Tax havens are places where business people and other super-wealthy individuals keep money in offshore accounts[1] for tax avoidance and other purposes.
Also known as offshore financial centers (OFCs), these tax shelters are often small, low-tax jurisdictions in remote locations, like the Caribbean islands. In these places, wealthy individuals often hold money within shell companies[2] and anonymous entities.
CORPNET, an Amsterdam-based research group that investigates global networks of corporate control, published a 2017 report in Scientific Reports ranking 24 offshore financial centers[3] by their "sink" number, which indicates roughly how much more money comes into the country than how much should come in based on the size of its economy.
In the Cayman Islands, for example, 331 times more value sinks into the country than is proportionate to the size of its economy.
The European Union releases a tax haven "blacklist"[4] — first published in 2015[5] and continuously updated — that calls out specific countries in order to improve global tax governance and fight tax fraud, evasion, and avoidance. The EU blacklist pressures nations to make changes and reforms to their tax codes, and blacklisted countries can face sanctions from the EU[6], according to OXFAM International.
Here are the world's 15 top hax havens, according to CORPNET.
References
- ^ super-wealthy individuals keep money in offshore accounts (www.businessinsider.com)
- ^ hold money within shell companies (www.businessinsider.com)
- ^ ranking 24 offshore financial centers (www.ofcmeter.org)
- ^ European Union releases a tax haven "blacklist" (www.oxfam.org)
- ^ published in 2015 (www.thejakartapost.com)
- ^ blacklisted countries can face sanctions from the EU (www.oxfam.org)
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