Corporate tax evasion and the "asset write-down" gambit

I've broached the topic before, but I am once again moved to wonderment at the alacrity with which corporate asset write-downs are accomodated.

Whenever you read "asset write-down" think tax dodge.

Been reading about the First Quantum take-over of Inmet. While it's early days to pronounce judgement on that take-over, I suspect that in ten years it'll look like a stroke of genius.

I'm also guessing that before it's recognized as a stroke of genius the commodity cycle will cycle lower once or twice, giving First Quantum a chance to take massive asset write-downs.

Asset write-downs produce artificial losses which then produce very real reductions in tax obligations. In fact, the linked article makes multiple references to this phenomenon.

There is no third-party verification required to declare such a write-down. We are to believe that all those highly paid MBA's just didn't read the tea leaves correctly and, oops, Company X now has no choice but to to take an oh-so-embarrassing multi-billion dollar write-down.

Especially in a business as cyclical as mining, the write-down offers enormous opportunities for fraudulent tax avoidance.

Panama: its more than a hat

In fact, according to Stephen Harper, Panama is a "key hemispheric partner."

It's also a strategic ally when it comes to voting with the Nations of Virtue at the UN.

But why all the fuss about a Canada-Panama free trade pact that's been in the works since 2008?

I was actually looking for information on what John Baird is up to these days, when I stumbled on the news that our free trade pact with Panama is now a done deal.

Doesn't make a lot of sense on the face of it. Canada's economy is about 55 times the size of Panama's. We have ten times the population. And all that stuff they talk about in the context of trade doesn't seem that important.

Our frozen french fry makers will now enjoy unfettered access to the Panamanian market. Panama's banana growers will now be free to give Canadian banana farmers a run for their money.

Seems like a lot of energy devoted to liberalizing trade with a banana republic ranked #86 in the corruption rankings issued by Transparency International. After all, Panama's claims to fame focus on it's role as a drugs trans-shipment nexus and a tax haven.

Then I happened across this, and all of a sudden I realized that Panama isn't just about hats and bananas and frozen french fries.

Inmet is just one of many Canadian mining outfits keeping busy in Panama, and this is just one of their operations. Scan down that link to where they talk about "measured and indicated resources."

They're talking about 32 billion pounds of copper and 9 million ounces of gold over the lifespan of this mine. That works out to approximately $130 billion at current prices.

That is five hundred times the annual value of current bilateral trade with Panama! It's about four and a half times the annual GDP of the entire Panamanian economy!

Oddly enough, mining gets barely a passing mention in all the Harper government's extensive PR about the importance of this free trade deal with Panama.

Wonder how they could have missed that?...