It is commonly accepted that 10 000 to 12 000 billion (7 130-8 555 billion euros) in annual average pass by the various tax havens around the world. These illegal flows are not only rich countries. A good part of them comes from developing countries (DCs). How? That is the question. To quantify this, the Norwegian government has commissioned a report by a commission experts chaired by Professor Guttorm Schelderup, economist, and that Eva Joly, a former magistrate, was a part. After several months of work, a report entitled "Tax havens and Development was delivered in mid-June to Erik Solheim, Minister of the Environment and International Development of Norway ( our analysis).
The result is instructive. Norwegian economists estimate that about 20% of deposits in tax havens from developing countries, is "a sum of between 2 200 and 2 400 billion, thirty times what developing countries receive form of aid.
If we are to believe the report, tax evasion in developing countries accounted for the year 2006 a sum of between 641 and 979 billion dollars. By comparison, net capital inflows into these countries reached in 2006, according to the World Bank, 571 billion. "Even the lowest estimates lead to the fact that illegal capital outflows exceed the inflows," the report said. The evasion of the developing countries is also about 10 times the amount of aid provided by rich countries and about 6% to 8.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) of these countries. By comparison, income tax countries the poorest 13% of their GDP.
All these illegal flows do not result in tax havens. But, and this is one of the key points of the report, the offshore centers contribute to the "gangsterization" political systems in the POS. Tax havens "and promote corruption and scams carried out by politicians on development aid, natural resources and public money." Worse, the report adds that the examples are not lacking "deliberate destruction of institutions to prevent illegal exit of capital, lobbying against officers so they neglect their duties without mentioning the assassination of officials. "The report cites the example of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia where local politicians have deliberately torpedoed the role of local agencies for environmental protection in order to allow an intensive exploitation of tropical forests. kickbacks paid to this end have almost inevitably ended up in tax havens.
These criminal practices facilitated by the existence of tax havens with little incentives to poor countries Investing for a better administrative efficiency. "The likelihood of discovering an economic crime is lower in developing countries, "the report said adding that the existence of tax havens is an encouragement to criminal behavior."
The Norwegian report point with particular severity the responsibility of multinationals in the weakening tax POS. The so-called policy of "transfer pricing", namely the various techniques to manipulate the price of intra - or even trade with other companies - in order to transfer profits in zero tax jurisdictions, plays a role factor in the weakening taxes for all countries. Accounting practices of multinational Norwegian and would generate a tax loss of 30% for Norway's budget. Among its recommendations
priority Schelderup Professor calls for improved rules on transfer pricing and changes in tax treaties to which the actual activities of a company determines its tax domicile.
Yves Mamou
Source: Le Monde ( http://www.lemonde.fr/la-crise-financiere/article/2009/06/29/dans-les-paradis-fiscaux-20-des- deposits-from-the-country-by-way-of-developpement_1212997_1101386.html )
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