A leak of 13.4 million files has exposed how the world’s most influential businesses, politicians, athletes and celebrities protect their wealth from taxes through tax havens. Through legal technicalities and loopholes, the rich are able to avoid trillions of dollars in tax. Called the “Paradise Papers”, the material came from two offshore service providers and reveals the following:
- Apple has avoided billions in taxes through a new secretive structure and avoided a crackdown in 2013 by storing $252 billion in a tax haven
- The Queen’s private estate has invested millions of pounds into a Cayman Islands fund.
- Twitter and Facebook have hundreds of millions of dollars traced to be from Russian state financial institutions.
- Vigorous tax-avoidance from Nike.
- A $450 million trust fund sheltering Lord Ashcroft’s funds.
- President Donald Trump’s advisers, donors and cabinet members are involved in numerous offshore dealings, which includes payments from a firm co-owned by Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law to Wilbur Ross’ shipping group.
- How two billionaires used offshore webs to purchase shares in Everton and Arsenal football clubs.
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s moneyman manages a tax-avoiding Cayman Islands trust.
- Isle of Man and Malta tax refunds totaling billions of dollars given to private jet and luxury yacht owners
Pressure now lies on President Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa may as both have expressed commitment to decrease large-scale tax-avoidance.