Latest news with #taxsettlement
BreakingNews.ie
10-07-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Supreme Court upholds €75,000 award to businessman mistakenly identified as a tax defaulter
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by Iconic Newspapers over an article in one of its publications in which a businessman was incorrectly named as a tax defaulter. In May 2023, a High Court jury awarded William Bird €75,000 after it found the article in the Limerick Leader, published in June 2016, was defamatory. Advertisement Mr Bird, a director of William Bird Limerick Ltd and operator of the Stella Bingo Hall in Shannon Street, Limerick, sued Iconic Newspapers Ltd over an article which outlined tax settlements from a list published by the Revenue Commissioners. It stated: "Funfair/amusement activity operator William Bird, of Henry Street, reached three separate settlements for under-declaration of corporation tax and VAT, under-declaration of PAYE/PRSI and VAT, and under-declaration of corporation tax, in relation to three companies under his name. In total, the monies paid to Revenue in his case amounted to €183,595." However, Mr. Bird, from Castleconnell, had made no such settlements with Revenue. The settlements detailed in the Limerick Leader article had been made by three companies: William Bird (Rollercoaster) Limited, William Bird (Sales) Limited and William Bird Tramore Limited. Mr. Bird had nothing whatsoever to do with any of these three companies. As part of its defence in the High Court, Iconic argued that the publication was covered by qualified privilege, which provides certain protections for a publisher, including that those reading it had a duty or interest in receiving it and that the publisher reasonably believed the receivers of that information had such a duty. Advertisement This issue was dealt with by the judge alone during the High Court hearing, and he rejected Iconic's claim that the article enjoyed qualified privilege. The jury was only asked to decide whether the words complained or referred to Mr Bird. It found it did and awarded him €75,000. Iconic appealed and the Court of Appeal (CoA) last year rejected its appeal. Iconic got a further appeal to the Supreme Court, which was opposed by Mr Bird. Iconic also appealed a CoA decision to overturn a High Court ruling that Mr Bird was only entitled to lower Circuit Court costs as his €75,000 award was €1 below the threshold for High Court cases. Advertisement On Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed both appeals. Mr Justice Maurice Collins, on behalf of the five-judge court, said, in his view, no common law qualified privilege defence would be available to Iconic here or a defence under section 18.1 of the Defamation Act 2009 relating to qualified privilege. The focus of Iconic's argument was section 18.2 of the Act, which provides a defence to a defamation action for the defendant to prove a statement was published to those who had a duty to receive or had an interest in receiving the information. It is also a defence if the defendant believed on reasonable grounds it has such a duty or the defendant had a corresponding duty to communicate the information and a corresponding duty to do so. Advertisement The judge said the issue in this appeal was whether section 18(2) of the 2009 Act can and should be interpreted so as to provide a parallel defence for public interest reporting, encompassing publications such as that at issue here and shorn of certain limitations in other parts of the Act dealing with fair and accurate reporting (Section 18.3) and fair and reasonable publication (section 26). Ireland George Gibney to be extradited to Ireland over sex... Read More Had Iconic reported fairly and accurately on the tax defaulters list - something which could not be said to have been either complex or burdensome - its report would have been protected under section 18(3) of the Act, he said. Regrettably, the newspaper article was materially inaccurate insofar as it suggested that Mr Bird was associated with and/or responsible for significant tax defaults by three companies with which he had in fact no connection, he said. The jury took the view that that amounted to a significant defamation of him, as it was clearly entitled to do, he said. The qualified privilege appeal must therefore be dismissed, he said. The judge said the CoA did not err in its decision to award Mr Bird High Court costs.
CTV News
16-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Aimia reaches settlement deal with the Canada Revenue Agency, expects $27M refund
An image from Aimia's Facebook page. Facebook/Aimia Inc. TORONTO — Aimia Inc. says it has reached a settlement with the Canada Revenue Agency and expects a refund of about $27 million in connection with a 2013 income tax audit of former subsidiary Aeroplan Inc. The company says it plans to use the money to help buy back shares and for general working capital purposes. Aimia sold Aeroplan to Air Canada in January 2019, but agreed to indemnify the airline for pre-closing income tax liabilities and put $100 million into an escrow account. In 2019, Aimia paid $32.9 million from the escrow account to the CRA and the provincial tax agency, Revenu Quebec, after a notice reassessment for the 2013 audit. The balance of the escrow account was released to Aimia in July 2020. Aimia says it will now seek the remaining $6 million from Revenu Quebec. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2025.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UBS to pay hundreds of millions to settle Credit Suisse US tax probe
UBS Group AG has agreed to pay $511 million (€452 million) to settle a US tax investigation into Credit Suisse, which it acquired in 2023. UBS said it had no involvement in the underlying misconduct and reiterated its "zero tolerance for tax evasion". The two-year investigation, initiated before the merger, found that Credit Suisse assisted wealthy Americans in hiding more than $4 billion (€3.5 billion) from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through at least 475 offshore accounts, according to the US Department of Justice (DoJ). Details of the plea According to the plea agreement, Credit Suisse Services AG pleaded guilty to conspiring to aid in the preparation of false income tax returns and will pay $371.9 million (€328.8 million) as part of the settlement. 'Credit Suisse AG, which had ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individual clients globally, conspired with employees, US customers, and others to wilfully assist in concealing ownership and control of assets held at the bank,' said the DoJ. In addition, Credit Suisse AG entered into a non-prosecution agreement in relation to US taxpayers whose accounts were booked in its Singapore unit and agreed to pay a further $138.7 million (€122.6 million). The DoJ noted that 'between 2014 and June 2023, Credit Suisse AG Singapore held undeclared accounts for US persons, which Credit Suisse AG Singapore knew or should have known were US-related, with total assets valued at over $2 billion'. Related UBS said it expects to trim costs as it will no longer need to set as much money aside to manage risks related to Credit Suisse. Nonetheless, it will record a charge in the second quarter relating to the resolution. The settlement requires both Credit Suisse Services AG and UBS AG to 'cooperate fully with ongoing investigations and affirmatively disclose any information it may later uncover regarding US-related accounts,' the DoJ added. Senate probe vindicated The probe was launched in 2023 after the US Senate Finance Committee found that Credit Suisse had helped wealthy US clients conceal assets offshore. 'This settlement fully vindicates the findings of my investigation, which exposed how Credit Suisse continued hiding more than $700 million offshore for rich Americans, violating their deal to avoid prosecution,' said Senator Ron Wyden, the committee's ranking member. 'The ultra-wealthy and shady Swiss bankers shouldn't get a free pass to cook up offshore tax evasion schemes while regular Americans are paying their fair share.'
