...Looking for a place to stash your cash? Tax Havens promise anonymity and no accountability. While some countries benefit from the existence of these tax havens, others experience losses. This speech supports the assertion that tax havens create more poverty around the world. Globalisation has resulted in countries becoming more interconnected -this interconnectivity has resulted in goods, services and people moving across borders. As a result individuals and company have access to tax havens – a place which has no taxes or low taxes placed on individuals and corporations. There are present in countries where there are weak government regulations, lack of transparency and no need for local presence. Tax havens enable many multinationals to shift profits out of poor countries where the business functions where their profits are untaxed robbing; developing countries are deprived of much needed revenues needed to fight poverty (ActionAid UK, 2013). McNair (2015) reports that between 2010 and 2012 the Democratic Republic of Congo lost over $1.3 billion which is almost twice its health and education budgets joined. As a result government are not able to provide proper healthcare and educational facilities to its people. Similarly Ridgwell (2013) reveals that African countries lose $38 billion a year through tax havens. This money is needed to feed and clothe millions daily. War on Want states that even though the UK loses billions of pounds every year to corporate tax...
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...The Republic of Panama is a presidential independent, sovereign state. It is well known as one of the most developed international business center. Panama has the fastest growing economy and the largest per capita income in Central America. Today Panama is popularly known for being one of the most outstanding tax havens in the Central America region. The offshore jurisdiction of Panama has a large client base with investors from all over the world. Panama has a booming financial services sector which provides superior services such as the incorporation of International Business Companies, offshore banking, the formation of Panama Foundations and Trusts, Panama insurance the registration of boats and vessels among other services. Tax haven Panama is a pure tax haven which offers a tax free environment to clients. Panama developed as an offshore tax haven by putting very strict legislation in place to regulate its offshore and financial sectors. The passing of modern and progressive legislature has made the Republic of Panama a very secure and stable offshore tax haven. Panama as a tax haven imposes no taxes on offshore business companies who engage in no business operations in the jurisdiction. One of the characteristics of Panama offshore legislation which puts the jurisdiction way above the competition is that offshore business companies are allowed to carry out is business operations both within and out of the offshore jurisdiction. Most offshore jurisdictions available in...
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...Tax Havens pull up socks in ‘transparency’ era The great ‘subprime’ crisis has had its share of fallouts over past 24 months; yet there is a silver lining emerging from under the dark clouds which has the world order gearing up for a brand new era of financial discipline and enhanced regulation. Ironically, one of the positives borne out of the recent economic upheaval has been staggering focus on ensuring robust transparency standards in tax matters. Before delving further into how tax transparency and information exchange are critical for sorting financial disorder across economies, let me try and explain the concept of ‘money laundering’ and how the absence of strict standards in tax discipline have abated this menace. This also helps putting in perspective the role that the international tax policy, in tandem with other non-tax measures, plays in combating tax evasion, whether with or without aid of money laundering. What’s the color of money!! Money laundering is loosely used to describe ‘washing’ of unaccounted or illicitly sourced money through a cobweb of complex financial transactions, usually involving more than one jurisdiction. The objective of the process deployed to ‘clean’ the money is to hide either the ownership or the destination of such funds. A typical ‘laundering’ scheme could see three stages: a) Placement stage – at this stage, the objective of stakeholders is to move the illicit funds away from source location; sources of such funds can be...
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...1. Obama, seeking for FDI himself * Previously, only the state and city officials have contacted with foreign companies individually * 2000: 37% of World FDI→ 17% → Multiplier Effect, Productivity Effect, Employment Effect, Trade effect * 2013. 10. 31 Obama, Jacob Lou(Treasury Secretary), John Kerry (Secretary of State) , Penny Pritzker(Secretary of Commerce) held an affair 2. British Virgin Islands(BVI) Performs the Magic * Created Value from Nothing * Fourth biggest investment haul United States | 159 Billion Dollars | China | 127 Billion Dollars | Russia | 94 Billion Dollars | British Virgin Islands | 92 Billion Dollars | * GDP Per Capita(Central Intelligence Agency) Britivsh Virgin Islands: of 42,300 Japan: 37,100 Korea: 33,200 3. British Virgin Island Gate Disclosure(2011) * 260 Gigabytes(Amount of 500,000 Books with 500 pages) of whistle blowing information delivered to Gerald Ryle, * Took two years to investigate the whole data with International Consortium of Investigative Journalists * Publicly disclosed the information while also using crowd sourcing to seek for help * Thailand’s ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s wife Philippines’ dictator Ferdinand Marcos Russia’s vice Prime Minister Yuri Petrovich Trutnev’s wife Malaysia’s ex-prime minister Mahathir bin Mohamad’s son Korea’s ex-president’s son Jeon Jaeguk ( http://offshoreleaks.icij.org/) 4. FACTA( Foreign Account Tax...
