There’s nothing in a tax haven

[@charliemoore2551]

The network of tax havens could be closed down very easily if the governments of the major economies agreed to do so. None of them want to because all of them serve the interest of the wealthy rather than their populations.

[@freemason4979]

Politicians are thieves, taxhavens are good

[@user-gf5qm9no8q]

​@@justinstephenson9360isn't there a long street just with letterboxes of major corporations and nothing else? Or so I was told

[@Art-is-craft]

So you think wealthy governments who built their economies on the back of lower taxation in the past should now be able to bully smaller economies in regards to taxation. The modern world is so degenerate and people seem to be very open about it.

[@charliemoore2551]

@@Art-is-craft No government has built an economy on lower taxation.

[@taffyman6089]

The tax havens are Britain's replacement for the Empire. A tax haven is a filter to exclude scrutiny and taxation at source.

[@michaelmayo3127]

Well Richard, it would seem that you have had some success in the EU. EU citzens holding offshore bank accounts; must now declare - make transparent - their offshore banking activities. Failing to do so, will be sanctioned. Also now, tax must be paid at the source of income.

[@michaelmayo3127]

@@justinstephenson9360 Well, when I live in the UK my off shore account was not made know to HMRC. One could just walk into a Building society - and with one husle - open an I of M account with them. Also the EU's new tax legislation, that I refer to, was the very legislation that the UK wanted tobe exempt from; however, Cameron couldn't convince the EU, that when it came to offshore banking transparency, the UK should have a special status. And he when back to the UK; empty-handed and the UK got brexit!! The reason why and - in-spit of brexit - that many Tory supporting investor are still pissed of with EU; is because now, they have to pay tax at source, on their EU investments. Under the old EU tax legislation, they were allowed to move their income to tax havens. And of course they still have that right and it's their privileged, but for one small wrinkle; they have to pay EU tax first!!

[@CuriousCrow-mp4cx]

Actual)) y that's not true. The Benficial owners of Blind Trusts still are not revealed to HRMC. If they had been, the Panama Papers would not have been a thing, and Julian Assange would have not got in trouble. That was the UK’s financial sectors problem with the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive, which would have forced them to create a register of the Beneficial Owners of Blind Trusts held in offshore tax havens to which the tax authorities of member states could access. The problem was and still us, that the UK directly or indirectly controls the governance of the vast majority of tax havens globally. And the pressure will grow over to remove anonymity altogether. Consequently, Britain's Second Empire may have its best years behind it.

[@piotergod]

@@CuriousCrow-mp4cx I wonder if the question of regulating tax heavens was a real reason for Brexit... The idea was most supported by very wealthy individuals and Yes campaign got biggest support from there.

[@dennismccarthy7032]

Thank you Richard , clearly explained and well presented ❤

[@RichardJMurphy]

Thank you

[@rfxtuber]

@@RichardJMurphy Richard.. Why are we looking at tax heavens specifically when we should be looking at the jurisdictions like the UK that are using accountants to create them from the UK with legislation that allows it in the first place? I.E Shell companies ect, ect...

[@peterdilworth9282]

Thanks Richard for explaining this. It leaves one wondering why on earth any particular jurisdiction should want to become a tax haven. It seems there is very little benefit for them in so doing. Could also explain why the Jersey government is so strapped for cash at the moment………

[@Sartorialpirate]

Very interesting and well explained. It’s a brave thing you do considering the rich and powerful people you might be upsetting.

[@dipped12]

Brilliant, great explanation of what really happens in secrecy jurisdictions.

[@idiosyncraticblog]

The locals struggle with high property prices whilst strangers birth their yatchs on the harbour and the politicians cream off the top.

[@jonathanknight1850]

Berth

[@jonathanknight1850]

And Yachts

[@ruimendes6538]

Amazing explanation, thank you

[@peterw4338]

Some offshore banks are just a bras name plate near the front door and a server running in an empty office.

[@martinwright8108]

Better add another 's' before anyone else thinks that you are suggesting that Playtex is a major tax haven player.

[@stevenwilliamson6236]

Michelle Mone?​@@martinwright8108

[@DwynAgGaire]

Thank you sir!

