Paradise Papers: Tax haven secrets of ultra-rich exposed

[Chippy_Tea]

The article is too big to post, it comes as no surprise "politicians, multinationals, celebrities and high-net-worth individuals use complex structures of trusts, foundations and shell companies to protect their cash from tax officials or hide their dealings behind a veil of secrecy"

A huge new leak of financial documents has revealed how the powerful and ultra-wealthy, including the Queen's private estate, secretly invest vast amounts of cash in offshore tax havens.

Donald Trump's commerce secretary is shown to have a stake in a firm dealing with Russians sanctioned by the US.

The leak, dubbed the Paradise Papers, contains 13.4m documents, mostly from one leading firm in offshore finance.

BBC Panorama is part of nearly 100 media groups investigating the papers.

As with last year's Panama Papers leak, the documents were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which called in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) to oversee the investigation.

Sunday's revelations form only a small part of a week of disclosures that will expose the tax and financial affairs of some of the hundreds of people and companies named in the data, some with strong UK connections.

Many of the stories focus on how

Read more - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41876942

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[Leon103]

No info on if there people have not paid tax in this country on their investments.

 

[GhostShip]

Biggest scandal so far has to be the amount actors are paid to appear in the total pile of garbage that is Mrs Brown's Boys.

 

[MarkMayf]

I'm only jealous.

 

[RichieBeer]

What I don't get is that when they were reporting this on the radio yesterday, they finished every piece with "...there is no suggestion that they acted illegally".

So why it it a story then? Everyone know that the rich invest their money offshore - it's nothing new, they've been doing it for decades and decades.

 

[MarkMayf]

What I don't get is that when they were reporting this on the radio yesterday, they finished every piece with "...there is no suggestion that they acted illegally".

So why it it a story then? Everyone know that the rich invest their money offshore - it's nothing new, they've been doing it for decades and decades.

Where would we be without some good old inter class rivalry, stirred by the media.

 

[Nicks90]

There is nothing illegal in what they're doing.
Was listening to Jeremy vine today and some stupid bag from labour was saying in parliament "why can't my normal working class constituents do the same, it's not fair blah blah blah"
Well actually you can, legally too.
It's called an ISA or a pension fund. Both are tax havens but onshore.
As for these super rich with offshore funds, whos to say they haven't already paid tax? The money going in to them came from profits from something, so they will probably have paid income tax / corporation tax / other tax on that before investing it offshore.
Also the money they make from those offshore investments, when they release them back to the UK, they pay income tax on it.

Note: this thing where they loan you the money to avoid income tax is illegal. Mrs brown's boys actors will be getting a knock at the door now they've been caught. That method of tax evasion has been illegal for some time.

One other thing to note, the UK is a tax haven. Our tax is much much lower than most other countries...

 

[AdrianTrace]

On the Lewis Hamilton front, if you were buying a car for £30k, and someone said "sign this and you only pay £25k" then most people would jump at the chance. Trouble is they charge a bucket to do it (as it takes a few companies and leases), so it's only worth it for big ticket items... like jets :whistle:

One other thing to note, the UK is a tax haven. Our tax is much much lower than most other countries...

One of my major political gripes: our country is still running a budget deficit, 10 years after the credit crunch showed us the stupidity of racking up more and more debt.

People want:
- no increase in taxes (tried, decided to u-turn)
- no cuts to benefits (tried, decided to u-turn)
- no cuts to services (the route chosen to try to stem the tide - a long term disaster building up)

No politician has the will to stand up and say "if you want this, you have to pay for it". Yes, we live in a democracy, but we have politicians to interpret the will of the people into policy for running the country in a manner that safeguards the future; not just following the direction of the people if they are saying that we drive off the (financial) cliff!

We are all to blame, wanting more than we are willing to pay/work for and then blaming others for the problems we face - the Paradise papers are just a symptom of the wider issue.

Rant over :hat:

 

[Irishwizard]

I'm only jealous.

everyone wants/needs to save money. you would be a fool not to, and none of this is illegal, so its non story. the only bit that sticks in the throat is the Bonio thingy and he really is a 2 faced wan***

 

[druid]

Herein lies the problem. We cant save money!....in fact, the powers that be do not want us to save money. If you look at the bigger picture, if everyone started to save everything they could...they would be responsible for the crashing of the monetary system. The system as it now stands (which is why debt is being racked up ) is based on monetary expansion...(the increase in debt) This is the central flaw in Keynsian economics. Savers are punished (no rate of return ) and borrowers are gifted with low interest rates. What this fundamentally means is the currency expansion debases the value of the underlying currency. In effect "worth less". Weimar Germany saw this...and we will see the same. Too bad things (history) have a habit of repeating. Means we didnt learn the first time....

 

[Irishwizard]

Herein lies the problem. We cant save money!....in fact, the powers that be do not want us to save money. If you look at the bigger picture, if everyone started to save everything they could...they would be responsible for the crashing of the monetary system. The system as it now stands (which is why debt is being racked up ) is based on monetary expansion...(the increase in debt) This is the central flaw in Keynsian economics. Savers are punished (no rate of return ) and borrowers are gifted with low interest rates. What this fundamentally means is the currency expansion debases the value of the underlying currency. In effect "worth less". Weimar Germany saw this...and we will see the same. Too bad things (history) have a habit of repeating. Means we didnt learn the first time....

Well, I save money and I make my kids save money. If they don't i beat them up with huge roll of euros

 

[druid]

I think its great that anybody can...or does save these days. But the question begs to be asked. If you are aquiring something that is becoming worth less and less...what does the future in fact hold?