The US tops a list of the largest tax havens

“Right now, the best place to hide and launder ill-gotten gains is actually the United States.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
18 May 2022 Wednesday 06:25
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The US tops a list of the largest tax havens

“Right now, the best place to hide and launder ill-gotten gains is actually the United States. And that's because of the way we allow people to set up shell companies, without revealing who the real owner is." These words were spoken on December 9 by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. And, in a report published this Monday, her warnings have been made evident.

Because the US this year is already the largest tax haven in the world, according to the annual analysis carried out by the platform of economists Tax Justice Network, among whom is the well-known Gabriel Zucman, an academic at the University of Berkeley .

What the report reproaches the US for is its double standard: "It requires, through the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Facta), all countries to provide information on US taxpayers abroad, but Americans hardly share data with third countries on their citizens with a presence in North American territory”.

The black hole, so to speak, is the state of Delaware. It has more registered companies (1.3 million) than inhabitants. Its legal structure allows minimizing the tax burden (without paying corporate tax) and guaranteeing anonymity (thanks to an authorized agent). Spanish technology firms such as Travelperk, Certo or Cabify have their headquarters there. Joe Biden, who was governor of Delaware for years, said after becoming president that he would make "life difficult for those who steal from his people by hiding behind anonymous shell companies."

The study considers that in the world rich people (“like the Russian oligarchs”) hide the equivalent of 9.5 billion euros in third countries through opaque instruments. Despite the achievements of the minimum corporate tax and the repeated proposals for an international registry for individuals with assets of more than ten million euros, the international system is still leaking. “Today more than half of household wealth is financial. And there are no records that take it into account,” Zucman explained.

In the ranking, behind the US, there is an old acquaintance of banking secrecy such as Switzerland. Luxembourg (EU country that the European Commission does not consider a tax haven) and two territories of the United Kingdom galaxy stand out in fifth place. Recall that Rishi Sunak, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, was found to be the beneficiary of trusts in the Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.


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