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Multinationals have no choice. Tax avoidance and jurisdictional arbitrage are standard competitive advantages since the 60's when capital controls were evaded b
by drucken 13y ago
Multinationals have no choice. Tax avoidance and jurisdictional arbitrage are standard competitive advantages since the 60's when capital controls were evaded by the banks and the 80's with the politically-backed corporate boom.
The problem will never be solved by private companies. It requires political leadership and global cooperation.
That $32 trillion in offshore tax havens ($12 trillion actively managed by international banks) will keep growing otherwise, as governments and society increasingly cannot pay for what they previously spent, let alone the future...
- bornhuetter 13y agoAnd it's particularly hilarious the UK complaining about it since they are one of the biggest enablers of tax avoidance in the world. Bermuda and the Isle of Man, for instance, make a complete mockery of British politicians who complain about offshoring. (Speaking as someone who works in financial services in London).
- drucken 13y agoYup, it is also a British bank, a pre-cursor to HSBC that created the first shadow banking system. The UK has by far the largest network of control over tax haven jurisdictions, with the exception of the mighty Delaware.
- bornhuetter 13y agoExactly. You don't see that mentioned very often in the papers, though... If Google and Amazon are evil, then so are half the "British" banking and insurance companies. It's common practice to channel profits and off to countries like Bermuda to avoid both tax and regulation.
- pauljburke 13y agoIt's even funnier if you google the name of the MP in question and include the name Stemcor. This interview was particularly entertaining. http://www.channel4.com/news/margaret-hodge-tax-affairs-stemcor-trusts http://www.channel4.com/news/margaret-hodge-tax-affairs-stem...
- guard-of-terra 13y agoGoogle doesn't compete with anything in UK so they can afford to lose that competitive advantage.
- duaneb 13y agoI disagree about having no choice---there is ALWAYS choice for a "Do No Evil" corporation. I do agree that it must be solved by international law, though, as it is kind of silly to expect a corporation to behave any better than how you force it to behave.