July 28th, 2009
The U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) has issued a
detailed new report looking at secrecy jurisdictions (also sometimes known as tax havens).
The report, which references our work in several places, is packed with data and useful material. For example, looking at methods of corporate tax avoidance, it mentions:
- Allocation Allocation of Debt and Earnings Stripping (p8, "borrow more in the high-tax jurisdiction and less in the low-tax one." - note also our latest blog)
- Transfer pricing(p9, "By lowering the price of goods and services sold by parents and affiliates in high-tax jurisdictions and raising the price of...
July 23rd, 2009
We have long pointed to the fact that the United States is, to a very significant degree, a secrecy jurisdiction, not least through dirty practices offered in places
such as Delaware. It isn't something that people like to mention in polite company.
Now we're very heartened to see the Australian tax office has written an
open submission to the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which includes the following strongly-worded:
"In our opinion, entities established in some states of the USA, for example some US incorporated companies, have some of these same...
July 15th, 2009
There is often a symbiotic relationship between small secrecy jurisdictions (or tax havens, if you must) and wealthy élites in larger economies. Germany is surrounded by Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Austria; Portugal has Madeira; the United States has a string of options in the Caribbean; and Britain has cast a whole spider's web around the world, not least in the Channel Islands and the Caribbean. Monaco, of course, is France's special secrecy jurisdiction.
A new story
from Wealth Bulletin notes the France-Monaco relationship is a bit like the one between, say, Britain and the Cayman Islands.
Continue Reading
July 10th, 2009
The
FT has reported:
UBS shares outperformed the Swiss market strongly on Thursday as investors digested the latest twist in the battle of wills between the US and Switzerland over bank secrecy.
The Miami judge presiding over a crucial court hearing next Monday has called on the US authorities to specify how far they would go to force the Swiss bank to comply, should the court rule in their favour.
Alan Gold, the US district judge presiding over the case, late on Wednesday gave the US...
