Obama publicly criticizes tax avoidance while quietly encouraging high-net worth foreigners to shift wealth to America, free from taxation.
The Lectric Law Library says “(s)ince the ‘80s, the US has been the largest tax and regulatory haven for non-resident foreign nationals in the world.”
Foreign-based individuals “can buy the newly issued Reg. S stock of a US company at a discount because the company does not have to register those shares with the Securities Exchange Commission.”
“Foreigners can sell those shares back into the US forty days later without paying any tax on the trading profits to the US government.”
“They can open bank accounts or buy the debt instruments of government and private borrowers and earn interest in the US tax free.”
According to Lectric Law, the policy attracted trillions of dollars to America, making it the world’s top tax haven.
Bloomberg discussed it, saying “Panama and the US have at least one thing in common: Neither has agreed to new international standards to make it harder for tax evaders and money launderers to hide their money.”
Since 2014, nearly 100 countries and jurisdictions imposed disclosure requirements on foreign held wealth, including Switzerland and Bermuda in principle, to crack down on tax evaders.
“(A) handful of countries refused,” notably America along with Panama in the eye of the current “storm over tax evasion…”
Secrecy in global tax havens is well-known. Global Witness exposes corruption and demands accountability for perpetrators of criminal and human rights violations.
According to acting US office head Stefanie Ostfeld, “the US is just as big a secrecy jurisdiction as so many of these Caribbean countries and Panama.”
“We should not want to be the playground for the world’s dirty money, which is what we are right now.”
The 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act requires financial firms to inform the IRS about foreign accounts held by US citizens.
Reporting information on foreign accounts in America to governments abroad isn’t mandated. OECD standards aren’t observed.
International tax and money laundering expert Bruce Zagaris said “(t)he US doesn’t follow a lot of the international standards, and because of its political power,” gets away with it - the only country able to do what it pleases unaccountably.
America welcomes dirty money, trillions in private accounts free from taxes - making it the world’s leading tax haven.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment