Financial Transparency Coalition

Efforts to address global corporate tax issues have previously stalled.  Is a consensus for reform emerging?

We often think of tax havens as tropical islands or tiny nations nestled in the mountains. We know most of them are geographically and demographically small. Very small. Given their huge reputations, just how small they are just might surprise you. Ireland, which is well known for its emerald hills and low tax rates, is about the same size as South Carolina. Luxembourg, a tax haven nestled in Western Europe between France and Germany, is about 2,500 square kilometers, or about a third of size of Rhode Island. Bermuda, a group of islands off the coast of South Carolina, is...

With the €1 Trillion the EU governments lose each year to tax dodging at stake. The prospect of a debt ridden jobless future has EU the asking questions. DG TAXUD the tax arm of the EU civil service will prepare a communication by December on the broad topic of tax havens and unfair tax competition.

As I have noted, there is a popular argument among advocates of tax havens that these jurisdictions provide a positive influence on the world through so-called “tax competition.” Mostly these advocates toss this phrase into their arguments with the misguided hope that those hearing it will not think too long and hard about it, because at the end of the day, it doesn’t make much sense. As far as I can tell, the most comprehensive definition of tax competition was put forward by Richard Teather, a tax specialist from the UK, in “The Benefits of Tax Competition.” Teather...