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...offers lower tax rates and other tax features. It is designed to attract domestic and foreign investors seeking an opportunity to game the tax code and maximize profits. The Canada Revenue Agency has defined Tax Havens as jurisdictions with no tax, or very low rates of taxation; strict bank secrecy provisions; a lack of transparency in the operation of its tax system, and a lack of effective exchange of information with other countries. As shown in (Desai, Foley, and Hines Jr 2004), examples of such Tax Havens include Ireland, Luxembourg, Singapore, and various Caribbean island nations in America. According to Tax Justice Networks 2012 report, approximately USD $21 trillion to $32 trillion is sheltered from taxes in unreported Tax Havens worldwide. Canada has suffered tax revenue loss of $7.8 Billion annually as a result of Tax Havens (Canadians for Tax Fairness [CTF], 2013). In 2007, US president Barack Obama and his Senators C.Laevin and N.Coleman noted “Offshore Tax Havens have declared economic war on honest U.S. taxpayers”. Apple is among 82 of the top 100 publicly traded U.S. companies that operate subsidiaries in Tax Haven jurisdiction as of 2012 (U.S.PIRG, 2012). Every dollar in taxes that MNCs and top tier wealthy individuals avoid by using Tax Havens must be balanced by those honest taxpayers paying higher taxes. Every contribution in tax is reflected in our infrastructure, health system, public safety, school, and other essential services provided by government...
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...What is tax haven? Why are all tycoons so crush on them? In January 9, 2015, Cheung Kong Holdings Limited announced the restructuring arrangement of combining Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa to form a new listed company: “CK Hutchison Holdings Limited”. This newly established company is incorporated at Cayman Islands (SCMP, 2015) which has been commonly known as “tax haven”. As the name implies, tax haven is a place where levy taxes at a very low rate or even not at all to companies registered there. It has been an interesting phenomenon that most of the largest corporations in the world, they are not registered at the place where they operate their major business or make most of the profits. Indeed, how is this mechanism works? How could the multi-national corporations in the world transfer their profits made all over the world to these tax havens to avoid tax? Advantages of tax havens If we look at the figures provided by HKEX in 2013, 724 out of 1602 companies listed in Hong Kong Stock Exchange market are incorporated in Cayman Islands (881903, 2015). This has indicated that it has already been a common practice for listed companies to be registered in these offshore financial centre. Take Cayman Islands as an example, being one of the most popular tax havens in the world, not only it has a no profit tax levied, but also it comes with much looser company law and other financial regulations. For the investors who want to register a company in Cayman Islands...
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...Prologue: Place: Mortisia, Smuggler's haven, Earth Time: 3516 AD The wind howled gently. A dull greenish glow from a neon logo on the back door of the pub "the interstellar" was the only blemish of light piercing the darkness. Every now and then the shadow of a cat would creep into the light. The alleyway behind the pub was filthy and had, over the years been conquered by mildew and vermin. The moonlight glinted occasionally in the numerous puddles in the alley. The only sound breaking the silence were the low regular beats of the music playing in the pub. Just when things were starting to seem a little too quiet, the backdoor of the pub was pushed open gently and 6 astrids filed out; all of them looking slightly tensed. The music got a little louder as long as the door was kept open. Astrids, from their home planet of "Raakhtun", were the first alien race to make contact with human kind in 2115 AD. It was with the help of the Astrids that earth was accorded membership in the universal council of sentient races which was the highest governing body in the observable universe. Since then earth has been home to over 87 different "sentient races" 5 of the Astrids took up covering positions around their leader and waited patiently for something or someone. One guard blocked the exit door to the alley. You could tell they were military trained from their surefootedness, exuding a sense of efficiency from their every movement. You could also tell they were soldiers because of...
