Cayman Islands to Disclose Tax Shelter Companies

[appleannie1]

After decades of secrecy, the tax-haven country is considering a public database that will make the names of thousands of previously hidden companies and their directors, public.
CIMA, the three-islands’ monetary authority has outlined plans to create a public database of funds domiciled on the island for the first time, reports The Telegraph.

The island nation is a group of three islands; Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac in the Western Caribbean Sea. The country is a British dependent territory and has gained popularity around the world for its offshore financial centre. The Cayman Islands is the world’s fifth (5th) largest financial off-shore centre for tax sheltering activities.

Tax shelters have been described as helping to reduce tax liabilities, tax planning and asset protection. Many USA companies, including Facebook, have been using tax-shelters to avoid paying more taxes.

Since the onset of the worldwide financial crisis, key financial regulatory institutions have been asking tax-haven countries to be more transparent in their operations.
http://www.progressivepress.net/cayman-islands-to-disclose-tax-shelter-companies/

Hope Romney and friends have lots of clean undies.

[rhett o rick]

1. What difference will this make? nm

[Skittles]

3. knowing who these tax-evading bastards are?

PLENTY

[rhett o rick]

4. So what then? So we find out Facebook avoids taxes? There really isnt much

that we can do, or will do.

[Skittles]

5. there's reasons why assholes like Romney hide that stuff

[rhett o rick]

9. I am not arguing against, I am trying to find out facts. What legally can be done with

this information?

[Skittles]

10. probably nothing

but people might start demanding changes to the perks rich assholes get if they realized it's a major reason why social security and medicare are now political footballs

[rhett o rick]

12. I hope something good comes of it. Remember the guy that spilt the beans

about American money in Switzerland? The only thing that happened was he got in a hell of a lot of trouble.

[another_liberal]

20. Wrong.

The whistle-blower is now free and was recently awarded two and a half million dollars in reward money by the IRS.

[rhett o rick]

21. That's great. I will have to look that up. I hadnt heard. nm

[another_liberal]

23. If I remember correctly . . .

If I remember correctly, the IRS did manage to recover quite a bit of cash through negotiations with the tax dodgers, but identities were protected in return.

In Greece a former finance minister is facing criminal charges for not prosecuting Greek millionaires who were also caught hiding cash tax free in the same scandal.

[Maraya1969]

27. Because then they won't be hidden anymore. Then they will have to pay taxes on them.

[Paulie]

28. Facebook is an Irish company as I recall

so avoiding taxes in the North Atlantic not Caribbean.

[Arctic Dave]

8. Two words: Tax evasion.

Now they will have to explain how all their money came to be in an offshore account without being documented.

[rhett o rick]

11. Go on. Will amounts be devulged? Is it illegal to move money off-shore? I am

asking because I dont know.

[Skittles]

13. I am guessing you do know

[rhett o rick]

15. I really dont know the law in this case. Not too long ago

a list of names of Americans that were hiding their money in Switzerland was revealed by a whistle-blower. As far as I know, nothing happened except the whistle-blower was fired and will probably never work in banking again.

[another_liberal]

18. However, the list was not released to the public . . .

However, the list was not released to the public. The whistle-blower did have to serve a brief jail sentence for his participation in tax fraud, but has recently been released and was awarded a 2.4 million dollar reward from the IRS.

[BadgerKid]

30. What happened (maybe) was the reopening of the tax dodger forgiveness program.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/09/us-usa-taxes-irs-offshore-idUSTRE8081ZW20120109

I recalled this coming out last year. I'm too tired to figure out if there was an actual causative effect.

[Arctic Dave]

14. It is illegal to move money offshore if it is not declared.

Think of the last time you traveled out of country and you were required to state if you had an excess of $10,000 dollars.

This will also make it harder for money-launderers.


As for the amounts, I don't have an answer but that will probably not happen.

[SamHarris2012]

34. The world is changing

It makes a huge difference if you ask me. Folks will no longer be able to hide their money. It will be out in the open.

Remember that scene in Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise? The part where he says, "The list is in the open."

When this list gets in the open, people will finally see how much money these fat cats have and how little they pay in taxes.

[Skittles]

2. DO IT!!!

[freshwest]

6. K & R

[BlueJazz]

7. I think the excrement is about to hit the spinning propellers

[kenny blankenship]

16. Don't think that this is going to shame the rich

Most of them would be more ashamed of having their peers know or think that they did NOT have a tax dodge than they would be if they were named on some list of offshoring tax cheats. As to what the 99% think of them, they really do not give a shit. This is difficult for some to accept. They hate you and if you hate them, they feel all the more justified in fucking you over.

[another_liberal]

17. What if Willard (Mitt) Romney had won?

What if Willard (Mitt) Romney had won? Can you imagine the scramble to contain fallout from the truth about part of his off-shore finances being made public on the very eve of his inauguration?

Since he lost it will be less important, but still icing on the cake of victory.

[Autumn]

22. If that idiot had won, we would be bombing the hell out of the Cayman Islands

just to make damn sure no info got out.

[another_liberal]

24. They would be a smoking ruin . . .

They would be a smoking ruin by Monday morning. I doubt it not.

[mwooldri]

25. If that were to happen...

...then all hell would break loose. The USA would be scrambling to get out of Europe - fast. In any case, no bombing would happen even if Mr Romney got the Presidency (very unlikely now).

[Autumn]

29. Right.... and we never attacked a country that never attacked us

for instance, Iraq.

[spanone]

19. k&r...

[mwooldri]

26. I wonder if Cameron has his hands in this?

Considering the Caymans are a Crown Dependency and all that. It wouldn't be just America that would benefit from this.

[NightWatcher]

31. Shit, I gotta move my money now

Who wants to hold a roll of nickels for me and keep it hush hush?

[Auntie Bush]

35. When the Gov finds out I got a lot of money in the Caymans....

They will stop my food stamps.

[SamHarris2012]

32. Makes sense to me...

I'm pretty sure many countries are tying to get additional revenue. These rich folks can't keep hiding their money forever. Some country will always declare jurisdiction over it. So the question becomes, which country do I want to pay taxes in? Because some country will lay claim on these accounts.

[Warren DeMontague]

33. Speculation was that Romney's reason for not wanting to release his old returns (remember those?)

Was that he took advntage of a 2009 IRS amnesty on reporting these sorts of offshore accounts.

It would have been legal, but in black and white- and would have looked bad.

In that case, Romney personally might now be legit; but no doubt others of his pals may not have done the same thing.