Thursday, November 05, 2009

America is Top Tax Haven


The five biggest tax havens, according to the Tax Justice Network, are:

1. Delaware (United States)
2. Luxembourg
3. Switzerland
4. Cayman Islands
5. London (UK)

Who's taking advantage of tax havens? Here are #15-- the Netherlands' abusers:

Multinationals like Boeing, Walt Disney and US Steel use addresses in the Netherlands to take advantage of the Dutch tax regime. The documentary claimed 8,000 billion euros are processed through the Netherlands to avoid paying tax. That is a tenth of world trade.

And the politically connected?

Even the royal family came into criticism earlier this year, when it emerged the queen's sister Princess Christina was running a tax evasion fund on the Channel Islands, using the address of the queen's palace in The Hague.

Channel Islands? That's where Carlyle Capital Corporation imploded. The Carlyle Group also has subsidiaries in The Caymans. Yes, the politically connected know where to shelter their money. The U.S. Congress knows how to remain hands off. So does the White House.

The race to the lowest global common denominator on worker pay/benefits, regulations and taxes continues. Executive compensation and political donations are exempt from the race to the bottom.

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