Developing country states have been calling for action on tax havens for more than a decade
The leaks of 2.6m leaked documents into the offshore world paint a depressing picture of how the world’s mega-rich can get their hands on more than $20 trillion in untaxed or lightly taxed wealth.
Neglected by their governments and stuck in what they believe to be offshore secrecy havens, the super-rich can use those offshores to shield what they earn from any taxpayer scrutiny.
The leaked documents are the findings of a conspiracy theory created by the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, that surfaced in 2016. At the time, they exposed the web of offshore businesses run by the rich and powerful, including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Development organisations – including Oxfam – have called for action on tax havens for more than a decade. It was less than a year ago that Oxfam published a “tax haven index”, which put Cayman Islands as the least taxed country in the world.
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