• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, September 23, 2011

Holding company WPP, which dealt a blow to the U.K. in both prestige and tax revenue when it moved its corporate headquarters to Dublin, is on target to return its official home base to London in the latter part of 2012 or 2013, CEO Martin Sorrell said last week.

The move comes as the British government is looking to reform tax policies on foreign profits made by global companies.

The new policy could be enacted next year and usher in a reduced 5.75% tax rate for foreign earnings by "controlled foreign companies," which would be down from approximately 23%. A comment period ended last week.

When it made the announcement about the move in 2008, WPP said it received less than 15% of its revenues from the U.K. (It's about 12% now.) The company's board had "concluded that [its] long-term interests" would be better served by going to Ireland due to "concerns" about what could happen with U.K. tax policy.

A return to London by WPP and other companies that moved their headquarters elsewhere would give the U.K. business community some prestige. More important, the return brings lost tax dollars back as companies set up nominal official home bases elsewhere.

Publicis CEO Maurice Levy once wryly said he wasn't sure where WPP was based after the move.

WPP's return to London would be subject to shareholder approval, Sorrell said after a Goldman Sachs event. WPP operates in 107 countries.