Tax fraud: which countries are most affected?

The NGO Tax Justice Network published on Tuesday the list of countries where it is easier to hide your income or launder your money. Against all odds, it is the United States and the United Kingdom that are singled out for tax evasion. They register an increase of 15% and 26% respectively.

When we think of banking secrecy we think of Switzerland and we are wrong. The NGO Tax Justice Network published on Tuesday the list of countries where you can hide your income or launder your money the most easily and, surprisingly, you can find the United States and the United Kingdom prominently in it.

They are the ones who have increased their offer of so-called opaque financial services the most, plus 26% for the United Kingdom and + 15% for the United States. A trend that goes completely against the fight waged by international institutions against money laundering or against tax havens. What is an opaque financial service? It covers a lot of things, these are shell companies, offshore accounts, it is a particularly well-kept banking secret, private foundations whose donors remain anonymous. In short, it's a whole financial environment that promotes either money laundering or the concealment of income. What this ranking shows in any case is that it is very difficult to roll back these so-called money optimization techniques.

Is the case of the United Kingdom the most worrying today?

The classification points very clearly to the weight taken by the territories under British control in the world galaxy of financial opacity, example the Cayman Islands (at the top of the classification) or the Virgin Islands which point in 9th place. However, Brexit has been fueling a psychosis for several months, that of seeing London and its satellites transform into a real offshore financial center which would massively attract capital by not being too attentive to the rules. If this is really their intention, the British in any case have a good starting point for taking action.

Daniel Fortin replaces Nicolas Barré on Wednesday February 19, 2020.