On the way offshore. Photo ET
A Tax Justice Network compilation, from a Latin American angle. The numbers are staggering, and though G20 gets a reputation of doing nothing, I beg to differ a bit. G20 will act more and more, because governments spend more than they take in. They need the money! However it will take a long time.
Remember how slowly they acted on global financial crimes, such as money laundering, or corruption? FATF standards, (the Financial Action Task Force of OECD), find broad acceptance today, and international pressures on tax havens have accelerated their implementation. The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, FCPA, and its cousin, the UK Bribery Act 2010 set standards too, that many international corporations elect to follow and comply with. It eventually will evolve into a commonly accepted standard.
The tax matters are way more complicated. The battle lines are drawn between the concepts of tax evasion and tax avoidance, between thousands of tax agents and even more tax advisers, and many ambiguities will persist and be fought out in Courts. Jurisdictions will clash, as we have seen with Dolce and Gabbana.
Eventually, everyone should have a closer look at FATCA, the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, the quasi obligation for every foreign bank to comply with a long arm US regulation. Its basic unspoken premise is that a US resident, citizen and corporation are taxed on worldwide income. There is no escape. Of course any bank active internationally has to sign up through one or the other model of reporting. But here is the news: some countries elect to report for all its banks through an "Inter Governmental Agreement" with the US. Logically they should also negotiate reciprocity, unless for some reason they forgo the opportunity. However, more and more of the European countries adhere to the idea to develop mutual FATCA type agreements between themselves. The train is rolling... towards a worldwide mutual reporting world, 192 countries reporting 2 by 2!
Latin America Is The Second Region In The World With The Highest Percentage Of Tax Evaders
No comments:
Post a Comment