From wealthy citizens trying to pay less tax, to savvy swindlers and drug lords with riches to hide, people have spent decades stealthily shifting money via European principalities, Caribbean archipelagos, and Pacific islands. ICIJ provides the following simple six-step process for 'stashing your cash'; from 'Choosing a haven' to creating a 'secret identity' and from opening the 'right' bank account to how to 'move' the money; this picturesque guide may be indispensable as Europe's final 'deposit haircut' solution draws ever closer - especially now we know there is 'no plan B." The muddle-through is over...
Step 1 - Choose A Haven
For people hiding money, choosing one of the world's 60 or so offshore jurisdictions is tricky. Each has advantages and drawbacks. It' snot unusual for secrecy seekers to continually move funds around, trying to find the best place for their assets...
For people hiding money, choosing one of the world's 60 or so offshore jurisdictions is tricky. Each has advantages and drawbacks. It' snot unusual for secrecy seekers to continually move funds around, trying to find the best place for their assets...
No one know for sure how much of the planet's private wealth is parked in tax havens. One estimate is that there's $32 trillion stashed offshore; a more conservative calculation puts it a minimum of $8 trillion. Either way, that means tens - if not hundreds - of billions of dollars in last tax revenues for the world's governments.
Now do you understand why these 2.5 million files covering 120,000 offshore entities was 'accidentally' leaked into the public purview... governments realize that they are running out of options fast and as we noted before - the muddling through is almost over.
What Haven't I given you?
