Huge leak of confidential documents. The Panama Papers.

How the world’s rich and famous hide their money offshore.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-35918844

https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/panama-papers

Just sharing with You, my dear community, a very interesting read 😉

I would like to here some of You're opinions on the matter.

This leakage is a real 'Worldwide Earthquake', I'm telling You 😂

It's good to see countries like Iceland standing up and pushing for a vote of no-confidence... Unfortunately it won't have the same effect in AUS/NZ/CAN/UK/USA as the people are too apathetic. *sigh*

Is anyone actually surprised that so many rich people seek to conceal their money? I think it would've been a shock if they weren't doing it. Still, it's scandalous that we got proof of it.

Why is it scandalous ?

I have offshore companies and banks accounts. Not breaking any laws or even trying to avoid tax. Simply placing my assets in a safer jurisdiction than the western banking system. Read bail in's. We have years of asset confiscation ahead if not decades. If you try confiscate assets it's called theft. If a government does it, it's suddenly ok.

It also makes perfect sense from an estate planning point of view, it takes about 2 year to wind up an estate and you lose up to 50% of your estate to lawyers and government taxes after spending most off your available lifetime already paying ridiculous taxes. So why must your loved ones sit there for years with no funds while the government, lawyers and banks help themselves ?

The modern tax system is immoral. Not only are we taxed to death, your taxes are used for spying, endless wars and to bailout to big to fail banks and corrupt and over spending big governments whose sole purpose is ensuring your servitude. Why would anyone even participate in such a system ?

If you're not in a offshore jurisdiction you're an idiot quite frankly. And clever people are rich precisely because they're clever. It's only logical that they'll end up offshore.

theHand posted:
Why is it scandalous ?

I have offshore companies and banks accounts. Not breaking any laws or even trying to avoid tax. Simply placing my assets in a safer jurisdiction than the western banking system. Read bail in's. We have years of asset confiscation ahead if not decades. If you try confiscate assets it's called theft. If a government does it, it's suddenly ok.

It also makes perfect sense from an estate planning point of view, it takes about 2 year to wind up an estate and you lose up to 50% of your estate to lawyers and government taxes after spending most off your available lifetime already paying ridiculous taxes. So why must your loved ones sit there for years with no funds while the government, lawyers and banks help themselves ?

The modern tax system is immoral. Not only are we taxed to death, your taxes are used for spying, endless wars and to bailout to big to fail banks and corrupt and over spending big governments whose sole purpose is ensuring your servitude. Why would anyone even participate in such a system ?

If you're not in a offshore jurisdiction you're an idiot quite frankly. And clever people are rich precisely because they're clever. It's only logical that they'll end up offshore.

Even though I usually dont agree with your doomsayers view I have to admit I agree with you in this case.

@togr

I don't know why it's so hard for people to see what's right in front of them. Just look at defence spending for the last 24 months. Tells you everything you need to know.

Lucky there is hope as decentralisation slowly takes hold on banking and government. If the Pirate party does take Iceland, we will have the first precedent of a technology driven true democracy. Something I'm really looking forward to.

theHand posted:
@togr

I don't know why it's so hard for people to see what's right in front of them. Just look at defence spending for the last 24 months. Tells you everything you need to know.

Lucky there is hope as decentralisation slowly takes hold on banking and government. If the Pirate party does take Iceland, we will have the first precedent of a technology driven true democracy. Something I'm really looking forward to.

I would actually expect the defense budget to grow in recent situation.
It is the other way around though.
As well as the United States, Japan and Brazil had the biggest falls in defence spending between 2014 and 2015.

Not true...:

https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/04/06/19532/global-military-spending-increasing

Then there is this gem...:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-26/japans-finance-minister-accidentally-reveals-how-it-all-ends-war

Also the percentage of GDP spent is decreasing
2011 4.6
2012 4.2
2013 3.8
2014 3.5

Sometimes people consider it scandalous because in some countries moving your money in an offshore account is illegal. In other cases politicians - people who are supposed to be leading by example - are hiding their money away to avoid taxes. And then there's also the question about the origin of other people's money and whether or not they're not using said accounts to launder money they've profited from an illegal activity.

I am far from the thought that all people with money in offshore accounts are doing something fishy or scandalous, but sometimes some people can be suspicious.

I think a vast majority of them will be legit. Unlike mlawson71's comment on countries that consider moving your money offshore as illegal... I know of no such countries. The big question will be, 'tax avoidance or tax evasion?', the latter being illegal. Many offshore investors will keep cash offshore to prevent double taxation and fees, their taxes on earnings are paid, but they choose to hold their capital offshore... that's ok. Money hidden in shell companies and who's tax to capital don't coincide will be the names countries will be interested in.

I did not express myself well, for which I apologize. I was referring to hiding income in an offshore account for the purposes of tax evasion, which I am pretty sure is illegal in many places, hence scandalous, especially when people find out that politicians are doing it.

What is more, the same company has apparently been linked to financial entities funding terrorism and using the company to launder money to fund terrorism. Being even remotely related even by association to something like this can land a politician in an even bigger scandal than simply evading taxes.