At the end of 2019, British journalist Oliver Bullough presented his latest book, ‘Moneyland’ (Principal de los Libros) in Spain, and on this occasion brought up a topic that is not usually on the front page of the news. continues to work and mess in the dark. The existence of tax havens and the loss of nations when only a few play on a board parallel to that of other mortals plundering and hiding his wealth is far from the financial rules that govern each State.
In his work, Bullough provides a comprehensive (and discouraging) examination of the most scandalous cases that are even closely linked to the bankruptcy of entire countries. And his intention is very clear: to know “Why thieves and swindlers control the world and how it is being taken from us”.
Daniel Vaccaro, a tax expert and professor at EAE Business School, emphasizes that while analyzing the problem, there is no single and clear list of which regions are tax havens. For example, countries like Luxembourg or Ireland are not for the EU, but for other international organisations. Also, in his view, it is necessary to know how to distinguish between those who use them for illegal or criminal activities to launder capital and those who use them as a “landing strip for commercial profits”; It has nothing to do with each other.”he assures.
And maybe, and just maybe, it may seem that tax havens are just islands or remote corners where thieves or criminals hide their wealth, but in reality it is a much broader concept and includes countries much closer to what we imagine. . “When we think of the traditional concept of tax havens, countries that pay little (or no) tax come to mind.”, tells us Carmen Cámara, professor of Fiscal and Tax Law at UDIMA. “Of course these countries where we can feature Trinidad and Tobago or Fiji pose a threat in terms of income loss, but there are other countries (like the Netherlands, Luxembourg or Ireland) but they can’t do that. They can be considered as paradises, one way or another, they offer preferential regimes, or in many cases reduced tax rates that involve relocating companies to these regions.” Indeed, currently, as the Chamber recalls, international organizations such as the OECD or the European Union (EU) themselves describe a country as a tax haven, while “information It already includes transparency factors such as “no privacy banking”.
These conditions, such as “little or no bank secrecy and taxation”, make these countries “An ideal destination for those who have the funds or capital they want to have outside Control of the treasury”, says Benja Anglès, Professor of Legal Studies at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC).
Octavi Serra, professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Girona, emphasizes that the predominance of multinational companies is very important in the current environment, “in a globalized world with financial freedom of action”. according to you“Every multinational corporation establishes its headquarters in countries with appropriate taxation, whether tax havens or not”; yes, “always thinking about legal certainty”. He also emphasizes that this decision taken by the companies is based not only on legal uncertainty and tax rates, but also on “bad expectations of the economy, political insecurity, exchange rate risks or inflation”.
It is clear that these practices have a clear impact on the economies of the countries. According to the camera, “In tax havens, literally, European companies (and especially Spaniards) have a lot of subsidiaries.This arguably results in an “erosion of the tax base and the relocation of profits to countries with zero or low taxation.” Such that, on the one hand, they “avoid the duties and obligations of the Tax Office and the courts”, because it is not possible to request information about the funds, on the other hand, they “save the taxes they will receive”. Anglès, referring to the situation in our country, says that they must pay if they have declared or such funds in Spain.
In this way, these multinational corporations, as Anglès notes, “aside from being unsupportive and hurting society as a whole, creating unfair competition by supporting less costly, in the case of companies, undermining the support of public coffers who fulfill their tax obligations in the industry. more than any other company”. “Let’s say tax havens compete unfairly”, Serra confirms at the same address.
Logically everything shows that Administrations and international organizations are working to put an end to this practice, but is everything being done about it? In the Chamber’s view, it is true that attempts are being made to combat tax havens. “both from different international examples and internally”, but the truth is, the road is long, “because the Spanish tax havens list in Royal Decree 1080/1991 requires an update to adapt to the reality of the current environment.”
Anglès is joining this legislative route, another administrative route in this fight, which will include “a judicial remedy against illegal activities such as tax fraud and money laundering, as well as tax office checks and inspections”. He also advocates for the possibility of encouraging repatriation of funds.“In their day, with tax amnesties that allow voluntarily declared capital missed with the promise of less penalties, but with the incentive that it will begin to be fully taxed in subsequent years.” No doubt a controversial measure (and we know it well in Spain), but one that Anglès finds reasonable.
Vaccaro, on the other hand, points to the need to combine more criteria, “Because some countries want to take action, but others are happy with the status quo.” What is needed, therefore, and ultimately, is “political courage” and the will to “enforce the rules with effective sanctions”. “A lot of progress has been made, but there is still much to be done,” Vaccaro concludes, reminding that “Spain still needs to transpose the European Money Laundering Directive”.