Panasonic is preparing to leave Great Britain as Brexit sparks fear about taxes

Aurel Dragan 30/08/2018 | 14:14

One of the fears regarding Brexit is that companies will leave the UK and move their headquarters in Europe. And the fear sometimes turns into reality as Panasonic plans to move from Britain to the Netherlands later this year, according to a spokeswoman cited by France 24.

“We will move our European headquarters to the Netherlands”, said the spokeswoman confirming a report in the Nikkei business daily.

The decision was made after the company feared that Japan could treat Britain as a tax haven after Brexit if London will lower its corporate tax rate in a bid to attract businesses. If that happens, Panasonic could face back taxes from Tokyo, as per Japanese law.

There are more Japanese companies that took the same decision, firms like MUFG, Nomura Holdings, Daiwa Securities and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. Japanese companies have more than USD 60 billion invested in Britain, according to recent statistics, with a total of 879 companies employing 142,000 staff.

Since the stakes are so high, Prime Minister Theresa May has tried to reassure Japanese firms in her last visit to Tokyo, where she met with top executives.

Nissan is also preparing to close hundreds of jobs in the city of Sunderland, where it makes 500,000 vehicles per year.

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