Shell Pays Venezuela $13.7 Million In Tax

Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell has agreed to pay $13.7 million in tax to Venezuela. The government last year revised its retroactive tax charges on Shell and slashed its tax bill by 90% to $13 million. The Venezuelan government had originally charged Shell $130 million in back taxes and interest for the period 2001—04 but revised the charges following an appeal by the company. The government has fined and demanded back taxes from 22 foreign-owned energy companies for failing to comply with the country’s tributary laws and for benefiting from ‘illegal’ preferential tax rates under the previous government. It has reportedly collected $125 million in back taxes from those companies to date.