OTTAWA, Jan. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canada’s second largest long term care home operator, Revera, appears to use aggressive tax avoidance schemes in the UK, according to a new report, Tax Dodging by a Canadian Crown Corporation: Revera Living Making a Killing, from the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR). High numbers of COVID-related deaths in for-profit homes have exposed longstanding systemic problems across the long-term care sector, including chronic understaffing and low pay. The report shows how Revera’s UK care homes generate large revenues, but appear to shift profits offshore, raising major concerns in the UK and Canada that Revera-owned homes prioritize profit over people.
Revera is entirely owned by the C$170 billion Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP). Tax dodging in the UK would violate PSP-endorsed responsible investment principles and raises critical questions about Revera’s business model.
Jason Ward, the author of the report, said, “We found that Revera CEO and executives are directors of shell companies in several tax havens, which are part of a complex corporate web. Revera-controlled operating companies report losses in the UK to eliminate income tax payments and generate tax credits.”
In response to the report, Christina McAnea, general secretary of UNISON, the UK’s largest union and the union for care sector workers, said, "All companies and organisations providing public services must pay their fair share of taxes. All governments need to ensure all money due to the public purse is collected, without exception."
With high numbers of COVID-19 deaths occurring in Canada’s long term care homes, public pressure from health care advocates and members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) – who own Revera through their pension fund - is mounting to “Make Revera Public”, and to eliminate profit from Canada’s long term care sector entirely.
CONTACT: Jason Ward, +61 488 190 457 (Sydney, Australia) or jason.ward@cictar.org