I am not in favour of offshore banking because, yes, it deprives the
mother country of revenues. But they are only a byproduct of the ways
that banks have been allowed to operate invisibly in the last 30 or
40 years with quasi-currencies (derivatives) and quasi-subsidiaries
(vehicles). If mainland banks and their manifold privileges were
treated just like any other business, such as Apple, Intel or GM,
then they and their subsidiaries and artificial company creations
operating in low-tax countries abroad would have to reveal full
integrated accounts to the tax authorities at home. A headquarter
business may wish to leave its profits abroad for other strategic
reasons (such as re-investment), and thus be able to delay paying
taxes at home for a while, but when they bring them home they will be
chargeable retroactively. The same should apply to banks. The tax
authorities always have residual powers of 1st charge against assets
and there's no reason why they shouldn't be applied in these cases if
absolutely necessary.
Exactly the same could apply to privileged rich individuals who have
a large business at home but can afford to live abroad for the
requisite number of days in the year which then qualifies them to pay
no income tax at all because of their "foreign" residence. They
should pay full whack on their personal earnings or have their
citizenship withdrawn.
Keith
At 15:06 18/08/2012, Arthur wrote:
Offshore banking starves governments of revenues that otherwise go
unreported. It was odd but in my glimpse of Cayman customs I saw
that some North Americans have a Cayman account and based on the
interest or other earnings on the account are able to go on holiday
in the Caymans drawing on their Cayman account. Thus they are able
to "spend" that money without having to bring it back to their home country.
To the extent that offshore banking grows then government revenues
are not as high as they otherwise might be.
Arthur
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Keith Hudson
Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2012 12:54 AM
To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION; D & N
Subject: Re: [Futurework] Arthur's 5th belief
At 22:53 17/08/2012, Natalia wrote:
snip--->
The New York Times reports there's more money in the banks of the
Cayman Islands than in all the banks of New York City combined.
What's it all doing there? Avoiding taxes for one. But perhaps even
more seriously, offshore banking starves the world's economy of cash
at a time when it could really use a few extra bucks.
(KH) There's hardly any money in its true sense (a consumer
commodity) in the Cayman Islands at all. There are only electronic
representations, of which every last digit has a physical
counterpart sitting on the ground somewhere in the world or flying
in the air or floating on the sea. Every last square inch of these
items that are visible to the public (and owe their value to the
public) is taxable.
Offshore banking itself doesn't starve anybody. What starves us are
onshore banks which are given special privileges by governments and
which ought, when necessary, to be forced into bankrupt like every
other business. Instead, they are propped up by the taxpayer by
quantitative easing and other dodgy devices. If they weren't propped
up, then every single unproductive, overvalued collateral would
quickly find its true market price and productiveness.
Keith
Keith Hudson, Saltford, England
<http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/>http://allisstatus.wordpress.com
Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com
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