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To be fair I take this as a gain as I see tax haven as a much more harmful thing than Al-Quaeda ever was. It is an enabler not only of terrorism but of several

by Iv 8y ago

To be fair I take this as a gain as I see tax haven as a much more harmful thing than Al-Quaeda ever was. It is an enabler not only of terrorism but of several crimes that causes a countless amount of death globally. And no, I don't buy the "we tolerate it so that we could watch it". Too much private money is at odds there. The truth is that this still exists because otherwise there would be no channel for the Saud family to fund the Bush one or for Russian oligarchs to pay up GOP members.

wahern 8y ago
Except the crackdown has arguably led to faster evolution of tax havenry. Over the past 15 years the traditional tax havens have lost considerable business to new jurisdictions offering more complex and cheaper havens (e.g. trusts and property schemes), attracting smaller customers (e.g. small-time multi-millionaires) who previously couldn't have afforded to indulge in these activities. The market has grown. That was inevitable to some extent but when your achilles heel is your ability to respond to change (which government agencies suck at) it's a risky strategy to shake-up the system.
- Iv 8y ago
  It is natural that it tries to evolve, this is an enemy with more resources than the US army. We wont kill it with one attempt. We need to keep continue still. In my opinion, leaks have been the best tool so far: it adds a risk to tax evasion that is kind of new. Every added cost or added risk is welcomed. And people usually hate when I mention that, but I am fairly convinced that most of the value of bitcoin comes from people desiring to move huge funds discreetly and efficiently between accounts. It probably made the whole industry move faster than countries' regulations.
al_chemist 8y ago
> tax haven (...) causes a countless amount of death globally. Care to elaborate?
- jacobush 8y ago
  You want to siphon away some money ear marked for a vaccine program in your shady country? A friendly tax haven can be very beneficial in such a scheme. I am sure there are lots of more subtle but yet, in aggregate, very dark patterns.

by Iv 8y ago

wahern 8y ago

Except the crackdown has arguably led to faster evolution of tax havenry. Over the past 15 years the traditional tax havens have lost considerable business to new jurisdictions offering more complex and cheaper havens (e.g. trusts and property schemes), attracting smaller customers (e.g. small-time multi-millionaires) who previously couldn't have afforded to indulge in these activities. The market has grown. That was inevitable to some extent but when your achilles heel is your ability to respond to change (which government agencies suck at) it's a risky strategy to shake-up the system.

Iv 8y ago
It is natural that it tries to evolve, this is an enemy with more resources than the US army. We wont kill it with one attempt. We need to keep continue still. In my opinion, leaks have been the best tool so far: it adds a risk to tax evasion that is kind of new. Every added cost or added risk is welcomed. And people usually hate when I mention that, but I am fairly convinced that most of the value of bitcoin comes from people desiring to move huge funds discreetly and efficiently between accounts. It probably made the whole industry move faster than countries' regulations.

al_chemist 8y ago

> tax haven (...) causes a countless amount of death globally. Care to elaborate?

jacobush 8y ago
You want to siphon away some money ear marked for a vaccine program in your shady country? A friendly tax haven can be very beneficial in such a scheme. I am sure there are lots of more subtle but yet, in aggregate, very dark patterns.