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40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

missingprofits.world

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Re: 40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

#91
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another big issue with US taxes is that tax dollars aren't well spent. I'd be happy to pay the amount of taxes I'm currently paying in California if tax dollars were used well, but as it stands the public schools are underfunded, the highways are full of litter on the side, higher education isn't free, healthcare isn't universal, social security is underfunded, public transportation is dysfunctional, and so on.

California has high pension obligations that will only make the problem worse. The pension recipients refuse to discuss the matter. They wont even let grandfathered changes. Fees and taxes will continue to increase and services will be cut to pay pensions.

If you had a contract with the state to provide you money in retirement based on a career of working for the state, how much flexibility would you personally have on the state unilaterally changing the terms of your source of income?

Re: 40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

#92
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. We should allow free competition between tax jurisdictions. If another state is willing to provide better services in any regard, people should be free to decide what suits them best. What is the meaning of private property if individuals can not move it abroad as they wish? A more productive line of inquiry might be an examination of what tax authorities can do to make their schemes more palatable. Perhaps the…

I think this theory has been discredited as Reaganism propaganda. The fact that its wikipedia page does not account for criticism makes it even more dubious.

Maybe you could flesh out the substance of your assertion?

I fail to see why individuals and corporations would not pay if it were cheaper to comply than to evade taxes. Part of the expense of compliance is the staffing of lawyers and accountants. On the other end perhaps increased value could be added in the form of incentives for tax-payers.

Resentment seems to be running high (rhetoric about the 1%) in regards to the guillotine observation. Similarly many are frustrated and looking for a way to escape tax obligations.

More and more individuals are choosing to go through the inconvenience of renouncing their US citizenship.

https://www.americanexpatfinance.com/news/item/131-u-s-final...

https://www.americanexpatfinance.com/images/Renunciations_20...

Re: 40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

#93
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect few people here think they should pay no tax, however I’m quite sure that most would disagree about what the “right” amount would/should be. Furthermore, this is exacerbated by the quality and quantity of public goods different people use (e.g. there are plenty of people that have never set foot in any type of public school/university)

"however I’m quite sure that most would disagree about what the “right” amount would/should be." I currently spend a little over 30% of my income as the sticker price to living in a first world country. Compared to the price of renting an apartment in my city, I think this is a steal. People who never set foot in any type of public school or university benefit from everyone else being educated, because everyone else…

I'm glad you feel like you are a net beneficiary - but my comment really boils down to "reasonable people can disagree" and "not everyone has the same experience"

Re: 40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

#94
post #9

Wow. Power , in all its forms -- economic, cultural, social, political -- is highly concentrated among impersonal giant corporations today. For this kind of legal tax avoidance would be impossible without mutual understanding, collaboration, and coordination across national boundaries among many disparate groups of people, all serving their corporate masters in one way or another (as their employers, as their custome…

There is a theory saying that Brexit campaign was financed by the people afraid of the EU banking transparency laws, that would threaten many UK-based tax havens.

Re: 40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

#95
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not quite true - a lot of stuff happened see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers Also, Mossack Fonseca was shut down. Mind you - nothing happened to the basic approach of offshore shell companies - which is the real problem.

Oh my gosh, this is AMAZING! I was wrong, and thank you for this correction. Hope in humanity restored, a little bit.

I can strongly recommend the Panama Papers book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Panama-Papers-Breaking-Story-Powerf...

Re: 40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

#96
post #78
post #9

Wow. Power , in all its forms -- economic, cultural, social, political -- is highly concentrated among impersonal giant corporations today. For this kind of legal tax avoidance would be impossible without mutual understanding, collaboration, and coordination across national boundaries among many disparate groups of people, all serving their corporate masters in one way or another (as their employers, as their custome…

The corp. tax loss is 10% Its becoming clearer that the world is shifting towards coordinated world-wide tax rates, similar to how central banks are coordinated. Modern trade is complex and almost always multinational. Clear and easy tax rates will actually allow anyone to enjoy fair taxation, instead of the current unequal situation in which megacorps can use complex schemes to drastically reduce their rates, while…

Tax rates are clear and easy. Corporations were taking advantage of loopholes that increasingly no longer exist.

Re: 40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

#97
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The corp. tax loss is 10% Its becoming clearer that the world is shifting towards coordinated world-wide tax rates, similar to how central banks are coordinated. Modern trade is complex and almost always multinational. Clear and easy tax rates will actually allow anyone to enjoy fair taxation, instead of the current unequal situation in which megacorps can use complex schemes to drastically reduce their rates, while…

Tax rates are clear and easy. Corporations were taking advantage of loopholes that increasingly no longer exist.

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Re: 40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

#98
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on that premise: Should we, as a society, permit a select few to shift their wealth to tax havens or should those folks also join in with everyone else? Are those sheltering their taxes more privileged that they deserve being able skirt the rules others can't, even if others would do so given the same circumstances?

Yes. We should allow free competition between tax jurisdictions. If another state is willing to provide better services in any regard, people should be free to decide what suits them best. What is the meaning of private property if individuals can not move it abroad as they wish? A more productive line of inquiry might be an examination of what tax authorities can do to make their schemes more palatable. Perhaps the…

[deleted]

Re: 40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

#99
post #88

> This shifting reduces corporate income tax revenue by nearly $200 billion, or 10% of global corporate tax receipts. To put that into perspective, the OECD has $50 trillion in GDP, and raises over $17 trillion in tax revenue. So we are talking about 1.2% of total tax revenue. Even taxing all multinational corporate profits at 50% with no tax havens would only add up to less than 5% of all tax revenue. I wonder what…

Because a yearly tax rate isn't a flat fee and yearly rates compound.

For example, from the widely shared article from business insider the other week.

If there was a 3% tax on money past $1B Jeff Bezos wouldn't have beat $86B in fortune, but he's at $160B today.

That's a 100% increase caused by what you call a 'rounding error'. Over not-even-that-many-years.

Re: 40% of multinational profits are shifted to tax havens each year

#100
post #6

I am fairly certain 40% of all citizens would shift their income to a tax haven if possible.

That's exactly how I feel about it. I don't think "paying" taxes are something that is honorable. The money is removed from you forcefully.

Just an honest question: How do you think should we finance our society?
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