Tax haven activist Nicholas Shaxson has hit out at New Zealand for opposing a plan to create a UN body to tackle tax haven abuse.
Shaxson, who has become famous following the publication of Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole the World, said New Zealand is letting down the developing world.
He has also revealed that New Zealand has a growing reputation as an offshore haven itself. He predicts New Zealand will appear on the Tax Justice Network's Financial Secrecy Index by 2013.
In January, New Zealand's permanent mission to the UN in New York said it did not support the creation of a new intergovernmental body or upgrading existing structures noting the creation would have "resource implications".
Nick is right:
1) New Zealand is a tax haven;
2) The resources referred to are those looted from developing countries through New Zealand trust structures.
New Zealand likes to play all innocent on this issue but it's pretty pernicious.
And opprobrium should follow.
The UN can work to help developing countries on this issue. Tax havens like New Zealand don't want them to do so.
It's not coincidence.
It's a deliberate choice to exploit poverty.
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Poverty? Where? In New Zealand? Have you been there? I have. It’s neither poor, nor poverty stricken 😐
You didn’t answer the question about Barbados not being bankrupt.
You sure have a way to not connect the dots Richard… we call it hand waving.
New Zealand’s tax structures are ho-hum. They’re not Cayman Islands, and they have a historical basis – how many POMS sent their third child to New Zealand?
Just pay attention to the actual fact — “New Zealand’s permanent mission to the UN in New York said it did not support the creation of a new intergovernmental body“. Bureaucracy, so-called “inter government bodies”, and corruption are the main reason for the poverty!!! The Marx’s “a heavy progressive or graduated income tax” (as in The Communist Manifesto) is not a magical answer to the problem of poverty…
“International tax rules, which decide which countries get to tax various forms of income, are set by the OECD, significantly favouring rich countries over poor ones,” Shaxson said.
On this point, Nick is wrong! Not quite sure why he made this one up, perhaps just to have a dig at the OECD.