tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post6208540158014070235..comments2024-03-28T12:23:39.665+00:00Comments on Coppola Comment: The elusive tax haven definitionFrances Coppolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399390283774592713noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-5527889711003205912014-09-03T10:30:50.234+01:002014-09-03T10:30:50.234+01:00Well, Mr. Wallgren will of course continue to make...Well, Mr. Wallgren will of course continue to make a continuous whining noise, but that he'd do anyway. All this just confirms the silliness of TJN. Loose definitions, sloppy economics - if any economics at all. Mostly it's about making one feel important, and making it look like they do something their voters and funders like - i.e. find scapegoatsallabouthttp://www.allaboutmeego.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-77026957751595588202013-04-18T23:45:00.741+01:002013-04-18T23:45:00.741+01:00For creator of a trust to avoid tax there may be r...For creator of a trust to avoid tax there may be restrictions on the type, purpose and beneficiaries of the trust. For example, the settler of the trust may not be allowed to be a trustee or even a beneficiary and may thus lose control of the assets transferred and/or may be unable to benefit from them.<br /><a href="http://www.companytaxavoidance.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">Click and visit</a>rashedkhanbd11https://www.blogger.com/profile/07273959756505615440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-69172867078400510612012-12-12T04:01:16.448+00:002012-12-12T04:01:16.448+00:00I wonder why the BoE didn't employ this chap -...I wonder why the BoE didn't employ this chap -- http://www.ericgarland.co/2012/12/10/belgian-punk-revolution/ -- instead of Mr Canada? Also, Frances, what do you think about this recent article from the Harvard Business Review? <br /><br />The Economically Out-of-Date Nation-State<br />http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/11/the_economically_out_of_date_n.html<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-29700534122916291872012-12-06T10:37:17.976+00:002012-12-06T10:37:17.976+00:00Joel, international agreements obligating complian...Joel, international agreements obligating compliance are not cheap. They require resources, in other words, but the vast majority of resources on Earth are not in the hands of "public" authorities, and neither would most of the people on Earth like to have their private property taken from them for the purpose of establishing some "international tax court". I imagine it would require not too much imagination to see the Fortune 500 spend some money on advertisements to sway public opinion over to their side, in this regard. The answer is not to tax the avoiders, but rather to allow everyone to avoid taxation to begin with. That's the natural course of progression we are now tracking. Businesses exist to serve, remember, not to dominate, as the Harvard scholar behind the infamous "embedded liberalism" has so eloquently demonstrated:<br /><br />John Ruggie -- Business Practice and Human Rights<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLnF4qIL9lk Felinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-34678234379612668172012-12-06T01:49:53.072+00:002012-12-06T01:49:53.072+00:00A useful and informative article that highlights t...A useful and informative article that highlights the many inconsistencies visible when nation states attempt to stem tax evasion, whilst safeguarding their own economies which to varying extents rely on said tax evasion.<br /><br />In order to hold footloose corporations to account. An international regulator with teeth and resources is required - something akin to the International Criminal Court perhaps.<br /><br />What this local government tax and procurement policy seeks to do is encourage a shift in corporate behaviour, ensuring that Banks in particular are encouraged to moderate their behaviour (and stop use of secrecy jurisdictions) in order to retain lucrative local authority contracts.<br /><br />Research from the USA indicates that Corporation tax as a percentage of total US tax take has declined from 27% in 1955 to just 9% in 2010. Over the same period the tax burden on individuals has increased from 58% to 81%. http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/04/corporate-tax-rates-then-and-now/<br /><br />In the short term a local authority may be better off financially by employing the services of a large corporation that employs aggressive tax-avoidance, and offshores profit. Long term however, ultimately it suffers as wealth leaves the area, small businesses decline, and jobs and tax takes implode.<br /><br />We've now had 30 years of Thatchers neoliberal project and TINA. Today, Osborne's autumn statement announcement confirmed that Govt rhetoric around slashing public sector jobs, wages and benefits in a spiralling race to the bottom is here to stay.