Report finds global tax havens are currently hiding $21 trillion - the entire economies of the US an - Polidicks

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18944097[/url] [quote=BBC News][B]A global super-rich elite had at least $21 trillion (£13tn) hidden in secret tax havens by the end of 2010, according to a major study.[/B] The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies combined. [url=http://www.taxjustice.net/cms/upload/pdf/The_Price_of_Offshore_Revisited_Presser_120722.pdf]The Price of Offshore Revisited[/url] was written by James Henry, a former chief economist at the consultancy McKinsey, for by the Tax Justice Network. Tax expert and UK government adviser John Whiting said he was sceptical that the amount hidden was so large. Mr Whiting, director of the Office of Tax Simplification, said: "There clearly are some significant amounts hidden away, but if it really is that size what is being done with it all?" Mr Henry said his $21tn is actually a conservative figure and the true scale could be $32tn. A trillion is 1,000 billion. Mr Henry used data from the Bank of International Settlements, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and national governments. His study deals only with financial wealth deposited in bank and investment accounts, and not other assets such as property and yachts. The report comes amid growing public and political concern about tax avoidance and evasion. Some authorities, including in Germany, have even paid for information on alleged tax evaders stolen from banks. The group that commissioned the report, Tax Justice Network, campaigns against tax havens. Mr Henry said that the super-rich move money around the globe through an "industrious bevy of professional enablers in private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries. "The lost tax revenues implied by our estimates is huge. It is large enough to make a significant difference to the finances of many countries. "From another angle, this study is really good news. The world has just located a huge pile of financial wealth that might be called upon to contribute to the solution of our most pressing global problems," he said. [B]'Huge black hole'[/B] The report highlights the impact on the balance sheets of 139 developing countries of money held in tax havens that is put beyond the reach of local tax authorities. Mr Henry estimates that since the 1970s, the richest citizens of these 139 countries had amassed $7.3tn to $9.3tn of "unrecorded offshore wealth" by 2010. Private wealth held offshore represents "a huge black hole in the world economy," Mr Henry said. Mr Whiting, though, urged caution. "I cannot disprove the figures at all, but they do seem staggering. If the suggestion is that such amounts are actively hidden and never accessed, that seems odd - not least in terms of what the tax authorities are doing. In fact, the US, UK and German authorities are doing a lot." He also pointed out that if tax havens were stuffed with such sizeable amounts, "you would expect the havens to be more conspicuously wealthy than they are". Other findings in Mr Henry's report include: • At the end of 2010, the 50 leading private banks alone collectively managed more than $12.1tn in cross-border invested assets for private clients • The three private banks handling the most assets offshore are UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs • Less than 100,000 people worldwide own about $9.8tn of the wealth held offshore.[/quote]

Jezus H. Christ on a pongostick, 21 fucking trillion?

I thought capital was supposed to be reinvested :S

[QUOTE=Conscript;36884107]I thought capital was supposed to be reinvested :S[/QUOTE] Oh of course it is, it's why we're swimming in jobs given to us little people by the wonderful job creators who should be given tax breaks because they're just so awesome and absolutely not scummy tax evading fuckheads.

Don't know what everyone is complaining about, that's $21 trillion worth of jobs Just watch, they'll hire a shitload of people any second now Aaaany second There, see! Jobs! No wait, that's a yacht

[QUOTE=smurfy;36884151]Don't know what everyone is complaining about, that's $21 trillion worth of jobs Just watch, they'll hire a shitload of people any second now Aaaany second There, see! Jobs! No wait, that's a yacht[/QUOTE] So, we still got problem?

[QUOTE=smurfy;36884151] No wait, that's a yacht[/QUOTE] Someone has to build all these yachts. Jobs!

So, reckon there'll be any moves to retrieve this booty?

To put this in perspective, WW2 cost the world roughly 2 Trillion pounds iirc.

WHAT A SURPRISE

Well there's your problem THE POOR ARE LEECHING FROM THE GOVERNMENTs

Everyone I've talked to about the prospect of fairly taxing the wealthy always says "Well the new tax income would only make up such and such of the annual deficit, barely making a dent!!" Nobody seems to factor in the amount of money we've missed out on total because of this lenient tax with a mountain of loopholes. This is a huge sum of money that could have gone into the economies of countries that need the stimulation, but no, the wealthy are the victims, so they need to keep their money somewhere and not spend a dime of it anyway.

[QUOTE=themodtester;36884086]Jezus H. Christ on a pongostick, 21 fucking trillion?[/QUOTE] Well... [quote] Mr Henry said his $21tn is actually a conservative figure and [b]the true scale could be $32tn.[/b][/quote]

really the wealthy are the victims here they're literally drowning in money literally their houses are so full of money they have to wade through it all the time what a pain in the ass

Wow half that amount could solve the entire US national debt.

