- failing to recognize the significance of our finds, which were preserved and assumed to be somewhat unremarkable, nondescript juveniles of common snakes," Brown is quoted saying in a release.

"A lot of times the people who are in the field, including myself even, we may not know what we're looking at at the time when we could have made the discovery -- no one can really be the expert in all of it," Weinell said.

Biodiversity collections allow scientists to return to the specimens and continue studying them in new ways.

There is a lot more to be discovered, or rediscovered, especially as technology advances and new data becomes available to the scientists.

"Now that we're getting data from whole genomes of snakes, which is really changing our way of understanding evolution as a whole, really, how we define species is still continuing to change. How that affects things in the future is not yet clear," Weinell said.

Strongest low in the world heading towards Alaska

It's quite the fitting end for 2020.

"THAT DREADED OF ALL METEROLOGICAL PHENOMENA, THE SIBERIAN HIGH"

VIDEO: Strongest low in the world heading towards Alaska

After scanning the globe for the lowest barometric pressure, all eyes point to Alaska. It's quite apparent we've got a potential new record-holder on our hands as we ring in 2021.

The severe cold that has recently gripped Siberia is rushing eastward. As that cooler airmass interacts with a powerful Pacific jet stream, the magic can begin. A large temperature anomaly exists across Siberia. The Siberian air flowing across the western Pacific interacts with a warmer, sub-tropical flow south of Japan; consequently, it will create the necessary conditions to push the atmosphere to the limit.

© Provided by The Weather Network

Using the European computer model, the low rapidly deepens east of Japan early Wednesday, falling from 980 mb Wednesday morning to 928 mb in 24 hours.

© Provided by The Weather Network

The lowest pressure ever recorded in the region is 924 mb. By Thursday evening, computer models show the system near this historic pressure threshold as it pushes into the Bering Sea.

For reference, only two Atlantic hurricanes in 2020 had lower pressure readings, Eta and Iota – although this comparison is apples to oranges.

Hurricanes extract their power from warm sea surface temperatures, while the extreme temperature gradients in the northern latitudes fuel the storms tracking across the northern Pacific.

As for wave heights, they can extend well beyond 15 metres south of the intense low-pressure system.

DOWNSTREAM IMPACTS ON CANADA

All of that energy traversing the Pacific Ocean will create some weather chaos across Canada

.

© Provided by The Weather Network

The strong jet stream forecast will create intense storm conditions for British Columbia, while keeping the rest of the continent void of any consistent Arctic air for early January.

Thumbnail courtesy of Unsplash

Earthquake of 3.4 magnitude ‘strongly felt’ in parts of Quebec’s Charlevoix area

© Earthquakes Canada Earthquakes Canada says the seismic activity was reported around 9:19 a.m. Monday.

An earthquake of a 3.4 magnitude shook parts of Quebec north of the province's capital early Monday.

Earthquakes Canada says the seismic activity occurred around 9:19 a.m. in the Charlevoix area about seven kilometres west of La Malbaie. The earthquake was located about 115 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.

The federal agency reports the shakes were "strongly felt" from Petite-Rivière-Saint-François to Saint-Siméon. The depth of the earthquake was 12.8 kilometres.

READ MORE: ‘A big boom and then a shake’: 4.0-magnitude earthquake strikes Montérégie region

Earthquakes Canada specifies on its website that "it is very unlikely that an earthquake of magnitude less than 5 could cause any damage."

The Sûreté du Québec says it did not receive any reports about the incident.

This is the second earthquake in the Charlevoix region this month, according to the agency. A 2.1-magnitude earthquake was reported on Dec. 14 in Baie-Saint-Paul. There were no reports of damage.

Another earthquake also occurred in the summer around 3 a.m. on the night of Aug.14 in the La Malbaie area. It had a magnitude of 3.5, but its depth was much higher at 19 kilometres below the surface.

-- With files from The Canadian Press

THE HALLMARK OF CAPITALISM

 

FOR YOUR BODIES ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY GHOST - CROWLEY