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...For Haven everything is falling apart, parents divorce, father remarries, sisters engaged, her insecurities are high and school is right around the corner. In this book you meet a girl named Haven. Haven is 15 and 5’11. In the book you watch her struggle to accept herself. Haven has a sister named Ashley who is 21 and engaged but is undecided when a high school boyfriend reappears into the picture. Haven’s parents went through divorce when Haven’s dad told them he was in love the weather girl at his news station. Haven is not a fan of the weather pet and dreads going to their wedding and wishes to stay with her mom who is struggling with the divorce. In this paper I am going to talk about Haven and how she is insecure about herself, her father’s second wedding, her sister and her previous love life, and last the return of Ashley’s past boyfriend who makes her question what she wants....
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...BUSA 3000 The Turks and Caico Islands: More Than a Getaway Offshoring can be defined as the practice of moving employees or certain business activities to foreign countries as a way to lower costs and avoid taxes. In most recent years, offshoring has become extremely popular worldwide. Arguably one of the most dominate places for offshoring, Turks and Caicos has made offshoring one of its key sources of income. Turks and Caicos is not only one of the most beneficial places for businesses to offshore, but is also a leading contender in offshoring when compared to prominent countries. The Turks and Caicos Islands offer far more than sunshine, an easygoing lifestyle, and friendly residents. In recent years, these Caribbean islands have definitely established a reputation in the world for offshoring. For some time now, I have heard how magnificent this island was, but never had thought to look more in detail about it. As a British Overseas Territory, the Turks and Caicos Islands comprise an archipelago of eight main islands in two groups. Turks is to the east, Caicos is to the west, and has number of smaller cays as its surrounding neighbors (International Business). The foundation of Turks and Caicos’ economy are tourism, the offshore industry and the fishing industry (International Business). The Government encourages tourism because it pulls in more than 1,000,000 visitors a year. One can only imagine the amount of revenue gained from tourist alone. If tourists contribute...
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...A Tale of Two Londons Who really lives at One Hyde Park, called the world’s most expensive residential building? Its mostly absentee owners, hiding behind offshore corporations based in tax havens, provide a portrait of the new global super-wealthy. BY NICHOLAS SHAXSON Up until the 18th century, Knightsbridge, which borders genteel Kensington, was a lawless zone roamed by predatory monks and assorted cutthroats. It didn’t come of age until the Victorian building boom, which left a charming legacy of mostly large and beautiful Victorian houses, with their trademark white or cream paint, black iron railings, high ceilings, and short, elegant stone steps up to the front door. This will not be the impression a visitor now gets as he emerges from the Knightsbridge subway station’s south exit. He will be met by four hulking joined-up towers of glass, metal, and concrete, sandwiched between the Victorian splendors of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, to the east, and a pretty five-story residential block, to the west. This is One Hyde Park, which its developers insist is the world’s most exclusive address and the most expensive residential development ever built anywhere on earth. With apartments selling for up to $214 million, the building began to smash world per-square-foot price records when sales opened, in 2007. After quickly shrugging off the global financial crisis the complex has come to embody the central-London real-estate market, where, as high-end property consultant...
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...The world is a constant changing place, changes occur all the time; some expectedly and others unexpectedly, some of the changes have had a huge impact on the way that man lives life. One of the changes in the world that has a strong bearing on man’s life is globalisation, it helped change the way man consumer’s products and interacts with his surroundings. Globalization is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture (Al-Rodhan, 2006). Advances in transportation, such as the steam locomotive, steamship, jet engine, and container ship, and in telecommunications infrastructure, including the rise of the telegraph and its modern offspring, the Internet, and mobile phones, have been major factors in globalization, generating further interdependence of economic and cultural activities (Albrow,1990). The concept of globalization 'emerged from the intersection of four interrelated sets of "communities of practice": academics, journalists, publishers/editors, and librarians (Paul,2014). In 2000, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) identified four basic aspects of globalization: trade and transactions, capital and investment movements, migration and movement of people, and the dissemination of knowledge(IMF,2000). Further, environmental challenges such as global warming, cross-boundary water and air pollution, and over-fishing of the ocean are linked with globalization (Bridges,2002). Globalizing...
