Yes, the company may be legal according to the letter of the law, but those who employed them mostly haven't been acting legally. Also, if the express purpose of a company is to circumvent the law… well, the Panamanian government has promised to investigate so we'll have to wait and see.
The Panama Papers: Hackers Reveal Law Firm's Many Tax Haven Clients
- Thread starter danjuno
- Start date
warpus
In pork I trust
I'm curious, what legitimate reasons would one have to own an off shore account like this?
Seems that for the most part the main reason is that you can then do shady things and hide money from the tax man. But what else do people use them for? Hide money from their wife? Grandmother? Business partner? Other reasons?
classical_hero
In whom I trust
To avoid conflict of interest. AS Pm investing in your country can be seen as a conflict of interest, which is why the current Australian Pm has a Cayman account. This has been disclosed, so it's not hidden.
warpus
In pork I trust
How does that remove the conflict of interest? If there was one, it seems that it would still be there, no matter what bank you use.
Farm Boy
I hope you dance
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2010
- Messages
- 28,071
Remind me not to get on your bad side.
Do you think we could prune so that we wind up growing in a cool shape while we're at it?
I'm a pretty nice guy, but I don't mind hanging tyrant-thieves.
gay_Aleks
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
Hanging is inefficient, and some might say - even inhumane.
Why not purchase a guillotine? A quick, sharp end to all of your opposition!
Why not purchase a guillotine? A quick, sharp end to all of your opposition!
classical_hero
In whom I trust
Because you are not invest in your own country and thus can't be accused of making investments that influence policy making.
I've marched with pitchforks and nooses. It's no real problem, but there's certainly blood involved when someone trips. Take it from me. Pitchforks are to be avoided. So are torches.
I can only imagine the damage done if we were all carrying guillotines.
Hygro
soundcloud.com/hygro/
So the non public-officials are doing comparatively better now that we're outing the hybrid business-politics people. At first I was like, great, handing more power to our ownership class overlords.
But then I was like, except the political class still has the fundamental power, and maybe if we reinvent the divide then the political class will reassert itself politically, separate from the ownership class. And maybe that'll be a good thing.
But then I was like, except the political class still has the fundamental power, and maybe if we reinvent the divide then the political class will reassert itself politically, separate from the ownership class. And maybe that'll be a good thing.
jackelgull
An aberration of nature
Is that a sarcastic great? I can never tell with you Hygro.
Hygro
soundcloud.com/hygro/
yeah it was a sarcastic great
Spoiler :
Wrymouth3
Emperor
Nice job rest of the world, you can sit there and laugh at the USA, but this just confirms that YOU are the losers that try to cheat. Hopefully that wall gets built sooner than latter to separate us from the red in Mexico 
.
.Maybe I'm missing something here, but this all just seems like rich people hiding their money to avoid taxes. To that I say: So what? What, am I supposed to outraged because some of the people involved are government officials?
Let me ask all of you calling for blood over this a question: Even if our illustrious leaders weren't hiding their money and paying all their taxes, would that really improve the lot of the common man? I don't think it would. I think we would all still be taking it up the you-know-where from the wealthy elite.
Again, maybe I'm missing something here, but I'm just not seeing why I'm supposed to be angry about this.
EDIT: Wrymouth is kinda right on this. That map shows that the US isn't implicated in this scandal, yet many nations that absolutely love to accuse the US of being corrupt are marked in red. Seems we now see why those nations don't like the US taking an active role in toppling corrupt regimes.
Let me ask all of you calling for blood over this a question: Even if our illustrious leaders weren't hiding their money and paying all their taxes, would that really improve the lot of the common man? I don't think it would. I think we would all still be taking it up the you-know-where from the wealthy elite.
Again, maybe I'm missing something here, but I'm just not seeing why I'm supposed to be angry about this.
EDIT: Wrymouth is kinda right on this. That map shows that the US isn't implicated in this scandal, yet many nations that absolutely love to accuse the US of being corrupt are marked in red. Seems we now see why those nations don't like the US taking an active role in toppling corrupt regimes.
Wrymouth3
Emperor
You realize I was being sarcastic right? I also want to note my workplace today (large civil litigation defense firm) sent out an email assuring us that no American law firms were involved in this, which was also odd.
Just because you were sarcastic doesn't mean you weren't right. Looking at that map again, there does seem to be an uncanny correlation between those nations implicated in this scandal, and those nations that seem to be the US's biggest critics.
Who's the supplier? Sounds as if you were trying to entice us into buying something made by Tolni, Inc.
I didn't know you were that old.
Well, tax evasion is a crime by itself. Also, hiding the existence of this money hides the activities from which the money comes from. E.g. countries financing spontaneous and grassroots revolutions, such as Hugo Chávez giving Podemos over 7 million U.S. dollars while his own people face rampant inflation.
Not odd at all, old chap.
Martin Alvito
Real men play SMAC
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2010
- Messages
- 2,332
There are two reasons to conceal the origin of money: to evade taxes and to make it harder to identify/prosecute criminal activity. (You don't need to shield the origin of money to engage in legal tax avoidance.)
The "revelation" that Putin is robbing Russia blind and funneling it through third parties is...less than shocking. The connections between this firm and British luminaries (including Cameron's father) are far more interesting.
As far as Americans are concerned, you could argue that they're not on the client list due to comparatively friendly tax laws for people holding a single citizenship and loopholes like carried interest. Morality doesn't enter into it.
That all just sounds like business as usual to me. I guess what I'm really asking is: Why does this warrant any greater level of outrage than any of the other day-to-day corruption that takes place throughout the world?
