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The 9 Best Tax Havens in the World

Generally, there is no standard definition that renders a country a tax haven. A tax haven is commonly a jurisdiction that offers low taxes, favorable taxes, no taxes, bank secrecy, and tax exemptions. The most important functions of a tax haven that attracts businesses from all over are: Provide secrecy of bank accounts from tax authorities of other countries and also provides a safe haven for ‘passive investments’. If you are an investor or you want to start a business here are the best tax havens countries that you should take advantage of…

Bermuda

Was placed first on Oxfam’s list 2016 of the worst corporate tax havens worldwide. There’s no personal income tax rate as well as corporate tax charged and this has attracted many US companies who rip profits of up to $80 billion.

Luxembourg

From its business and tax-friendly laws, it has attracted hundreds of international countries to invest there and hence evade billions of taxes. According to Oxfam, it has zero percent withholding taxes, tax incentives, and large- scale profit shifting. It is one of the Benelux countries.

Netherlands

It is one of the Benelux countries and was placed third by the Oxfam list of the worst corporate tax havens. It has become the most famous among the Fortune 500.

Singapore

It has reasonable corporates taxes which it evades through lack of withholding taxes, tax incentives, and substantial profit shifting as reported by Oxfam.

Cayman Island

It has the largest tax evasion for both multinational corporations and individuals and was placed second on Oxfam lists of the worst tax havens. They allow a corporation to be established and retain its assets without necessarily paying taxes.

The Isle of Man

Located between Ireland and England it has the highest rates of 20% on low income-tax, has no turnover tax, capital gains or capital transfer tax. Most people have their employee pension plans here due to its great pension plans which favor employer-sponsored accounts only and not individual accounts.

Mauritius

Mauritius does not participate in international taxation and anti-abuse transparency initiatives have low corporate tax and no withholding tax. It is a famous country for investment with many mega corporations like Pepsi, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have subsidiaries there.

What Americans Want from Tax Reforms

Over 90% of all American citizens want investments tasked as much as wages. That’s according to a survey conducted by WalletHub. This debate has even been brought up through the current presidential election debates that are taking place in the country.  Americans, it appears, want tax equality – and that means tax reforms.

Critics have argued that there’s worsening income equality under the last two administrations. This inequality has also been perceived through gender and marriage rights. Based on the WalletHub study that involved more than a thousand American taxpayers, below are the most common tax reform issues that people are interested in.

I. Equality before Economy

When asked what they thought was the most important among ‘tax fairness’, ‘tax equality’ and ‘what’s best for the economy’, most respondents in the survey placed economy at the end of their priority list. Over 60% said that they wanted tax fairness while about 20% placed a lot of prominence on tax equality. 18% thought that the economy was the priority issue. This perhaps wouldn’t have been the response a few years ago during the Great Recession, when a majority of Americans poured their hearts out to the economy.

II. More Simplicity with Fewer Deductions

Taxation is an expensive affair. In addition to the fact that about 31% of each American’s annual income goes to local, state and federal taxes, taxpayers spend billions (and a lot of time for that matter) trying to file returns and comply with tax regulations. That’s an additional cost that’s brought about by the complication of the tax code. Most Americans would wish that this code was less complicated. According to the WalletHub survey, more than 80% of the respondents think that the tax code has become ‘too complex’. This is compared to only 2% who think that it’s ‘simple’. Nearly half of polled respondents think that a simpler and fairer tax code would only have fewer deductions.

III.More Tax for Corporations

Wall Street vs Main Street – that’s a rivalry that has decorated the American taxation debate for years. Many taxpayers, it appears, were enraged by the government’s bailouts of major firms, including those that contributed to the recent recession. The fact that corporate profits have bounced much faster than household incomes typically ‘adds salt to the injury’. Some of the largest and most profitable American companies are parking overseas in order to avoid hefty taxation in the U.S. over 90% of respondents in the WalletHub survey said that investments should be tasked as much as wages are. This piece of information clearly highlights the current taxpayer sentiment.

IV. More Tax for Wealthy Americans

More Americans want a heavier tax burden imposed on the rich. In fact, most people would prefer a model where tax rates increased steadily based on income. This view has been held by American taxpayers for quite a long time, and it’s no surprise it’s brought up every time there’s a looming presidential election!

To sum it all up, American taxpayers really want Uncle Sam to view and treat all his children equally when it comes to paying taxes.