[@johndover3626]

"There's nothing in a tax haven". Nothing but homes on the property market at astronomical prices.

[@michelemartin7276]

Can you explain how Freeport’s work please?

[@lonevoice]

Supposedly, western countries are losing about $500bn per annum in corporation tax and $200bn in personal taxes through the use of tax havens. This is massive and impinges on the ability of western countries to provide decent public services and government investment. It is a problem that we are already experiencing and will get far worse if we do nothing.

[@p8700-z5q]

Well the government writes the tax code, which includes loopholes for the ultra wealthy. So it's not a mistake that the ultra wealthy are able to avoid tax, it's by design, and it's not the reason public services are failing, it's through poor management. Education, healthcare and transport are extremely poorly managed. Simply throwing more money into the void isn't enough.

[@Alberto-k6t]

only 500bn ? how about the massive wealth transfers tò NL and Ireland?

[@helenheenan3447]

It's much worse for developing countries, who need the investment in their own societies.

[@nazb1982]

@@p8700-z5qmaybe poorly managed by design to allow the bosses to get a fat cheque whereas it’s pay freeze or limited rises for those doing the work

[@lonevoice]

@@p8700-z5q Really? The loss of $500bn per annum and growing has no effect on the level of public services that can be provided?

[@brucebeadnell]

I don’t think anything will ever change, all protection will be in place

[@Alberto-k6t]

1. Who allows Jersey to do that? 2. i would like to point out the IRAP tax which funds Regional Healthcare Systems (Italian NHS is devolved) . Each region ( it could be Scotland, Wales, Ni, Counties) gets from Public insitutions, private partnerships, Ltds, Coops, PLCs located there a 3 percent of the VAT base minus writing downs, but for banks, financial institutions, insurances it is 5,9 %of the gross operating income(interest margin + net commissions received) then shared amongst regions on the basis of personnel operating in each region in case of large firms. Also the profit by funds' management coming back from Jersey to London would consequently flow back into real world expenses. Uk government could call it Health tax or Local Tax on Busineses.

[@peterw4338]

I was chasing after a crook property owner (several hundred blocks of flats) who was also named on the Panama Papers. His company is registered in Panama, payments are made to a UK management company owned by the Panamanian company but payments go via a shell company in Jersey. His company address is at a firm of solicitors owned by him and the solicitors do nothing other than legal work for the owner and bank the money. The crook owner (address known) lives in one on the most expensive areas in *************. All money is withdrawn in cash from ATMs. No tax is paid. I gave the information the HMRC, who responded, he is too bigger fish to go after.

[@470danadidas]

So instead, what does HMRC do? Come after the little people for selling a chair on Ebay! 🤔🫣

[@tricky1992000]

Some companies based in tax havens are just a PO box. I always think how can a company that is based in the UK, have all of their operations in the UK, but some how be based in Luxembourgh.

[@tricky1992000]

One of my biggest annoyances is certain companies use tax havens, but then want to use governments to protect their 'intellectual property'. For example media and film companies. There shouldn't be any appetite for a crackdown on dodgy TV sticks for example. Not when you learn that Harry potter 'didn't make any money'.

[@sampalladio9122]

Vive la tax revolution

[@12theotherandrew]

So why does the UK maintain so many tax havens? (About 14 of them.) What’s in it for the tax haven?

[@Art-is-craft]

You mean independent regions with autonomy?

[@warfish0r]

The 'tax haven' is never 0% tax, but simply a low enough rate to encourage use. So tax havens are able to extract significant amounts of tax that 'should' be being paid elsewhere.

[@Risingsunscarab]

I know this might be a stupid question and something that most of you already know, but can someone explain to me the benefit too the actual tax haven itself? By that, I mean, what do these tax havens gain from laundering the profits of the rich if the money does not even boost their local economy? Is it just a case of straight up corruption?

[@debbiegilmour6171]

Reminds me of the cayman islands. Nothing there and that which is there is mostly illusionary.

[@CountProsper]

There is no money in tax havens is true in exactly the same way as there is no money anywhere else either. Almost all money is just a record in a ledger.

