Google Questioned by SEC Over Earnings in Low-Tax Countries

 Google Inc. (GOOG) received questions from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in December about earnings in other countries that may have reduced the company’s tax bill, according to regulatory filings released today.

SEC officials asked Google for “disclosures to explain in greater detail the impact on your effective income tax rates and obligations of having proportionally higher earnings in countries where you have lower statutory tax rates,” according to a Dec. 2 letter.

The company responded to the requests for information, the filings show. The SEC said in a Feb. 3 letter that it had completed its review of Google’s filings, and has “no further comments at this time on the specific issues raised.”

Google, owner of the world’s most-popular search engine, has used a strategy that has gained favor among some U.S. companies to reduce taxes. Google cut its income taxes by $3.1 billion over three years by shifting the bulk of foreign profits to Ireland, then the Netherlands and eventually to no-tax Bermuda, according to regulatory filings in the U.S. and abroad.

The tax-cutting strategy, involving a pair of techniques known as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich,” helped cut the company’s income-tax rate to 2.4 percent on the profits it attributed to its foreign subsidiaries during the three-year period, filings show. The statutory corporate income tax rate in the U.S. is 35 percent.

Google rose $15.44 to $576.50 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have declined 2.9 percent this year.
Overseas Profits

U.S. multinational corporations had more than $1 trillion in profits stashed in overseas subsidiaries on which they had paid no U.S. income tax as of the end of 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Read More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-21/google-questioned-by-sec-over-earnings-in-low-tax-countries-1-.html
Pakistan News

Google Questioned by SEC Over Earnings in Low-Tax Countries

"American Idol" loses viewers despite make-over

(Reuters) - A revamped "American Idol" dominated U.S. television on its first outing but lost millions of viewers despite the addition of celebrity judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.
Some 26.1 million Americans tuned in for the 10th season premiere of the singing contest, down 13 percent on last year's opening show when nearly 30 million watched, according to Nielsen ratings data on Thursday.
The numbers still crushed all other programing on Wednesday night. But after weeks of hype and curiosity over what producers called "a new era," the numbers boded ill for hopes of restoring sparkle to the aging show and reversing a four years ratings slide.
Television critics were mostly unimpressed with their first glimpse of Lopez and Aerosmith front man Tyler as they weeded out good singers from the thousands of early auditions -- without the caustic presence of British judge Simon Cowell.
Cowell, the contest's biggest star, quit in May to launch his own talent show on Fox later in 2011.
Read More:  American Idol" loses viewers despite make-over

"American Idol" loses viewers despite make-over

WikiLeaks: Hillary wanted Indians spied over UNSC bid

Amidst the massive debris of confidential, secret and unclassified information contained within United States diplomatic cables across the world and exposed by WikiLeaks, notable comments on India have begun to emerge, including the U.S. viewing India as a “self-appointed frontrunner” in the race for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

The whistleblower website headed by Australian Julian Assange had, by Monday evening, put out over 240 out of a quarter of a million communications between State Department officials in Washington and in numerous U.S. diplomatic outposts.

In addition to the reported comment on India’s bid for the UNSC seat, the dispatches published thus far also described a conversation between Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, and visiting National Defence University President Lieutenant General Michael Dunn.

In the discussion, classified as secret by United Arab Emirates Ambassador Michele Sison, the Crown Prince, dubbed “MbZ,” was described as hinting about Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s interest in the UAE obtaining Predator drones from the U.S..

These drones are “hunter-killers,” often armed with Hellfire missiles, as opposed to mere reconnaissance drones, and India has expressed concern in the past that any Pakistani access to such drones could inflame tensions on the border.

According to the cable, during the conversation the Ambassador “asked about MbZ’s visit the week before to Lahore to meet with Pakistani President Musharraf. MbZ chuckled and asked why the U.S. government “always” convinced the Pakistanis to delay news of the capture of senior al-Qaeda operatives such as Abu Faraj al Libbi.”

The cable went on to add that the Crown Prince congratulated Washington for its decision to allow U.S. firms to bid for contracts to provide F-16 combat aircraft and other defence technology to Pakistan, adding that even if “the Indians had and would continue to balk at the decision, the region needed Musharraf to stay strong.”

Further the cable quoted the Crown Prince as saying that the F-16 decision would not tip the military balance between India and Pakistan. “Even if it had, India's strength as a stable democracy would ensure that it would not ever be in as risky a situation as its neighbour,” he said.

The cable then said that “MbZ slapped his knee and said “You will never guess what Musharraf asked me...he asked me whether the UAE had received approval for the Predator!”
Read More: WikiLeaks: Hillary wanted Indians spied over UNSC bid

WikiLeaks: Hillary wanted Indians spied over UNSC bid