• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Panama Papers: Iceland prime minister seeks early poll

Actually, I remember Holland being named recently to clean up its act by the EU and Luxembourg lives on money made from the regulatory arbitrage. So, when you throw stones....

Luxembourg has been asked to clean up its act as well. Holland has tax havens under it as well, just as France, but no one has the amount that the UK has.
 
Yes, the irony is not lost with people following Iceland. The party that was suppose to clean up the Iceland crisis, the center right Progressives, were actually deeply involved in it... go figure.

What will be interesting is if it will eventually mean the death kneel to Cameron in the UK. It is being discussed on TV, that only had his father used the company in Panama to hide millions (which Cameron inherited or will), but the fact the country with the most shady tax evasion areas is the UK. Will the UK finally be forced to crack down on its colonies acting as tax havens and money laundering centers? We shall see.

The more Cameron is damaged the better the chance that the UK will leave the EU. The Guardian/BBC axis understands this which is why they are going soft on Cameron.
 
The more Cameron is damaged the better the chance that the UK will leave the EU. The Guardian/BBC axis understands this which is why they are going soft on Cameron.

So all the other newspapers not digging too deep are part of the Guardian/BBC axis? :lamo
 
Yea those places where people dont pay taxes... They would not have to subsidize if those places collected... taxes.

The whole point of those tax havens is to HIDE the money!!!

Like I said before countries have ways to legally put money in tax havens, it is not hiding if it is done legally.

Getting rid of their tax haven status would destroy their economies, you cannot collect tax when you have no one to collect tax from. They a lot of money from being tax havens being currently self-sufficient, money they would lose and then the UK would have to subsidize them. Either that or you are suddenly going to see a lot of companies setting up more than holding companies in those islands.
 
The more Cameron is damaged the better the chance that the UK will leave the EU. The Guardian/BBC axis understands this which is why they are going soft on Cameron.

To be fair he did not have much to do with it, it was his father he did not have a choice in the matter.
 
Like I said before countries have ways to legally put money in tax havens, it is not hiding if it is done legally.

It is hiding if the tax man does not know of the funds.... which in these cases it seems they do not. We are now finding out that certain individuals own large areas of London and should be paying taxes for that, but because they are hiding their ownership then they are not.

Getting rid of their tax haven status would destroy their economies, you cannot collect tax when you have no one to collect tax from.

They dont take taxes.. the UK had to take over one colony because their economy was in shambles and corrupted. British Virgin Islands economy is in the crap hole and they have been refused loans.

They a lot of money from being tax havens being currently self-sufficient, money they would lose and then the UK would have to subsidize them. Either that or you are suddenly going to see a lot of companies setting up more than holding companies in those islands.

Offshore secrets: British Virgin Islands, land of sand, sea and secrecy | UK news | The Guardian

More than 1m BVI companies have now been incorporated, according to the latest figures, and it is the world's biggest provider of offshore entities.

You were saying?
 
Luxembourg has been asked to clean up its act as well. Holland has tax havens under it as well, just as France, but no one has the amount that the UK has.

BUT you fail to mention these until prompted! Going into full UK bashing mode, as usual.
 
Yeah but he does not have any real power there. The Queen technically has power in Canada, but does she have any actual power, no, not really. As sovereign states you would have to deal with a plethora of international organizations that would object to it like the UN and/or the EU. Besides, you would really starve countries over tax laws?

Well in that case of Andorra for example, this isnt so much a case of one country having more favourable tax laws than another but of one country allowing itself to be used as a place for criminals and courrpt politicians to hide money. This becomes a life or death issue when its developing countries that are robbed. You could also look at things the other way round and ask why countries that are not part of the EU are allowed full rights of free trade and freedom of movement within the EU despite activity screwing over its member states.
 
Well in that case of Andorra for example, this isnt so much a case of one country having more favourable tax laws than another but of one country allowing itself to be used as a place for criminals and courrpt politicians to hide money. This becomes a life or death issue when its developing countries that are robbed. You could also look at things the other way round and ask why countries that are not part of the EU are allowed full rights of free trade and freedom of movement within the EU despite activity screwing over its member states.

Well Andorra is special, it has a special deal with the EU, one of the many complicated legal agreements the EU is known for. They have freedom of movement (still has closed borders though), because in Europe it is really impractical not to, and they have limited free trade with EU, opting out of certain things and included in others. It essentially exists in weird legal limbo land with the EU, like many other places around the world. The big tax dodging countries are in the EU or the EEA, like the BENELUX countries are probably the biggest offenders, but they are still technically legal. it entirely depends on where you draw the line.
 
Well Andorra is special, it has a special deal with the EU,

Along with Leichstien and Switzerland , both of which cause similar problems, but again what has to be asked is why such a special deal should be allowed to continue for countries that are actively screwing us over.
 
Along with Leichstien and Switzerland , both of which cause similar problems, but again what has to be asked is why such a special deal should be allowed to continue for countries that are actively screwing us over.

Liechtenstein and Switzerland are part of the EEA along with Norway and Iceland which means they pay membership dues like other EU nations but do not have to follow EU Rules on certain things like taxes or fishing. They are well within their own rights to do whatever they want since they they are not bound by the EU rules on somethings. Andorra has its own special agreement. The EU benefits form having these countries in the EU and these countries from being in the EU, you are goign to get tax havens whether you like it or not.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom