Ultra Elite hiding up to $32TRILL in tax-free off-shore bank accounts

[key2thecup]

]Global super-rich hide $21 trillion in tax havens

Switzerland is among the world's most popular tax havens, according to the advocacy group Tax Justice Network

(CNN) -- The world's super-rich had between $21 trillion and $32 trillion of wealth hidden in tax havens by the end of 2010, a new study says.

The size of these unreported financial assets is equivalent to, or even larger than, the combined GDPs of the United States and Japan, representing up to $280 billion in lost tax revenues.

The study, titled "The Price of Offshore Revisited," was released Sunday by the advocacy group Tax Justice Network.

Written by James Henry, former chief economist at McKinsey & Co., the study drew data from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and central banks.

The number of the global elite who parked their fortune overseas is fewer than 10 million people, or 0.14% of the global population, the report says. It also shows that major private banks such as UBS, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and HSBC handled the most assets on behalf of the super-rich.

According to the group's 2011 Financial Security Index, which ranks nations and territories providing tax havens, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Singapore are among the biggest destinations.

In a statement, Henry, senior adviser of the Tax Justice Network, said that "it turns out that this offshore sector --- which specializes in tax dodging -- is basically designed and operated, not by shady no-name banks ... but by the world's largest private banks, law firms and accounting firms, headquartered in First World capitals like London, New York and Geneva."

The report also calculates capital flight from 139 developing countries between 1970s and 2010. Of the top 20 developing countries that lost tax revenue overseas, China ranks first, with nearly $1.2 trillion siphoned offshore by 2010. Russia and South Korea follow, with $798 billion and $779 billion missing respectively.

"Since most of missing financial wealth belongs to a tiny elite, the impact is staggering," Henry said. "For most countries, global financial inequality is not only much greater than we suspected, but it has been growing much faster."

The Tax Justice Network says its estimated offshore fortune is conservative, adding it excludes non-financial assets such as real estate, yachts and artworks.

http://edition.cnn.c...hore/index.html

[The Sedin's 6th Sense]

That's crazy!

[Sharpshooter]

Now THIS is a legit story of an act of conspiring, that I can get on board with.

I hope this gets major traction among the working class and we finally start taking some names and taxing some asses.

[hsedin33]

The rich certainly love their beloved money that's for sure.

[Edler's Mind Tricks]

How to solve the debt crises. Which one you ask?

All of them!

[Shift-4]

Well as long as it is in safe keeping

[taxi]

Now THIS is a legit story of an act of conspiring, that I can get on board with.

I hope this gets major traction among the working class and we finally start taking some names and taxing some asses.

[Jägermeister]

Rich people want to hoard there money, nothing new.

Amazed if it would be this much though.

[JLumme]

Africa isn't poor because they don't have cash, they're poor because they don't have water.

[ronthecivil]

Now THIS is a legit story of an act of conspiring, that I can get on board with.

I hope this gets major traction among the working class and we finally start taking some names and taxing some asses.

[ronthecivil]

How to solve the debt crises. Which one you ask?

All of them!

[nuckin_futz]

Easier said than done though. It's not like there's taxes for holding money in the bank (interest is another thing not sure if these offshore accounts pay that) which makes me wonder what taxes are being dodged....

Heck, I have some bank of America shares and wouldn't you know the US fed made the effort of taxing me the 30 cents on my dollar of dividend recently. It made me wonder if I could claim it back (since the shares are in a tax free account) but I figured it's better to be lazy and do my part to solve the US defecit crisis. And if your wondering what the point of my story is, it's that places like the US (no doubt a large source of this money) already go to some pretty serious lengths to get their tax bill, so far in fact that wealthy people have been renouncing their citizenship to escape!

Ergo, what could they do that they aren't already doing? Serious question!

[ronthecivil]

There's a tax treaty between the two countries. You should fill out a 'W-2 Ben' and file it with the IRS and they won't bother you.

[nuckin_futz]

How to solve the debt crises. Which one you ask?

All of them!

[nuckin_futz]

I did but I think they get confused due to the fact that I have a social security number from living there.

I think it's easier to just invest in Canadian companies and if I want US exposure do it through some ETFs that can handle all the tax garbage as part of their management fee.

They can keep the thirty cents.....

[Trebreh]

who wants to rob those banks with me??

[taxi]

According to the article the amount of taxes due on what's being hoarded is $280B. While that seems like a staggering total. In reality it's a drop in the bucket. The US debt alone is between 14-15 Trillion dollars. Their unfunded liabilities including things such as Medicare and Social Security are estimated to be well over 100 Trillion.

The US goes into debt to the tune of $2B+ each day. Collecting all the taxes due would fund their out of control spending for a grand total of 140 days.

That's just the US alone. Europe is in worse shape.

[Drybone]

who wants to rob those banks with me??

[Buddhas Hand]

[Guest BuckFoston]