Pandora Papers
 

Surprised more people aren't talking about this... highest levels of hypocrisy and corruption throughout the world in an incredible release of information yesterday.

I've read that up to 500 Canadians are on the list including Shania Twain, Elvis Stojko and Jacques Villeneuve etc.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/...vens-offshore/

Pandora Papers
 

Offshore tax havens and the rich employing an army of accountants and lawyers to hide their wealthy legally are nothing new.

This article calls the phenomenon the multi billionaire dollar Wealth Defence Industry:


How the world’s richest defend their wealth, with help from a dedicated industry

https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/202...ated-industry/

Canadian billionaires and some well known athletes like Elvis Stojko and Jacques Villeneuve had lawyers set up companies in offshore tax havens to receive endorsement income:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/pandora-pape...CYGfALmCierHUk


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Didn’t this already happen a few years back and everyone was suppose to be exposed etc and nothing ever ended up happening?

It's not that it isn't huge news, it's that a normie isn't going to care enough to make it big news.

I recognize a few names here on RS on the papers.

:inoutugh:

Quite a bit happened from 2016 if you read through the article

So that's why happyslip stopped posting here...

you guys know why nothing happens? because no one actually cares. and everyone would be doing the same shit.

EVERYONE tries to pay less tax.

just we make so little, our petty ways of avoid tax are like not claiming tips, hiding money under mattresses, crypto, and other frivolous shit like that.

when you make millions or billions a year, you will have more complex ways to avoid tax, accountants and other advisors that get paid to TELL you to do these things, or just outright manage it for you.

everyone's in the same boat. no one wants to pay more tax than they have to.

^ Tell that to my dad :pokerface:

Guy literally won’t make any effort whatsoever to even attempt to reduce his tax payable

^ get him a good accountant for his next bday present
Cost you 300$, save him thousands

Then you can ask for his return since he does not care :troll:

If you end up on these papers you owe your accountant a big bonus.

Are you sure? Clearly they aren't doing a good job if you end up on these papers.:okay:

Having funds offshore does not automatically mean someone is evading taxes. You still have to be able to prove it.

^ Sounds like something someone who has funds offshore to evade taxes would say

The problem with leaks like this is that it makes good headlines. However, when actually going through it, assuming they hired a competent lawyer and accountant who know their shits, there's very little that can be done.

These are structures specifically designed to comply with accounting laws. Just because you have a list of names doesn't mean it's a direct to jail, do not collect $200 pass.

Furthermore, these have names like Putin on it. Do you think that a leak like these would do anything to one of the most powerful person on Earth?! They have resources beyond imagination and willing to go extreme miles to get things done. The reason why no one actually give a shit is because it's fucking dangerous.

And for reference, my parents use one of these... and after nearly a decade of auditing and whatnot, the taxman seems to have finally given up because every time they come up empty-handed. Which that's the purpose... they aren't doing anything illegal. In fact, the reason they went through all the trouble is so that they can stay legal. And last time I checked, tax optimization is not illegal.

Well, again as stated above, if you read the article or multiple articles on it... there has been significant effect... ie: high up politicians that have campaigned against these very things being ousted from office because of their participation and a number of people in highly hypocritical situations being put to task on it.

I would imagine that at least some governments are looking at ways to tighten up on things too and eliminate, uhm, "optimization" methods at least in places where the benefactors of said policies don't have a stranglehold on policy creation anyway.

If only.... :okay:

how has CiC not posted in here yet? :lol

100%.

My wife worked in international tax at one of the Big 4 and her job was to find ways to skate(I'm being cheeky for color) around tax laws; both abroad companies doing business here and Canadian companies doing business abroad. You can imagine how many different tax laws had to be researched to ensure compliance. Loop holes are there and accountants need to know how to work them and be aware of their timeline since loop holes open and close all the time. Almost like drugs in sports. Some are legal and then they are outlawed for whatever reason but then the athlete gets busted for something they have been taking for a long time. Some are just calculated risks though, like we'll try this and if we get caught the punishment is less than not doing it in the first place. Save millions
but pay a $100,000 fine.

There is a fine line in white collar crime. Some is intentional, some is error, some is incompetence, most are a mix of these.

Your wife sounds like a very valuable person to know hahaha

I'd like to think so. Lol! She's crazy smart but so are thousands of accountants who love researching and analyzing data. It's all there, it's just hard to decipher and sift through and is constantly changing; which is why rich people pay large to have the smarties look after their money. Most of the time it's the firm that takes the penalty since they should "know better", then it's settled behind the scenes with the client.

So these articles that come out that are supposed to be damning are just rich people trying to stay rich by paying less taxes and most normal people won't bat an eye at that. It is what it is. Most people would rather pay less taxes anyway.

Not that this will make a huge difference on the topic but...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/b...nimum-tax.html

It's a matter of time before they find new loopholes... all depends on how the actual agreement is written and exercised in each country.

Meaningless. They're basically throwing everyone a bone to get poor people off their backs. Nothing is currently enforced, and this wouldn't be either.