Of course, stashing money in off-shore tax havens is nothing new. The wealthy have been doing it for decades. An estimated 8% of the world’s wealth is tucked away in tax havens, securely and anonymously from prying eyes and money hungry governments. The estimated loss in global tax revenues are at approximately $200 billion a year. Roughly $35 billion of that is in the US. According to a 2017 report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, at least 366 of the Fortune 500 companies operate one or more subsidiaries in tax haven countries.
For those who are not aware what the 'Panama Papers' are (that the author mentioned in the beginning), it was an investigation into the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The investigation into the firm and its ties to offshore companies was headed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The founders of the firm were featured in the Fusion investigative documentary “Dirty Little Secrets”. The founders Ramon Fonseca and Jürgen Mossack were arrested on money laundering charges in February after the company’s Panama City headquarters were raided. The charges are connected to Brazil’s biggest bribery scandal, but also appear to be based in part from last year’s global Panama Papers.
Get the scoop on the Panama Papers
Mossack Fonseca is well-known in the offshore world. It is well established for its talent to create for it's clients shell companies (that are often tucked away inside more shell companies), which can conceal the true identities of the individuals and multi-national corporations who controls the money and other assets.
Some favorite tax havens include Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Isle of Man, Jersey, Bermuda, Mauritius, Monaco, the Bahamas, and of course Switzerland, though it's not as popular as it once was or as the average person may think. Even Ireland, though it isn't exactly a tax haven. But over a quarter of Fortune 500 companies, including Google and Apple (previously mentioned by the writer) had subsidiaries in Ireland in 2014 in order to save billions in taxes.
Though not tax havens, nor illegal, in the United States, the smart ones who incorporate there, like to do so in Nevada or Wyoming to save tons of money in profits. In Nevada, there are no capital gains, personal income tax, gift tax, and inheritance tax. In Wyoming, there are no corporate tax, inventory tax, estate tax, personal income tax, unitary tax, gift tax, franchise tax, and inheritance tax.
The Paradise Papers are a massive trove of 13.4 million records. Many of which were leaked from the offshore law firm Appleby. More about the Paradise Papers
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