Bill F.
Workers
can’t avoid paying tax; it’s taken out of our pay and we cough up GST almost
every time we buy something. But, if it’s a rich and powerful corporation,
things are different.
In the
June issue of Vanguard an article
titled Taxation system works for the rich
exposed the extent of tax minimisation by the corporate monopolies, with some
paying no tax at all. There was mention of the secretive use of overseas tax
havens to dodge the scrutiny of the Australian Taxation Office.
A
report has just been released by the Uniting Church which examines the use of
these tax havens by subsidiaries of the top 100 companies listed on the stock
exchange. The report was written by Mark Zirnsak, the director of the Uniting
Church Justice and International Mission Unit.
The
report, titled Secrecy Jurisdictions, the
ASX100 and Public Transparency, found that more than 60 of the top 100
companies had subsidiaries in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands,
Switzerland, Luxembourg, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Mauritius, Jersey,
the Cook Islands, the Seychelles, and in low-tax jurisdictions such as Hong
Kong and Singapore.
Many of
these subsidiaries conduct almost no commercial activity, and exist only to
avoid or minimise taxes. “These are places that fail to meet international
standards on transparency, on anti-money-laundering laws, and on tax law
co-operation,’’ said Mr Zirnsak.
News
Corporation, Westfield and the Goodman Group were listed as operating more than
50 subsidiaries each in a number of tax-free or low tax countries.
The
Commonwealth Bank was also listed. A subsidiary of the bank, Burdekin
Investments, operates out of George Town, capital of the Cayman Islands. Its
headquarters is Ugland House, home to thousands of so-called ‘post-box
companies’ taking advantage of local tax rules.
In its
2012 annual report, Telstra confirms 20 subsidiaries registered in tax havens –
11 in the British Virgin Islands, four in Bermuda, four in Jersey, one in
Mauritius and one in the Cayman Islands.
Smokescreen
Information
on the identity of corporate tax dodgers and the extent of the scams was
recently leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
It came from two companies dealing in taxation law - Commonwealth Trust Ltd in
the British Virgin Islands and Portcullis TrustNet, based in Asia.
According
to the Saturday Age, this information
has fingered more than 500 Australians with connections and involvement with
tax haven rorts. A special investigating task force, Project Wickenby, has been
set up combining the Australian Crime Commission, the Federal Police and the Australian
Tax Office.
It is a
smokescreen. Its purpose is to round up a few somewhat petty criminals and con
artists and give the appearance of cracking down on tax avoidance. It
complements the passing of parliamentary legislation to ‘close tax loopholes’ –
they’ve been doing that for decades and the rich still get away with it.
You can
bet that none of the top 100 companies, the multinationals, the corporate
monopolies and big banks, or the media monopolies will be investigated, hauled
into court and their bosses carted off to jail. The ‘legal’ tax haven
subsidiaries will continue undisturbed and the profits will keep rolling in.
In a
stagnating economy, State and federal governments are cutting services and
dumping workers. They blame falling tax revenues for the austerity measures
being imposed on the people. They dare not try to collect even the legitimate
taxes that should be levied on the monopolies, let alone impose a progressive
taxation system to spread the burden in a fairer way.
These
parasites are bludging on the working people who get less and less for the
taxes they have to pay. Workers may not like paying taxes, but they hate
bludgers who get away with not paying any.
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