<br /><br />With declining funding and a complete lack of economic leadership from central government, local government must do what it can to safeguard local services and communities, and to identify and support the drivers for future growth.<br /><br />Energy efficiency measures and community owned renewable energy are two such growth drivers conspicuous by their absence from the coalitions economic plans. They are also the sort of energy measures not typically funded by too-big-to-fail high street banks - which prefer to lend to rent seeking corporations - modelled around short term returns in the fossil fuels industry.<br /><br />Clearly this government would rather bankrupt the UK economy than democratise the means of energy supply by supporting renewable energy development which delivers far greater jobs and tax benefits than an equivalent investment in gas. http://t.co/ilyIqWwB<br /><br />The TJN work is important in terms of highlighting corporate abuses and pulling corporate behaviour towards a more socially acceptable/ beneficial trajectory.<br /><br />Ultimately an international regulatory agreement would be required to intervene in international tax matters, systematically tackle tax havens, and bridge the discord between competing nation states.<br /><br />A work in progress...Joel@moveyourmoney.org.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-3932035377877859872012-12-05T23:01:57.434+00:002012-12-05T23:01:57.434+00:00The problem is Frances that what you've writte...The problem is Frances that what you've written is great, but the truth isn't particularly sexy, especially when compared to the whole "dodgy people with a big stash of ill-gotten gains in some strange foreign land" narrative that the likes of the TJN et al constantly push.Blue Burmesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02587275123738078966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-27990584065828024882012-12-05T10:26:14.975+00:002012-12-05T10:26:14.975+00:00Welcome to civilisation, where people help each ot...Welcome to civilisation, where people help each other<br /><br />http://www.nhpr.org/post/nh-group-says-people-not-taxes-should-help-needyQuentinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-49704433222015104482012-12-05T08:07:39.874+00:002012-12-05T08:07:39.874+00:00Nice article Frances, I feel you've highlighte...Nice article Frances, I feel you've highlighted the fickle nature of politics - this month's bogey-man is "tax avoiders" - and the bulk of people are happy to lump anyone and everyone they dislike into that category.<br /><br />I just hope more people read articles like this and educate themselves before making critical decisions. I fear they won't - the hegemony of knee-jerk reactionary thinking continues unabated.Matt Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02053131888225417512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-17282373970979493812012-12-05T07:42:15.431+00:002012-12-05T07:42:15.431+00:00"Tax havens" are inherently ahead of the..."Tax havens" are inherently ahead of the (government) curve, particularly when said group is, or is becoming bankrupt, not least because the smartest money on Earth streams into the havens we are supposed to hate, thus drawing towards them not only the largest organisations but also the smart individual accountants, lawyers, etc, etc. Fighting tax avoidance not likely to be any more successful than the "drug war". <br /><br />As Alan Greenspan has repeatedly noted: "deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth". http://constitution.org/mon/greenspan_gold.htmQuentinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-17632647578150355322012-12-05T06:29:27.529+00:002012-12-05T06:29:27.529+00:00This is all just some silly noise in media. Unfort...This is all just some silly noise in media. Unfortunately noise misleads people, but the actual outcome of this tax haven initiative by Mr. Wallgren is conveniently outlined in the protocol <br />http://www.hel.fi/static/public/hela/Kaupunginvaltuusto/Suomi/Esitys/2012/Halke_2012-02-15_Kvsto_3_El/5770F2DC-6D1A-40B1-A085-B69442391E55/Kj_-_Vt_Thomas_Wallgrenin_aloite_veroparatiisivapa.pdf<br />which says (my translation): <br />"The city board notes that the things brought up in the initiative by councillor Thomas Wallgren shall be taken into account in the preparation of the city's report for Global Responsibility Strategy."<br /><br />Helsinki is in barely in a position to make a strategy for its own finances, and definitely not for the world globally. This is a polite way of saying that the idea goes to a storage bin and it's not going to be taken out from there by anyone else. <br /><br />Mr. Wallgren will of course continue to make a continuous whining noise, but that he'd do anyway.<br /><br />All this just confirms the silliness of TJN. Loose definitions, sloppy economics - if any economics at all. Mostly it's about making one feel important, and making it look like they do something their voters and funders like - i.e. find scapegoats.<br />pjthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10222012841171277081noreply@blogger.com