Follow the money: inside the world's tax havens

[unhappycamper]

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/19/tax-havens-money-cayman-islands-jersey-offshore-accounts



From the Cayman Islands to Jersey, tax havens are busier than ever – a secretive world of offshore accounts and shell companies. Nothing to do with you? Then you win my Hermit of the Year prize

Follow the money: inside the world's tax havens
Nicholas Shaxson
Friday 19 June 2015 09.38 EDT

You, dear reader, are a prolific and casual user of offshore tax havens. I’m assuming you don’t live in a cave or in a remote hunting community. Even if you did, though, you’re probably a dabbler: you have little choice.

Many people, and perhaps you’re one of them, share a queasy feeling that something has gone badly wrong with the world economy – but can’t quite put their finger on what the source of the trouble is. Once you understand the nature of offshore tax havens, you should feel closer to pinning down the answers.

Before I explain what they are, and why powerful governments don’t just close them down, I want you to take part in a short challenge. See if you can dodge all my bear traps, and declare yourself untainted by tax havens. If you succeed, you win my Hermit of the Year prize.

Do you celebrate Christmas? If you do (or even if you do not), did you buy any gifts on Amazon last December? If so, then your goods were quite likely to have been routed through a byzantine world hosted – only on paper, you understand – by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, where Amazon has located its European headquarters, slashing its tax bills around the world. In 2011, Amazon revealed that the US Internal Revenue Service was chasing it for $1.5bn in back taxes. More recently, Amazon has said it will stop routing its UK sales through Luxembourg.

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http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/jun/19/inside-tax-havens-in-pictures