How often have we heard about tax havens, how little has been done about them?
Tax avoidance is not harmless, it strips our societies of services for the most vulnerable, in fact it kills.
The richest believe they are above the law, the rest of us pay our dues and more to make up for what they steal from the countries that made them rich in the first place. This is class war and the 99% did not declare it.
Once you have secretive movement of wealth then you open the can of worms, money laundering, drug cartels, terrorist funding and pillaging of nations by dictators.
The firm at the centre of the Panama Papers leak serviced a string of companies for a top financier in Bashar al-Assad’s government in the face of international concern about corruption within the Syrian regime.
Documents show Mossack Fonseca’s links to Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of the Syrian president, who was described in US diplomatic cables as the country’s “poster boy for corruption”.
Mossack Fonseca is the world’s fourth-largest offshore company provider.
You can bet anything you like that the three largest “providers” are playing the same game.
The whole enterprise is based upon secrecy and hiding and is robbing the rest of us of the benefits of our hard work.
Hopefully this launches investigations both by the press and our own governments. Better late than never.
Tuesday, Apr 5, 2016 · 3:44:49 PM +00:00 · LaFeminista
Tip Of The Iceberg indeed
www.aljazeera.com/...
Charles Intriago, an expert in offshore banking, told Al Jazeera that there may be 60 to 65 other countries besides Panama where such activities were taking place.
"Let’s not forget that here’s a relatively small country that is a major banking centre but it’s only one country through one law firm," he said.
"So if you multiply that times 60, including some of the major secrecy havens like Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the Caribbean islands and others, you’re talking about a massive number of people who are hiding money of one type or another," he said.
Tuesday, Apr 5, 2016 · 4:02:18 PM +00:00 · LaFeminista
My favorite in this brewing scandal
www.france24.com/...
Two members of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s entourage moved hundreds of thousands of euros by way of offshore companies in recent years, according to France's daily Le Monde, in the latest revelations linked to the Panama Papers leak.
A businessman and an accountant with close links to Le Pen's National Front party designed a “sophisticated offshore system” to transfer up to €275,000 out of France between 2013 and 2014, Le Monde reported on Tuesday.
Tuesday, Apr 5, 2016 · 4:21:17 PM +00:00 · LaFeminista
Hahahahahahahaha
www.independent.co.uk/...
Mr Cameron’s father Ian was allegedly involved in an offshore fund that paid zero tax in the UK for 30 years. The Prime Minister has been facing mounting pressure to address questions over whether his family’s wealth is still held in offshore investments.
Downing Street has insisted Mr Cameron’s late father’s business affairs are a “private matter”.
Tuesday, Apr 5, 2016 · 4:34:39 PM +00:00 · LaFeminista
One Down
www.theguardian.com/...
Iceland’s embattled prime minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, has tendered his resignation in the wake of a mounting political crisis over his family’s offshore investments, local media have reported.
The agriculture and fisheries minister, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, told state broadcaster RUV that Gunnlaugsson was resigning as prime minister and that he would be replacing him.
Tuesday, Apr 5, 2016 · 5:32:30 PM +00:00 · LaFeminista
President Obama’s Comments
www.theguardian.com/...
The US president said the leak from Panama illustrated the scale of tax avoidance involving Fortune 500 companies and running into trillions of dollars worldwide.
“We shouldn’t make it legal to engage in transactions just to avoid taxes,” he added, praising instead “the basic principle of making sure everyone pays their fair share”.
Obama spoke in favour of his administration’s new rules to close corporate inversions, by which companies move overseas to avoid taxes.
He described the practice as ”one of the most insidious tax loopholes out there”.