[@charnockvideo]

Great video. Is there UK legislation that actually defines the distinction between 'onshore' and offshore'? If that distinction could be legislated away would it make any difference? I assume it would need legislation worldwide to have any meaningful impact.

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

Not entirely true- there are a lot of brass plates. Think of it as end-to-end encryption...

[@indricotherium4802]

This is quite confusing. Surely when the tax avoided money of a depositor in Jersey is moved to a bank on the mainland, it is not into a named account created for that same depositor, that he or she can freely access and spend.

[@helenheenan3447]

It won't be moved to an account in the UK unless it's for payment or investment; in other words, it might be moved to someone else's account, but not the account ofthe owner.

[@indricotherium4802]

@@helenheenan3447 : so which bank would the depositor/owner use to cover his or her payment or investment transaction, the one in the tax haven or its big brother on the mainland?

[@econrith]

i hope that if they ever do get around to taxing the investment they do not Tax THE ENTIRE OF THE INVESTED but only the realised profits from the investments otherwise chaos will ensue in all markets. No guarantees though are there? as it all depends upon the intelligence of the decision maker as it were.

[@danh5637]

Well taxation is theft. What an odd thing to be proud of!

[@CuriousCrow-mp4cx]

Taxation isn't theft if you want to have a government protect your property rights, and the infrastructure that allows you to be able to create wealth. That costs money.

[@danh5637]

@@CuriousCrow-mp4cx it is theft. It’s taken by force and without consent. You can justify being robbed to yourself to try and ameliorate that. And there are nations that still manage to uphold order without taxes!

[@catsupchutney]

It's all ledger entries. I mean how much money exists as gold, silver or even paper notes?

[@RichardJMurphy]

@@catsupchutney You need to watch my recent video in this. All money is debt. Nothing else.

[@gaspode505]

Main reason for Brexit, EU crack down on tax heavens......95% owned by UK 😂 Like they done in Cyprus

[@PeterrAre]

When people can choose to have captions come up why do you put text on the video - so distracting and I end up following it instead of looking at the presenter or whats going on in the video

[@CuriousCrow-mp4cx]

Ask Google - it's their platform. And BTW, all caption are placed over video and film.

[@Jonny-w3w]

Because they have already skipped town 🤣

[@tomfreemanorourke1519]

There are numbers and numbers, more numbers and some numbers subtracted from those numbers by numbers run by machines / algorithms and no conscious cognoscentient being other than the creators.

[@gwoodlogger4068]

What is dark pool money?

[@neil5877]

All tax havens must be closed, and all tax loopholes must be closed by politicians around the world.

[@p.m.8316]

Politicians benefit from those loopholes, off course they not going to close them. Don't be so naive.

[@lonevoice]

I agree with Richard and this is an important video and I left a comment earlier which is still shown. I had three replies and responded to one of the replies to challenge the legitimacy of the statement made in a polite and factual manner. My reply was posted but then disappeared. Is there some agenda issue going on here? I can't imagine it was Richard that deleted the reply.

[@briskyoungploughboy]

Yep. It only happens to intelligent comments in my experience. Dumb comments usually stay in place. This started happening to me regularly about 3 months ago...

[@jsc123uk]

Agent of the boot.

[@NotnotKingofficial]

As someone who works in the Guernsey finance industry a lot of what this guy says is very misleading. Funds and banks registered in Guernsey (and Jersey) are required to conduct their core income generating activities in Guernsey under economic substance requirements. Beneficial asset registers record the source of assets. Far more dirty money in London property than crown dependancies. Cost of living and average earnings is similar to London. Although much nicer place to live virtually no unemployment (0.7%) and you get to keep much more of your money as taxes are much lower.

[@RichardJMurphy]

@@NotnotKingofficial What is really funny is you will not identify yourself, rather making the point that all you claim is a veneer and the substance of the place persists - it is a secrecy jurisdiction

[@NotnotKingofficial]

@@RichardJMurphyOk, boomer.

[@helphelpimbeingrepressed9347]

@@NotnotKingofficial what has generation got to do with whats being discussed?

