Super Rich hide £20/$32 TRILLION in offshore Tax Havens

And this EXCLUDES Non-Financial assets such as real estate, gold, yachts and racehorses

Rich individuals and their families have as much as $32 trillion (20 trillion pounds) of hidden financial assets in offshore tax havens, representing up to $280 billion in lost income tax revenues, according to research published on Sunday.

The study estimating the extent of global private financial wealth held in offshore accounts puts the sum at between $21 and $32 trillion.

The research was carried out for pressure group Tax Justice Network, which campaigns against tax havens, by James Henry, former chief economist at consultants McKinsey & Co.

He used data from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations and central banks.

The report also highlights the impact on the balance sheets of 139 developing countries of money held in tax havens by private elites, putting wealth beyond the reach of local tax authorities.

CIVILISATION works only if those who enjoy its benefits are also prepared to pay their share of the costs. People and companies that avoid tax are therefore unpopular at the best of times, so it is not surprising that when governments and individuals everywhere are scrimping to pay their bills, attacks are mounting on tax havens and those that use them.

In Europe the anger has focused on big firms. Amazon and Starbucks have faced consumer boycotts for using clever accounting tricks to book profits in tax havens while reducing their bills in the countries where they do business

A short summary




An interesting Documentary

A Tax-Free Tour





Some links to the figures, stories and wrongdoings.

www.theguardian.com...

www.economist.com...

www.zerohedge.com...

Every year the UK government loses out on an estimated £25 billion a year in revenue to tax avoidance by large companies and rich individuals [pdf]. This figure, published by the TUC, is much higher than the government’s official estimate of £5 billion as it includes revenue lost where HM Revenue & Customs should have the power to tackle it, not just the money lost where it currently has the power to tackle it.

In addition, more than £360 billion is illegally siphoned out of developing countries every year , mostly into offshore banks and tax havens, 80% of which is due to the illegal mispricing of imports and exports. This is in part possible because the majority of world trade now takes place within multinational companies; where companies are able distort the price of goods they move between subsidiaries in different countries, allowing them to their profits into secretive tax havens.

It makes very depressing reading but the rich and the mega corporations continue to syphon money away from the economy and hoard it, illegally, while services are cut and our taxes go up.

I'm not sure how anyone can defend such actions but I'm sure they will.

reply to post by stargatetravels


While sympathetic with the point of the OP, I cant see $32 TRILLION sitting in offshore Tax Havens. Thats the combined assets of the worlds 8 largest banks.

reply to post by SirMike




It absolutely is, which is what makes this all the more staggering and despicable.

Here are more links, just google it, plenty of info out there.


www.bloomberg.com...


moneymorning.com...

www.reuters.com...

I believe it.
This has been pretty well documented over the years. It was the point of the 2008 “Tax Holiday” where the US government allowed them to bring all their money back to the US without taxing it under the promise that they would increase their new job creation. Instead of increasing jobs, they cut jobs. Then they had the guts to ask the government for another “tax holiday” a year or two ago.

Aren't they suppose to invest in job creations with that money?

The rich elite is the main problem in the entire world right now, especially for the economy of first world countries.

reply to post by stargatetravels


Its a statement from the "Tax Justice Network" .. not a source I can take at face value.

SirMike
reply to post by stargatetravels

 

Its a statement from the "Tax Justice Network" .. not a source I can take at face value.

So how about checking the other 6 links I provide, or I don't know, how about googling it until you find a link from someone you believe or agree with??
I'm not claiming alien contact here, you can quite easily find this info, both in the thread and online

Good documentary on netflix i saw called like "Why we are broke" and it was showing how all the big banks like BoA doesn't pay any taxes and all the other big companies that don't pay taxes or if they do it is like less then 1% of what they profited.
And we got people mad at the single mom that can't afford the healthcare for her kid and she is ruining the economy. Even the ones that are abusing it are not damaging the economy nearly as much as the big companies
Its a bummer
Will defiantly have to check out all these links

just imagine how many MILLIONS of real human lives could be lifted out of poverty with that money!

