Yes. You read it right. Malaysia has been blacklisted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last week during the G20 summit in London Excel Centre. Well, to be precise, it is the Labuan International Business and Finance Centre (LIBFC) that was blacklist by OECD. Three other countries that are blacklisted by OECD are Phillipines, Costa Rica and Uruguay.The non-cooperative centres are accused of harbouring foreign tax avoiders who park billions of dollars out of reach of their home authorities.
Singapore, Brunei and Switzerland are on a separate grey list of countries that have agreed to improve transparency standards but have not yet signed the necessary international accords. Also on the grey list are Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, Monaco, Chile, Guatemala, Bahamas, Bermuda, Bahrain, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Andorra, Antigua, Aruba, Gibraltar, Grenada, Montserrat, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and Grenadines, Samoa San Marino, Turks and Caicos Islands and Vanuatu.
The lists were made public as the Group of 20 leaders from rich and developing nations declared at their London summit that the age of banking secrecy was over and that they would no longer tolerate shady havens draining away badly needed tax revenue.
Singapore, Brunei and Switzerland are on a separate grey list of countries that have agreed to improve transparency standards but have not yet signed the necessary international accords. Also on the grey list are Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, Monaco, Chile, Guatemala, Bahamas, Bermuda, Bahrain, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Andorra, Antigua, Aruba, Gibraltar, Grenada, Montserrat, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and Grenadines, Samoa San Marino, Turks and Caicos Islands and Vanuatu.
The lists were made public as the Group of 20 leaders from rich and developing nations declared at their London summit that the age of banking secrecy was over and that they would no longer tolerate shady havens draining away badly needed tax revenue.
Tax havens that refuse to sign anti-secrecy agreements face expensive sanctions under an unprecedented global effort to catch illegal tax evaders.
Among the sanctions being considered by the G20 are the scrapping of tax treaty arrangements, imposing additional taxes on companies that operate in non-compliant countries, and tougher disclosure requirements for individuals and businesses that use shelters.
An estimated $7 trillion of assets are held offshore and, according to pressure group Tax Justice Network, developed countries lose $180bn a year in evaded taxes.
So, exactly how much $1 trillion is ? Well, $1 trillion in simple math is equivalent to $ 1,000,000,000,000.00
No comments:
Post a Comment