Tax Havens
2004
Foreign Tax Havens Costly to US Study Says (September 27, 2004)
A recent study in the trade journal Tax Notes claims that corporate income from abroad has risen 68 percent from 1999 to 2004, revealing increased use of foreign tax shelters to avoid domestic corporate taxing in the US. In response to accusations of transmitting profits overseas, corporations argue that US corporate taxes are too high. (New York Times)
Havens that Have Become a Tax on the World's Poor (September 21, 2004)
The Tax Justice Network calls for measures against the growing number of tax havens, where corrupt politicians and multinational corporations hide revenues from taxation. The technological revolution and the liberalization of the marketplace have triggered this process, which hinders poor countries' access to billions of dollars for aid and development. (Guardian)
Gimme Shelter (from Taxes) (July 16, 2004)
The Center for Public Integrity reports that US energy companies have at least 882 subsidiaries in non-oil producing tax haven countries, compared to just 311 for the entire rest of the world. US President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney were once among the oil company heads who established subsidiaries in locations such as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Liechtenstein and Bahrain. (Center for Public Integrity)
Offshore Finance, Onshore Complicity (March 2004)
Offshore financial centers provide secret havens for money laundering and tax evasion. In this GPF policy paper, Jason Garred pierces the veil of these mysterious places, showing how they provide services for corporations and wealthy individuals, enabling escape from onshore tax and regulatory authorities. Garred shows that offshore centers exists with the complicity of major money-center governments and banks. They assist criminal activities, pose serious problems of international financial stability and undermine long-established tax and social welfare systems. (Global Policy Forum)
A Haven Right Here on Earth (February 20, 2004)
Are you "pension-rich or capital-rich"? Do you prefer a cosmopolitan atmosphere to cowsheds? Most importantly, do you have at least £250,000 and an aversion to taxes on income, wealth, or inheritance? These are some of the questions facing those sufficiently "rich and desperate" to consider becoming tax exiles. (Guardian)
2003
A Tax Shelter, Deconstructed (July 13, 2003)
The federal prosecutors in New Haven have charged Myron S. Scholes, winner of a Nobel Prize in economics, with building an illegal tax shelter that totaled $375 million. (New York Times)
Russians Seek New Tax Havens as Cyprus Cleans up (June 23, 2003)
Cypriot companies were a favorite depository for Russians seeking to conceal their share of the $200 billion that left Russia after the collapse of the USSR. But as Cyprus prepares to enter the EU it must crack down on tax shelters. (Reuters)
Tax Inquiries Fall as Cheating Increases (April 14, 2003)
Investigations and prosecutions of tax fraud have declined substantially over the last decade in the US, even as corporations have found bolder and more sophisticated tax evasion schemes. What's more, the Internal Revenue Service increasingly targets relatively minor cases, while the wealthiest tax-evaders go unpunished. (New York Times)
Corporate America, Come Home! (February 28, 2003)
US pension funds and unions are leading an aggressive campaign to stop US corporations from registering on off-shore tax havens to avoid paying taxes. Off-shore companies not only exacerbate the country's burgeoning deficit, but they are also more difficult to monitor at a time when investors are demanding further transparency. (Guardian)
2002
One For The Ages: Congress Rewards Corporate Tax Evaders With Our Money (December 3, 2002)
"As the war on terror shows troubling signs of becoming a war of error, the Bush administration is waging a far more successful war on behalf of its corporate backers." Added as a last minute piece of pork onto the Homeland Security Bill, corporations that evade US taxes through offshore tax havens will now be eligible for federal contracts. (ariannaonline)
Key Company Assets Moving Offshore (November 22, 2002)
US companies are increasingly placing their patents, logos, and other intellectual property in offshore tax havens. The Bush Administration not only turns a blind eye to the practice, but is also looking for more ways to cut corporate taxes. (New York Times)
How The Rich Elude The Tax Man: The Devastating Results Of Offshore Tax Evasion (May 28, 2002)
The Internet and debit cards have made offshore banking an attractive option for the rich. Lawyers, accountants, and bankers make this option ever easier. Multinational corporations benefiting from offshore banking, and tacit US government support of tax heavens, guarantee a prosperous future for offshore banks. (Americans for Democratic Action)
Spain: Tax Havens Stymie Judge Garzón's Investigations (April 30, 2002)
The "common practices" of tax havens "to respond with evasive answers, postpone the matter or omit key data" have hampered investigations into money laundering by one of Spain's largest banks, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria. (Inter Press Service)
OECD Releases Model Agreement on Exchange of Information in Tax Matters (April 4, 2002)
The Model Agreement on Exchange of Information in Tax Matters continues the work of the OECD concerning harmful tax practices, including tax havens and preferential tax regimes. (OECD)
IRS Says Offshore Tax Evasion Is Widespread (March 26, 2002)
Average workers in the US find it hard to avoid paying taxes without the IRS tracking them down. However, certain groups, including business owners and investors with earnings often in the top 1%, can cut their tax payments with relative ease by opening offshore accounts. (New York Times)
How Offshore Havens Helped Enron Escape Taxes (January 18, 2002)
A recent study by Citizens for Tax Justice shows that "a small but growing percentage" of US companies pay no income taxes. The Enron case highlights how firms can create hundreds of overseas subsidiaries and avoid the tax burden. (New York Times)
2001
Tiny Pacific Island Is Facing Money-Laundering Sanctions (December 6, 2001)
The Independent Financial Task Force on Money Laundering will take action against Nauru, which has been accused of being a center for the Russian mafia and has not made the appropriate legislative amendments.(Agence France Presse)
Nauru Defends Pacific Tax Havens (August 17, 2001)
Developing countries often have no other resource for development than offshore banking. While this criminal practice should be curbed, industrialized countries have to acknowledge their own share of responsibility. Furthermore, they should help countries with tax havens to find alternative resources for development. (Associated Press)
2000
Tax Competition and Tax Havens (November 7, 2000)
This paper presented by Oxfam at UN Financing for Development NGO Hearings, examines how tax havens impede the development efforts of the world's poor countries. It explains that tax havens have contributed to annual revenue losses which are equivalent to annual aid flows to developing countries. (Oxfam)
Tax Havens: Releasing the Hidden Billions for Poverty Eradication (June 2000)
A detailed Oxfam report highlights the human development cost of tax havens, saying that the US$50 billion lost in tax revenue each year would go a long way towards reducing world poverty. (Oxfam)
