[/] -- Mechanical translation: -- PwC sponsors tax avoidance The British giant believes that taxpayers "have the right to plan their tax affairs" -- Locate Guernsey promotional video. Finances, insurance, accountants the GDP of Guernsey is estimated at 3.3 billion pounds sterling (5.8 billion Canadian dollars), of which a third comes from the financial sector, according to the organization WE ARE GUERNSEY. -- FRANCIS HALIN Monday, January 10, 2022 12:00 AMUPDATE Monday, January 10, 2022 12:00 AM -- Tax experts denounce the role played by large accounting firms like PwC, which has just sponsored a virtual event in the tax haven of Guernsey in the midst of a health crisis. -- The health system is underfunded because the state has not gone to get the funds it needs. It's clear. This is not demagoguery, denounces to the Journal Alain Deneault, author of Tax Havens: the Canadian industry. -- According to him, the global accounting firms of the Big Four (EY, Deloitte, PwC and KPMG) are familiar with the hot sun of tax havens. -- In addition to occasionally doing business with clients there, some firms today go so far as to sponsor events in those jurisdictions. -- Last November, PwC Channel Islands, a branch of global firm PwC, sponsored a virtual event, which promotes Guernsey, where "most businesses pay a standard 0% tax rate," he mentions. -on in a promotional video. -- On the menu, information sessions "on the creation and management of a business in Guernsey", offered by Locate Guernsey, an organization that did not respond to questions from the Journal . -- "The right to plan" -- When Le Journal asked PwC how much it had offered to sponsor the event and whether it was looking for clients for this tax haven, its local branch, PwC Canada, defended its approach. -- PwC Canada believes that taxpayers have the right to plan their tax affairs in light of the business decisions they make, as long as they act within the framework of applicable laws, said Julie Ibrahim, Senior Manager, Public Relations , PwC Canada. According to the audit firm, "taxpayers should be able to access independent advice on their tax situation." -- To help our clients and people make informed tax decisions, taking into account relevant considerations, member firms of PwC's global network act in accordance with our Global Tax Code of Conduct, added Julie Ibrahim. -- $ 4.4 million in public contracts -- Over the past five years, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc.) has obtained more than $ 4.4 million in public contracts from all kinds of Quebec departments and agencies. -- Why give contracts to PwC? Could we give it to companies that do their fair share? Asks Franck Jovanovic, professor at the TELUQ School of Administration Sciences. -- "The firm benefits from the legislative and regulatory framework, which allows it to orchestrate the artificial transfer of assets in legislation where the tax rate is zero or almost zero", deplores Alain Deneault in turn. -- While Quebec is paralyzed by its health system at the end of its resources, large firms like PwC could harm the efforts of the government, which thirsts for money for its public system, according to him. -- "We say that we benefit from something established by the State, but what we do not say is that we do everything so that the State arranges things so that we benefit from them as we do it, says Alain Deneault. -- A vision shared by Franck Jovanovic, at TLUQ. "Today's audit firms, they are the ones who advise governments to write tax laws because often states do not have enough money to pay tax specialists to write them", analyzes t -he. -- The Big Four advise governments and then sell their loopholes to their clients. They market the flaws to their customers, he goes so far as to say. -- On Friday, the office of the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, did not want to get wet on the specific case of PwC, saying they were fighting against tax evasion. -- Since the creation of a squad to fight tax evasion in 2017, the efforts of Revenu Qubec (RQ) have made it possible to recover a total of $ 2 billion. RQ teams also work in close collaboration with the Canada Revenue Agency so that there is better information sharing, it was indicated. -- KPMG in the sun -- In addition, last Wednesday another Big Four firm, KPMG, sold some of its Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands operations to New York-based Teneo, which has lobbyists active in Quebec. -- "We do not give advice on taxation and do not advise clients to 'relocate their funds' to do tax avoidance," assured the Journal a representative of the firm questioned about the transaction. -- Teneo explained that she helps clients already operating in these markets in the event of bankruptcy. "This transaction does not affect our activities in Quebec and Canada where we do not offer restructuring services," it was said. -- KPMG Cayman Islands did not respond to our interview request on Friday. -- With the collaboration of Marie Christine Trottier and Martin Jolicoeur -- The Caisse de dpt et placement du Qubec has invested more than US $ 35 million in funds registered in Quebec of the firm White Star Capital, active in the tax haven of Guernsey, and in which the Minister of the Economy Pierre Fitzgibbon has already been a shareholder. -- TOP 20 TAX HAVENS British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Bermuda Netherlands Swiss Luxembourg 7. Hong Kong Jersey Singapore United Arab Emirates Ireland Bahamas UK Cyprus Maurice Belgium Guernsey France China Isle of man -- Source: Tax Justice Network, Corporate Tax Haven Index - 2021 -- 5 EXAMPLES OF CONTRACTS OBTAINED BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT BY PWC Sret du Qubec: $ 250,000 Regional metropolitan transport authority: $ 139,526.47 Quebec Automobile Insurance Company: $ 79,975 Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions: $ 68,749.99 The Qubec Ombudsman: $ 30,000 -- Source: Electronic tendering system of the Government of Quebec