Kraft in reported tax-saving move

6 December 2010 –  Kraft is aiming to avoid paying UK taxes by considering moving Cadbury’s headquarters to Switzerland according to UK newspaper The Guardian.

Kraft is allegedly reorganising Cadbury’s UK business to allow much of the profit to be booked in Switzerland. This means the company will pay a much lower rate of corporation tax.

The Kraft restructuring plan involves inserting a Swiss holding company above Cadbury’s UK operations. A spokesman for Kraft says, “Since 2006 we have been implementing our European model involving a (holding) company based in Zurich together with local companies in country markets. The reorganisation has given us greater focus on our priority brands and has helped us grow faster. We are integrating Cadbury into this model. This involves the transfer of certain roles to Switzerland, though the majority of UK-based roles will remain in the UK."