What good does it do them to have it just sitting there?
They could release 75% of all that money and it wouldnt affect theirs live one single bit, but it WOULD save the lives of millions! It would lift millions out of poverty, but no, they prefer to keep it too themselves.

We are such fools. Why do we let this happpen!

Sremmos80
Good documentary on netflix i saw called like "Why we are broke" and it was showing how all the big banks like BoA doesn't pay any taxes and all the other big companies that don't pay taxes or if they do it is like less then 1% of what they profited.
And we got people mad at the single mom that can't afford the healthcare for her kid and she is ruining the economy. Even the ones that are abusing it are not damaging the economy nearly as much as the big companies
Its a bummer

Will defiantly have to check out all these links

Good points matey. They always blame the single mum, the unemployed, the bloke that looks a little different, and now they even blame the dissabled!!

Whats more shocking is the number of morons who believe it.

Sremmos80
Good documentary on netflix i saw called like "Why we are broke" and it was showing how all the big banks like BoA doesn't pay any taxes and all the other big companies that don't pay taxes or if they do it is like less then 1% of what they profited.
And we got people mad at the single mom that can't afford the healthcare for her kid and she is ruining the economy. Even the ones that are abusing it are not damaging the economy nearly as much as the big companies
Its a bummer

Will defiantly have to check out all these links

Exactly, great post!!
This is what these billionaires pay for... they pay for the media (because they own the media) to vilify and wage war against the poor, so "decent hard-working" Brits and Americans turn on the poor because of the Benefits/welfare bill, when in reality the reason the economy is screwed and the reason that public services are bring cut and welfare slashed is because of these Billionaire parasites and mega-corporations who are STEALING... yes STEALING our money, our services, our resources and our lives.

This should be the last straw.... but people are so apathetic and I'm sure the latest Justin Beiber album is out or some reality show is on, so who has time to worry about why their job pays less, but they work harder, or why they can't get on the property ladder... or why after decades of giving money to charity, overseas, do we get the same Adverts/Commercials for the same diseases and famines and so on.... that they've just given up.


They've been beat down so much, what's the point.
The rich have always been rich, what can we do?

SMH

*sigh*

Rich get richer and the poorer get poorer. I would love to see all their money in off shore accounts disappear over night and see how they react

VoidHawk


Good points matey. They always blame the single mum, the unemployed, the bloke that looks a little different, and now they even blame the dissabled!!

Whats more shocking is the number of morons who believe it.

Exactly... as long as we fight amongst ourselves, we'll never turn on them.

Frankinpillow
Rich get richer and the poorer get poorer. I would love to see all their money in off shore accounts disappear over night and see how they react

They would just steal it back Prob send the US into an official police state until every penny was recovered.

Sremmos80

Frankinpillow
Rich get richer and the poorer get poorer. I would love to see all their money in off shore accounts disappear over night and see how they react

They would just steal it back

Prob send the US into an official police state until every penny was recovered.

No need, they'd just type in some diggits and say "See, we've got more now than we had before"

blupblup

VoidHawk


Good points matey. They always blame the single mum, the unemployed, the bloke that looks a little different, and now they even blame the dissabled!!

Whats more shocking is the number of morons who believe it.

Exactly... as long as we fight amongst ourselves, we'll never turn on them.

Do you think its an education problem? Why cant people see it? Its right in everyones face and all they can do is fight each other.
Sometimes I just wonder if they deserve whats coming because how can people be so stupid!!

SirMike
reply to post by stargatetravels

 

While sympathetic with the point of the OP, I cant see $32 TRILLION sitting in offshore Tax Havens. Thats the combined assets of the worlds 8 largest banks.

Not only that, but the articles highlighting off shore havens always say "the government is losing (x) amount in tax revenue!!" like we should care or something.

As if they don't get that tax revenue they won't come looking for more…

reply to post by stargatetravels

Lucky them.

I wish I could as well.

While I dont have or earn anywhere near as much as they do, I'm sick and tired of paying into a bloated, wasteful, corrupt government which is using my money against me.

Instead of persecuting them, we should demand the same rights: tax havens for the little guy.

As a matter of fact, its more important for us because a much larger % of our income is confiscated in taxes (30% to 50% if youre middle class).