This is from Left Foot Forward, with permission:
Mitt Romney's week from Hell is about to get worse. On Saturday he was trounced by Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina Primary; tomorrow he will reveal his tax returns for 2010, a move he has been forced into; and now Westminster MPs are calling for his Cayman Islands tax haven to be closed.
As Left Foot Forward reported last week:
Frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination Mitt Romney has been under fire over in the United States for not being entirely open about his tax arrangements — and it is clear why.
The former Massachusetts Governor stashes an awful lot of his wealth and income away from the yes of the American Treasury and in the Cayman Islands — international tax haven and overseas British territory, or in old-fashioned language, a colony of the British Empire.
The House of Commons Early Day Motion (pdf) on “Tax Havens, transparency and the top 1%” states:
“This House notes the OECD and G20's identification of the role of tax havens by wealthy corporations in fuelling the global economic crisis from 2009 onwards; is alarmed by reports that US former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is also using the Cayman Islands, a British territory, to avoid paying the same tax rate as other US citizens; is concerned about the continued use of tax havens by the top 1% in the US and UK to avoid paying the correct tax in their own country, particularly at a time when living standards are being squeezed and services lost for ordinary working people in many Western economies; and calls on the UK government to introduce urgent legislation to help close tax havens and increase transparency so that the very richest pay their fair share of tax in their respective countries and enable governments worldwide to invest more in jobs and growth.”
The Early Day Motion has been proposed by former treasury select committee member John Cryer, Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead.
He told Left Foot Forward:
“As a former member of the Treasury select committee, I think it is a disgrace that the Cayman Islands, a tax haven, can enable wealthy corporations and individuals such as Mitt Romney and others in the wealthiest 1% to avoid tax and still be cloaked in secrecy. Meanwhile all across the western world, hard-working people are seeing their living standards and take-home pay stagnate or reduced.
“It reminds me of President Kennedy's comment in his inaugural speech, ‘pay any price, bear any burden'. Except it's hard-working, modestly paid majority who are bearing that burden.”
With the Primary race set to drag on long into the Spring, this renewed scrutiny of his tax affairs is the last thing Romney needs; with Romney's team even denying the Cayman Islands are a tax haven and more scrutiny of how the murky offshore world works, tax could become a recurring problem for Team Romney.
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I sincerely hope so.
This is the testimony to what tax campaigners have achieved.
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Thank goodness John Cryer MP isn’t a judge.
“I think it is a disgrace … Mitt Romney and others in the wealthiest 1% to avoid tax and still be cloaked in secrecy. ”
Guilty of something even before they have all the facts.
The evidence is available for all to see at any time
Respectfully, only the wilfully blind could not see it
And as Romney pays tax at 15% – much lower than most in US on much lower income – he’s certainly avoiding whilst using cayman which ahs draconian secrecy laws
i rest my case
And you haven’t got one, bar supporting abuse
Rubbish, I do not condone abuse. All I ask is that a person be given all the opportunity necessary to explain the situation. Obtain all the facts and have all the questions answered. That is not an abuse. That is called a rule of law.
And this is not a court
And I based my comments on available reliable sources
So your comment is inappropriate and in the wrong place
With respect, the reason Romney and many others use the Caymans is preceisly because, as Richard says, it has draconian secrecy laws which are there to prevent any let alone all, facts being made known about his wealth.
If you’re so concerned about people being judged before all the facts are known you should campaign for tax havens, or secrecy jurisdictions as they can also be called, to be closed down.
You have to remember it’s illegal inb Cayman to ask about a client of a financial services company, not just to give the information…it’s that absurd
at the risk of asking a stupid question – how do you “close” a tax haven exactly? and what power do the UK government have to “close” a country down?!?! isnt this motion yet another example of the point scoring pathetic actions of politicians trying to appeal to the common middle?
Im not even sure what it has to do with the UK politicians anyway – why arent they focussing on the UK’s issues rather than helping the US to collect tax from one of its politicians?
Im surprised you havent mentioned the Harry Redknapp case on here – at least that is to do with a loss of revenue to the UK exchequer…..
I thought US citizens were subject to tax on their worldwide income, in which case hasnt he already got a problem?
Redknapp has been mentioned
Cayman is a British Overseas Territory for which we are wholly responsible in international law
And it undermines our tax revenues
If you can’t see that you haven’t read much here
But as you have you’re a time waster
I think you’re heading fast for the automatic delete list
you commented on redknapp after i posted this – and it was good to see you do so.
if its not cayman it will be netherlands antilles – the point remains, we have far more important and pressing work for our politicians to do than waste their time with motions like this which will go nowhere.
but you would say that
Richard, I guess you saw the letter from Anthony Travers in the FT yesterday.
http://www.caymanhedgefunds.com/articles/view/979_anthony-travers-hits-out-at-the-ft