The Panama Papers Could Lead to Capitalism’s Great Crisis It’s hard to know where to start in tallying up the explosive revelations in the Panama Papers, an analysis of leaked documents from global law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Yes, we’ve known for a while now that the shadow financial system was growing. But it’s another thing to take in 11.5 million documents showing the way in which Mossack Fonseca was working with big name financial groups like UBS, HSBC, Société Générale, and many others to help elites from the Communist Party leadership of China, to soccer star Lionel Messi, to global financiers hide cash in offshore havens around the world. It’s just the tip of a much bigger iceberg. “The size of the leak is unprecedented, but the tricks Mossack Fonseca has allegedly used for its clients are neither new nor surprising. Anonymous shell companies and the failure of governments to require lawyers, corporate service companies, or banks to collect beneficial ownership information on clients leave the door wide open for dirty money to flow around the globe virtually unhindered,” says Heather Lowe, the Director of Government Affairs for Global Financial Integrity, a Washington DC-based consultancy. To me, this is one of the key issues at work in the U.S. presidential election. Voters know at a gut level that our system of global capitalism is working mainly for the 1 %, not the 99 %. That’s a large part of why both Sanders and Trump have done well, because they tap into that truth, albeit in different ways. The Panama Papers illuminate a key aspect of why the system isn’t working–because globalization has allowed the capital and assets of the 1 % (be they individuals or corporations) to travel freely, while those of the 99 % cannot. Globalization is supposed to be about the free movement of people, goods, and capital. But in fact, the system is set up to enable that mobility mainly for the rich (or for large corporations). The result is global tax evasion, the offshoring of labor, and an elite that flies 35,000 feet over the problems of nation states and the tax payers within them. Where do we go from here?... http://time.com/4280864/panama-papers-capitalism/
The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens Hardcover – September 22, 2015 by Gabriel Zucman (Author), Teresa Lavender Fagan (Translator), & 1 more
Credit Suisse Said to Hold Accounts for Latest U.S. Tax Felon David Voreacos davidvoreacos November 4, 2016 — 3:02 PM CDTUpdated on November 4, 2016 — 5:14 PM CDT Share on FacebookShare on Twitter A logo sits on the window of a Credit Suisse Group AG branch in Lugano, Switzerland. Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg Dan Horsky admits using offshore accounts to hide $200 million Horsky agrees to pay U.S. a civil penalty of $100 million Share on FacebookShare on Twitter An emeritus professor of business administration in Rochester, New York, pleaded guilty to hiding $200 million in assets from the Internal Revenue Service by using offshore accounts at a bank that people familiar with the matter identified as Credit Suisse Group AG. Dan Horsky, 71, entered the plea Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, where he admitted that a Zurich-based bank helped him conceal assets from the IRS, according to the Justice Department. That bank was Credit Suisse, according to three people familiar with the case who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to discuss the bank. “Despite his extraordinary wealth, Mr. Horsky concealed funds offshore, failed to report substantial income, conspired to submit false repatriation documents to cover up his fraudulent scheme, and evaded paying his fair share of tax,” Caroline Ciraolo, a principal deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, said in a statement. Credit Suisse spokeswoman Karina Byrne didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Mark Matthews and Seth Kossman, two attorneys for Horsky, said in a statement: “Mr. Horsky deeply regrets what he did and accepts responsibility for his conduct.”... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-pleads-guilty-to-hiding-200-million-from-irs
It's only okay if you hide it in US tax shelters, so the politicians have control and leverage over you.
Tax shelters around the world could be shut down over night... by greedy governments lowering their own taxes to something reasonable and competitive. High taxation has nothing to do with capitalism. It has everything to do with control and socialism. I find the word spinning quite irritable.