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...Indian Black Money Abroad In Secret Banks and Tax Havens Second Report Of The Task Force on the steps to be taken by India Members Shri Gurumurthy, Chartered Accountant, Chennai Shri Ajit Doval, former Director Intelligence Bureau, Delhi Prof R.Vaidyanathan, Professor of Finance Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore Shri Mahesh Jethmalani, Senior Advocate, Mumbai Submitted to BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 1 I. The First Interim Report The first Interim Report of the Task Force appointed by the Bharatiya Janata Party was released to the public on 17-04-2009. Afterward different world governments, particularly those in the West, have increasingly begun targeting tax havens and intensely began pursuing black money. The US, and France particularly began a huge campaign against the evil of black money. The estimates black money lodged in tax havens by global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund reached as high as $18 trillion. The instability in the global financial order itself was traced to the evil money. So the issue has now acquired a totally different dimension. In the first Interim Report, the Task Force had suggested broad national and global strategy for dealing with the menace of black money out of the country. The substance of the recommendations of the Task Force in the First Interim Report is summarized here: Global Strategy: • Creating a powerful public opinion and broad national consensus on the issue. Those who do not...
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...Safe Haven: Developing Theme Essay Safe Haven, a romantic-thriller based novel written by Nicholus Sparks, tells the story of a mysterious young women named Katie who movies to Southport, North Carolina. She carries her dark, scary secrets and starts her life over as a fresh new beginning. She soon starts to forget these secrets as she begins to fall in love with the perfect man, Alex. The novels developing theme relates to this relationship with Alex. Life may be full of obstacles and hardships but love, experience, and courage, helps overcome these challenges to move on. Love and experience are two major factors that bring the developing theme in the novel to place. Katie's life turns from one being horibly, miserable to paradise because...
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...Position Paper for the Second Committee of the General Assembly Plenary The issue before the Second Committee of the General Assembly Plenary 2014 is: Increasing and coordinating efforts to fight international tax evasion. The World Bank is fully committed to the fight against international tax evasion as the profit made from either corporate or income tax can be used to support the affected countries in various ways, such as improved commitment to the UN or the World Bank committee. The WB is deeply concerned about tax evasion and its consequences concerning the world and its economy. By making use of non-standard tax havens or offshore banking accounts, companies and individuals exploit their country and therefore damage the country’s liability and economy. As that unjust advantage deceives the affected country, it is a major threat not only to that, but also to the world’s economy. The World is of the mind that, even if only a minority, not paying your tax imposes an unfair burden on the honest majority and prevents money from reaching the crucial public services that need it. One must stop people cheating the tax system and collect more of what is owed. The British tax gap in the 2010 to 2011 financial year was estimated to be £9 billion formed of tax evasion and avoidance. Losses caused by corruption and tax evasion are powerful examples of how criminal activities can potentially have tremendous negative effects on economic development. Also, ill-gotten money is not spent...
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...OFF SHORE FINANCIAL CENTRES Commercial Law Irene González Campos ZAGREB SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT Content DEFINITION 3 HISTORY 3 CHARACTERISTICS 4 REGULATION 5 CONCLUSION 6 References 7 DEFINITION First of all, it needed to be said that a financial centre is defined as a city or district that has a heavy concentration of financial institutions, that offers a highly developed commercial and communications infrastructure, and where a great number of domestic and international trading transactions are conducted (Business Dictionary, n.d.). London, New York, and Tokyo are the world's premier financial centres. It may be distinguish two types of financial centres: those such as London or New York, which are ‘international financial centres’ and which are excluded from the definition of extraterritorial centres. These latest are called ‘Offshore financial centres’, where the activity takes place outside the residence of the natural person. Despite its name, the off-shore centres are not necessary islands, although several insular jurisdictions have been established as such. First of all, an off-shore centre is a small, law-taxes jurisdiction specializing in providing corporate and commercial services to non-resident offshore companies, by offering: i) Liberal legislation regarding financial transaction ii) Very low taxes rates Therefore, off shore companies are those legal entities incorporated and registered in an offshore financial centre...
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