Venezuela has presented a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell Group a bill for 281 billion bolivars (US$130 million) in back-taxes spanning three years, company officials said on Friday.
The claim, filed with Shell by Venezuela's tax agency, Seniat, on Thursday, covers the period between 2001 and last year. Seniat has given the oil giant 15 days to pay or face hefty fines.
"We have a team working very hard on this ... analyzing the details of this claim. Our books are completely open and we continue to be open to the scrutiny of Venezuelan tax authorities, and we will continue to cooperate," Shell spokesman Luis Prado said.
The claim is the latest move by President Hugo Chavez's leftist government to collect what officials say is more than US$3 billion in back-taxes owed the Venezuela by foreign oil companies operating in the country.
On Thursday, Seniat officials seized tax-related documents from Chevron Corp's administrative office in Venezuela, saying the company had repeatedly failed to comply with requests for the information.
Chavez' administration has accused oil companies running Venezuela's 32 operating agreements of violating oil contracts for years and failing to pay taxes.
The tax issue has further strained relations with foreign oil firms already upset by Venezuelan pressure to accept changes to long-standing oil contracts under a revised hydrocarbons law.
Venezuela is the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
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