[@NotnotKingofficial]

@@helphelpimbeingrepressed9347 Old guy berates someone for being anonymous on the internet rather than addressing their arguments.

[@helphelpimbeingrepressed9347]

@@NotnotKingofficial Presumably young guy plays whataboutism instead of addressing my point. - See how that works?

[@thpark8189]

You are cherry-picking one activity, and generalizing. And so what. Many banks in London exist to hold assets made by trading overseas.

[@Dewsta26]

Yawn. Whats the point?

[@squibys2262]

Erm you are paying more than your fair share as a result, does that make u feel better?

[@duncansmith7562]

yep, avoiding tax DOES count towards well being, because it allows more money to be in the hands of people who will spend it wisely, as opposed to waste it, as the government does. As Milton Friedman pointed out, those who spend most unwisely are those spending other people's money on other people's projects (governments).

[@davewoodward1155]

The rich don't spend it wisely. Only in self interest.Unless of course you think that is ok. If your system worked the poverty of Victoian England would never have happened.Most of the wealthy families in the uk didn't make their money from spending it wisely they got it by being descendents or friends of William the conquer. Duke of Westminster, Lord percy of Northumber, The King etc still hugely wealthy never invented anything or worked in real jobs and all used tax havens to maintain their status. Nothing earned or any meritocracy in that. That is why the UK allows tax havens to exist. With out tax there would be no roads, universal schools, hospitals etc.

[@duncansmith7562]

@@davewoodward1155 you reckon only the rich spend their money only on self interest? Newsflash...the whole world spends on self interest. The rich have a lot more to give to charity, and so do. you should bow down and worship the philanthropy of the rich. the poverty of Victorian England was slightly more bearable than the poverty of pre Victorian England...it was a great stepping stone to the middle class affluence we see today. of course, a small number of aristocrats inherit their fortunes. The vast majority of the wealthy made their money by having great entrepreneurial ideas and working hard. no surprise you are jealous of such people. Roads, schools, hospitals all existed before taxes, and such things exist where taxes are minimal. you have no clue how the world works.

[@FreemonSandlewould]

If you want to shut these places down stop taxing income. You all just want something for nothing. All taxes should be strictly voluntary.

[@helphelpimbeingrepressed9347]

oh boy...

[@jimshelley8831]

The rich don't want to pay any taxes .

[@davewoodward1155]

That's a really bad idea...

[@duncansmith7562]

"insure that it is properly taxed elsewhere" as if you have the one and only proper definition of "proper taxation". why do you assume the rate of taxation you assume to be "proper" is correct, while the number assumed by others must necessarily be wrong?

[@duncansmith7562]

thanks for the blabbering lecture on how banking is just a system of keeping a record of who owes whom what amount. if your point was that offshore banking is just the same as regular banking in this respect, i think we all knew that!

[@imconfused1237]

Exactly 👏 After watching a couple of this guys videos, what comes across is a condescending undertone. But he lacks the self awareness to recognise he’s stating the obvious! 😂 I strongly suspect that Grandpa doesn’t realise just how clued up the modern generations actually are, and what he firmly believes are impressive ‘gotchas!’ are actually irrelevant factoids. Sooner or later he’s going to run out of supercilious content. And the channel dies. Oh well. Next.

[@duncansmith7562]

@@imconfused1237 yep, you nailed it with the words "condescending undertone". he drones on as if his audience has never considered the subject matter in hand and that he has some stupendous revelation to offer his pleb audience. if only!

[@CuriousCrow-mp4cx]

I love the bot farmers who reply to their own comments. It's hilarious, especially when their critiquing a chartered accountant, who's also a trained Economist. Shows why the UK economy is ranking. Instead of investing their money productively, they prefer to launder dirty money.

[@duncansmith7562]

@@CuriousCrow-mp4cx like a "trained economist" never got anything wrong, lol.

[@duncansmith7562]

other way round (as usual, you got it all backwards) it's not Jersey et al creating legislation to undermine other jurisdictions. it's jurisdictions that have created punitive legislation on its taxpayers, like the UK, that leave places like Jersey with more attractive banking opportunities. Tax havens wouldn't exist if certain jurisdictions didn't create such punitive tax laws.