Tax Justice Network Reveal $21 Trillion Hidden From Tax

With increasing stories about concerning practices of tax avoidance, with high profile cases in both the public and private sector in recent weeks, the latest headline has provided even more shocking revelations.

A report from the Tax Justice Network, a group who campaign against tax avoidance, has revealed that more than $21 trillion is hidden in secret tax havens by the worlds super rich. The report looked into private financial wealth up till the end of 2010 and suggested that as much as $32 trillion could actually be being concealed.

James Henry, a Senior Adviser of the TJN, said “the lost tax revenues implied by our estimates is huge. It is large enough to make a significant difference to the finances of many countries.” He continued adding that the world’s largest financial institutions should “live up to their promises, and work with us on concrete policies to get it under control.”

This comes on the same day that treasury minister David Gauke spoke about some of the government’s latest proposals to deal with tax avoidance. He spoke about the need to tackle “aggressive avoidance” and “cowboy advisers” which were responsible for around £5 billion of unpaid taxes in the UK.

With increased resources committed to tacking tax evasion and avoidance, the treasury as confident that they can bring in an extra £7 billion a year in additional tax revenue by 2014. However, Mr Gauke said there is no “magic bullet” to tax avoidance and that regulations such as the General Anti-Avoidance rule will take time but should considerably help reduce some forms of tax avoidance.

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