Welp, gentlemen, grab your baseball bats; 'cause this pinata needs to get cracked wide open. Quite a bit of that money needs to get back into circulation; hopefully we'll be able to spend it on something OTHER than luxury fleets of nuclear whaling subs this time, maybe even put it towards rebuilding the infrastructure...

[QUOTE=mac338;36884395]Wow half that amount could solve the entire US national debt.[/QUOTE] yeah but think about the rich people who would have to pay for that!!!! they won't be able to buy enough liquid gold to fill their 80 mile long wave-pool on their solid diamond peruvian handcrafted yacht.

[QUOTE=lotusking;36884380]really the wealthy are the victims here they're literally drowning in money literally their houses are so full of money they have to wade through it all the time what a pain in the ass[/QUOTE] They should make a commercial similar to the ones that show African children, and it'll have some nice looking old man walking through a rich man's mansion, patting the owner on the back while he cries, staring at his taxes, because he pays [I]too much.[/I] The old man will appeal to our emotions, telling us we need to realize there are wealthy people suffering because that obongo has started class warfare. He'll finish the commercial by looking over the granite counter tops out the nice new windows onto their dock. "Do you see that? That empty space there? That could have been a new yacht. Call today."

[QUOTE=Bentham;36884429]They should make a commercial similar to the ones that show African children, and it'll have some nice looking old man walking through a rich man's mansion, patting the owner on the back while he cries, staring at his taxes, because he pays [I]too much.[/I] The old man will appeal to our emotions, telling us we need to realize their are wealthy people suffering because that obongo has started class warfare. He'll finish the commercial by looking over the granite counter tops out the nice new windows onto their dock. "Do you see that? That empty space there? That could have been a new yacht. Call today."[/QUOTE] for only trillions a day you can bring a solid gold yacht to a rich person in need. call today

I'm sorry, is someone [I]really[/I] surprised?

holy fucking shit 32 trillion dollars how can they sleep at night knowing they could solve the US national deficit if they weren't fucking selfish and banded together? i honestly don't know why people need to survive on such exorbitant amounts. [sub][sub][sub]share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.[/sub][/sub][/sub]

[QUOTE=Drsalvador;36884456]holy fucking shit 32 trillion dollars how can they sleep at night knowing they could solve the US national deficit if they weren't fucking selfish and banded together? i honestly don't know why people need to survive on such exorbitant amounts. [sub][sub][sub]share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.[/sub][/sub][/sub][/QUOTE] because greed

[QUOTE=Stopper;36884452]I'm sorry, is someone [I]really[/I] surprised?[/QUOTE] It's common knowledge that the wealthy hide their money to avoid tax obligations, it's just shocking to see the actual numbers, and knowing what that money could have potentially solved if it was fairly distributed as it should have been. This would be different if it was their private savings, but these are havens specifically there to keep it from being taxed, so it's just painful to know that there is this mountain of money that really should be pumping life back into the country, but isn't, because some old man doesn't like poor people.

with 21 trillion you could do anything. even control the world.

Jesus that's enough to pay off our debt isn't it?

[QUOTE=Bobie;36884496]with 21 trillion you could do anything. even control the world.[/QUOTE] [sp]thats what they do[/sp]

[QUOTE=LtKyle2;36884518]Jesus that's enough to pay off our debt isn't it?[/QUOTE] Well if it's $32tn - the upper estimate - then it's enough to pay all but $8tn of the entire global debt.

[QUOTE=Drsalvador;36884456]holy fucking shit 32 trillion dollars how can they sleep at night knowing they could solve the US national deficit if they weren't fucking selfish and banded together? i honestly don't know why people need to survive on such exorbitant amounts. [sub][sub][sub]share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.[/sub][/sub][/sub][/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpbbuaIA3Ds[/media] Obligatory thread music

IF YOU DON'T TAX THE RICH THEN THEY'LL SPEND THAT MONEY TO MAKE MORE JOBS SURELY THEY WON'T JUST YOU KNOW KEEP IT BECAUSE THAT'S WHY THEY'RE RICH THEY GIVE MONEY AWAY AND DON'T KEEP IT Honestly, I know this sounds like an extremely radical thing to do, but I say we just fucking take it and use it to pay for everything. We can blame some vigilante named "Shmobin Shmood". [QUOTE=-nesto-;36884241]Someone has to build all these yachts. Jobs![/QUOTE] I had once debated with someone who [I]actually[/I] used that fucking argument.

so much for trickle down economics huh